Cork driver, Keith Cronin, and his Killarney co-driver, Mikie Galvin, have taken second place on the East Riding Rally in Yorkshire, the opening round of the Probite Brakes British Rally Championship. They finished the event 23.8 seconds behind the victors, William Creighton and Liam Regan, and 9.2 seconds ahead of James Williams and Ross Whittock, who completed the podium positions.
The event was Cronin and Galvin's first outing in the M O'Brien Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services Citroën C3 Rally 2, and the Yorkshire rally also saw the crew's return to Michelin tyres after a year away. The current Irish Tarmac Rally champions exercised caution throughout the day, in damp, and later very wet, conditions. Despite having to give best to Creighton and Regan, the result marks a significantly better start to their BRC campaign than that of last year, when various issues limited their points haul on the first two rounds.
"Going into this rally, my hope was for a podium finish, so this is a good result to get the year under way, after the first couple of rounds went so badly for us in 2024," said Cronin. "I think we struggled a bit at the start today, it's still not 100% clicking, but I think with a bit more fine tuning we'll get there. In general I'm very happy with the way things worked out. There's a lot to learn with a new car and new tyres."
The attention of Cronin and Galvin turns next to the West Cork Rally on St. Patrick's weekend, which will kick off the 2025 Irish Tarmac Championship following the postponement of the Galway Rally earlier this month. They won the event last year on their way to the Tarmac title, and will be bidding for a repeat performance in three weeks time.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M Group of Companies, Shane Casey Electrical Services, Michelin Tyres, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Daybreak Westlink, Cronin's Swift Laundry Centre, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, Citroën Racing UK and Ireland, and Race & Rally Motorsport. Their Citroën C3 Rally 2 is prepared and run by Tom Gahan Motorsport.
