Reigning British Champion to showcase JRM Mitsubishi in Irish Tarmac Championship

The next phase in JRM’s promotional and technical development programme for its Group N Mitsubishi Evolution X takes place this weekend, when reigning British Rally Champion Keith Cronin contests the Topaz Donegal International Rally, round four of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

This season has seen JRM embark on a series of events that highlight the performance of its cars and, at the same time, increase exposure towards potential customers in the UK and overseas. Having already recorded three outright international event victories this year, on snow in Scandinavia and then on both gravel and asphalt in the UK, the team is now looking to strengthen its position in Ireland.

To achieve this JRM has selected one of the country’s most prestigious events and one of its top drivers, Cork’s Keith Cronin piloting the Group N Mitsubishi Evolution that was previously used by Gwyndaf Evans to win last month’s Jim Clark Rally.

Over its 38-year history, the Donegal Rally has regularly enjoyed a full entry list and this year is no exception, with 151 cars scheduled to start the event - Cronin and his co-driver Barry McNulty seeded at number four and first of the Group N cars.

Based in Letterkenny, the event gets underway at 10.15 on Friday morning and sees six stages during the day. Saturday features eight more, with a further six stages on Sunday, the total providing crews with an overall competitive distance of 264 kilometres.

Quotes

Keith Cronin

"I enjoy competing in Ireland and I’m very grateful to everyone involved for putting this opportunity together for me. Donegal is always a tough and competitive rally, which I like, and therefore I see no reason why we shouldn’t get a good result.”

John Barnes – Team Manager

“We are looking forward to this event as Keith is at the top of his game at the moment. We had a similar situation on the gravel of Sardinia last week, when PG Andersson drove one of our cars and, although he didn't finish, his impressive performance proved that ours was the fastest Group N car out there.”

James Rumsey – Team Principle

“Rallying is a difficult market at the moment, so it’s important to do the right events with the right drivers. We are therefor