Video evidence review denies Armstrong and Byrne in West Cork Rally

Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin have been awarded victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally, after the Stewards of the Event, having reviewed video evidence, ruled that Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne had received outside assistance between the end of the Stage 18 and Parc Fermé.  

Armstrong and Bruckless co-driver Byrne had completed the final Sam's Cross test, and in fact set fastest time, but their Ford Fiesta Rally 2 developed an engine issue towards the end of the stage, and cut out after the finish.   

They received help from other crews, including a push into Clonakilty from another competing car, and this was deemed to be outside the regulations, in particular, Article 6.16 of the Motorsport Ireland regulations for stage rallies, which states 'The entire event shall be completed by each car under its own power, or by gravity, under penalty of exclusion from the Finishers List, except the manual assistance by the occupants of the car will not incur penalty.'   

As Armstrong and Byrne were not registered for the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, Cronin and Galvin were already guaranteed maximum points from their result, but the Stewards decision now sees them recorded as overall West Cork winners for the second year in a row.  

Cronin and Galvin led the rally from the outset on Friday afternoon, and were initially challenged by Matt Edwards and David Moynihan, until they put their Hyundai i20 off the road on Saturday morning.  

Armstrong, from Fermanagh, and Byrne had a less than ideal start, as the intercom in their Ford Fiesta failed to function for the first couple of stages, but once that was attended to, they were able to set the pace, gradually reeling in Cronin and Galvin, on Friday night and throughout Saturday, setting a number of fastest stage times.  

Cronin and Galvin were dogged by understeer issues throughout Saturday, and these became more pronounced on the final day, leading to a near miss with the scenery near the start of the Ardfield stage.  

Armstrong and Byrne moved ahead on the next test, Glandore, and went on to extend their advantage to 34.8 seconds by the end of the rally, but the late mechanical issue was to lead to the undoing of their good work.  

Their attention will now turn to their European Championship campaign, which begins in Spain in three weeks time, while Cronin and Galvin are expected to appear next on the Carlisle Rally, round two of the British Championship.

"It's a strange way to win, I'd rather have taken it on stage times alone," said Cronin.  "Jon and Shane were very unfortunate to have that issue right at the end, they were on a great pace all weekend.  We'll all be keeping a close eye on their progress in the European Championship, and I look forward to competing against them again in Wales later in the year."

Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes were promoted to second place in West Cork in another Citroën, over a minute down on Cronin and Galvin, and 43.8 seconds ahead of Eddie Doherty and Tom Doherty, who were classified third in their Skoda Fabia.