Can Cronin and Glavin stop Devine and O’Sullivan’s hattrick on the Rally of the Lakes?
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan are aiming for a hattrick of Rally of the Lakes victories this weekend.
The winners of the Rally of the Lakes for the past two years, and reigning Tarmac champions are seeded at one for this weekend in their Volkswagen Polo GTi R5.
The Derry/Kerry crew prepared for the event by finishing second on Saturday’s Maiden City Rally, Devine’s home rally, but that was a short six-stage sprint and the Rally of the Lakes, over two days features 14 demanding stages.
The ‘Lakes’ opens with the iconic Molls Gap stage on Saturday morning – the famous test between Killarney and Kenmare features just once on the itinerary this year.
Two loops of The Healy Pass, Cod’s Head and Ardgroom follow during the day, with Service in Castletownbere after each run over the Healy Pass.
The final stage of the day is Kilmackillogue before the crews head back to Killarney for the overnight halt.
Sunday’s action is in the Rathmore and Gneeveguilla areas, east of Killarney, and features six stages in all, consisting of two loops of Gortnagane, Meentoges and Ballintourig, with one service in the middle of the day, at the Liebherr Container Crane factory in Fossa.
Devine and O’Sullivan will be followed over the Start Ramp in Killarney town centre on Friday evening by Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2.
With two wins achieved so far this year on the Galway International and West Cork rallies, plus a second-place finish recorded on the Circuit of Ireland, Cronin, and Galvin head to their native southwest this weekend for the Assess Ireland International Rally of the Lakes as leaders of the 2024 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
The Killarney-based event marks the halfway point of the Tarmac series, and while the Cork driver and his Kerry co-driver currently have the advantage at the head of the standings, they know they have a big fight on their hands if they are to stop Devine and O’Sullivan’s hattrick or prevent Circuit of Ireland Rally winners making it two victories in a row.
“Callum goes well on the Lakes, it seems to suit him, and of course, Noel, his co-driver, is a Killarney native, they’ll want the win after their couple of retirements in West Cork and on the Circuit of Ireland,” said Cronin when discussing his main challengers for rally and championship laurels.
“Matt’s season is coming together more and more, he was getting closer to the pace as West Cork went on, and then he beat us to the Circuit of Ireland. We can’t really let him steal a march on us in Killarney, because the Donegal Rally is next and he’s been very strong up there over the past couple of years.”
O’Sullivan, Cronin, and Galvin are all members of the organising club adding to the intrigue of the rally.
While the West Cork Rally might be termed as Cronin’s home event, some of the Saturday stages of the Rally of the Lakes, on the Beara Peninsula, are actually the closest of the year to his Ballylickey base.
“It’s certainly like a homecoming for Mikie and myself,” added Cronin.
“The Beara stages are near me, we’re both club members, and Mikie is from Killarney. One of my first motorsport events was a Killarney and District Motor Club Autocross in Doyle’s Quarry, as it was then when I was in my teens. While it will be nice to see local faces and to be on familiar ground this weekend, it actually counts for very little once you are in the car, the same effort has to be made to put in the times as it would anywhere else, be it in Galway or Scotland or wherever. In any event, I have not actually taken part in the Rally of the Lakes since 2016, and only three times altogether, so I cannot say I’ll know the stages any better than any other driver.”
Ger Conway is another local co-driver in the top ten, he is alongside former Rally of the Lakes winner Garry Jennings in another Ford Fiesta Rally2.
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