The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Killarney co-driver is first Kerry man to win Irish Tarmac Rally Championship
MIKIE Galvin and his West Corkbased driver, Keith Cronin, who is also a member of Killarney and District Motor Club secured the title on last weekend’s Cork “20” International Rally but their run to fourth place on the vent was anything but straightforward.
The Citroen D3 R5 crew lead the early stages of the Fermoy-based rally as they engaged in a battle with their main title rivals Alistair Fisher and Gordon Noble.
When the Ford Fiesta crew crashed out on Saturday afternoon the local crew knew they only had to finish in third place amongst the registered crews to secure the title. The set about maintaining a steady speed, without taking risks as the championship, not the event win , was the main goal for the weekend.
Late on Sunday, almost in sight of the finish, their Citroen suffered a puncture and dropped them to fourth overall and just a handful of second ahead of Jonny Greer’s similar machine. However, third-placed Roy White, recently crowned Irish national champion, was not registered to score championship points and Cronin and Galvin held station to secure the championship.
Galvin said: Winning the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is a huge thing for me. I’ve been watching this championship since I was a little kid so even to be involved not to mind win it is something special. I have learned so much this year from Keith and the Cronin family. The year had its ups and downs but thankfully we ended up on top.”
While Galvin admitted it may not be possible due the budget constraints, coming at the back end of the season, the pair now turn their Rally Waldvertel in Austria where they could compete against other European regional rally champions and an opportunity to add the European Regional championship to their CVs.
Other local award winners in Cork included Aidan Buckley/ Alan Doherty; brother and sister crew Andrew and Tara Duggan and father and son team Charlie and Johnny Hickey.
Meanwhile, Paul Nagle and Kris Meeke had a weekend of mixed fortunes on their latest World Rally Championship outing, The Tour de Corsica.
The Citroen factory team were incredibly quick on Friday and were they only crew to in the entire rally to really challenge event leader and World Champion elect Sebastien Ogier. However they picked up a puncture later in the day and dropped to 13th place. Their recovery drive was hampered by an accident on Saturday. The Kerry/Tyrone crew were able to re-join the rally on Sunday where they set fastest times.
Meeke said: “For me, it was very important to get back to top form [on Sunday] morning., I was pleased with my time on SS9 and I’m also happy to have won the Power Stage, even though the points are rather meaningless as I’m not competing in the championship. I’m looking forward to coming back to the Tour de Corse, to try and fight for the win.”
The Abu Dhabi Total WRT duo will continue its season at Rally de España (13-16 October) and their season will conclude at Wales Rally GB (2730 October, another event that was never part of their original 2016 plan. ROB Duggan and Ger Conway are also entered in the British round of the World Rally Championship and will use the same Vauxhall Adam that took them to the British Junior title this season.
Kerry Motor Club has announced details of its November 13 Kerry Winter Rally that is, for the 27th consecutive year, based at the Banna Beach Hotel. The rally is the final round of the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship.