LAST year he was the hunted in the race to be crowned the Irish Tarmac Rally Champion but going into this weekend’s Cork ‘20′ International Rally, Callum Devine says that he is happy to be the hunter.
With only one round and eight closed-road stages of the cross-border series remaining, the scales are tipped in favour of Keith Cronin who has a15-point lead ahead of Sunday’s decider when the dropped score rule is applied.
Cronin strengthened his grip on the Fisher Memorial Perpetual Trophy by winning August’s Ulster Rally to take his victory count in the competition with co-driving team-mate Mikie Galvin to three.
After a troubled start that returned two points on the West Cork and Circuit of Ireland, Devine has dragged himself back into contention by triumphing at the Rally of the Lakes in Killarney and – first time out in a newly-acquired Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 – the three-day Donegal International Rally alongside Noel O’Sullivan.
“It is simpler being the hunter in some ways because it is a case of having to go flat out and give it your best and see how it works out at the end,” said Devine.
“Making the trip to Cork is worth it.
“Needing a win doesn’t make the job any easier but from a purely mathematics – and approach – perspective, it is straightforward. I know I need top Irish Tarmac points if I am to hold onto the title.
“If I can get the win, I really need another crew that is registered for points to do me a favour and come between us otherwise my two DNFs from earlier in the season are set to count against me.”
For Devine, getting out in front early and staying there is the priority as that will immediately apply pressure on Cronin, who needs to shadow him home in second place if that is how they finish. Should another points-scoring crew comes between them and Devine is triumphant, the title will return to Claudy.
Cronin says he is all too aware of that but concedes the job is going to be harder than some may give him credit for, particularly as he did not tackle the event 12 months ago, whereas Devine did – and won.
“This year’s route is the same as the Sunday stages in 2023, so Callum has something of a head start,” the 2016 champion said. “He has his pace notes that he can just fine tune and his in-car camera footage to look at – I didn’t do any of the rounds last year, so I am starting from scratch.”
Those that might have a say in the destination of the title include Josh Moffett (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Circuit of Ireland winner Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta Rally2).
An already strong line-up has been helped further by the return of Meirion Evans (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and Kilrea’s Josh McErlean who is using the Cork ‘20′ as a warm-up for his next WRC2 outing at the Central European Rally (October 17-20).
Cork ‘20′ Rally – Top Seeds 1. Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 2. Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 3. Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) 4. Matt Edwards/David Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 5. Josh McErlean/James Fulton (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 6. Meirion Evans/Ger Conway (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 7. Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 8. Desi Henry/Shane Byrne (Citroen C3 Rally2) 9. James Ford/Neil Shanks (Citroen C3 Rally2) 10. Declan Boyle/Andy Hayes (Skoda Fabia Rally2)
