Mallow's David Moynihan and Welsh ace Matt Edwards lead ...
The opening leg of the Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally was highlighted by the dominance of the Ford Fiesta Rally 2 cars of Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and Welsh ace Matt Edwards, but ended with contrasting fortunes for the Irish Tarmac Championship protagonists.
Edwards and his Mallow born co-driver, David Moynihan, hold an overnight lead of 12 seconds over the Derry/Killarney pairing of Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan, who are debuting a new Skoda Fabia Rally 2.
But there was heartbreak for Cronin and his co-driver, Mikie Galvin, when they crashed out on stage five, having assumed the lead on the previous test.
On the morning’s opening loop of three stages around Carndonagh, Edwards and Cronin set the template for the event and were only fractions of a second apart with the former quickest on each occasion.
On the opening Malin Head, Edwards, on board a brand new Fiesta, was just 0.7s up on Cronin, who scrubbed a chicane along the way.
On SS2 and SS3, Edwards gained 0.8s and 0.6s, to lead Cronin at the Carndonagh service by 2.1s, both drivers finding the second and third stages very greasy. While his Fiesta proved a handful over some of the bumps, Edwards was pleased with its performance.
Cronin reckoned he was a touch ragged on the first stage and on the second wasn’t fully confident due to the tricky conditions.
Meirion Evans and Ger Conway compete in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 during day one of the Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally Round 5 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship at Letterkenny in Donegal. Photo by Philip Fitzpatrick/SportsfileHaving being 5s down in fifth after SS1, Devine was getting to grips with the vagaries of his new car and by the end of the loop he was into third but 18s behind Cronin. Tyrone’s Cathan McCourt (Fiesta Rally2) occupied fourth followed by Josh Moffett (Citroen C3), who was stymied by issues with the pop-off valve.
Having set a strong time on SS1 Donegal’s David Kelly (VW Polo R5) spun on SS2 and didn’t have the tyres suited to SS3 and slipped to sixth place.
On the opening stage of the repeat loop, Cronin, who opted for full wets, moved 9s ahead of Edwards, who had chosen a cut slick and overshot at a junction. Cronin’s rally then ended on the next stage, an impact with a wall pulling a wheel off his Fiesta.
McCourt ended the day in third, 24.8s off the lead, with Moffett fourth despite his Citroen suffering power steering failure.
The rally continues on Saturday with eight stages and concludes on Sunday with a further six.
Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally (Round 5, Samdec Securities Irish Tarmac Championship) Letterkenny:
1. M. Edwards/D. Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 42m. 26.6s
2. C. Devine/N. O'Sullivan (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +12.0s
3. C. McCourt/B. Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +24.8s
4. J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) +52.8s
5. M. Evans/G. Conway (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +55.8s
6. D. Kelly/D. O'Sullivan (VW Polo GTi R5) +57.6s
7. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Citroen C3 Rally2) +1m17.9s
8. A. Wray/N. Burns (VW Polo GTi R5) +1m41.4s
9. M. Boyle/D. McCafferty (VW Polo GTi R5) +1m 54.0s
10. J. Ford/N. Shanks (Citroen C3 Rally2) +2m05.4s
