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Written by From Crash.net
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Saturday, 06 April 2013 09:59 |
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Keith Cronin will make his competitive debut in the World Rally Championship next week when he kicks off his 2013 campaign on Rally de Portugal.
The triple British rally champion is contesting the WRC3 series this year – a special category within the main world championship for two-wheel-drive cars.
Alongside that, he's also competing in the Citroën Top Driver series which sees a host of the world's best young talent fight it out in identical Citroën DS3 R3 rally cars on control Pirelli tyres. The six-round challenge ensures the highest levels of competition with Citroën rewarding the winner with a six-event programme in its all-new R5 specification DS3 in 2014. It's a massive prize and Cronin will be up against eight other young hot shots all pushing with the same aim.
But the Cork driver, who is backed by Motorsport Ireland, is hoping his experience with the DS3 will put him in a strong position. He's dominated the British championship for three years but the step up to the world level is not an easy one – especially in Portugal.
Rally de Portugal is renowned for being tough on cars. The three-day event is based in Faro but most of the competitive action takes place in the hills above the popular holiday destination. The event is famed for its difficult stages, a mix of wide fast gravel roads and narrow twisty tracks, with hard bedrock surfaces testing tyres, cars and drivers to the limit.
But the roads aren't the only challenge Cronin and co-driver Marshall Clarke will face. It's position early in the season means Rally de Portugal often gets hits with torrential spring rain and last year's rally saw the normally dry, dusty roads turn to mud baths.
“This event is going to be a tough start to my world rally career but I've worked hard to get this far and I plan to make the most of the opportunity,” he vowed. “WRC3 and the Citroën Top Driver championship will both be very competitive and my focus for this first event is to get some points on the board and just take it stage by stage.
“Pacenotes will play a crucial part in the event and that's probably where I'm at a little disadvantage but we've been going through the event DVD to get a feel for the stages and the conditions we will face next week.
“The step up to the world championship is an exciting move for me and it's thanks to the support of my sponsors and supporters at home in Ireland that we've been able to get to this point.
“I will be trying my best next week and am focused on doing a top job for them and to ensure we have the best possible start to the series.”
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Maiden WRC drive in Galway. |
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Written by Croninmotorsport
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Tuesday, 29 January 2013 11:49 |
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British Rally Champion Keith Cronin is to compete in this weekend’s Galway International Rally, the opening round of the 2013 Irish Tarmac Championship. In a deal that was only organised within in the last week, he is set to make his World Rally Car debut in the Subaru S11 that was campaigned by Kerryman Thomas Fitzmaurice during the 2012 National Championship.
The deal will be see Cronin return to a 4 wheel drive car for the first time since the 2010 season when, on the same event, he sensationally led the rally after the opening stage in his Group N Evo IX. He has of course, most recently campaigned a front wheel drive Citroen DS3 in which he claimed his third British Rally title last year.
Speaking yesterday, having successfully completed a brief test in the Subaru he stated that he was looking forward to the event and the challenge of adapting to the car, which is of course, right hand drive. Apart from one event in 2010 he has exclusively driven left hand drive since 2007.
Keith said “We looked at a couple of options for Galway, but in the end the Subaru appeared to be the most practical car for the event. I was very happy with the testing that we did and it is an awesome car, so different to drive compared to the DS3. The competition in Galway will be tough, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
At the moment we are focussed on Galway and are not contemplating any Irish Championships, but there is a possibility that we will use the car on other rallies this year, depending on how this event goes. Our main focus this year is to compete in the Citröen Top Driver series in the WRC, but it’s very difficult to get a deal together at the moment”.
Keith will be co-driven in Galway by Marshall Clarke, who successfully guided him during the 2012 British Rally Championship. |
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Cronin heads to South of France. |
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Written by Croninmotorsport
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Tuesday, 20 November 2012 15:09 |
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Having been officially crowned British Rally Champion for the third time last weekend at the BRC awards, Keith heads to the south of France this week to compete on the final round of the French Citroen Racing Trophy, Rally du Var. The rally is based in the town of Sollies Pont, which nestles in the foothills of the French Alps near the Mediteranean coast.
The rally consists of 240km of competitive action over 13 stages and four days. There is a shakedown stage on Thursday evening before the real action begins. On Friday there is four stages followed by five on Saturday and the final three on Sunday morning. Two of the stages are over 30km in length and are used on both Saturday and Sunday. The stages are very technical with few straights and given the time of year and the terrain involved conditions are likely to vary dramatically.
Keith stated he was looking forward to the event and he will be free of Championship contraints so he can concentrate purely on the rally. He has had two previous outings in the French Citroen Racing Trophy Championship this season already but although his performance on both the tarmac and gravel surfaces were impressive, punctures on both occasions meant that he did not finish on the podium. On this occasion he will be co-driven by Craig Parry as his partner for this years Championship, Marshall Clarke is unavailable due to work commitments.
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Cronin becomes Champion as Cave and Pryce tie for first place in Yorkshire |
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Written by CroninMotorsport
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Saturday, 29 September 2012 16:59 |
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In a dramatic end to final round of the season – the International Rally Yorkshire - Ireland’s Keith Cronin has become MSA British Rally Champion for the third time, after he and co-driver Marshall Clarke crossed the line in third place and, in doing so, secured the 2012 BRC title.
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Cronin eyes BRC Hat-trick. |
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Written by Croninmotorsport
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Friday, 21 September 2012 06:39 |
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Keith Cronin heads to Scarborough this week to contest the ‘Trackrod’ International rally Yorkshire, the final round of the 2012 British Rally Championship. This will be Cronin’s fourth time competing in Yorkshire and each of the three previous occasions have marked milestones in his career as the former Double British Rally Champion will be attempting to capture his third British Rally Championship and in so doing become only the fourth person to score a British Rally Champion ‘hat trick’, joining Roger Clarke, Jimmy McRae and Mark Higgins.
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