CITROENS FOR CRONIN AND GREER
Two-car DGM and Pirelli-backed entry for Irish contingent
David Greer Motorsport will enter the British Rally Championship in 2016 with two Citroen DS 3 R5s for three-time champion Keith Cronin and fellow Irishman Jonny Greer.
The team has support from Citroen Racing, and the addition of the French marque means every R5-specification car manufacturer will be represented when the championship begins in Mid Wales next week.
Cronin is hoping that, despite his lack of recent experience on gravel, he can get up to speed quickly.
“It’s been a while since I competed on a gravel rally,” explained Cronin. “It’s probably two and a half years, so I’m sure it will take me a while to get the consistency again.
“It’s going to be really competitive, I think Elfyn [Evans] will be out front but just behind it’s going to be really close. It will be good to get back at it, I suppose I’ll be a bit rusty but some of the others will be in the same boat.”
Both Cronin and Greer competed on the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship on February 6, and with the ITRC and BRC sharing two rounds, the decision to enter the BRC was even easier.
“It’s quite handy because the ITRC runs the two BRC rounds,” added Cronin, who won the BRC in 2009/’10 and 2012. “It means we only have four extra rounds to do and it’s quite cost effective. We were always planning to do the Tarmac championship but then the deal came together for the BRC. It happened in the last few weeks.”
Greer – son of DGM founder and former ITRC competitor David Greer – believes the support of Citroen will be key to the Irish assault on the BRC.
“We’re getting a bit of support from Citroen Racing as well so they’re going to help us on the rallies so that’s really important,” said Greer. “The deal has been brewing for a while but it only started to pick up pace in the last week and a half. It’s very last minute but we’re happy about how it’s all come together.”
Greer also confirmed that an update is on the way from Citroen for the DS 3, but won’t be available immediately.
“The update probably won’t be until the middle of the year,” added Greer. “I think it’s being prepared for Portugal in the WRC. They’re trying to get us the kit as soon as possible as they want as many out there as they can get. They’ve been making changes to the cars since the DS 3 came out, they’ve really done a lot of work on the car already and it’s encouraging to know that there’s always something in the pipeline.”