Keith Cronin and Greg Shinnors were this evening crowned British Rally Champions 2009 bridging a 35 year gap since 1974 when the legendary Billy Coleman was the only other Irish driver to become Champion.

Their win came in fine style too, as they also swept to victory on the 'Trackrod' International Rally Yorkshire, when their closest championship rival, Mark Higgins, crashed out on the final stage. They went on to finish 21 seconds of ahead of Stuart Jones who made a Yorkshire return to the series.
The close battle that they had with triple British Champion began on the very first stage of the year in Wales in March when only 1.5 seconds separated them and it continued right to the last stage today, where a puncture for the Irish crew could have been enough to let Higgins take the title. It was a battle which saw both crews win three rallies and take two second places. They both had one non finish.
It would not have been possible to separate them were it not for the fact tht on the final round in Yorkshire points awarded are at a multiple of 1.5 of those on other events. This ensured that the Championship went down to the wire as  whoever finished in front in Yorkshire would take the laurels.
Higgins changed to a more modern car for the final encounter as he had learned earlier in the year that this West Cork man is difficult to beat on gravel. However, as early as on the opening stage, Cronin took a 13.2 second lead over his rival. He added another 3 seconds on the next stage and .7 on the third one before Higgins managed to pull back .2s on stage 4. Cronin continued to set the pace and entering the final stage his lead had grown to 36 seconds. The difference was then irrelevant when Higgins crashed out and Cronin was met at the stage end by about 40 jubilant fans who were on hand to congratulate the new BRC Champions.
Speaking at the finish he stated that he was disappointed that Mark Higgins had crashed and that he hoped that the crew were ok. He went on tho thank his family who have been so supportive of him in his rallying and also navigator Greg Shinnors for keeping him in check on occasions.. He also thanked his good friend,sponsor, and mentor, Mick Cremin ,of Cremin Coaches. Colm Grant of TTEC Rally Prep, who prepared the car meticulously prior to each event and kept it running smoothly. He also wished to thank each and every member of his Supporters Club without whom he would have been unable to attempt the Championship.