KEITH Cronin says competing close to home at round four of the Irish Tarmac Championship will count for very little despite viewing the Rally of the Lakes in Killarney as “a homecoming” for him.
Seeded at number two for the May Bank Holiday meeting in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, Cronin returns to event for the first time since 2016 this weekend where, once again, Mikie Galvin will be navigating.
The pair have so far lived up to their title favourite tag by dominating two of the first three rounds, winning the Galway International by 38.1 seconds and the West Cork Rally by close to a minute.
They had to settle for second best on March’s Circuit of Ireland to Matt Edwards, however, as cut Michelin slicks on damp roads – and a clever tyre strategy by the Welshman – ended their charge.
Cronin still managed to extend his lead in the title race to 19.5 points over Edwards in second, however, and put a further two-and-a-half points between himself and Josh Moffett who is using Killarney as one of his drop scores.
Although Moffett is absent, Edwards is joined on the entry list by last season’s Rally of the Lakes victor Callum Devine (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) as well as Jonny Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2), Cathan McCourt (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Declan Boyle (Citroen C3 Rally2), and Garry Jennings (Ford Fiesta Rally2).
“Callum goes well on the Lakes – it seems to suit him – and of course his co-driver is a Killarney native, so they will want the win after retiring in West Cork and the Circuit of Ireland,” says Cronin.
“As for Matt, his season is coming together more and more; he was getting closer to the pace in West Cork before beating us at the Circuit. We can’t allow him to steal a march on us in Killarney, because the Donegal Rally is next and he has been very strong there over the past couple of years.”
The iconic ‘Molls Gap’ opens proceedings on Saturday morning before crews tackle ‘Healy Pass’, ‘Cod’s Head’ and ‘Ardgroom’ twice and round off the opening leg with a run over ‘Kilmackillogue’. Sunday comprises two loops of three special stages: ‘Gortnagane’, ‘Meentoges’ and ‘Ballintourig’.
“It will be nice to see local faces and to be on familiar ground this weekend, but it actually counts for very little once you are in the car because the same effort has to be made to put in the times as it would anywhere else,” Cronin added.
I haven’t taken part in the Rally of the Lakes since 2016, and only three times altogether, so I don’t know the stages any better than any other driver.
“It will be a tough rally for everybody and the weather could go any way at this time of the year; there have been some very pleasant May Bank Holiday weekends, and in other years the rally has been run in dreadfully heavy rain.
“If it is extremely wet or very dry, then it is usually straightforward in terms of tyre choice but if it is in-between or if it is mixed, then things become more challenging.”
Killarney International Rally of the Lakes 2024 - Top Ten Seeds
1: Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
2: Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
3: Matt Edwards/David Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
4: Jonathan Greer/Niall Burns (Citroen C3 Rally2)
5: Cathan McCourt/Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
6: Declan Boyle/Patrick Walsh (Citroen C3 Rally2)
7: David Kelly/Dean O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
8: Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2)
9: Garry Jennings/Ger Conway (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
10: Michael Boyle/Dermot McCafferty (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)