Modern Tyres Ulster Rally 2024 Roundup
Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin displayed their Irish Tarmac Rally Championship credentials with a 15.4-second victory on Saturday’s 10-stage Ulster Rally.
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 partnership recorded their second Ulster win together, building a strong lead on the demanding, technical stages surrounding Newry.
Cronin’s consistency was crucial in his victory over recent Irish Tarmac pacesetters Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan, recording four stage wins and six second-fastest times over the event.
“It’s good to get the win,” reflected Cronin. “We had a good start to the championship but the last two rounds didn’t go great for us so it’s great to get the win here today.
“They were really tough stages, conditions were mixed, and on that last loop I didn’t think I’d have to push, but Callum started to push so we had to up it a bit again.
“I’m delighted with the result, they were some of the toughest stages you will come across.”
The Ulster Rally couldn’t have got off to a closer start with eight-tenths of a second covering the top four crews.
Matt Edwards won a similarly technical Circuit of Ireland Rally earlier this year and he was fastest out of the blocks on stage one, 0.2 seconds up on Cronin.
On stage two, Cronin sought out a neat and tidy approach in challenging Banbridge North conditions. The approach worked as he went fastest by 2.6 seconds to edge ahead of Edwards.
The Ulster Rally’s second test caught out two-time Tarmac Champion Josh Moffett. His Citroen C3 Rally managed to complete the test via a hedge and field. Lady luck was on his side as he survived without any damage but still dropped from third to fifth behind Callum Devine and James Ford.
The drama continued on Kilrea Hill as Matt Edwards’ early charge culminated close to the end of the Ulster’s third stage. His Ford Fiesta Rally2 clipped a bank, breaking a rear wheel on a trump stump in the process. The early retirement ends Edwards’ hopes of a maiden Irish Tarmac title.
Devine grabbed his first fastest time of the day on the same test, although he was concerned about the wear rate of his Skoda Fabia Rally2’s soft compound tyres. Rain had been expected on the Ulster Rally’s second loop of stages but instead crews encountered dry asphalt.
Devine could only manage the third-fastest time on Tyrone’s Ditches as Josh Moffett made it four different stage winners over the first four tests. Cronin had also opted for soft tyres and he took a steady approach to stage five to manage the package. Unbelievably the Galway and West Cork winner was able to win the stage by over ten seconds to extend his rally lead.
Completing the top three at the Ulster Rally’s halfway point, James Ford was glad to make it back to service after a collision with a pole on stage three. Moffett was hunting him down for the Citroen C3 Rally2 Trophy prize but remained ten seconds shy after a time-sapping overshoot into a bank on Babylon Hill.
Ford strengthened his grip on third with a stage win on Shinn Bridge but his hopes of a maiden Irish Tarmac podium ended with driveshaft failure on the next Banbridge North test.
Saturday afternoon rain showers kept the lead battle interesting with Ireland’s famous shiny tar proving an ever-present threat. An attacking Devine took 5.2 seconds out of Cronin’s lead on stage eight but it wasn’t enough to unsettle Cronin over the final two stages.
The Cork-Kerry crew’s latest success extends their Irish Tarmac Rally Championship lead to 15 points. They will travel to September’s Cork 20 Rally knowing a runner-up finish would guarantee them championship honours.
Moffett held onto third to move closer to Edwards in the ITRC standings and secure the top spot in the Citroen C3 Rally2 Trophy.
Eddie Doherty upped his pace on Saturday afternoon to take fourth with Scottish visitor John MacCrone rounding out the top five.
Top five standings
1 Cronin / Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 1:16:50.3s
2 Devine / O’Sullivan (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +15.4s
3 Moffett / Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) +1:55.9
4 Doherty / Murphy (Fabia) +2:29.0
5 MacCrone / Riddick (Fiesta) +3:55.3
McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC
Frank Kelly and Damian Toner arrived in Newry locked in a finely poised fight for the top spot in the McEvoy Motorsport Modified Championship. Kelly held a one-point advantage but immediately found himself on the backfoot against Ulster Rally expert Toner.A rear-right puncture cost Kelly vital time on the opening Shinn Bridge test after hitting a rock on the road a few kilometres from the end of the stage.
The puncture left the father-daughter duo of Frank and Lauren on a mixture of tyre compounds on stage two.Two stages in and the Kellys’ famous Baby Blue Ford Escort was 24.1 seconds behind Toner and co-driver Aodhan Gallagher.
Toner was resisting the temptation to go after two-wheel-drive leader Jason Black whose string of top times gave him a 19.3-second modified lead at the Ulster’s halfway point.
Instead, Black’s defence of his Ulster Rally crown from 12 months ago was spoiled by driveshaft failure with three stages remaining. The Toyota Starlet’s mechanical troubles handed Toner a modified lead he wouldn’t let go of, eventually finishing 29.7 seconds ahead of class five winners Oli Benton and Kyle Diffin.
Kelly salvaged a modified podium and runner-up championship points as he entertained the Ulster Rally spectators to keep his title hopes alive heading to the Cork 20 finale.
Modified standings
1 Toner / Gallagher (Ford Escort Mk2) 1:22:52.3s
2 Benton / Diffin (Escort) +29.7s
3 Kelly / Kelly (Escort) +55.8
4 Black / Dunlop (Toyota Starlet) +1:31.1
5 Devlin / McCarthy (Escort) +1:47.8
Sherwood Engines Historic ITRCA perfect drive of nine stage wins secured a two-minute and four-second Ulster Historic Rally victory for Ray Breen and Damien Morrissey.
Their stunning Subaru Legacy graced the Ulster stages in style to fend off threats through the day from Ford Escort pilots Hugh McQuaid and Tomas Davies.Breen’s second historic win of the year wasn’t enough to stop Wales’ Davies from claiming the Sherwood Engines Historic ITRC Drivers’ title with a round to spare. Davies’ top scores in West Cork and the Circuit combine with Saturday’s runner-up finish and podiums in Galway and Donegal to create an unassailable tally of Irish Tarmac results.
Davies’ Ulster Rally co-driver Anthony O’Sullivan now holds a 15-point lead in the co-drivers championship over Morrissey.
Hugh McQuaid and Martin Byrne had held second in the historic category before dropping out with fuel issues ahead of the rally’s third loop of stages.
That handed second to Davies with Jimmy Mills and Ashley Trimble grabbing a last-ditch podium. Mills had been fifth ahead of the Ulster’s final loop but set three second-fastest times in a row to snatch third from David Armstrong and Ivor Ferguson on the final test.
The father-son duo of Craig and Guy MacWilliam rounded out the historics’ top five, claiming first in the H2 category.
Historic standings
1 Breen / Morrissey (Subaru Legacy) 1:26:48.2s
2 Davies / O’Sullivan (Ford Escort RS1800) +2:04.7s
3 Mills / Trimble (Escort) +3:50.1
4 Armstrong / Ferguson (Escort) +3:56.1
5 MacWilliam / MacWilliam (Escort) +6:57.0
Paul Browne Plant Hire & Civil Engineering Junior ITRCBarry McIntyre and Brian Keohane’s runner-up place finish on their Ulster Junior Rally debut was enough to seal their second top Junior ITRC points of the season. It moves the Honda Civic duo to the top of the standings with Keohane clinching the co-drivers’ title with a round remaining.McIntyre finished one-minute and twenty seconds behind Ulster Junior winner Philip White who blitzed the field in his Nissan Micra.
Samdec Security International ITRC