BALLYLICKEY’S Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin clasped the Fisher Perpetual Trophy for the second time in eight years at the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship awards ceremony in the Avenue Hotel, Killarney.
The local crew of Ballinhassig’s Barry McIntrye and Rosscarbery’s Brian Keohane were presented with the Frank Meagher Trophy as the Junior Irish Tarmac Rally Champions while Ardfield’s Anthony O’Sullivan was the winning co-driver in the ITRC Historic Rally Championship.
Accepting the award, Cronin charted his ITRC season that began in style with victories in the Galway International Rally and the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally and second in the Circuit of Ireland. A puncture robbed him of a possible win in the Rally of the Lakes while he spun out of the Donegal International Rally. However, a fine win on the Ulster Rally paved the way for a shadowing of title rivals and defending Tarmac champions Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan on the Cork ‘20’ where Cronin and Galvin clinched the title.
During the acceptance of his award Cronin admitted that the Rally of the Lakes remains unfinished business.
‘I’m a member of the Killarney and District Motor Club and it’s always been an ambition of mine to win the rally. My uncle Denis won the rally in 2010. We (along with co-driver Mikie Galvin) were going fine this year until we punctured on the Ardgroom stage and that cost us the win,’ Cronin said.
They went on to finish fourth, and co-driver Mikie Galvin added, ‘After we got the puncture, I had some job trying to coax him to stay in the rally. But the season turned out great in the end.’
While Cronin remarked that he hasn’t fully decided on his plans for 2025, himself and his wife Linda are awaiting the arrival of their first child. However, he hinted that Galway could be on his itinerary and, of course, Killarney. He added, ‘There are a lot of people to thank for winning this championship. Tom Gahan Motorsport and all his team, my sponsors and so many people, without whom it would not have been possible.’
Meanwhile and for the second successive year, the top award in the Junior Irish Tarmac Rally Championship was won by a Cork crew with Ballinhassig’s Barry McIntrye and Rosscarbery’s Brian Keohane following in the footsteps of Clonakilty’s Darragh O’Donovan and co-driver Michael White. McIntyre/Keohane secured the title on the O’Connell Group Cork ‘20’ Rally.
Ardfield’s Anthony O’Sullivan had another successful season en-route to victory in the Historic Championship where he partnered overseas drivers Neil Williams, Meirion Evans and Tomas Davies, the latter winning the Driver’s title.
In the various classes, Kilbrittain-based Donal Dineen was presented with an award for finishing second in the M6 class within the Modified Championship where Kevin Kelleher was third in the overall standings. Clondrohid co-driver Eoghan McCarthy was third in Historic Category 3 and Ballyvourney co-driver Meabh Griffin was second in Historic Category 5.
Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh are amongst the award recipients at this Saturday night’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship awards presentation in Athlone.
Junior Irish Tarmac Rally champions Ballinhassig’s Barry McIntrye (right) and Rosscarbery’s Brian Keohane with the Frank Meagher Trophy.
***
Next season’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship will have a new title sponsor following the launch of the 2025 series at the Killarney Racecourse on Saturday last where it was revealed that NAPA Auto Parts will sponsor the seven-round series. Clonakilty Blackpudding were the last title sponsors of the series from 2014 to 2017.
Speaking at the launch TROA manager Sean Hayde, who is from Enniskeane, said, ‘This partnership marks the beginning of an exciting journey, one that promises to elevate our championship to new heights.’
From a local perspective, the Clonakilty Park Hotel will be a three-day event following the success of this year’s rally while the Cork ‘20’ Rally returns as a two-day event.
The Tarmac Rally Organisers Association (TROA) has also been boosted by the return of the Circuit of Ireland and the Ulster International Rally as two day events, this year, they were single day events. Blarney based chairperson of the TROA, Colman Hegarty said, ‘It’s certainly a great mix of events with both the West Cork and Donegal as three-day events and the remaining five rounds all back as two-day rallies. The points structure will remain unchanged and there are no plans to introduce tyre restrictions.’
The rounds of the 2025 NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship are – Round 1: Galway International Rally (February 1st/2nd); Round 2: Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally (March 14th-16th); Round 3: Circuit of Ireland (April 18th/19th); Round 4: Assess Ireland International Rally of the Lakes (May 3rd/4th); Round 5: Donegal International Rally (June 20th-22nd); Round 6: Ulster International Rally (August 15th/16th); Round 7: Cork ‘20’ Rally (October 4th/5th).
