WRC heads for Sardinia

Paul Nagle and Craig Breen are in Sardinia this weekend. Round 5 of the World Rally Championship takes place on the gravel roads of the Italian island.

The seaside rally returns to Alghero for 2022 and began on Thursday with Shakedown, followed by a brand-new single super special stage in the evening. Friday will see crews tackle two passes of four stages, including the rally’s longest, totalling 133.56km in distance.

Saturday’s itinerary is similar in length, covering a distance of 131.82km across eight stages. The event will wrap up on Sunday with four final stages, including the Power Stage, which offers additional points to those who finish in the top five.

Cronin and Galvin lead British Rally Championship

Killarney and District Motor Club members Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin won the Jim Clark Rally in their Volkswagen Polo GTI, and in the process took the lead in the British Rally Championship.

They finished the event with a victorious margin of 47.8 seconds over James Williams and Dai Roberts in a Hyundai i20.

The win gives a Cronin a major boost in his quest to draw level with the five British titles tally of record-holder, Jimmy McRae. Garry Pearson and Dale Furniss took third spot in their Ford Fiesta, thirteen seconds behind Williams and Roberts. 

“It’s good to get a win in the BRC,” Cronin said. “Our pace was good in Clacton, we started well here too on Friday night, it was just a case of managing our pace then today. We weren’t going quite as quick as last night.”

Meanwhile, Osian Pryce and Noel O’Sullivan were excluded from the event in controversial circumstances after they drove a portion of a stage on a punctured tyre. The Welsh/Kerry crew are refusing to comment on the matter until they have had the time to assess the full circumstances of the exclusion.

Circuit of Munster

Gary Healy and Gearoid Moynihan from Clonkeen are the only all-local crew entered in Sunday’s Circuit of Munster. They will drive a Honda Civic EK4 in the Junior class.

Lissivigeen teacher Elaine Ní Shé will co-drive for Alan Nesbitt. She leads the Ladies section of the West Coast Rally Championship and her competition will come from another local woman. Amy Burke is on co-driving duty for Limerick driver Hazel Shanahan in their Ford Escort.