CRONIN’S THOUGHTS AFTER A TROUBLED SEVENTH PLACE FINISH IN BRC OPENER

By Padraig Reddington, 

The opening round of the 2024 Probite Brakes British Rally Championship, the North West Stages Rally in Lancashire, has brought victory to English driver, Chris Ingram, and his American co-driver Alex Kihurani. 

They finished the event in their Volkswagen Polo GTi with a margin of 27 seconds over William Creighton and Liam Regan in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy Ford Fiesta Rally 2.  Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson rounded out the top three on their first outing in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2. 

Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin eventually finished sixth in theM O’Brien Group of Companies/Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services Ford Fiesta Rally 2 following a less than smooth event for the former winners of the British championship.

The second stage of the morning saw them pick up a puncture, and worse was to come on the following test when their Fiesta broke a driveshaft.  The weather for the afternoon loop turned much wetter, when they had gambled on a cut slick dry weather tyre. To add to their woes, the launch control and handbrake also caused trouble.

“It was just one of those rallies”, said Cronin at the finish of the final stage.  “We made a wrong tyre choice in the morning, and we were a bit braver for the second part of the day, but we were completely wrong, we were on slicks pretty much for that rain, so it was not enjoyable.  We were missing the handbrake as well, so we had to reverse in some of the hairpins.”

The attention of the Killarney and District Motor Club crew now turns back to the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, which resumes with the Circuit of Ireland next Saturday, based around Dungannon.

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