Tyre choice key to Circuit of Ireland Rally win for Matt Edwards and David Moynihan
Welsh ace Matt Edwards and Mallow native David Moynihan guided their Ford Fiesta Rally2 to victory on the Circuit of Ireland Rally, the third round of the Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.
An inspired tyre choice proved the key to unlocking victory on the Circuit of Ireland Rally for Welsh ace Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Mallow native David Moynihan.
In a riveting contest through eight stages of the Dungannon countryside where the lead changed on three occasions, they finished 14.4s ahead of the similar car of Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin. Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2) and co-driver Andy Hayes were a minute and 31.7s further behind in third.
Edwards and Cronin quickly set the competition template, the Welsh driver eked a slender 0.4s lead over Cronin on the opener only for the latter to top the time sheets on the following pair of stages to lead by 1s.
Top seed Callum Devine (VW Polo GTi R5), who began SS3 some 8.2s behind leader Cronin, clipped a rock and retired with wheel damage. Edwards was best on SS4 to trim the deficit to Cronin to a mere 0.2s, it was evident that the leading duo were setting a strong pace - new third placed Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2) was 39.7s off top spot, his time for SS4 was amended after he was slowed when he encountered cattle on the stage. Carryduff’s Jonny Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2) was 6.4s further behind.
With bright blue skies overhead, the prospect of the predicted afternoon showers seemed less likely. Edwards departed the Dungannon service park with two wet compound spare wheels strapped down in the rear of his Fiesta. Cronin gained 4.5s from the 7.32mile repeat of Ivy Hill (SS5) to stretch his advantage to 4.7s - given how close they were in the previous four stages - it appeared a significant gain.
However, the darkening skyline unleashed a ferocious downpour of hailstone that changed the narrative. Prior to the start of SS6 (The Hollow) Edwards shod his Fiesta with the spare wet compound tyres - crossed - to the right front and the rear left. On stage, he extricated a commanding 10.6s advantage that turned a 4.7s deficit into a 5.9s lead.
Cronin’s slick spare tyre saw him re-evaluate the situation especially when Edwards extended his lead to 8.2s on the penultimate stage. “The gap was too big, fair play to Matt, he made a good tyre choice and it worked.” said Cronin.
Moffett took third - a minute and 31.7s further behind and for the third time his season he annexed third placed championship points. The tricky conditions caught out the Citroen duo of Greer and Kilrea’s Desi Henry, who crashed out on SS6 and SS8 respectively.
Their demise promoted Omagh’s Cathan McCourt (Ford Fiesta Rally2), who was on his first rally in some seven months, to fourth followed by Kesh driver Garry Jennings, who lost time when his Fiesta punctured earlier in the day.
Armagh’s Jason Black (Toyota Starlet), who was sixth, survived a final stage puncture to win the Modified category by 3.1s from Donegal’s Mark Alcorn (Ford Escort), who was penalised 10.4s for a jump start on SS5.
In the World Rally Championship, Finland’s Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota GR Yaris) was an impressive winner of the Safari Rally Kenya finishing a minute and 37.8s ahead of his Toyota team mates Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta and his Northern Ireland co-driver Aaron Johnston to complete a Toyota 1-2.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux finishing third for a second successive event. Despite a troubled event, championship leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 Rally1) in fifth managed to extend his lead over Elfyn Evans to six points.
1. M. Edwards/D. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 1h. 11m. 46.3s; 2. K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+14.4s; 3. J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2)+1m. 46.1s; 4. C. McCourt/B. Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+2m. 11.5s; 5. G. Jennings/R. Kennedy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+3m. 43.2s; 6. J. Black/K. Egan (Toyota Starlet)+4m. 51.0s; 7. M. Alcorn/D. Curran (Ford Escort)+4m. 54.1s; 8. D. Toner/A. Gallagher (Ford Escort)+6m. 13.9s; 9. J. McGonigle/C. Geaney (Citroen C3 Rally2)+6m. 31.7s; 10. C. Murphy/S. Collins (Ford Escort)+6m. 48.5s.
K. Cronin 61pts; 2. M. Edwards 41.5pts; 3. J. Moffett 39pts.
1.K. Rovanpera/J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h. 36m. 04.0s; 2. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 37.8s; 3. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Ford Puma Rally1)+2m. 25.1s; 4. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+4m. 20.2s; 5. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+10m. 17.5s; 6. G. Greensmith/J. Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+18m. 05.4s; 7. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+19m. 28.5s; 8. O. Tanak/M. Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+21m. 02.0s; 9. J. Serderidis/F. Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1)+26m. 13.3s; 10. K. Kajetanowicz/M. Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+26m. 34.4s
1. T. Neuville 67pts; 2. E. Evans 61pts; 3. A. Fourmaux 46pts; 4. O. Tanak 33pts; 5. K. Rovanpera 31pts; 6. T. Katsuta 30pts.
1. Toyota Gazoo WRT 131 pts; 2. Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 127pts; 3. M-Sport Ford WRT 72pts.
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