BY MARTIN WALSH
HAVING established a substantial lead of 33.3 seconds, a puncture on the sixth stage of the Assess Ireland Rally of the Lakes in Killarney relegated Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin to sixth place and they had to endure a salvage operation for the remainder of the event that saw them finish fourth overall.
It was a bitter blow for the pair, who were setting a sensational pace, winning ten of the 14 stages over the two days.
Victory, for the third year in succession, went to the Derry/Killarney duo of Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5), who finished 7.9 seconds ahead of the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Welsh driver Matt Edwards and Mallow native David Moynihan with Kilkenny’s Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia R5) a further 59.9 seconds behind in third.
Cronin/Galvin, who lost approximately one minute and 20 seconds with the puncture, were one minute and 24 seconds off top spot at the Gleneagle Hotel finish ramp.
Dunmanway’s David Guest (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and his Mitchelstown co-driver Jonathan McGrath were tenth overall and won the Tom Nyhan Cup for the top County Cork crew. The Historic category was won by Killarney’s Alan Ring (BMW M3) and his Newcestown co-driver Adrian Deasy.
This year’s event, round four of the Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Championship, featured so many classic stages but this time, a single run over the Moll’s Gap stage. The honour of posting the best time went to Devine, who won the Bertie Fisher Trophy for his endeavours.
Cronin was 2.8 seconds behind with Doherty a further two seconds in arrears in third. Edwards, who was competing in Killarney for the very first time and had no competitive experience of the stage, was sixth quickest, 12.1 seconds off top spot. Clonakilty’s Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Dunmanway’s David Guest were 14th and 16th respectively.
Cronin took the first of his ten stage wins on the iconic Tim Healy Pass as he eked out 0.2-second lead over Devine, Doherty remained third followed by Edwards, who was quickly adapting to the Kerry/Cork terrain.
Following the service at Castletownbere, the crews headed for Cod’s Head, Ardgroom and a repeat of the Tim Healy Pass. Cronin shone as bright as the late morning sun; he excelled on all three stages, especially on the technical Cod’s Head stage where he gleaned 8.3 seconds from Devine. Edwards was only a fraction of a second behind Devine’s stage time to move into third.
Cronin gained a further 6.5 seconds from SS4 and SS5 and arrived at the final service in Castletownbere with a 30.2-second lead as he declared ‘The tyres were going off towards the end of the Healy Pass but everything is going really well.’
Finding a good rhythm, Cal McCarthy increased his pace and performance to move into 11th overall with Guest two places and 32 seconds further behind, the Dunmanway driver having to contend with an oil leak and a misfire that manifested itself with every gear change.
On the repeat of Cod’s Head, Cronin increased his lead to 33.3 seconds. Rallying is a fickle sport and there are times when the unexpected happens and on the repeat of Ardgroom (SS7), Cronin’s bid for victory was sabotaged.
‘I thought I heard a click on a left hander; there was no big impact or anything. I noticed that it (his Fiesta Rally2) was starting to nose on right handers, it was a slow puncture,’ explained Cronin, who arrived at the stage finish having dropped around a minute and 20 seconds.
‘I'm gutted, there's nothing more I can say.’
Devine was best placed to take the lead, Cronin was quickest on the final stage of the day, Killmackillogue. Gaining a place, he ended the day in fifth, one minute and 46.6 seconds behind overnight leader Devine.
The organisers amended Edwards time for the Ardgroom stage and he was 14.4 seconds behind Devine. McCarthy ended the first leg in 12th, but reckoned he could have used a harder compound tyre for the final three stages. Guest was a place and 51.6 seconds behind; the misfire and the oil leak continued.
Cronin was best on all three stages of Sunday’s opening loop that included the classic Gortnagane. Jonny Greer’s Citroen C3 Rally2 punctured on SS10 as Cronin moved into fourth. On SS11, McCarthy made contact with a chicane bale and retired. While Guest set a good time on SS10, his Fiesta Rally2 began to have issues with the turbo.
Meanwhile, Devine led Edwards by 13.5 seconds, the latter cut the deficit to 10.3 seconds on SS12 and took more time from the leader on the penultimate stage with the margin between the pair down to 8.7 seconds entering the final stage. Although Edwards was faster, he only gained a fraction of a second and Devine secured his third straight win in Killarney. Edwards and Doherty completed the podium.
At the finish fourth placed Cronin remarked, ‘Naturally, we are very disappointed, the puncture cost us. Most people talk about winning Donegal, but for us, this (Rally of the Lakes) is the one we want to win, it’s our home event.’
From a championship perspective and after four rounds, Cronin (72 points) leads Edwards (58.5 points) with Devine (41 points) moving into third spot. Cronin returns to the British Rally Championship on the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland in two weeks’ time and the next round of the ITRC is the Donegal International Rally (June 21st-23rd).
Skibbereen’s Frank Hurley (Ford Escort) and Bandon’s Adrian Phelan won Class 10 in the Rally of the Lakes.
Elsewhere and within the classes, Skibbereen’s Frank Hurley (Ford Escort) and Bandon’s Adrian Phelan won Class 10. Rathbarry co-driver Niall O’Sullivan and his Cappawhite driver Sean O’Carroll (Ford Escort Cosworth 4x4) were the victors in Class 20. Aherla’s Anthony Whelton (Ford Escort) and Ovens co-driver Colm O’Mahony were second in Class 11R where Ardfield co-driver Gary Lombard and Kerry’s Ian Horgan (Toyota Corolla) were third. In Class 22, Union Hall’s Donal Dineen (Honda Civic) and co-driver Donal Keohane finished third.
Results: 1. C. Devine/N. O'Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5)1h. 51m. 6.7s; 2. M. Edwards/D. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+7.9s; 3. E. Doherty/T. Murphy (Skoda Fabia Rally2)+1m. 07.8s; 4. K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 24s; 5. J. Greer/N. Burns (Citroen C3 Rally2)+2m. 11s; 6. D. Kelly/D. O'Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5)+2m. 32.5s;7. E. O'Brien/J. Butler (VW Polo GTi R5)+3m. 22.1s; 8. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Citroen C3 Rally2)+4m. 28.2s;9. J. Ford/N. Shanks (Citroen C3 Rally2)+5m. 55.1s; 10. D. Guest/J. McGrath (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+7m. 01.8s.
