Keith Cronin and Barry McNulty have successfully defended their British Rally Championship title by taking third place on the International Rally of Yorkshire, however a tragic event gave cause for subdued celebrations.
Cronin and McNulty’s fellow TEG Sport competitor Jimmy Girvan was tragically killed in an accident whilst competing on the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally on Saturday.
The championship winning crew finished third on the Yorkshire rally, but it was enough to secure the back-to-back titles, and in a display of the brilliant camaraderie throughout motorsport, they dedicated their second title to Jimmy Girvan, with whom they had been testing on Thursday.
Gwyndaf Evans and Claire Mole won the rally, with their fellow JR Motorsport’s pairing Alastair Fisher and Rory Kennedy finishing second, to secure the Team’s title for the team.
Cronin’s third place was enough to secure his second title in as many years, who started the rally knowing full well that a top seven finish would be enough to see the title remain in his hands.
Speaking after the event, TEG’s Team Principal Stuart Newby said “Keith drove a fantastic rally with no heroics. We played it safe this weekend by running with a tool box and two spare wheels and even so he still finished third overall. We’ve finished second in the championship for the last three years and so it is nice to take the win this time. However it is devastating about Jimmy and all of our thoughts are with his family”.
Fellow TEG Sport crew Adam Gould and Craig Drew were supporting Cronin well throughout, but were forced to retire late on with damage to the front suspension
“It is gutting for my season to end this way but cannot thank everyone enough for all of their support especially TEG Sport, they have been absolutely fantastic!”, said Gould.
