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Keith and Greg had a very exciting and drama packed couple of days on the roads around Clonakilty over the Saint Patricks Day weekend. They eventually finished fourth overall and were resounding winners in both Group N and in the Evo Challenge.
With the first round of the British Rally Championship only two weeks away, the primary aim of competing on the West Cork Rally was to get some competitive stage miles on both the car and the crew in order to ensure that they are both ready for the years first trip across the Irish Sea. It was also an opportunity to entertain Keiths legions of supporters in the general West Cork area, who rarely get to see him in action locally.
In the days before the rally it was decided that he would also register for the Irish Evo Challenge. This was decided because, by doing the West Cork Rally(rounds 1 & 2), and doing the Ulster Rally(Rounds 7 & 8) he will have completed 4 of the 6 rounds required. The prizes for winning each of the individual rounds are also worth competing for as a set of Pirelli tyres is awarded to the winner of each round. The overall prize of course is a drive in a Foley Motorsport Evo X in selected rounds of the Tarmac Championship 2010.
On the first stage of the rally they signalled their intent by stopping the clocks with a 2nd fastest time. Liam McCarthy being the only one to beat them. Things did not go so well however, on stage two, as at a crucial moment the wipers smeared dirt across the windscreen rather than clearing it and Keith failed to brake in time for a square left and went into a field. Although there was no cosmetic damage, there appeared to be some damage to a suspension and they limped through the remainder of the stage dropping about 1m50s in the process.
Having repaired the offending part in service they set the pace on the next two stages, beating eventual rally winner, Liam McCarthy by 12 seconds on stage 3. On the following Stage it was Uncle Denis who was their closest pursuer. He was .6 of a second slower than the Group N car. A steady run through the next stage was followed by a huge 5th gear spin on stage 6. Following the spin the car was blocking the road and refused to restart. Mindful of the following cars approaching, Greg got out of the car and ran back the road to warn the next competitor. As the next car was approaching Keith managed to restart the car and pulled in to the side of the road, however by the time Greg had got back in and was belted up etc. nearly another 2minutes were lost. They decided that a steady run was best over the final 2 stages of the day and there were no more heroics as they were 3rd and 4th fastest on the final two stages of the day, finishing 5th overnight.
The time lost would potentially have seen them lying 2nd overnight.
On Sundays first stage they matched Liam McCarthy to set equal fastest time on the stage. They again matched him on the second run through that stage. On the next stage(12) they were again faster than anyone else and in the process, they overtook Phil Collins and took 4th place. This was a position that they did not relinquish and over the remaining stages were 2nd fastest, 3rd fastest, second fastest again and on the final stage they finished off the rally with another fastest time. This meant that over the course of 16 stages they had punched in 6 fastest times. This has never before been achieved by a Group N car on this Island!!!
Denis and Helen had a steady run to third overall. They were slow off the mark on Saturday morning and dropped 40 seconds to rally winner McCarthy on the first two stages. They recovered and set a string of second and third fastest times and without ever topping the time sheets, missing out by split seconds, they finished Saturday in a strong third place and their pace on the final 6 stages, if taken alone, would have seen them leading the rally. On Saturdays final stage Helen had to hold the gear lever whilst in 5th gear as the gearbox began to give trouble. This problem was exacerbated on Sunday mornings second stage when they lost 5th completely. By the end of the rally the car was only remaining in 2 gears voluntarily and either of the crew had to hold the gearlever in position when using the remaining gears. Despite this they completed Sundays stages without dropping too much time and they retained their position of third overall, but were it not for the gearbox problems they would have been challenging for the lead! As for Keith and Greg; They completed Sundays Stages 6 seconds faster than Rally Winner Liam McCarthy!!
They finished 4th Overall.
They won Group N on the rally by a margin of almost 10 minutes.
They won Saturdays Evo Challenge Round by 3.5 minutes.
They won Sundays Evo Challenge Round by 14 minutes
They won the respect and admiration of rally spectators all over West Cork!!
Top ten Results
1 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) 133m 42s,
2 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR) 134m 17s,
3 Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 135m 14s,
4 Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 137m 25s,
5 Phil Collins/Derek Brannigan (Ford Escort Mk II) 138m 59s,
6 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Ford Escort Mk II) 144m 02s,
7 Kevin O’Donoghue/Joe O’Leary (Ford Escort Mk II) 146m 44s,
8 Daragh O’Riordan/Sean McCarthy (Renault Clio S1600) 147m 00s,
9 Thomas O’Rourke/Tomas Scallan (Honda Civic R3) 147m 09s,
10Tomas Davies/John Smithwick (Ford Escort Mk II) 147m 46s. Stage Winners
SS1 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
SS2 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
SS3 Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS4 Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS5 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR)
SS6 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
SS7 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR)
SS8 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
SS9 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
& Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS10 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR)
SS11 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
& Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS12 Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS13 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR)
SS14 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC)
SS15 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR)
SS16 Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) |
