AFTER a disappointing opening stage, Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke brought their Citroen C3 Rally2 home in sixth place in the Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry Rally.
The event, the second round of the Triton Showers National Rally, was won by Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5). He finished with a 27.3-second winning margin over the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Swords driver Robert Barrable and Tyrone's Gordon Noble.
On the opening stage Camp Mountain, which was very greasy, Doherty topped the time sheets with the fastest stage time that was 1.9 seconds quicker than the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Derry's Desi Henry, while Josh Moffett, also in a Citroen C3 Rally2, another 1.3 seconds further behind with Sam Moffett's Hyundai i20 Rally2 completing the top four.
A disappointed Cronin was down in a lowly 23rd overall, 14.4 seconds behind the rally leader. He said: ‘It (the stage) was damper than I expected. My time just couldn't be good. I could (the time loss) see it,’ as he set off for the second stage, Minard Castle.
Although Cronin moved up to tenth overall he haemorrhaged more time to Doherty, who set the pace once more. Cronin was 39.1 seconds behind Doherty and it was easy to understand his disappointment. Josh Moffett slotted into second behind Doherty with Henry just behind. Moffett was the only driver to traverse SS3 (Flemingstown) in competitive mode as the stage was stopped when Henry rolled his Citroen C3 Rally2. The Derry driver and his Donegal co-driver Shane Byrne were removed to hospital as a precautionary measure and were discharged later in the day.
Barrable set a good time on SS2 and following Henry's demise, was into third from Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Sam Moffett. Cronin, now in ninth, had chosen a hard slick for the loop of three stages. He remarked, ‘Stage two was better for me but I still have a lot of work to do to get close to the boys in front.'
On the repeat loop Doherty punched in the fastest times on all three stages to extend his advantage over Josh Moffett to 16.2 seconds. Meanwhile, Cronin was seventh at the final service. He commented: 'I tried to pick up my pace, the fourth stage was alright, I thought I was okay on SS5 but my time wasn't, I didn't think SS6 went well but my time wasn't that bad after all.’
Josh Moffett's Citroen stopped with a fuel pump issue on the way to the seventh stage, with Doherty starting the stage with a 28.7-second lead over Barrable. Sam Moffett set the quickest stage time to move into third ahead of Boyle and was also quickest on the penultimate stage to cement third spot. Rally leader Doherty cruised through the final stage to claim his first-ever victory in a round of the national series. The top six was completed by Boyle, Kiernan and Cronin.
Elsewhere, Dunmanway's Gerard O'Connell, co-driven by his nephew Conor, finished seventh on Class 12; they changed the alternator of their Ford Escort before the start of the event.
Meanwhile, it was a short rally for Kilcrohane's Jer O'Donovan and his Rosscarbery co-driver Alistair Wyllie – they hit a chicane bale about halfway through SS2 and burst the radiator. It's not been a good start to the season as they retired within half a kilometre of the first stage of the recent Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally. Their next outing is on the Killarney Rally of the Lakes (May 3rd/4th). Contesting the event as a round of the MIJRS and entering the final loop, Ballylickey's Robert Cronin was sixth in Class 2 but slid his Opel Corsa Rally4 off the road on SS7.
Results: 1. E. Doherty/T. Murphy (Skoda Fabia R5) 49m. 23.1s; 2. R. Barrable/G. Noble (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+27.3s; 3. S. Moffett/S. Buckley (Hyundai i20 N Rally2)+37.1s; 4. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+46.9s; 5. G. Kiernan/J. McGrath (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 07.3m; 6. D. Cronin/D. Burke (Citroen C3 Rally2)+1m. 23.8s.
Triton Showers National Rally Championship (provisional positions after Round 2): 1. E. Doherty 37pts; 2. D. Boyle 28pts, 3. S. Moffett 28pts; 4. D. Cronin 22pts; 5. J. Moffett 20pts; 6. R. Barrable 20pts.
