Warm weather sees Munster 100 Motorcycle Road Races postponed

THIS is one of the busiest Cork motorsport weekends and it features Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin, whose quest continues to win a record-equalling fifth British Rally Championship title and the Cork Forest Rally.

The Munster 100 motorcycle road races were to take place in Glanmire tomorrow and Sunday but have been postponed, because the recent extremely warm weather has damaged sections of the road circuit. The organisers are hopeful of a new date

Cronin travels to Banchory, near Aberdeen in Scotland, for tomorrow’s Voyonic Grampian Rally, round four of the BRC. He will campaign his VW Polo GTi R5, with Killarney’s Mikie Galvin calling the pacenotes. Even though only three of the seven rounds are complete, it’s already looking like a straight shoot out between the West Cork driver and Welsh ace Osian Pryce (VW Polo GTi R5).

Cronin leads the series by 11 points from his Welsh rival. However, the latter has two wins to his credit, with Cronin victorious on round two, the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland, where Pryce was excluded for a breach of the regulations. The event consists of six stages and totals 70 kilometres.

“It’s such a short event, any error, puncture, or slight overshoot can have a catastrophic effect in that context,” said Cronin, who will be hoping that the fellow BRC drivers, like Welsh driver James Williams (Hyundai i20 R5) and Londoner Ruari Bell (Skoda Fabia), will be at the cutting edge and split him from his nemesis Pryce. The day’s opening 8.26km stage, Durris. begins at 9.00am and the rally is due to finish at 4.15pm.

Meanwhile, the Jim Walsh Memorial Forest Rally, round four of the MI National Forestry Championship, is the final event under the jurisdiction of Motorsport Ireland. The series will be completed with two rounds in Northern Ireland: The Bushwhacker Rally (September 17) and the Tour of Sperrins (October 22). Derry’s Jordan Hone (Ford Fiesta Rally2), who has yet to win a round, has shown great consistency and heads the points standings, 10 clear of Waterford’s Keith Power (Ford Fiesta R5).

Tyrone’s Patrick O’Brien (Skoda Fabia) has taken maximum points from the previous two rounds and is ready to ramp up his championship bid. Ballyvourney’s Gerard Lucey (Mitsubishi) heads the Cork challenge and needs a strong performance to climb out of seventh place in the series.

Tyrone’s Cathan McCourt (Hyundai i20 R5) has Millstreet native Liam Moynihan calling the notes. The three-stage loop is Boggeragh Drive, Bweeng, and Mount Hilary. The first stage begins at 10.51am. The event is based at the Donoughmore Community Centre, with the finish scheduled for 4.15pm.