ITRC Cork International report
R5 machine guided to maiden victory in Ireland.
It was almost scripted that Marty Mccormack would give the Volkswagen Polo GTI a debut Irish rally win on the Cork ‘20’ International Rally, the concluding round to the 2019 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
Mccormack and his co-driver Barney Mitchell finished the 13-stage event with a winning margin of 18.5 seconds over the Skoda Fabia R5 of Welsh duo Meirion Evans/jonathan Jackson, with Jonny Greer/kirsty Riddick (Ford Fiesta R5) a distant third.
Two of the most iconic stages in Irish rallying, Kilnamartyra and Lough Allua, provided the backdrop to Saturday’s five stages that accounted for almost half of the event’s total length of 129.4 miles.
Callum Devine and Brian Hoy in their Fiesta R5 found a nice rhythm that yielded a 17.4-second lead after the opening two stages.
Meirion Evans (Fabia R5) slotted into second after he traded places with Daniel Cronin, who was 2.2s behind and admitted to being far too cautious on Lough Allua in his Fiesta R5.
Greer was next, and although he was slightly distracted by a noise from the gearbox, a check at service revealed nothing untoward.
Mccormack was relatively satisfied with the performance of the Polo as he occupied fifth, and at the Macroom service softer settings was the main engineering task.
Intent on gaining experience ahead of a full Tarmac season next year, Cathan Mccourt (Fiesta R5) was sixth but could have been higher were it not for the loss of brakes halfway through the opening stage and a spin on SS2.
Meanwhile, five-time Irish Tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly reckoned that the Proton Iriz R5 was becoming a potent machine and could be better served by a younger pilot, his lack of seat time and commitment preventing further progress.
Cronin was fastest on SS3, where Devine had a small spin and a subsequent visit to the grass verge on SS4, but he still managed to extend his lead to 27s with Cronin and Mccormack next in classification.
A code yellow weather warning materialised for the day’s final stage with a deluge of rain. Devine’s Fiesta suffered a broken rear-left driveshaft – less than a mile into the stage. Unsurprisingly, he looked disconsolate at the Macroom service park. “We’ll just have to try harder tomorrow,” he said.
Cronin struggled for vision as the windscreen misted over but he finished the day as rally leader, 20.8s in front of a constantly improving Mccormack. Evans was a further 3.9s behind with Mccourt – who as fastest through SS5 – Devine and Greer rounding out the top six.
Drier and sunnier conditions greeted the crews on Sunday morning but it wasn’t the only change, as within two stages Devine and Cronin were out.
Some loose gravel early on the day’s opening stage was enough to put Devine’s Fiesta off course, into a drain and, along with a front-left puncture, putting his bid for glory at an end. Cronin meanwhile had seen his lead whittled down to 7.5s by a charging Mccormack and, as he tried to stem the tide, he spun at high speed on a long left-hander which brought his demise when his Fiesta ended up in a drain with a broken steering arm.
After the opening loop of three stages Mccormack now led Evans by 4.8s with Mccourt slotting into third, only to retire on SS9 when he too ended up in a drain, allowing Greer to inherit third.
Evans stayed in touch and was fortunate not to lose time when he punctured close to the end of stage nine as Mccormack tacked on precious seconds.
He went on to become the 11th driver to notch up a maiden International win on the Cork ‘20’ event as Evans and Greer completed the top three.
Donnelly in fourth was delighted with a season-best finish as locals David Guest (Skoda Fabia S2000) and Denis Moynihan (Fiesta R5) rounded out the top six.
Andy Davies (Subaru Impreza) won Group N to seal the ITRC2 title as his rival Willie Mavitty broke a rear differential that scuppered his hopes.
William Creighton (Peugeot 208 R2) was sandwiched between the pair and Martyn England (Fiesta R5) netted the final spot in the top 10. Jordan Hone’s Fiesta R5 debut ended in 12th.