THE Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally springs into action this weekend with the usual buzz of expectancy for a thrilling weekend of action over some iconic stages that will also herald the opening round of the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
Year upon year the event generates huge interest and so many people look forward to the rally that is also important to the local economy where it generates an estimated €5 million to get the West Cork tourist season off to a flying start.
This year's offering is, akin to last year, a three-day encounter totalling 18 special stages that begin this Friday afternoon and conclude early on Sunday afternoon at Emmet Square, Clonakilty.
Reigning ITRC champions, Ballylickey's Keith Cronin and Killarney's Mikie Galvin will begin the defence of their title in Clonakilty due to the postponement of the Galway International Rally last month.
Now aboard a Citroen C3 Rally2 that they debuted to second place on the East Riding Stages in Yorkshire (the opening round of the British Rally Championship) a few weeks ago, they will face some familiar rivals as the event gets underway with the stage at Ballinascarthy at 4.22pm on Friday afternoon.
Twelve months ago Cronin took victory in Clonakilty by a margin of 57.2 seconds over Welsh ace Matt Edwards, both in Fiesta Rally2 cars, Cronin moving into the lead on Saturday's opening stage.
Dunmanway’s Jason McSweeney would love to finish in the top ten this weekend.
There was an element of caution on Cronin's first outing in Yorkshire and he was keen to gleam as many BRC points as possible. On his prospects, he said: ‘Matt (Edwards) is always quick and so will Jon (Armstrong), even though it will be his first competitive outing of the season, they are always in and out of cars. It would be great to get the win, but it's not the end of the world if we don't. We had a good start last year but it (championship) still went down to the wire. Championships are never won on the first stage or the first rally.’
Cronin added, ‘There's no easy rally, it's a long rally. There will be nothing between us. It will come down to the smaller moments like a puncture or a problem. The road surface in West Cork will be very different to what we experienced in Yorkshire. We will do a bit of tweaking. Generally, the roads here (West Cork) feel good. There are a lot of good stages.’
Opposition on this occasion is relatively similar to last year albeit excluding former Tarmac champion Callum Devine, who got married on Friday last, and William Creighton (third last year), who is concentrating on the BRC and selected rounds of the WRC in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
However, their absence doesn't dilute the challenge with Edwards, former Tarmac champion Josh Moffett and European Rally Championship contender Fermanagh-born Jon Armstrong following Cronin off the start line.
Edwards will be in confident mood following an impressive performance in the Jeremy O'Connor Longford Arms Hotel Rally where he led twice and only lost out by a mere half a second to WRC Rally1 driver Josh McErlean (Ford Fiesta Rally2). He was immediately on the pace in the new Hyundai i20 Rally2 and that should augur well for a close contest in Clonakilty.
Two years ago Monaghan's Josh Moffett completed back-to-back wins in Clonakilty. This time around he's in a Citroen C3 Rally2. Third in the recent Longford Rally (43.2 seconds behind Edwards), he cannot afford to get detached from his rivals.
Clonakilty’s Cal McCarthy is targetting a top-ten finish.
Armstrong's presence in 140-plus entry in Clonakilty is a great boost as he prepares for another full campaign in the European Rally Championship (ERC) onboard the M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta Rally2.
‘It’s really cool to be doing the West Cork Rally, it’s an event I haven’t done before but looks like there will be some good stages and it’ll be a nice way to kick off the season,’ Armstrong said. One of the reasons that he's competing in Clonakilty is that his former co-driver Killeagh's Eoin Treacy has moved up the WRC Rally1 category with Josh McErlean and this is an opportunity to get accustomed to his new co-driver, Donegal's Shane Byrne.
Without doubt, Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) continues to be the most improved driver on the Irish scene. The former Kilkenny minor hurling defender continued his upward spiral and won the ‘Power Stage’ in Longford.
Having recorded non-finishes on his last two visits to Clonakilty, Tyrone's Cathan McCourt (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) will be keen to get a strong finish on this occasion. The top ten also features Donegal's Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Donegal's Michael Boyle (VW Polo GTI R5). Unfortunately, Carryduff's Jonny Greer (seeded at #8) has withdrawn his entry as he damaged his new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 in last Saturday's first round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship in Bishopscourt.
For Daniel Cronin and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke, the event is all about seat time ahead of the Circuit of Kerry, the next round of the National Rally Championship. On his debut with the Citroen C3 Rally2 in Longford, they were on a strong pace for the opening loop but some set-up changes didn't bring the expected improvements and it was a case of finding the right balance.
‘We want to build on the pace (apart from the stage where I got caught out) we had in the Midland Rally. We should be able to have our usual battle with Eddie Doherty and Declan Boyle. The West Cork is more of a marathon than a sprint, if we can keep our nose tidy we should get a good result. The new car feels really good and we are certainly looking forward to it, especially the seat time,’ Daniel explained.
Meanwhile, further local interest is provided by the quartet of Dunmanway's Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5), Ovens driver Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) and David Guest (Ford Fiesta Rally2) are all seeking a good result. They gave their thoughts to The Southern Star.
Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5), co-driven by Liam Brennan (Blackpool): It's always enjoyable to be competing in the local rally. I'm seeded at 12 so I would hope to get into the top ten, but it won't be easy. As usual, we will have a battle with Owen (Murphy), Cal (McCarthy) and David (Guest). I am hoping for wet conditions as I always prefer it that way. My car is one evolution behind Eddie Doherty's Skoda.’
Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2), co-driven by Jonathan O'Mahony (Rosscarbery): ‘The top ten is always my target but it will be tough given the opposition along with the fact that we only did the West Cork and Cork '20' last year. Given that the '20' only had five stages due to the conditions, I really have had little seat time, but it would be great to get the top ten finish.’
Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2), co-driven by Eric Calnan (Rosscarbery): Having finished a fine fourth in last Saturday's opening round of the Northern Ireland Championship on Bishopscourt, Co Down, Cal McCarthy said, 'A top-ten finish would be an extremely successful event given the calibre of the entry itself. It's also important to get to the finish, to enjoy the three days and the weekend on local roads and get home safe.'
David Guest (Ford Fiesta Rally2), co-driven by Stephen Quin (Bandon): 'It would be great to finish in the top ten but I suppose, more realistically, the top fifteen. I had to change co-driver as Emmet Sherry broke his right hand last week so Bandon's Stephen Quin will call the notes. I was happy with the seat time in Longford and hopefully, we will enjoy the event.’
