Devine and Cronin battle for supremacy at West Cork Rally

Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan in their VW Polo GTi R5 during day one of the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally.

Reigning Irish Tarmac champions Derry’s Callum Devine and Killarney’s Noel O’Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5) and current championship leaders Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) are locked in a scintillating battle for supremacy in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally, the second round of the Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Through the opening leg of four stages they traded times, with Devine holding a 6.3s overnight advantage. Welsh ace Matt Edwards and his Mallow born co-driver David Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) are 30.6s further behind in third.

Road conditions on the opening stage that began near Ballinascarthy varied from very dry with good grip to wet and slippery and streaming water. Devine proved best on the tricky stage where his VW Polo GTi R5 had some understeer. Cronin was cautious where it was slippery and declared that he wasn’t prepared to be too brave, he finished the stage 5.5s behind with Edwards, who lost a bit of time, a further 5.8s back in third. Top seed Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2) was fourth - a fraction of a second behind Edwards as he took no risks. Jonny Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2) in fifth had a moment as World Junior Rally champion William Creighton (Ford Fiesta Rally2) completed the top six.

Cronin headed the time sheets on SS2 where the conditions were much drier, he moved to within 3.6s of Devine, who was cautious under braking. Cronin was happy with his pace, particularly at the latter end of the stage. Moffett had a steady run that saw him move into third - 14.8s behind Cronin and just 0.6s ahead of Edwards, who softened the suspension of his Ford Fiesta Rally2. Creighton and Greer traded places.

Punching in the best times on the two night stages, pushing hard through SS4 Devine eked out valuable seconds to lead overnight by 6.3s. Moffett dropped significant time on both stages and slipped to sixth as Edwards reclaimed third followed by Creighton and Greer. The remaining top ten places were occupied by Donegal’s Declan Boyle and David Kelly, Kilkenny’s Eddie Doherty and Ovens ace Owen Murphy.

Meanwhile, a request to Motorsport Ireland president Aiden Harper on whether the governing body’s application for €15m government funding to host potential rounds of the World Rally Championship from 2025 to 2027 was successful, failed to generate a response. MI had set last Thursday as the cut-off date for an announcement from government.

Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally (Round 2, Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Rally Championship) Clonakilty: 1. C. Devine/N. O'Sullivan (Polo GTi R5) 25m. 25.8s; 2. K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+6.3s; 3. M. Edwards/D. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+36.9s; 4. W. Creighton/L. Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+53.8s; 5. J. Greer/N. Burns (Citroen C3 Rally2)+1m. 03.4s; 6. J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2)+1m. 04.0s; 7. D. Boyle/ P. Walsh (Citroen C3 Rally2)+ 1m. 28.8s; 8. D. Kelly/D. O'Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5)+1m. 43.0s; 9. E. Doherty/T. Murphy (Skoda Fabia Rally2)+1m. 44.4s; 10. O. Murphy/ A. Nestor (Citroen C3 Rally2)+1m. 46.5s.