The contenders for the European and British Championships have come together for Rali Ceredigion, which got underway this evening in Wales, with two runs over a short spectator stage in Aberystwyth. On the first of these, Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin clipped a tonne bag of gravel on the exit of a corner after theirM O’Brien Group of Companies/Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services Ford Fiesta Rally 2 bottomed out on the approach and threw them off line. They were still second fastest of the British Championship runners, and seventh overall, but the car picked up damage from the encounter, which affected their performance on the second run.
It was not a completely clean run on the Stage 2 either, with the Fiesta clipping a bale at a chicane. “We probably have damaged something on the left front, we’ll check it at Service,” said Cronin of the handling of the car after its Stage 1 impact. “But we got through the second one okay.” With only fifteen minutes of service time available in the morning before the action resumes, the Tom Gahan Motorsport mechanics will have to act fast to get the car back to its best.
European Championship leaders, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, head the overall standings in their Hyundai i20N, by 1.3 seconds from the Italian crew of Andrea Mabellini and Virginia Lenzi, in a Skoda Fabia RS. Chris Ingram and Ales Kihurani lead the British Championship runners, in fourth overall. Cronin and Galvin are eleventh overall overnight, but still just 5.9 seconds off the time of Paddon and Kennard. They are fifth among the BRC contenders.
The crews will tackle eight stages tomorrow, with four more to follow on Sunday. Full British Rally Championship points will be awarded from the classification at the end of the Saturday stages, and again from the total times of the Sunday route. The first test tomorrow is due to commence at 9a.m..
Kerry Motorsport News 