Photo: Roy Dempster (www.roydempster.com)
Motorsport Ireland, the governing body of motorsport in Ireland, has selected Keith Cronin, the 2007 Billy Coleman Award winner, as its candidate for the Pirelli Star Driver competition, which will give a number of young rally drivers the opportunity of competing in a series of six World Championship Rallies in 2010.
Cronin, aged 22, is from Bantry in West Cork, and drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. He is contesting this year’s British Rally Championship, which he currently leads, having won the first two rounds.
Ten Northern European countries have been invited by the FIA to send a driver to the Pirelli Shoot-out for Northern Europe at Jyvaskyla, in Finland on July 29-30. A panel of judges will select five of these drivers who will go forward to the European Shoot-out at Freistadt in Austria on September 18-20, where they will compete with drivers from other FIA regions for the 2010 Pirelli Star Drives.
The five successful drivers, who must have been under the age of 27 on 1st January 2009, will use identical Group N cars in the six World Championship events in 2010, supplied and serviced under an FIA agreement.
Keith Cronin said: “I am delighted to be representing my country again and it is a fantastic opportunity that could ultimately result in a paid drive in the World Rally Championship”.
Alex Sinclair, Chief Executive of Motorsport Ireland, said: “Last year, Keith came very close to winning one of the drives on offer and with the experience gained since then and his outstanding performances in the British Rally Championship, we are expecting great things from him this time around”.
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