British Rally Champion Keith Cronin is to compete in this weekend’s Galway International Rally, the opening round of the 2013 Irish Tarmac Championship.
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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 Citroën DS3 in which he claimed his third British Rally title last year.
Speaking yesterday, having successfully completed a brief test in the Subaru, Keith 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.
