No stopping local hero Keith Cronin in West Cork Rally

BALLYLICKEY’S Keith Cronin and Killarney’s Mikie Galvin continued their quest to win the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship with an impressive victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally. 

They recorded a 57.2-second winning margin over the Welsh/Mallow crew of Matt Edwards/David Moynihan with reigning Junior World Rally champions William Creighton/Liam Regan 29.2 seconds further behind in third; all three crews aboard Ford Fiesta Rally2 cars.  

The West Cork Rally trophy is back in Ballylickey, 19 years after Keith’s uncle Denis (Cronin) and Helen O’Sullivan (Subaru WRC) won the event. It’s also the first time in 11 years since a Cork driver (Brian O’Mahony, Subaru WRC) has won the iconic event. Cronin has now won the first two events of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

On the first-ever Friday leg of the event Cronin and reigning Irish Tarmac champion Callum Devine (VW Polo GTi R5) were locked in a tense battle. On the opening stage near Ballinascarthy, Devine set the pace and led his Ballylickey rival by 5.5 seconds. Conditions were described as tricky with road conditions varying. Cronin made a good response on the Rossmore stage with his first fastest stage time to trim the deficit to 3.6 seconds. Locals Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5) and Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2) were eighth and tenth respectively.

Both stages were repeated in darkness and proved a popular attraction. Devine was quickest on both while Cronin, who ended the day 6.3s behind, commented, ‘The second time through Ballinascarthy (SS3) was really tricky, it was actually wetter than the first run, I was glad to get out of it.’

Ovens driver Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2) finished ninth overall.

Even at that point the pattern had emerged and spectators were eagerly awaiting the continuation of the duel. Welsh ace Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was 30.6 seconds further behind in third. Overnight, Murphy was tenth; Dunmanway’s David Guest (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 12th; McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5) slipped to 13th and Clonakilty’s Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) was 15th.

Weather predictions for Saturday’s leg of eight stages were gloomy to say the least. Mist and rain and fog brought an extra challenge. The organisers, particularly the marshals, deserve huge credit for standing out in such appalling conditions.

Unlike the weather, Cronin started brightly, powering his Fiesta Rally2 through the Clogagh stage as he moved into a 3.2-second lead. He seemed to revel in the conditions where precision had to be at the maximum. On the stage near Enniskeane he took an impressive 11.3 seconds out of Devine to extend his advantage to 14.5 seconds. Third-placed Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was some 47.5 seconds further behind – it illustrated the pace of the leading duo, particularly Cronin. The one constant was the comment of the hazardous conditions. William Creighton (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was fourth, one minute and 19.7 seconds behind Cronin. Owen Murphy, despite suffering from a severe back pain, continued in tenth.

Ardfield’s Eoghan Calnan and his brother Conor (Ford Escort) take flight over a crest on the opening stage of the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally.

The expectation of the Cronin-Devine battle helped to lift the gloom of the weather. However, over the second run over Clogagh the rally took a defining turn. Devine’s VW Polo GTi R5 punctured the front right wheel and he lost almost 90 seconds. Cronin’s lead over new second placed driver Matt Edwards, a triple British rally champion, was one minute and 4.4 seconds.

‘We backed off a bit after we passed Callum in the stage,’ Cronin remarked. However, and despite a strong lead, he wasn’t taking anything for granted. He added: ‘There's a long way to go, we're not even half-way through the rally yet, anything can happen. That stage was wetter this time around, the fog got worse towards the end of the stage.’

At the midday service at the Clonakilty Technology Park, Cronin had extended his lead over Edwards to one minute and 9.7 seconds. Creighton was third but Moffett, having performed well on the stage at Clogagh, was eyeing up the spot. The unlucky Devine was fifth, two minutes and 10.1 seconds behind Cronin. McSweeney had a good run through both stages to move to tenth, 40 seconds ahead of Murphy.

Despite torrential rain, spectators made their way to the stages at Ring and Dunworley. The first run over the iconic Ring, Creighton set his first fastest time on a round of the tarmac series. Cronin had switched modes from maximum attack to that of delivering a performance that didn’t require taking any risks but was also sufficient at keeping up the tempo. 

Second quickest on the Ring stage illustrated what was required. Then, his pace still shone through – over Dunworley where his time was 9.4 seconds better than anyone else. 

The repeat of both stages mirrored their earlier trek. There was a feeling of relief and exhaustion for those that managed to get through the day, one of the toughest in the long history of the rally. Devine retired on the day’s final stage with damaged suspension. Earlier, Donegal’s Declan Boyle crashed out on the Clogagh stage. Overnight, Cronin led Edwards by a minute and 18.8 seconds. Third placed Creighton repelled Moffett’s challenge and his double stage-winning times over Ring helped to move 39.1 seconds away from the Monaghan driver. Jonny Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2) had a few moments and issues throughout the day to hold sixth. Locals aces Dunmanway’s Jason McSweeney and David Guest were ninth and tenth respectively. Owen Murphy ended the day in 11th and Clonakilty’s Cal McCarthy was 15th; given the atrocious conditions, he was happy to have got through the day.

Rossmore’s Seamus O’Donovan (Honda Civic) and his Dunmanway co-driver Daniel O’Donovan finished third in Class 24.

Weather conditions improved dramatically for Sunday’s six stages. Ardfield provided Moffett with his first fastest stage time of the weekend and Glandore and Sam’s Cross saw Edwards open his stage winning account. All the while Cronin did what was needed and at the final service he enjoyed a lead of one minute and 14.4 seconds. Creighton recovered from a high speed moment at the beginning of Ardfield when his Fiesta moved onto the grass margin.

Guest crashed out of tenth place on Sam’s Cross with a resurgent Owen Murphy perfectly placed to inherit the spot. The stage at Ardfield saw Cal McCarthy equal his previous best stage time (ninth on the night stage at Rossmore).

As Cronin went on to record an impressive victory the only major change to the top ten came on the penultimate stage (Glandore) that accounted for McSweeney and Preston driver James Ford. McSweeney slid off close to the stage finish, the impact breaking a track control arm of his Skoda. Murphy finished ninth with Cal McCarthy 11th.

Results: 1. K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 2h. 11m. 36.2s; 2. M. Edwards/D. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+57.2s; 3. W. Creighton/L. Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +1m. 26.4s; 4. J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) +2m. 10.4s; J. Greer/N. Burns (Citroen C3 Rally2) +2m. 52.5s; D. Kelly/D. O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTi R5) +4m. 09.0s; E. Doherty/T. Murphy (Skoda Fabia R5) +4m. 20.9s; G. Kiernan/J. McCabe (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +6m. 39.5s; 9. O. Murphy/A. Nestor (Citroen C3 Rally2) +8m. 08.4s; 10. M. Boyle/D. McCafferty (VW Polo GTi R5) +8m. 40.9s.