REIGNING Irish Tarmac Rally champion and four-time British Rally champion Keith Cronin and his brother Daniel will both campaign a pair of Citroen C3 Rally2 cars in their respective rally championship bids this season.
Keith, who campaigned a Citroen C3 in his first Irish Tarmac title championship win in 2016, is targeting a defence of his current title that will begin in just over three weeks in Galway and is also planning to tackle the BRC on a round-by-round basis.
Meanwhile, Daniel is returning to the Triton Showers National Rally Championship that this year includes his local Westlodge Hotel Fastnet Rally in Bantry.
The entry list for the East Riding Stages Rally, the opening round of the British Rally Championship is close to some 200 crews, and Cronin and co-driver Mikie Galvin are shown on a reserve list. There are two entries allotted to M-Sport but neither reveal the identity of the crews involved. Previously, they won the BRC with French professional driver Adrien Fourmaux, now competing at the top tier in the WRC.
Last year Keith drove a Ford Fiesta Rally2 in both championships, and confirmed the change to Citroen, he told The Southern Star: ‘It all came down to getting the best package and that turned out to be the Citroen. Looking at how it performed abroad last year, it seems like a good car and that's my logic. I was happy when I drove the Citroen DS3 in the Tarmac Championship back in 2016.’
Keith added, ‘The Tarmac Championship is our main target and there is also a good financial prize for the Citroens on each round. I know it is hard to do both championships, but the BRC will be on a round-by-round basis. If we get a start (East Riding Rally) that will be great, but let's wait and see.’
Daniel Cronin and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke, who finished third overall in last year's Triton series in his VW Polo GTi R5, will debut his Citroen C3 Rally 2 in the Corrib Oil Galway International (February 1st/2nd) as a shakedown for the Midland Rally in Longford, the opening round of the National Rally Championship (March 2nd).
