Eleven years after he last won the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally West Cork driver, Keith Cronin, and his Killarney co-driver, Mikie Galvin took a decisive victory in the West over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Overnight leaders on Saturday, they were fastest on four of the day’s eight stages on their first outing in the Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services/M O’Brien Group Ford Fiesta Rally 2
They held an advantage of 15.6 seconds going into Sunday’s six further tests, which take place in the area around Monivea.
Cronin and Galvin previously won, the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2016 and are expected in Clonakilty for the West Cork Rally Mach for the second round.
Their closest challengers were Callum Devine and his Killarney co-driver Noel O’Sullivan, the reigning Tarmac champions, who finished 38 seconds in arrears in their Volkswagen Polo R5.
Intercom issues hampered some of their Saturday progress, and a puncture cost further time on Sunday.
Overall, they were happy with their result, their second-place finish was a vast improvement from their sixth-place finish in 2023 and put that down to both a new wet weather set-up and a switch to Michelin tyres.
Aghadoe’s Conor Murphy and his Rathmore co-driver Sean Collins came out second in the keenly fought National Rally.
The Ford Escort crew had to come from behind, they were third overnight and went much better than leader Frank Kelly over the wet and slippery roads.
Just five seconds separated the top three National crews as they entered the final 30km loop of two stages.
However a late mechanical issue ended Murphy’s challenge and he finished second to Kelly.
The Kerry man’s rally was all but over only for Kelly, sportingly, towing him back to service.
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Kerry Motorsport News 