BALLYLICKEY'S Keith Cronin is set to tackle this year’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship that begins with the Corrib Oil Galway International in three weeks’ time (February 3/4).
His presence in Galway, where he will steer an M-Sport built Ford Fiesta Rally2, is certain to provide a boost for the series. He became the first R5 driver to win the championship in 2016 (then sponsored by Clonakilty Blackpudding) sealing the title on the Cork ‘20’ International Rally.
Cronin, who will be co-driven by Killarney’s Mikie Galvin, has yet to decide if he will dovetail his Irish Tarmac exploits with an attempt to win the British Rally Championship for a record equalling fifth time.
‘Logistically, it’s less pressure in terms of the business to compete in the Tarmac series. We are working on a few things in relation to the British Rally Championship, but at the moment we are focussing on Galway,' he told The Southern Star.
He also explained the switch from the VW Polo GTi R5 he has campaigned since the beginning of the 2022 season to a Ford Fiesta Rally2 car.
‘The VW Polo is still a very fast car but there hasn’t be any development. M-Sport have a few upgrades and based on the car in the WRC2 series, it performs well.’
The car will be run by the County Tipperary based Tom Gahan Motorsport (TGM) outfit.
Cronin had only two outings last year - both in the British Rally Championship - finishing second to M-Sport factory driver Adrien Fourmaux (Ford Fiesta Rally2), who went on to win the series.
The lack of seat time is somewhat of a familiar situation for the Ballylickey driver, who reckons that last year’s ITRC duo of Callum Devine and Josh Moffett should again be the likely pacesetters.
Meanwhile, Cronin will renew his rivalry with former triple British Rally Champion Welsh ace Matt Edwards, who will also campaign a Ford Fiesta Rally2 as he too plans to contest the series.
Entries for the Galway International Rally close this Monday (January 15th).
In 2013, Cronin won the Galway event onboard an S11 Subaru WRC with Marshall Clarke as his co-driver.
See next Thursday’s Southern Star for more details on Keith’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship bid and other motorsport news.
