Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin (Citroen C3 Rally2) made it two wins in a row on the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally after a dramatic end to the event. Steering that cost Cronin time, along with a few scares along the way, saw Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Fiesta Rally2) move into the lead on the second stage of the day at Glandore. Armstrong powered on, setting more fastest stage times and was 34 seconds in the lead coming off the last stage, only for his Fiesta to suffer engine failure. Despite being pushed into the final control by fellow competitors, Armstrong was later excluded from the results by the stewards due to having received outside assistance.
Cronin took victory as a result despite his problems during the day to get his Irish Tarmac Championship campaign off to the perfect start after a very strong performance. He said after the event: “I love the nature of the West Cork stages, and the rally was very well organized over the weekend.”
Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes made it a Citroen one-two at the top of the results sheet after a good performance over the weekend. Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy brought their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 evo home in the final podium position where once again Doherty showed great consistency.
The top six places were completed by David Kelly/Arthur Kierans (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) in fourth, Declan Boyle/Patrick Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) in fifth, with Cathan McCourt/Barry McNulty (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) in sixth.
The national category was won by Simon Reid/John Murphy in their Ford Escort Mk2. The Historic category was won by Welsh crew Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies in their Ford Escort RS1800. The Junior Rally was won by Darragh Walsh/Gary Lombard in a Honda Civic.
Overall West Cork Rally Results
01: K. Cronin/M. Galvin (Citroen C3 Rally2) – 2h 00m 21.0s
02: J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) + 1m 07.2s
03: E. Doherty/T. Murphy (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 evo) + 1m 51.0s
04: D. Kelly/A. Kierans (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) + 3m 10.5s
05: D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) + 3m 11.1s
06: C. McCourt/B. McNulty (Hyundai i20 N Rally2) + 3m 45.8s
07: K. Eves/C. Melly (Ford Fiesta Rally2) + 3m 53.6s
08: C. McCarthy/E. Calnan (Citroen C3 Rally2) + 5m 14.5s
09: O. Murphy/J. O’Mahony (Citroen C3 Rally2) + 6m 04.9s
10: M. Boyle/D. McCafferty (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) + 6m 11.8s