Last time I wrote here it was about Fermanagh flier Jon Armstrong who was preparing for the opening round of the British Rally Championship with co-driver Martin Brady. The pairs enthusiasm was smothered in a blanket of snow though as the Rally of North Wales was cancelled due to snow and ice making the roads where the rally was meant to take place impassable. Jon and the other Irish contenders will now have to wait until the beginning of May for the Pirelli Rally based in the forests around Carlisle to get their campaign underway.
Away from the snow and ice, there is a gaggle of Irish men heading for the sunnier weather of the Algarve in Portugal for the fourth round of the 2013 World Rally Championship. Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht all have representatives taking part this weekend. Connacht is represented by Mayo man Killian Duffy who is the co-driver for Qatari, Abdulaziz Al Kuwari. The pair compete in the WRC2 category in their Ford Fiesta RRC and won the class in Mexico. Mexico was a long haul event however and they tend to have weaker entry lists. A popular, European event like Portugal attracts a stronger entry so the chances of Al Kuwari and his Mayo sidekick repeating their success of a few weeks ago is highly unlikely.
The Leinster representative is Dublin’s Robert Barrable. Barrable comes from a family steeped in rallying pedigree. Robert won the Billy Coleman Award in 2010 and in 2011 and 2012 had several impressive outings in a Skoda Fabia at home and in the European Championship. This weekend Barrable steps up to the World Championship for the first time with Scottish co-driver Stuart Loudon. Barrable will drive an S2000 Ford Fiesta and it’s a car with a winning pedigree. Waterford’s Craig Breen took the car to victory in the Super2000 World Championship last year, which has now been superseded by the WRC2 category. Barrable, like Al Kuwari, will be out to gain experience and challenging for victory against the likes of Welshman Elfyn Evan and Finn Esapekka Lappi is really out of the question.
Cork native Keith Cronin goes to Portugal representing Munster and, like Barrable, Portugal will be his first sample of World Championship competition. It shouldn’t faze Cronin though, who is gaining a reputation as one of the finest drivers this island has produced. He has won 3 of last 4 British Rally Championships, doing so in 3 different cars with 3 different co-drivers. He has featured strongly on rallies on the continent and also won the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Championship in Galway in February. Keith and his Enniskillen co-driver Marshall Clarke will compete in the WRC3 class in a Citroen DS3 R3 and they are one of 9 teams from Europe contesting the Citroen Top Driver series, which kicks off this weekend. The winner at the end of the season will get a 6 round programme next season in WRC2 in a brand new Citroen DS3 R5. It is a fantastic prize and the competition will be fierce, especially from French drivers Bryan Bouffier, Sébastian Chardonnet and Quentin Gilbert.
Cronin will face stiff competition in the Citroen Top Driver competition from Ulsterman Alastair Fisher. The Fermanagh driver will be up against it as the Citroen will be all new to him but he has experience of competing in Portugal before and won the WRC Academy section there last year in a Ford Fiesta. Fisher has rallying in his blood. His uncle, Bertie Fisher was a 4 time Irish Tarmac Champion and still holds the record for the most wins in Ireland even a decade after his death, with 20 Tarmac Championship wins to his name. Alastair will have the experienced Gordon Noble co-driving this weekend and if he can get on the pace in the DS3 he will be a serious contender.
I have tipped Fisher for success this weekend on my own blog but he may need a bit of luck to go with his pace. The action has already started this morning with all the Irish crews still running after stage 1. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Killian Duffy are just adrift of Robert Barrable who lies in 5th position in the WRC2 category after the mornings opening test. Keith Cronin and Marshall Clarke find themselves in 6th in the Citroen Top Driver competition with Fisher leading the pack but today is a marathon day with no service periods or chance to change tires.
Things could be very different come the final day of the rally but you can keep up to date with our intrepid crews by following them on Twitter, @killianduffy, @RBarrableRally, @marshallclarke, @alastair_fisher or by following my own Twitter account @Ditchslapblog.
