Sensor issue thwarts Daniel Cronin’s bid for back-to-back wins in Wexford Rally

THE fickleness of rallying was underlined on Stage 16 of last weekend’s Wexford Volkswagen Rally when Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin and his Dunmanway co-driver lost the lead and the opportunity of back-to-back victories when their Cronin’s Centra backed VW Polo GTi R5 developed an issue with a turbo sensor. 

Although they rectified the problem after the stage finish, the pair, who are one of four crews in contention to win this season’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship, had lost too much time and they withdrew from the event. It was a cruel blow as they had led from the start of the two-day event.

Meanwhile, two other West Cork crews secured top ten finishes in the 18-stage encounter - Clonakilty’s Cal McCarthy and his Rosscarbery co-driver Eric Calnan brought their Clonakilty Park Hotel/Carbery Plastics liveried Citroen C3 Rally2 home in sixth place followed by Dunmanway’s Jason McSweeney and Kilnamartyra’s JJ Cremin in the Bill Brennan Crash Repairs/Jason McSweeney Tarmacadam backed Skoda Fabia R5.  Elsewhere, Clonakilty’s Eamonn and Lisa McCarthy (Honda Civic) finished third in Class 11F; Rosscarbery’s Jason O’Mahony (Ford Escort) and his Kerry co-driver Ronald Riordan were third in Class 14.

Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) went on to win the event, his first victory in some six and a half years. David Kelly (VW Polo GTi R5) was 12.3s behind and 8.3 seconds ahead of Michael Boyle (VW Polo GTi R5), who completed an all-Donegal top three. 

Both days consisted of a loop of three stages repeated three times. On Saturday morning’s opener in somewhat dusty conditions Cronin was immediately in the groove but Michael Boyle’s similar car was only half a second in arrears while his father Declan occupied third 4s further behind. One of the top contenders Derry’s Desi Henry Citroen C3 Rally2) had issues with the pop-off valve and he was down in tenth. An untroubled Cal McCarthy ended the stage in 12th - two places ahead of Jason McSweeney, who admitted he was braking far too early.

Cronin was quickest again on SS2 where he reckoned the stage was tricky. On the final stage of the opening loop Declan Boyle punched in the best time to move into second 6s behind Cronin, Michael Boyle, who clipped something during the stage was 2.7s further behind.

Cavan’s Gary Kiernan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was fourth but lacked commitment in a few places.  Cal McCarthy moved into the top ten -he was ninth and Jason McSweeney was 13th.

On the repeat loop Cronin admitted he was a bit cagey on SS4, where Michael Boyle set a cracking time to regain second. Cronin was best through SS5 to increase his advantage over Declan Boyle, who re-claimed second (7.1s behind) only for the latter to post a strong time on SS6 to cut the deficit to 4.8s. Michael Boyle was another 7.2s behind in third.  Kiernan remained fourth. McCarthy moved up a place to eighth but McSweeney dropped a place to fourteenth, admitting his pace should have been much quicker.

The threat of rain saw Cronin pick a softer compound tyre for the day’s final three stages. With top times on SS7 and SS8, he extended his lead over Declan Boyle to 9.5s but the latter was marginally quicker on SS9 to leave the overnight deficit at 8.8s. Michael Boyle’s challenge faded and he ended the day third but 25.8s off rally leader Cronin. Kiernan punctured and lost two places while McCarthy’s upward trajectory continued, he was seventh. McSweeney was twelfth overnight.

In contrast to the opening leg, conditions for Sunday’s nine stages were very wet. Cronin wasn’t impressed with his performance through both SS10 and SS11.  

‘I drove poorly in both, the grip levels are changing and I suppose I’m bearing the conditions in mind.’  

Cronin made a fine response on SS12 and arrived at the Wexford service park with a 15.5s lead over Declan Boyle. Although Michael Boyle retained third, his position was vulnerable as David Kelly impressed on the morning loop, cutting a previous deficit from 31.2s to a mere 4.8s. 

By the end of SS15 Cronin enjoyed a 17.3s lead over Declan Boyle and the Ballylickey driver was in control of his own destiny. Not surprisingly, Kelly moved into third.

Unfortunately, Cronin’s bid for back-to-back wins in Wexford ended on SS16 when his VW Polo GTi R5 developed an issue that was traced to a turbo sensor. The Ballylickey driver and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke struggled through the stage dropping from first to fourth.  

‘We fixed the problem after we finished the stage but we had lost too much time, we were a minute and 38.8s off Declan (Boyle) the new leader. There was no point in carrying. We’re gutted.’

Boyle completed the stage and led Kelly by 25.9s with Michael Boyle 6.8s further behind, the positions remained unchanged to the finish.  Kiernan was fourth while Tommy Doyle (Hyundai i20 R5) fashioned a fine recovery from a spin on Saturday to finish fifth.

Local drivers Cal McCarthy and Jason McSweeney were sixth and seventh respectively.

Afterwards, Cronin said, ‘We were gutted at the time, we were in control really and not doing anything silly, we were going away nicely, but I guess that’s rallying. A second win would have been nice and we were really enjoying it up to that point.’

Both Cal McCarthy and Jason McSweeney utilised the event as a shakedown for the forthcoming Cork ‘20’ Rally. McCarthy commented, ‘Apart from an overshoot on SS16 we had an untroubled run. It was good to get the different weather conditions. We certainly learned a lot from Saturday’s stages in the dry weather and the capabilities of the car at high-speed. I haven’t done much in wet conditions, so Sunday’s stages gave us that experience. I was glad to get through the whole event.’

Meanwhile, Jason McSweeney said, ‘I suppose I was a bit rusty, especially on Saturday, I wasn’t fully committed. I enjoyed the wet conditions on Sunday and made up a few places, I always enjoy those conditions. I was probably over thinking everything. I hit a bank and had a few overshoots, I hit a chicane too. Look, it was seat time ahead of the Cork ‘20’ and that’s important.’

Results: 1. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1h. 54m. 01.1s; 2. D. Kelly/D. O'Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5)+12.8s; 3. M. Boyle/P. McCrudden (VW Polo GTi R5)+21.6s; 4. G. Kiernan/J. McGrath (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 53.8s; 5. T. Doyle (Hyundai i20 R5)+3m. 30.6s; 6. C. McCarthy/Eric Calnan (Citroen C3 Rally2)+4m. 01.9s; 7. J. McSweeney/JJ Cremin (Skoda Fabia R5)+4m. 08.3s; 8. J. Pringle/P. O’Callaghan (Ford Escort)+4m. 38.1s; 9. J. Black/K. Egan (Toyota Starlet)+5m. 16.2s; J. Doogan/P. Lennon (Ford Escort)+5m. 52.4s.

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Inchigeelagh co-driver Eamonn Creedon and Monaghan’s Derek Mackarel (Ford Fiesta R5) can edge closer to the Sligo Pallets Irish Forestry Championship title with a strong result on Saturday’s Bushwhacker Rally in Monaghan. Most of the leading entries have chosen to run with a bigger restrictor (Class 11) and as a result will not be eligible for championship points.

The six-stage rally is the penultimate round of the series that concludes with the Clare Forest Rally on October 5th next. 

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The Skibbereen and District Car Club host a Loose Surface Autocross at Derryleigh (near Skibbereen) this Saturday. The organisers have opted to use an anti-clockwise route on this occasion. Scrutiny begins at 9am with a familiarisation run at 10.15am and the first timed run at 10.45am. 

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The seeded list for next week’s O’Connell Group Cork ‘20’ Rally was released last week. The top ten and local entries within the top twenty are as follows: 1. Callum Devine (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2); 2. Keith Cronin (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 3. Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2); 4. Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 5. Josh McErlean (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2); 6. Meirion Evans (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2); 7. Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5); 8. Desi Henry (Citroen C3 Rally2); 9. James Ford (Citroen C3 Rally2); 10. Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2); 11. David Guest (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 14. Owen Murphy (Citroen C3 Rally2); 17. Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5); 18. Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2).