Motors: Cronin and Galvin return to Irish Tarmac Rally Championship with impressive win

WINNING RETURN: Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin (right) and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) won the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, the opening round of the Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.

Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin have been away from the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship since they won the series back in 2016. On board a Ford Fiesta Rally2 they returned to give a stellar performance on the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally winning by an impressive 38.1 seconds. They led from the start as reigning Tarmac champions Derry’s Callum Devine and his Killarney co-driver Noel O’Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5) finished second with Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes in a Citroen C3 Rally2 a further 13.1 further behind in third.

Cronin’s nine month absence from competitive action wasn’t an issue, he had the honour of posting the fastest time on the first stage of the Irish Tarmac Championship season. It was close, with just 2.6s covering a quartet that also featured Sam Moffett (Hyundai i20 Rally2), Calum Devine (VW Polo GTi R5) and Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2). Devine’s plight stymied by the lack of the intercom system. Josh Moffett was best through SS2 to join Cronin at the top of the leaderboard but he was concerned as his Citroen was bottoming out over the jumps. The first major retirement came on SS2 when Welshman Mat Edwards spun and damaged part of the front suspension.