CRONIN AND GALVIN TAKE VICTORY IN GALWAY ON IRISH RALLY RETURN
CRONIN AND GALVIN TAKE VICTORY IN GALWAY ON IRISH RALLY RETURN
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin have won the Galway International Rally, in the Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services/M O’Brien Group Ford Fiesta Rally 2, by 38.1 seconds from Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan in a Volkswagen Polo R5. The event marked former title holder Cronin’s return to the Irish Tarmac Rally series, having spent recent years taking part in rounds of the British Championship, and it was also his first event in the latest version of the Fiesta Rally 2.
Cronin, who previously won in Galway in 2013, set the fastest time on the opening stage on Saturday, being initially challenged by Sam Moffett in a Hyundai. Josh Moffett then drew level with Cronin at the top of the leaderboard on stage two, but thereafter the Cork driver put in a couple of remarkable times, faster by eight and six seconds on two of the afternoon stages to establish a useful buffer to the rest of the field. Devine took up the chase with an aggressive tyre choice on Saturday afternoon, setting a couple of fastest times to leave the overnight gap at fifteen seconds.
Sunday morning saw Cronin make full use of his talents in the very wet conditions to pull away from the opposition, and he and Galvin had a trouble free run to victory. “We haven’t done a rally at this level in Ireland for a long time, I certainly didn’t expect to win here, it’s just fantastic”, said a delighted Cronin at the end of the final stage. “The new Fiesta just clicked, we got the set-up good for here, the Pirelli tyres worked well, we actually used the same type of tyre all weekend”, he added.
The Tarmac Championship moves on next to Cronin’s home ground and the West Cork Rally on St. Patrick’s weekend. “Hopefully everything will work as well there as it did here, and it might be drier than it was this weekend, but then again I go well in the wet, so it might be okay if it rains too”, Cronin remarked.
Behind Devine and O’Sullivan, Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes took third place in Galway in their Citroen C3 Rally 2, fending off Desi Henry and Stuart Loudon in another Citroen, who had a couple of moments on the final stage.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by Lyons Motor Group, Shane Casey Electrical Services, M O’Brien Group of Companies, Pirelli, EARS Motorsport Ireland, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Westlink Service Station and Daybreak Shop, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, Molson Equipment, M-Sport and Wurth Ireland.
Lyons of Limerick
Shane Casey Electrical Services LTD
M O’Brien Group Of Companies
Pirelli
Pirelli Motorsport
EARS Motorsport Ireland
Cronin’s Ballylickey
Cronin’s Centra Leap
Centra Union Hall Cork
Cronin’s Hardware Ballylickey
Westlink Service Station Cork
Cremin Coach & Mini Bus Hire
Keohane Seafoods
Keohanes’ Seafood Shop, Cork
Molson Equipment
M-Sport
Würth Ireland Ltd.
Kerry Motorsport News 