Maiden Galway win for Jennings as Impressive Cronin leads the championship

Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy in a Subaru WRC were the winners of the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally when they had over three minutes to spare over the Citroen DS3 R5 of Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin who now lead the championship. Alastair Fisher & Gordon Noble came home third overall in a Ford Fiesta R5 after a tough fifteen stage event where the weather conditions made life very difficult for the competing crews. While the attrition rate wasn’t as high as the first day, Desi Henry & Liam Moynihan who were fourth overnight retired on stage 10 when they crashed their Skoda Fabia R5.

The Modified section of the rally saw Wesley Patterson & Johnny Baird take the win by over a minute from Tom Flaherty & Patrick Curley, both in Escorts, while Jason McSweeney & Stephen Quin were third in a Mitsubishi Lancer. Eugene Meegan & Sarah Whelan had been leading overnight but crashed on stage 12. Ray Cunningham & Adrian Cusack won the Historic category in a Mini, while Kieran O’Donoghue & Peter Falvey won the Junior category in a Honda Civic.

Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship Standings after Round 1 (Provisional): – 1^st Keith Cronin 16, 2^nd Alastair Fisher 14, 3^rd Sam Moffett 12, 4^th Josh Moffett 10, 5^th Joe McGonigle 8.