Daniel Cronin and Jason McSweeney spearhead West Cork challenge in Wexford Rally

THERE will be a strong West Cork contingent in the weekend’s Wexford Volkswagen Rally.

Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin (VW Polo GTi R5) and Dunmanway’s Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5) are seeded at numbers two and 14 respectively. Both had recent outings in the ALMC Hellfire Rally in Oldcastle with Cronin, co-driven by Dunmanway’s Donnchadh Burke, finishing sixth and McSweeney with his Blackpool co-driver Liam Brennan taking 12th place.

Both are utilising the rally as a shakedown. Cronin told The Southern Star: ‘About a week after the Hellfire Rally we decided that we would use Wexford as a test for the last two rounds of the National Rally Championship, Clare and the Fastnet. We want to try a few different things in regard to set-up.’

Cronin admitted that he was basing his performance against the top two drivers in the country, Josh Moffett and Callum Devine. In many respects, this is a harsh comparison given the amount of seat-time they spend in their cars.

‘Yes, for sure they are going very hard,’ Cronin said, ‘maybe what I mean is that I seem to struggle in the dry conditions, so we will try different settings and see how it goes.’

Meanwhile, McSweeney outlined his reason for competing in Wexford.

‘I’m doing it as a shakedown for the Fastnet Rally as I don’t think I will be able to do the Clare Rally,’ he said.

‘I haven’t set any target for Wexford other than to complete the event as it’s important to get seat-time in the car.

‘I’m very happy with the Skoda, it has great torque down low in comparison to my last car [Fiesta R5]. I thought it would take me a while to get used to the car but it felt good straight away from the first event, the Cork ‘20’ International Rally.

‘It handles very well and I can leave the braking much later than what I did in the Fiesta. Together with Tom [Gahan] we have found a good set-up and we can concentrate on driving.’

Two other local crews are also tackling the event, which consists of nine stages on both days. Clonakilty’s Peter Keohane (Ford Escort) will be co-driven by Barryroe’s Dylan Doonan and the husband-and-wife crew of Clonakilty’s Eamonn and Lisa McCarthy compete in a Honda Civic.