Cronin young guns make their rally debuts

‘I was happy enough considering it was my first time on gravel’ – Robert Cronin

BY MARTIN WALSH

TWO members of the Cronin family, Robert and Colin, made their rally debuts on the Boggeragh Rallysprint near Nadd on Friday that was organised and promoted by the Cork Motor Club.

Akin to their older brothers Keith and Daniel, both were run by Tom Gahan Motorsport.

Robert, who was co-driven by Cill na Martra’s JJ Cremin, competed in a Ford Fiesta Rally5, while Colin, who had his brother Daniel as co-driver, drove a Toyota Aygo in the J1000 category of the event that had a total of 74 starters.

On his first run over the 5.6km gravel stage Robert stopped the clocks on a time of 5m 05.9s, finishing 46th overall and third in Class 3A. On a much improved second run he took a full 20 seconds off his previous time to move into the lead of his class and 33rd in general classification. There was further improvement on the third run as he clocked a time of 4m 38.8s, a gain of 7.1 seconds. On his final run, he posted a time of 4m 36.3s to finish 28th overall.

‘I was happy enough considering it was my first time on gravel,’ Robert said.

‘There was no similar car that I could compare my times to but at least I was improving each run. Realistically, it was a very different feeling to the Porsche (a reference to his outings in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB series) which feels like it’s welded to the ground, pure power. When you are on gravel, it’s a thrill, you are fully sideways at times, a different feeling altogether.’

On further rally outings Robert added: ‘Possibly, we will do something in the middle of the year (2024). The gravel is great fun and I’m not under any pressure compared to the Porsche championship.’

Although he has yet to fully finalise his plans for this year, it will include the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB series and possibly two European events.

Meanwhile, Colin also made his rallying debut with brother Daniel as his co-driver,

‘I enjoyed it, it was all about actually getting used to driving a car as opposed to a kart, there was a big difference in terms of control. It took time, we didn’t set any targets, we just wanted to enjoy it. On the fourth and final run things were really going well until the driveshaft broke. Daniel was a great help,’ Colin said.

While plans are still to be finalised for the 2024 season with the 15-year-old likely to have his first full season in the IAME Senior X-30 category, he responded, ‘I don’t know’ before adding, ‘I don’t call the shots.’

Interestingly and unlike most of the entry, Robert and Colin had never competed in a rally event before last Friday.

Although the outcome of the popular Boggeragh Rallysprint was in the balance all through the four timed runs, Waterford’s Andrew Purcell (VW Polo GTi R5) led throughout and finished 9.7seconds ahead of the Ford Fiesta R5 of Monaghan’s Derek Mackarel and his Inchigeelagh co-driver Eamonn Creedon.

Ovens driver Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2) was the top Cork driver in fourth place. In the battle of the Shinnors siblings from Dunmanway, Alan and his Ballincollig co-driver Brian Duggan (Mitsubishi Lancer E10) finished in ninth place, edging out Matt and Catherine Shinnors (Mitsubishi Lancer E6) on the final run to by 1.4 seconds. Matt lost time as he was slowed by the glare of the setting sun, nevertheless, he was pleased with his performance on what was his first proper outing in the car.

Elsewhere, former Irish Forest Rally Championship runner-up (2016) Ballyvourney’s Gerard Lucey debuted a Ford Fiesta R5, and co-driven by Gneeveguilla's Donagh Crowley finished 12th overall.

‘I’m delighted with the car. It’s very stable, it never slid anywhere, it did nothing out of the way. I probably wasn’t pushing it hard enough but as a first time out, everything was fine. I know I have a lot to learn but I think that will come quickly,’ Lucey said.

‘I certainly learned a lot from the rallysprint. You can test all you like but there is no substitute for an event, it’s then you realise what you must do. It’s a matter of getting the car set up for corners and picking the correct braking points.’

His plan for 2024 is to compete in the Irish Forest Rally Championship, and unfortunately, there is no Moonraker Rally in Ballyvourney this year.