Cronin wins Irish Tarmac title in all-Pirelli showdown
Keith Cronin claimed the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship after a final-round showdown with fellow Pirelli driver Alastair Fisher.
Fisher and co-driver Gordon Noble narrowly led the title race coming into last weekend’s Cork 20 International Rally, but unfortunately crashed out on stage four having been just three tenths ahead of Cronin at the time.
Cronin and co-driver Mikie Galvin slipped to third among the championship entries on the second and final day, but that was good enough to secure the title. Cronin, a three-time British champion with Pirelli, had already claimed the FIA Celtic Rally Trophy this year driving the Citroen DS3 R5.
Josh Moffett scored his first outright series win on the Cork 20 International Rally just 4.6 seconds in front of his brother Sam. Jonny Greer made it an all-Pirelli top four among the championship scorers.
Pirelli drivers locked out the top five in the final championship standings, with Cronin leading Sam and Josh, Fisher and Greer.
Pirelli driver Jason Pritchard has retained his British Historic Rally Championship title.
In the absence of main rival Paul Barrett, Pritchard just needed to finish the final round, the Trackrod Historic Cup, to secure the title. The third place for Pritchard and co-driver Phil Clarke among the BHRC drivers on the Yorkshire gravel event was therefore enough to clinch the crown.
Pritchard had begun his title defence with two victories in his Ford Escort Mk II, but three consecutive non-finishes cost him ground to his rivals prior to a crucial double win on the Rally Isle of Man last month.
The win on the Trackrod went to another Pirelli-equipped Escort, crewed by Steve Bennett and Paul Spooner. Matthew Robinson led in his Fiat 131 Abarth but lost a first win to a propshaft failure.
Recently-crowned BTRDA Rally Series champion Charlie Payne scored his third win of the season on the Trackrod Forest Stages in Yorkshire.
Payne finished 22.8 seconds ahead of fellow Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta driver Stephen Petch. Kevin Proctor finished fourth overall in another Fiesta on Pirelli tyres.
Gavin Edwards secured the Silver Star title despite having to retire his Pirelli-shod Ford Escort Mk II with mechanical issues. Fellow Pirelli driver Phil Burton finished just seven points behind after taking the Silver Star win on the final round.
Russ Thompson meanwhile secured the Production Cup in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX and Jordan Hone took the 1400 title in a Proton Satria, with both on Pirelli tyres.
Albon and Dennis win in Pirelli-backed GP3 in MalaysiaBritish drivers starred in the first ever GP3 Series round in Malaysia, with Alex Albon and Jake Dennis claiming a win each at Sepang.
Albon got the jump on his ART team-mate Charles Leclerc at the start of the first race to collect his fourth victory of the year. Following an eighth place in race two, the Anglo-Thai driver is now back up to second place in the standings, 29 points behind Leclerc going to the final round in Abu Dhabi next month.
Arden driver Dennis scored his second win in as many GP3 events in race two, grabbing the lead at the second corner after a sixth place in race one put him third on the reverse-grid. His team-mate Jack Aitken enjoyed a very strong weekend despite not standing on the top step of the podium, with the Renault Sport Academy member finishing the races second and third. Matt Parry finished the two races in ninth and fourth, but it was a more difficult event for Jake Hughes.
In GP2, the three British drivers all got more points on the board, with Alex Lynn finishing fourth and Jordan King fifth in the Feature Race. In the Sprint Race, Oliver Rowland took eighth.
Haslam double keeps title fight alive in Pirelli-supplied British SuperbikesLeon Haslam won both races in the MSB British Superbike Championship’s trip to Assen in the Netherlands to keep his title chances alive.
Shane Byrne claimed pole position with the fastest ever British Superbike lap on the softer SC0 rear Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike Slick tyre, but Haslam’s preferred harder SC1 tyre was the favoured race tyre and in race one he pulled off a penultimate-lap pass on Byrne for the win after a six-way fight earlier in the race.
In race two, Haslam held off a charging Byrne, who had dropped to 12th at the end of lap one. Byrne’s lead is now 17 points ahead of the final round at Brands Hatch on 15/16 October.
A big weekend ahead at Snetterton with PirelliThis weekend, Snetterton will host title deciders in two Pirelli-supplied series, as well as the first ever race for another.
Prior to the final round of the GT Cup, Bentley Continental GT3 driver Jordan Witt leads Tom Webb (BMW E46 M3 GTR) by only three points at the top of the overall standings. Things are also particularly close in the GTA group between Daniel O’Brien, Esemee Hawkey and Brent Millage.
In the F3 Cup, seven drivers are in contention in the championship’s closest ever title fight: Shane Kelly, George Line, Stuart Wiltshire, Daryl Jones, Jacopo Sebastiani, Robbie Watts and James Heffernan.
The Snetterton meeting will also include the first ever race for the Prototype Cup, a series created for LMP3 cars. United Autosports will enter cars for Jay Palmer/Wayne Boyd, Richard Meins/Shaun Lynn and Jacques Duyver/Charlie Hollings while Douglas Motorsport will enter its BRDC British F3 driver Thomas Randle alongside Mike Newbould.
