The Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew of Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin stormed to victory on the Modern Tyres Ulster Rally to strengthen their grip on this season’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship title.
Thousands of fans lined the stages of the Northern Ireland Motor Club event to see the pair record what could be a pivotal result in the battle to be crowned champions of the cross-border series.
Their margin over the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of runners-up and defending Irish Tarmac champions Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan was 15 seconds after 10 stages totalling 83 competitive miles.
They took control of proceedings on the second speed test from the similar car of Matt Edwards and Dave Moynihan and were never headed from that moment on. Their dominance on the lanes around Newry highlighted by the fact they recorded quickest times on almost half of the stages.
Speaking at the finish, Cronin – a winner of the Ulster Rally back in 2017 with the same team-mate – said: “It is great to get the win – I am delighted with the result. Those were some of the toughest stages that we have come across this season – and the mixed conditions added to the challenge.
“We had a great start to the Championship but the last two rounds have not gone well for us, so we needed this result. I would not say we are in control now because there are so many anomalies because in sport anything can happen but yeah, we needed a win here and this one feels good.
Second place at the Northern Ireland Motor Club meeting for Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan keeps their Irish Tarmac title defence dream alive with only September’s Cork ‘20’ International Rally remaining. The newness of their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 combined with changeable road and weather conditions always meant maximum points was going to be a tall order – and so it proved.
A three-horse race effectively became a two-horse affair after Matt Edwards and David Moynihan retired from the third stage of the Ulster Rally. Their participation was over as soon as it started when an impact with a bank on ‘Kilrea Hill 1’ damaged the rear hub on their Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Edwards’ demise, and
mechanical failure for the Citroen C3 Rally2 of James Ford on stage seven,
elevated double Irish Tarmac Champion Josh Moffett up to third at the finish.
His perseverance after a brief trip into a field, a puncture, and then an
overshoot was handsomely rewarded with a cheque for €5,000 (£4,260) for being
the top Citroen Racing C3 Rally Trophy contender home.
The meteoric rise of 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship Modified Champion
Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabis RS Rally2 Evo) continued as he was satisfied with
fourth overall, the seat time and mileage proving useful ahead of his next
outing at the Galway Summer Rally on September 1st. Rounding out the top five
was Scottish duo John MacCrone and Kirsty Riddick (Ford Fiesta Rally2); they had
been sixth but gained a place on the penultimate speed test after a heavy
compression over a jump inflicted terminal suspension damage on Jason Dickson’s
Ford Fiesta Rally2 machine.
In the National section of the event, Welshman Steve Woods and Kenny Hull were the clear victors and, as the second highest ranking Citroen C3 Rally2 crew on the final leaderboard, claimed second-place prize money in the Citroen Racing C3 Rally Trophy to the tune of €3,000 (£2,556).
There was drama – and heartbreak – in the Modified race, meanwhile, as propshaft failure for the Toyota Starlet of Jason Black and Karl Egan sidelined them on stage seven of ten and handed the spoils to Damian Toner and Aodhan Gallagher (Ford Escort Mk2). Black had once again shown electric pace and held a near 20-second advantage before disaster struck on ‘Banbridge North 2’. “It is really unfortunate how it ended for Jason but I will take a win when I can get it,” said Toner. “I am over the moon to come away with the victory at the end of what has been a tricky day.”
Elsewhere, in the Micra Challenge – a one-make series specifically for the Japanese supermini – Philip White and Liam Callaghan came out on top by more than half a minute from Stanley Orr and Jane Edgington. Barry McIntrye and Brian Keohane (Honda Civic) won the Ulster Junior Rally.
Reflecting on the 47th
instalment of the Modern Tyres Ulster Rally, Clerk of the Course Wayne
Turkington said: “Once again, the Ulster Rally has delivered for both the fans
and the competitors.
“The Modern Tyres Ulster Rally has a fearsome reputation for challenging the
very best crews from right around the world and last weekend’s event not only
ensured that long-held tradition continued, it also vindicated the decision by
organisers to revert to a single-day format for this year – providing a real
gruelling, flat-out day of competition which has already had plenty of praise
from those who took part.”
Modern Tyres Ulster Rally
– Top 10 Results
1 Keith
Cronin / Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 1h 16m 50.3s
2 Callum Devine / Noel O’Sullivan (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) +15.4s
3 Josh Moffett / Andy Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2)
4 Eddie Doherty / Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 Evo)
5 John MacCrone / Kirsty Riddick (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
6 Steve Wood / Kenny Hull (Citroen C3 Rally2)
7 Cal McCarthy / Eric Calnan (Citroen C3 Rally2)
8 Damian Toner / Aodhan Gallagher (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
9 Oli Benton / Kyle Diffin (Ford Escort Mk2)
10 Frank Kelly / Lauren Kelly (Ford Escort Mk2)
