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.”