Irish motorsport season gets underway with Galway International

THE Irish rally season kicks off this weekend with the Corrib Oils Galway International Rally and while there is plenty of Kerry interest throughout the entry list there is one notable absentee too.

Defending Irish Tarmac champion Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin will not be on the start-line early next Saturday morning.

The Killarney and District Motor Club crew sold their title-winning Citroen DS3 R5 over the winter and are remaining tight-lipped about their plans for the season ahead. Cronin and Galvin have been linked with the Cumbria-based M-Sport squad and a possible deal to drive its British championship-winning Ford Fiesta across the water this year.

Rounds two and three of the Irish series, namely West Cork and the Rally of the Lakes, clash with the Border Counties Rally and the Pirelli International Rally, the first two rounds of the British championship, making a dual-assault on both titles impossible.

Speaking at a recent Bantry sports stars award night, Cronin said: “It is all down to finances. The plan is to compete internationally but that is all I can say.”

His brother Daniel, another driver who employs a Kerry co-driver (Shane Buckley), has taken delivery of a Fiesta R5 and is expected to contest the British series this year.

Back to Galway, and the first Kerryman over the ramp on Saturday will be Kilcummin-based co-driver Damian Fleming who is on pacenote duty for Stephen McCann. The pair debuted another Ford Fiesta last November when they finished second on the Kerry Winter Rally and had an extensive test in Donegal two weeks ago. They start as car 11.

A late entry from Jon Armstrong ensures that Noel O’Sullivan Jr gets an early run this year. The Fermanagh / Kerry pairing are expected to contest two rounds of the World Rally Championship later this year but have been tasked by M-Sport to showcase the team’s new Fiesta RT2, a car aimed at the Irish junior market, in Galway this weekend.

Aghadoe’s Ed Murphy and his nephew John McCarthy are one of the leading entries in the national section of the rally in their Ford Escort. Pat Sheahan, a class-winner in the Irish Tarmac series a few years ago, returns in a newly acquired Renault Clio, while Glenflesk’s Brian Doherty is co-driving for New Yorker Martin Donnelly in a Toyota Corolla World Rally Car.

Junior drivers and co-drivers Mark Murphy, Shane McCarthy and Kieran O’Donoghue all feature in the under-25 element of the rally.

The event will run over two days and will have a total of 15 special stages. The demanding route consists of nine stages on Saturday on roads near Athenry with a further six stages being covered on the Sunday based in Tuam in north Galway.