A tactical tyre strategy on the part of Matt Edwards and David Moynihan helped them to victory on today's Circuit of Ireland Rally in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2. They finished the event with a 14.4 second margin over Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin in the M O’Brien Group of Companies/Lyons Motor Group/Shane Casey Electrical Services supported Fiesta. It is Cronin and Galvin who retain the lead of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship as the contenders head south again for the next round, the Killarney International Rally of the Lakes, at the beginning of May.
The event saw the lead change over between the two top crews a couple of times during the course of the day. Edwards and Moynihan headed the field after the opening stage, but only by .4 of a second from Cronin and Galvin, with Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan in third, seven seconds off the lead. Devine reported that his Volkswagen Polo cut out briefly on the stage, but was more concerned about his suspension set-up, which he found to be too soft.
Cronin and Galvin went fastest on the second stage, by one second, to lead Edwards and Moynihan by .6. The Killarney and District Motor Club crew added 1.3 seconds to their advantage on the next, while their rivals took back 1.7 on the fourth, to leave the gap at just .2 of a second heading to the mid-rally service in Dungannon. Devine and O'Sullivan crashed out on a stage three, seriously denting the reigning Tarmac champions' hopes of retaining their crown. This left Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes third on the leaderboard, despite a half minute time loss when they encountered cattle on the same stage.
With rain forecast for the afternoon, Edwards opted to suffer the additional weight of carrying two spare wet tyres for the second loop of stages. While Cronin was to add 4.5 seconds to his lead on stage five, Edwards' decision proved to be the correct one when the rain arrived ahead of stage six - the Welshman fitted the wets and went ten seconds faster than Cronin, to move into a lead he would not relinquish. "The heavens opened and we didn't have any wets as spares, we were on a cut slick, so it was a tough stage, Matt took a lot out of us in there", said Cronin. The penultimate test saw the rain ease but the roads remained wet in places, and Cronin remained on the back foot. "Matt made a really clever decision coming out of service, he brought two wets with him. We couldn't get temperature into our tyres in the drier sections, the wet sections just cooled the tyres completely", he reported. The gap stood at eight seconds going into the final stage, and Cronin opted to play the safer option. "There was too much in it starting the stage, we said we'd try to hold second and get the points", he conceded. "It's been a sprint, but it has still been a really tough rally", he added, in reference to the event's one-day format. "It's a good result for us in terms of the championship. Matt made an inspired decision for the second loop and gave us the jump, it was a good call by him".
Moffett and Hayes finished in third place in their Citroen, off the pace of the leading duo but comfortably ahead of Cathan McCourt and Brian Hoy, who finished fourth in a Fiesta.
Cronin now heads the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship standings with 61 points, Edwards is second on 41.5, and Moffett third on 39.
The attention of Cronin and Galvin now switches to the second round of the British Rally Championship, the Severn Valley Rally, which takes place in two weeks time.
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin are supported by M O’Brien Group of Companies, Lyons Motor Group, Shane Casey Electrical Services, Molson Equipment, Pirelli, EARS Motorsport Ireland, Cronin’s Centra (Ballylickey, Union Hall, Leap, Millstreet and Dundrum), Cronin’s HomeValue Hardware, Westlink Service Station and Daybreak Shop, Cremin Coaches, Keohane Seafoods, M-Sport and Wurth Ireland.
