Reigning NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally champions, Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin, finished in eighth place on the Circuit of Ireland, after late dramas snatched away a seemingly certain victory. They had led the event for nine of its eleven stages in their Citroën C3, and had 36 seconds in hand over the Skoda Fabia crew of Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan, when they encountered brake issues approaching the penultimate test. They made efforts to bleed the system at the roadside, and were nine minutes late starting the stage as a result, incurring one minute and thirty seconds in penalties. They then picked up a puncture in the stage, which lost them further time, and saw them drop to eighth on the leaderboard. With no prospect of improving their overall position, they nursed the car through the final stage to make the finish. The outcome has cost them valuable points in their quest to retain the Tarmac Championship title.
Devine and O'Sullivan took the rally win, with Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy coming through to take second place in a Ford Fiesta Rally 2, ahead of Declan Boyle and Patrick Walsh in another Fabia.
"It was fine on the first stage after service, then when I was pulling away from the finish I noticed it," said Cronin of his brake maladies. "We tried to fix it, and I was driving very carefully on the next stage, but I had no handbrake or anything, I was having to drive in over things, and we got a puncture. It's very disappointing. We got some few points but it won't be a lot. Today will obviously have to be a dropped score from us," he added.
The Circuit started on Friday afternoon, with two runs over the Ivy Hill stage near Aughnacloy on the itinerary. Conditions were extremely wet, with patches of standing water waiting to catch out the crews. Cronin and Galvin set down a marker on the opener, going fastest by 9.2 seconds from Devine and O'Sullivan, with James Ford and Neil Shanks a further tenth back in their Citroën. The latter then undid their good work with an overshoot on the stage two, allowing Matt Edwards and David Moynihan (Hyundai i20N) through into third spot. Cronin and Galvin were fastest again on the second run, but only by a tenth from Devine and O'Sullivan.
Saturday's route consisted of three loops of three stages, south of Dungannon. The weather was equally as inhospitable as the previous day, causing more standing water and mud to be liberally scattered across the roads. Cronin and Galvin were fastest on the first four tests of the day, and had built up a margin of half a minute over Devine and O'Sullivan. As the leaders then moved to manage their advantage, Edwards and Moynihan upped the ante, and set a trio of fastest times, to move to within seven seconds of Devine and O'Sullivan. Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes (Citroën) had earlier challenged Edwards and Moynihan, before going off the road on stage five. Little damage was caused and they later returned to the field under SuperRally rules. The chase was then taken up by Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy (Skoda), but they fell back as Edwards and Moynihan smelt a chance of second spot.
The tumultuous penultimate test was to prove the undoing of three of the top four crews. Aside from the troubles of Cronin and Galvin, it also saw the retirements of Edwards and Moynihan, who damaged their Hyundai, and Doherty and Murphy, who picked up two punctures and could not continue, having only one spare on board their Fabia. Through the chaos emerged Devine and O'Sullivan, to take the Circuit of Ireland victory on what was their first appearance of 2025.
Cronin and Galvin's next scheduled outing will be the Rally of the Lakes in Killarney in two weeks' time, where they will be hoping to regain momentum in their defence of the Tarmac crown.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M O'Brien 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, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, Citroën Racing, and Race and Rally Motorsport. Their Citroën C3 Rally 2 is prepared and run by Tom Gahan Motorsport.
