The Severn Valley Rally marked the first foray of the year onto gravel for the British Rally Championship field, and it was Osian Pryce and Rhodri Evans who scored a popular local victory in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2. For Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin, it was their first event on the loose in over twelve months, and prior to the start of the rally, Cronin expressed the hope of scoring a podium finish, but was mindful of the difficulty his lack of gravel running would present. Chris Ingram and Alex Kihurani, winners of the opening BRC round in Lancashire last month, were fastest on the opening stage in their Volkswagen Polo GTi R5. Pryce and Evans then went quickest in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2 on the second and third tests, moving into the lead. Cronin and Galvin held third after stage two in the M O’Brien Group of Companies/Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services Ford Fiesta Rally 2, six seconds behind the leading duo, who were separated by just .4 of a second at that point.
From there on, things began to unravel for the Killarney and District Motor Club crew. They lost third to William Creighton and Liam Regan on stage three, and then had a troubled fourth stage, suffering a spin and impacting with a log pulled out on the road by some of the earlier cars. Following Service in Builth Wells, the crews tackled three further stages in the afternoon. The first of these, the short three mile Sarnau test, saw Cronin and Galvin take second fastest time, 1.6 seconds off Creighton and Regan, who were quickest. On stage six, Myherin Main, Cronin and Galvin picked up a puncture, and lost seven minutes having to change the wheel. This put paid to any prospect of a good result, and they finished the rally outside of the top ten in the overall results. Coupled with a troubled seventh place finish on the North West Stages Rally last month, it has not been the best of starts to their British Championship season, and the Cork-Kerry crew have it all to do if they are to be in the final shake-up for the 2024 title.
"It's been a long time since I had a good run on any rally in Wales, and this one has been no different," said Cronin at the finish of the Severn Valley. "We got a puncture, I don't know where we picked it up. There were some big rocks in the stage, they were like four inch stone, you had to drive over it, so I'm only assuming that's where we got it. We didn't touch anything. It was the back right, there was a fast left hander, and the car just moved, we took another one and it moved more. We had a sort of slow puncture, I don't know where it started. We had to stop and change it. Everything was going wrong, the car fell off the jack, it has not been a good start to the BRC for us, although the last time we won the championship we had a similar start to the season," he added. "I think we need to work on the gravel. We were getting back into it, but I can definitely hit the ground running faster on tarmac because I've just done more of it, whereas with gravel I've done so little of it over the last few years. We might have to do some other rallies on gravel if we want to be competing in it."
Creighton and Regan eventually took second place overall, ahead of Ingram and Kihurani, with James William and Ross Whittock taking fourth in their Hyundai i20 N Rally 2. Ingram complained that his Polo's suspension set-up caused a lack of grip where the conditions were wet, but the Severn Valley may well have been his last event in the car, as he is awaiting delivery of a new Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2.
The British Championship contenders will next convene in the Scottish Borders for round three of the series, the Jim Clark Rally, on the final weekend in May. It is an event Cronin has previously won, in 2022. "I like the Jim Clark, hopefully our luck will change there," he concluded.
Prior to their trip to Scotland, the attention of Cronin and Galvin will revert to the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the Killarney International Rally of the Lakes on May 4th and 5th. They currently lead that series having taken two wins and a second place from the first three rounds.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M 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.
(Photo: Jakob Ebrey Motorsport Photography)
