BY MARTIN WALSH
ROBERT Cronin had a very successful debut in the Protyre Motorsport Ginetta GT series at Brands Hatch last weekend where he was on the podium on two out of three occasions.
Racing with Fox Motorsport, the 20-year-old Ballylickey driver qualified in P5 and took the final step of the podium on Saturday’s race where he diced for second spot for over half the race. His third-place finish also gave him top spot in the guest driver category.
On Sunday, he went one better and took second spot and again finished as top guest driver.
Robert Cronin took two podium places at Brands Hatch.
In the third and final race and with the possibility of continuing the upward curve, hopes of victory were dashed at the first-corner when contact with another car dropped him to last position. He fought back impressively and enjoyed some good fortune when the safety car was deployed allowing him to close on the leading pack. He eventually took sixth place and
second in the guest category.
In the Ginetta GT Academy Championship and after netting his inaugural victory in Donington Park last time out, Robert’s younger brother Colin, also racing with Fox Motorsport, had no experience of the Grand Prix track prior to the race weekend and that lack of track knowledge saw him starting 14th on the grid. In the three races he finished 12th in his first race and was 11th in the other races.
Meanwhile, Inchigeelagh co-driver Eamonn Creedon is aiming to become the top co-driver in the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship on Saturday’s Clare Forest Rally, the final round of the series. His Monaghan driver, Derek Mackarel, has already clinched the driver’s award at the recent Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh where they both took top points.
Creedon had to skip the Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally earlier this season due to family commitments and although he currently leads the way with 78 points, two other co-drivers are also battling for top spot with Michael Coady also on 78 points and Denver Rafferty on 76 points. Both Coady and Rafferty have contested five events as opposed to four for Creedon, who is favourite to clinch the title.
The event is the first gravel event run by the Clare Motor Club in 42 years. Mackarel/Creedon are the top seeds while the top ten also features Ballyvourney’s Gerard Lucey (Ford Fiesta R5) and his Kilnamartyra co-driver JJ Cremin. Ballylickey’s Robert Cronin competes in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 and is seeded at No. 250. The two-wheel drive category seeds begin at 201. The Scariff-based event consists of three stages run twice.
