At the end of Day 2 of the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally, the opening round of the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, defending Tarmac champions Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin hold a slender lead of just 7.5 seconds, in their Citroën C3. They have been at the front since the event got underway on Friday evening, but throughout Saturday they have been coming under increasing pressure from Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne, who were fastest on four of today's eight stages in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2.
Matt Edwards and David Moynihan had earlier been the the closest challengers to Cronin and Galvin, but they slid their Hyundai i20N off the road on the third stage this morning. Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes complete the podium places in another Citroën, 45 seconds off the lead, and a similar margin ahead of fourth placed Eddie Doherty and Tom Doherty, in a Skoda Fabia.
Six stages remain to be completed in the rally tomorrow, consisting of two loops of the Ardfield, Glandore and Sam's Cross tests. The first of these will get underway just before 11am. Cronin and Galvin will have to decide whether to prioritise Irish Tarmac championship points, or to fight the advances of Armstrong and Byrne, who are using the event as a warm up for the European Rally Championship and are not registered for the Tarmac series. "We have been tweaking the car a bit, I think we're making improvements all the time," said Cronin. "We have a nice gap to the second in the championship," he added, referring to their advantage over Moffett and Hayes.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M Group of Companies, Shane Casey Electrical Services, Michelin Tyres, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Daybreak Westlink, Cronin's Swift Laundry, Cremin Coaches, Reens Rathmore, Keohane Seafoods, Citroën Racing, and Race and Rally Motorsport. Their Citroën C3 Rally 2 is prepared and run by Tom Gahan Motorsport.
