Experienced Cronin gunning for rare third success in Lakes

Few, if any, drivers have more experience of the terrain within the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes than Denis Cronin, himself a winner of the Killarney spectacular in 2010.

The Ballylickey ace made his rallying debut there in 1981 in a Mk1 Ford Escort, but now drives the same S11 Subaru his nephew Keith drove to victory in the Galway International Rally last February. That could give Denis the edge through the 15 special stages of the second round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

It has been confirmed, further to the cancellation of the Easter Rally, that the ITC will now consist of five rounds, with the best four to count.

Daragh O’Riordan is the top seed this weekend and seeks a hat-trick of wins, a rare feat in Killarney and only ever achieved by Billy Coleman and the late Bertie Fisher.

Another serious contender for the laurels is Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings, but only if he has sorted the handling of his S12B Subaru WRC that proved very difficult in Galway.

Strange as it may seem, no Kerry driver has ever won the Killarney event, but Abbeydorney’s Thomas Fitzmaurice can end the drought.

The Mitsubishis of Castleisland’s Alan Ring and Monaghan’s Sam Moffett round out the top 10.

The Group N contest will involve Josh Moffett (Mitsubishi), Sam’s younger brother. The trio were involved in a great dice in Galway, where Ring took the honours, and no doubt he will be keen to keep the Maurice O’Donoghue Memorial Cup in the Kingdom.

Another category that should provide competitive action is the Modified section. Clonmel’s Roy White (MG S2000) has been at the cutting edge of the category in the past few seasons. Opposition this time around is provided by Craig Breen, Frank Kelly, Mike Quinn and the Kerry quartet of Fergus O’Meara, Kevin O’Donoghue, Ed Murphy and Charlie Hickey, all in Ford Escorts. Galway’s JJ Fleming is a late entry, he is joint leader of the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Championship with O’Riordan.

The rally is also a round of the FIA European Historic Championship.

Lisburn’s Wesley Patterson (Escort), Millstreet’s Mark Falvey (Escort) and Frank Cunningham (Escort) head the Irish Challenge, with overseas opposition featuring Tomas Davies (Escort), Steve Perez (Lancia Stratos), Henrik Boivie (Escort) and Tony Jansson (Ford Escort).

The rally starts in Killarney at 6.30pm tonight, with tomorrow’s opening stage, Moll’s Gap, beginning at 9am. Rally HQ is at the Gleneagle Hotel.

Meanwhile, the British Rally Championship begins with the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation International Rally in Cumbria.

Reigning Billy Coleman award winner Daniel McKenna (Ford Fiesta) has plenty of opposition in the Citroen DS3s of Tom Cave, Osian Pryce, Mark Donnelly, Alastair Fisher, Jukka Korhonen and Jonathan Greer.

Round five of the World Rally Championship, Rally Argentina, continues today.

In circuit racing, Irish aces Colin Turkington and Aron Smith compete in the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton on Sunday, while Matt Griffin has outings in the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow and the British GT Championship at Rockingham on Monday.