Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan secure extraordinary victory in Circuit of Ireland Rally

There was an abundance of drama on the penultimate stage that had major consequences for three of the then top four crews.

Sun, 20 Apr, 2025 - 14:38

Martin Walsh

In one of the most extraordinary finishes in its illustrious history, Derry's Callum Devine and his Killarney co-driver Noel O'Sullivan took their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 to victory in the Circuit of Ireland Rally following an abundance of drama on the penultimate stage that had major consequences for three of the then top four crews.

The most significant surrounded long-time leaders Ballylickey's Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin, who began the stage with a 36.6s lead over Devine but brake issues and two punctures cost them some four and half minutes as they eventually finished eighth overall.

Welsh ace Matt Edwards (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) and co-driver David Moynihan along with Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) co-driven by Tom Murphy, also retired on the same stage.

In the end, Devine finished a minute and 24.9s ahead of the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Kesh driver Garry Jennings and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy with Donegal's David Kelly (VW Polo GTi R5) and Monaghan's Arthur Kierans - a minute and 1.1s further adrift in third.

Cronin began Saturday's nine stages with a 9.8s lead over Devine. Once more, conditions were wet and slippery with grip a major factor on the three runs over a loop of three stages to the south of Dungannon.

Rally leader Cronin had a moment on the day's opener at Drummond where standing water lurked in several spots, however, he still set the pace and actually extended his lead over Devine to 14.2s.

It was more of the same for the other two stages as Cronin arrived at the service park 25s ahead of Devine. Given the conditions, neither were taking any risks as Devine commented: "I'm finding it hard to commit, especially under braking, I'm not prepared to stick my neck out, it's tricky."

Edwards, 27.1s further behind in third opined he was seeking that something extra to click. Climbing two places, Doherty slotted into fourth and given that he didn't compete in the event last year, he was happy with his performance. He was followed by Preston's James Ford (Citroen C3 Rally2), who reckoned he just couldn't find a rhythm due to the lack of grip.

On the second loop and with the rain easing, Cronin's domination of fastest stage time was broken on SS 7 where Edwards topped the time sheets on "The Hollow" and again on SS8, the second run through "Sweathouse."

At the final service Cronin's advantage was 39.4s. "There's less standing water out there now. We softened the car at the last service, it's still very slippy and there's grip in places."

Devine found the muddy conditions difficult. "I struggled a bit to adapt to them."

Meanwhile, Edwards had moved to within 9.7s of the Derry driver courtesy of his two stage wins that gave him encouragement to chase down second spot.

Doherty, with new tyres fitted, continued in fourth as Garry Jennings' upward spiral brought him to fifth. Having punctured on the first loop, David Kelly (sixth) lost further time when he overshot and stalled on SS7.

On the first stage of the final loop (SS9) and with Cronin seemingly having a solid lead and following the cuts to avoid any potential damage from the broken tarmac, the focus switched to the battle for second as Edwards cut the deficit to Devine to 6.4s.

However, as Cronin drove away from the finish of SS9 (36.6s ahead) his Citroen developed brake problems (possibly cylinder failure).

"We tried to fix it, I was driving very carefully on SS10, I had no handbrake or anything, I was having to drive in over things."

Agonisingly for Cronin/Galvin, their Citroen sustained two punctures, the first (front right) after around two and a half miles and the second (rear left) 1.5miles later and they lost some four and a half minutes.

But that wasn't the end of the drama. Edwards hit a kerb that damaged the rear right linkage of his Hyundai that ended his rally while a puncture brought Doherty's rally to a conclusion.

Devine, who went on to win from Jennings and Kelly said: "Obviously, it's a shame for Keith, he was going well. I've been in that position before. It's been over six months since I've been in the car.

"I was probably trying to rush it (pace) today, I knew I had a lot to do, trying to find the right braking points, Matt was putting a bit of pressure and then, so much happened on that stage."

Circuit of Ireland Rally (Round 2: NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship) Dungannon:

1. C. Devine/N. O'Sullivan (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)1h. 39m. 28.5s

2. G. Jennings/R. Kennedy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 24.9s

3. D. Kelly/A. Kierans (VW Polo GTi R5)+2m. 26.0s

4. P. Barrett/D. Kelly (Citroen C3 Rally2)+ 2m. 56.9s

5. M. Boyle/D. Mullen (VW Polo GTi R5)+3m. 22.6s

6. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+3m. 31.4s

7. R. Loughran/G. Doherty (Ford Fiesta R5)+5m. 12.2s

8. K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Citroen C3 Rally2)+5m. 34.8s

9. B. Morris/D. Curran (Darrian T90 GTR)+7m. 53.1s

10. J. Mulholland/R. Farrell (Ford Fiesta Rally3)+8m. 54.2s.

NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (Provisional positions after Round 2)