Keith Cronin on why a win this weekend is vital to retaining his Irish Tarmac Championship title
Cronin starts the third round in Killarney tied on points with Claudy's Callum Devine, who was triumphant on his return to the cross-border series at last month's Circuit of Ireland.
Late brake issues for Cronin — and a puncture on the penultimate test of the Easter event — handed Devine and his co-driving team-mate, Noel O'Sullivan, an unexpected victory. Afterwards, Cronin confirmed that he was using the Circuit as one of his dropped scores.
'From our side, we will have to give it our best to stay in the mix for the Irish Tarmac title,' said No.2 seed Cronin. 'The next two rallies, Killarney this weekend and June's three-day Donegal International, are set to be crucial to how the year unfolds for all of us.
'We have seen how fickle rallying can be, especially over the past couple of years. This year we have seen both sides again; we got the win in West Cork after Jon Armstrong had his engine problem after the final stage, then on the Circuit a couple of weeks ago we had the brake issues when we were leading with two stages to go — and we ended up eighth.'
Not only does Devine arrive in 'The Kingdom' fresh from his Circuit success, he is also the winner of the Rally of the Lakes for the past three seasons. If he can make it four, he would move to within one of equalling the record held by the late, great Bertie Fisher who dominated from 1990 until 1994.
Other notable entries include Josh Moffett in his Citroen C3 Rally2, Wales' Meirion Evans in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Rally2, and the triple British Rally Champion Matt Edwards who has decided to compete in honour of his grandmother following her recent passing.
'Callum and Noel started the year late, but they already have a maximum score from the Circuit of Ireland Rally, and they always seem to go well in Killarney —they have won there on each of the last three occasions,' continued Cronin.
'They have also won in Donegal for the past two years and if they were to repeat those results again this season, I think it would be very difficult for us to hold them back from going on and winning the Irish Tarmac Championship for a second time, if I am honest.
'Matt and David (Moynihan, co-driver) have had two non-finishes so far this year at West Cork and the Circuit of Ireland — they have nothing to lose by going all-out from now on.'
Saturday's leg of the International Rally of the Lakes incorporates three loops of three stages – 'Headford', 'Lisbabe' and 'Red Bog' – with the main field tackling classic closed road speed tests such as 'Molls Gap', 'Beallaghbeama' and 'Shanara' on Sunday.
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