A runner-up finish on a rain-shortened Cork 20 Rally was enough for Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin to secure the 2024 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
The final round of the championship was won by Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan, tying them on equal points with Cronin and Galvin. Both crews had three victories and two runner-up finishes to their names but Cronin’s fourth place finish on Killarney’s Rally of the Lakes clinched the title for the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew.
Heavy rain in Cork forced the crews to brave the elements on Sunday with demanding conditions across all of the Cork 20 stages.
Devine opened the road in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 and locked up on standing water leading up to a stage one chicane. The County Derry driver survived the moment to set the stage’s fastest time but his advantage was overturned by Cronin on the next test.
A brace of stage wins gave Devine a 10.4-second lead after Cork’s fourth test but Cronin was perfectly managing his second-place safe in the knowledge that was all he needed to seal his first Irish Tarmac title since 2016.
Devine extended his lead to 12.1 seconds on stage five before a spin on stage six pulled the front bumper off his Skoda. The 30-year-old still held the rally lead but the stage-time didn’t matter as event organisers decided to end the rally after five stages as road conditions continued to worsen.
The Cork 20 success is Devine and O’Sullivan’s third ITRC win in the past four events, marking a near-perfect second-half of the season. It wasn’t enough, however, to topple year-long championship leaders Cronin and Galvin who showed their skill since an opening round victory in Galway.
Matt Edwards and David Moynihan rounded out the Cork 20 podium, a further 25.2 seconds back. Their fifth top three finish of the year put them third in the standings at the end of their maiden Irish Tarmac campaign together.
Donegal’s David Kelly had threatened Edwards for third early on but crashed out of fourth on the fifth stage. England’s James Ford looked set to pick up the position but retired on the same stage with gearbox trouble hitting his Citroen C3.
World Rally Championship regulars Josh McErlean and James Fulton had an eventful day on their return to home competition. They lost over 40 seconds with a high-speed spin on stage one and a puncture on stage two.
Kelly and Ford’s exit propelled McErlean up to fourth on stage five before setting the fastest time on the soon-to-be cancelled stage six.
Cork’s Jason McSweeney and Liam Brennen
completed the top five in their Skoda Fabia, 13.8 seconds ahead of Declan Boyle
and Patrick Walsh’s fresher model.
Top five standings
1 Devine / O’Sullivan (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 38:12.3s
2 Cronin / Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +12.1s
3 Edwards / Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +37.3
4 McErlean / Fulton (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +1:11.8
5 McSweeney / Brennan (Skoda Fabia R5) +1:41.9
McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC
The McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC was also a two-horse race heading to its final round in Cork. Damian Toner led Frank Kelly by four points after his Ulster Rally victory a month ago.
It was Kelly, however, who stole a march on his modified rivals after a brave display of driving on the rain-soaked stages.
A hat-trick of fastest times on Cork 20’s opening loop gave Kelly an 11.9-second lead over Daniel McKenna after stage three. More importantly Kelly was 55.1 seconds ahead of Damian Toner who was down in fifth.
Toner’s Ford Escort Mk2 was struggling with a misfire on Sunday morning while a misted windscreen added insult to injury.
With a healthy margin in check, Kelly toned down his all-out attack. His fantastic drive, alongside daughter Lauren, through the opening loop proved enough to grab Cork 20’s modified victory, two seconds ahead of McKenna and Andrew Grennan.
In turn it gave the Father-Daughter duo the McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC title, their Cork 20 success combining with top scores in Galway and Donegal.
Conor Murphy completed the top three, 6.7 seconds ahead of visiting Scotsman David Bogie.
McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC results
1 Kelly / Kelly (Ford Escort Mk2) 40:29.1s
2 McKenna / Grennan (Escort) +2.0s
3 Murphy / Collins (Escort) +31.9
4 Bogie / Rowan (Escort) +38.6
5 Toner / Gallagher (Escort) +58.2
Sherwood Engines Historic ITRC
2022 Historic ITRC champions Neil Williams and Anthony O’Sullivan blitzed Cork 20’s opening stage, making a 20-second statement to the rest of the historic field. Philip Rogers and Sion Jones were their nearest rivals, eight tenths of a second ahead of Ray Breen’s Subaru Legacy.
Breen’s co-driver Damien Morrissey was up against O’Sullivan in the race for the Sherwood Engines Historic co-drivers’ title. Morrissey’s hopes ended for good when their Subaru suffered drivetrain failure on stage two, handing the co-drivers’ title to O’Sullivan.
Williams and O’Sullivan maintained their searing pace to finish Cork’s fifth and final stage with a 57.9-second advantage over Rogers and Jones.
Walter Dick and Meabh Griffin finished a further 14.4 seconds back while Maurice Meskell and Peadar Walsh completed the top five positions in their brace of Ford Escorts.
Sherwood Engines Historic ITRC results
1 Williams / O’Sullivan (Ford Escort RS1800) 42:40.9s
2 Rogers / Jones (Escort) +57.9s
3 Dick / Griffin (Escort) +1:12.3
4 Meskell / Meskell (Escort) +1:49.0
5 Walsh / Walsh (Escort) +2:01.1
Paul Browne Plant Hire & Civil Engineering Junior ITRC
Barry McIntyre and Brian Keohane claimed the Paul Browne Plant Hire & Civil Engineering Junior ITRC with a runner-up finish on the Cork 20 Rally.
McIntyre’s sole remaining title challenger Dylan Sheehan’s event never got going as his Honda Civic dropped over eight minutes with a tyre blowout on stage one.
As for the race for Junior Cork 20 honours, Darragh Walsh and Gary Leonard led by example from the first stage. A lockout of four stage wins secured a 39-second victory over champion McIntyre.
Catherine Walsh and Angiee Michniewicz had been second before McIntyre nipped ahead on stage four.
Paul Browne Plant Hire & Civil Engineering Junior ITRC results
1 Walsh / Lombard (Honda Civic) 44:52.6s
2 McIntyre / Keohane (Civic) +39.0s
3 Walsh / Michniewicz (Civic) +55.9
4 Roche / Roche (Civic) +1:17.5
5 Hallahan / Rea (Civic) +1:34.5
Words: ADAM HALL/ITRC Press Officer | Photos: SEAMUS COUNIHAN [Images must not be used in any way without prior written consent of the photographer]
