Motorsport: Cronin relishing return to 'fast and flowing' Wexford challenge 

The Ballylickey man is top seeds at a rally he's enjoyed success before. 

Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin (VW Polo GTi R5) and his Dunmanway co-driver Donnchadh Burke are the top seeds for this weekend’s Wexford Volkswagen Rally. Picture: Martin Walsh.

The Wexford Volkswagen Rally is the only Irish rally outside those within the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship to retain its annual status since a new Irish rally calendar was introduced at congress in 2021. At the time of the changes, the Wexford Motor Club argued that their event had its own niche and justified annual inclusion while some 20 other rallies were changed to biennial status. Through patience and strong counter argument, the Wexford club’s stance paid dividends and with over 150 crews entered for this weekend’s two-day event (although its overseas entry seems to have dropped) now seems well justified.

Last year’s winner Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin (VW Polo GTi R5) is a fan of the event, “Yes, it’s one of my favourites, the route is very compact, three stages repeated three times on both days.” His reasoning is understandable. “It was my biggest win to date and my first two-day rally win also. It will be tough this time, probably even tougher than last year as it’s a very strong entry. The stages are fast and flowing, but they can be tricky too as they are through farming country.” 

Last year, Cronin had a good battle with local driver James Stafford (Darrian T90 GTR), who is a former winner and always performs well on local terrain. However, they are unlikely to have it all to themselves.

Donegal’s David Kelly (VW Polo GTi R5) has shown a measured improvement this season illustrated by his podium finish in the Donegal International last June. Although Derry’s Desi Henry (Citroen C3 Rally2) hasn’t enjoyed any real good fortune this far, he is well capable of victory provided he avoids mishaps and overcomes reliability issues. Donegal’s Michael Boyle (VW Polo GTi R5) and his father Declan (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) are next off the start line followed by Stafford, who will be hoping for dry conditions to maximise his chances. The entry also features Gary Kiernan (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Aidan Wray (VW Polo GTi R5), Tommy Doyle (Hyundai i20 R5) and Jason McSweeney (Skoda Fabia RS) and Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2). The start times are 10.09am (tomorrow) and 9.36am on Sunday.

Following an impressive top-10 finish in last weekend’s gruelling EKO Acropolis Rally, considered to be the toughest event of the series, Derry’s Josh McErlean competes in this weekend’s Overmountain Rally, a round of the ARA National Championship in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Kilrea driver swaps his Toksport run Skoda Fabia for a PCRS prepared Hyundai i20 N Rally2 with Cork’s Eoin Treacy calling the pacenotes. On a previous visit, McErlean finished third in the Olympus Rally in 2021. “This will be a highly technical rally with tight twisty stages, which should suit the Rally2 car.” 

Other Irish drivers competing are Enda McCormack (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), Paul Rowley (Ford Fiesta S2000) and Seamus Burke (Ford Escort). There are fourteen stages over the two legs.

After almost 11 weeks, the results of the Donegal International Rally (with the exception of the Historic category) were finalised on Friday evening last. It also appears that during last week, three competitors were hit with fines of €200 each in relation to re-fuelling outside the designated zone. There’s been no explanation for the delays. Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner understands the exclusion of car No. 304 (Tommy O’Connell/Paul Hughes) in the Historic section is the subject on a national court of appeal. The TROA have requested an explanation from Motorsport Ireland in relation to the results but so far haven’t got a response.

Elsewhere, results of the recent Galway Summer Rally have been updated. Following the completion of the event on Sunday September 1, rally winners Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty were shown to have competed in a Citroen C3 Rally2 when in fact they were in a Hyundai i20 R5. While the results have been updated, they are still shown incorrectly on the event’s start times. Indeed, the pair are also still shown as winners of the Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally (July14) in a Citroen when, once again, they campaigned a Hyundai i20 R5 to victory.

The results provider has to rely on the information supplied.