Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin (Citroen C3) made it two wins in a row on the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally after a dramatic end to the event. Steering issues which cost Cronin time, along with a few scares along the way, saw Jon Armstrong & Shane Byrne (Fiesta) move into the lead on the second stage of the day at Glandore. Armstrong powered on, setting more fastest stage times and was 34 seconds in the lead coming off the last stage, only for his Fiesta to suffer engine failure. Despite being pushed into the final control by fellow competitors, Armstrong was later excluded from the results by the stewards due to having received outside assistance.
Cronin took victory as a result despite his problems during the day to get his Tarmac Championship campaign off to the perfect start after a very strong performance. He said after the event “I love the nature of the West Cork stages, and the rally was very well organized over the weekend”. Josh Moffett & Andy Hayes made it a Citroen 1-2 at the top of the results sheet after a good performance over the weekend. Eddie Doherty & Tom Murphy brought their Skoda Fabia home in the final podium position where once again Doherty showed great consistency.
The top six places were completed by David Kelly & Arthur Kierans (VW Polo) in fourth, Declan Boyle & Patrick Walsh (Skoda) in fifth with Cathan McCourt & Barry McNulty (Hyundai) in sixth. The national category was won by Simon Reid & John Murphy in their Ford Escort Mk2. The Historic category was won by Welsh crew Tomas Davies & Eurig Davies in their Ford Escort RS1800. The Junior Rally was won by Darragh Walsh & Gary Lombard in a Honda Civic.
Top 6 Overall After Day 3 (Final)
1 – Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin Citroen C3 2:00:21.0
2 – Josh Moffett & Andy Hayes Citroen C3 2:01:28.2
3 – Eddie Doherty & Tom Murphy Skoda Fabia 2:02:12.0
4 – David Kelly & Arthur Kierans VW Polo Gti 2:03:31.5
5 – Declan Boyle & Patrick Walsh Skoda Fabia 2:03:32.1
6 – Cathan McCourt & Barry McNulty Hyundai i20 2:04:06.8
(Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin photo courtesy of Kevin O’Driscoll)
