‘I’m confident I can bring that pace next year’

BY MARTIN WALSH

DANIEL Cronin’s participation in this season’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship was, for the most part, a journey that had an upward trajectory. It finished with third overall in both the series and the recent Westlodge Hotel Fastnet Rally.

Indeed, the Ballylickey driver and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke were very much in the mix for overall victory in the Bantry-based event; entering the final stage they trailed rally leaders and eventual winners Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty by a mere 0.9 of a second.

‘I had very little rallying done in 2022, my last rally was the Cork ‘20’ that year and I only did half a stage there when we had to retire due to circumstances outside of our control. Previously, I only did the Tipperary Stonethrowers and the Lakes. Definitely, I was well rusty going to Longford for the first round,’ Cronin told The Southern Star, as he reflected on his year.

At the end of the Midland Motor Club-run event he had to be content with 11th overall.

‘Everything that happened went against me. Apart from being rusty, which showed on the opening loop, it poured rain when we were on a hard tyre. I suppose that was the way it was for a few rounds. We were seventh in the Circuit of Kerry when I felt I was trying really hard but the results weren’t coming. We didn’t make it to Cavan, got to the Raven’s Rock with reasonable expectations, but that was really disappointing,’ he added.

In a sport that can often be cruel, Daniel explained what makes a rally enjoyable for himself, his co-driver Donnchadh and all involved with the team.

‘As long as I am competitive, I really don’t mind, but in Raven’s Rock Declan Boyle was blowing me away,’ he admitted.

Yet, at that point there was the possibility of taking third overall in the series, but the Ballylickey ace was more concerned about his own performance.

‘I came home (after the Raven’s Rock) and didn’t have a clue what was going on. It was a case of going back to basics. I looked at the in-car footage and I knew I had to put a lot more effort into things. One could see that in some places I was over driving and making silly mistakes,’ he said.

One of the most widely used terms in rallying is that of ‘seat time’, and Cronin is well aware that the more often a driver is in the car, the level of performance increases. The time-frame between the Raven’s Rock and the Sligo Rally was only a few weeks and Cronin delivered a third-place finish in the event that was curtailed due to the tragedy that claimed the lives of Cavan driver Gene McDonald and his co-driver Dara Maguire from Monaghan.

‘Seat time is what it’s all about, being out on a regular basis. Then I started driving differently – trying to get my lines a lot better. At service, we began to study the in-car footage and see where we could improve further. It only takes a few good stage times really to get it together. You might be thinking “right, I need to go bananas in here to get the time”, but it’s all about getting from A to B as tidy as possible, carrying as much speed as you can. When you start to get wild, start sliding and having lock ups, then you’re losing it. That’s what went wrong in Kerry and Raven’s Rock.’

Cronin’s perspective was also changing, especially on the ALMC Rally in Oldcastle in Meath.

‘I was sixth but drew a lot of positives from that rally as I was competitive on some of the stages,’ he said. ‘Then, I was third in Clare. I was very steady there really and I was also thinking of the Fastnet so it was a case of bringing the car home really.’

By then, Cronin had the opportunity for that third overall in the championship.

Leading the Fastnet through the opening four stages and reclaiming the lead on SS6, Cronin was only 0.9s off top spot prior to the final stage.

‘While I knew we were in the mix, the only time I thought about it (the championship) was when we were down in the hole on the final stage and things certainly didn’t look good. I thought “I’m going to have nothing here now, I won’t even have a result”. We were struggling to get back on the road,’ he explained.

They did, after around 30 seconds and finished the rally in third.

‘In general I’m delighted with the season and to finish third in the championship where we were competitive in the second half, I’m happy with that,’ he said. ‘Matching the lads (Josh Moffett and Callum Devine) in the Fastnet was great. There are a lot of things to factor into the notes, and while people would be of the opinion that I know stages like Mizen Head really well, you still have to drive them. I’m confident that I can bring that pace to places next year.’

Tom Gahan Motorsport (TGM) oversees Daniel’s VW Polo GTi R5. Daniel said: ‘Tom does a great job on the car, Kilcrohane’s Michael O’Donovan is part of his team.’

As with all of the Cronin clan that also includes Keith, Robert and Colin, the motorsport wheel wouldn’t turn as smoothly only for their father Danny.

‘As you get older you really appreciate what he does for all of us,’ he added.