Current Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader, Keith Cronin, has opted to expand his programme for 2024, and is to mount a challenge for the British Rally Championship title with co-driver, Mikie Galvin. The Killarney and District Motor Club duo got their season off to the best possible start at the beginning of February, taking victory on the opening round of the Tarmac series, the Galway International Rally, on their first outing in the latest version of Ford Fiesta Rally 2, and will now add the six British rounds to their schedule. The first of the BRC events will be the North West Stages Rally, based in Garstang, Lancashire, taking place on March 22-23.
"Our original ambition was to concentrate on the Irish events this year, the plan was to return to the BRC in the future", said Cronin. "In conjunction with our partners, we have reached a decision to take on the two championships, and I am very grateful to them for their support". Cronin previously won the British Rally Championship in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2017, and was runner-up in 2022. Only Jimmy McRae has more BRC titles to his name, with a tally of five. Cronin was also Irish Tarmac Champion in 2016.
The 2024 British Championship calendar will consist of six events across England, Scotland and Wales, held between March and October. The BRC is unique in Western Europe in that it is a dual-surface series, having some rounds on gravel and some on tarmac, and this year features an even split of three and three. "I enjoy the mix of different surfaces in the BRC, it adds to the challenge", noted Cronin. "I like the Irish events too, they are usually longer and obviously there is less travel involved for us. It will be a major undertaking to take on the two series, but this opportunity has arisen and I am very much looking forward to it," he added.
Cronin is one of an elite group of five drivers who have won both the Irish Tarmac Championship and the British Rally Championship, along with Russell Brookes, Billy Coleman, Mark Lovell and Jimmy McRae.
The BRC management team has recently announced that the championship will be televised on the free-to-air terrestrial channel, ITV4. The package will include a dedicated one-hour highlights programme after each round of the series, to be broadcast at prime time, with further later repeats, plus an end of season round-up programme. In addition, the coverage will have availability on the accompanying online catch-up service, ITVX.
In advance of their first outing across the Irish Sea, the attention of Cronin and Galvin is firstly focused on round two of the Irish Tarmac Championship, the West Cork Rally, which will take place over St. Patrick's Weekend. This year sees the event expand to a three-day format for the first time, with four stages on the Friday afternoon and evening, followed by the traditional eight on Saturday and six on Sunday.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are being supported during 2024 by M O’Brien Group of Companies, Lyons Motor Group, Shane Casey Electrical Services, Molson Equipment, Pirelli, EARS Motorsport Ireland, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Westlink Service Station and Daybreak Shop, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, M-Sport and Wurth Ireland.
2024 British Championship Calendar
22-23 March: North West Stages Rally – Garstang, Lancashire
13 April: Severn Valley Stages Rally – Builth Wells, Powys
24-25 May: Jim Clark Rally – Duns, Scottish Borders
9-10 August: Grampian Forest Rally – Banchory, Aberdeenshire
30 August-1 September: Rali Ceredigion – Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
26 October Cambrian Rally – Llandudno, Conwy
