I’ve shown I can deliver at new venues, declares Matt Edwards ahead of Rally of the Lakes

Edwards heads for ‘the Kingdom’ second in the Irish Tarmac Championship points table following his breakthrough success in the cross-border series at the Circuit of Ireland Rally back in March.

A clever tyre strategy for the afternoon loop involving slick and wet compound tyres proved to be the difference as he and co-driver Dave Moynihan ended the event with a healthy 14 second lead.

The result threw the race for the drivers’ crown wide open by ending Cronin’s run of successive wins, and another strong performance this weekend would put Edwards in good stead going to the Donegal International Rally and August’s Ulster Rally as he has previous experience of both.

Devine — the reigning Irish Tarmac champion — has won in Killarney on his previous two visits and is aiming to make history by becoming only the third person to win it three times on the bounce. To date, just Billy Coleman and the late, great Bertie Fisher have managed to achieve the feat. Cronin, meanwhile, is back on local soil for the first time since 2016, much to his supporters’ delight.

“I think the Circuit of Ireland result is what we all needed and have worked hard towards since the start of the year,” Edwards said. “It is always nice to have the reward for that and on a personal level, it has been good to confirm a few things from my side of the car.

“It is going to be a big challenge to win on such demanding stages for the first time without prior experience,” added Edwards, a triple British Rally Champion. “However, I’ve shown before that I can be competitive at places I’ve rallied at for the first time, so I’ll just concentrate on my preparation and make good pace notes in the hope we can be near the front, and keep the pressure on Keith.

“Hopefully a good result this weekend can keep me and Dave in the mix as we head to a couple of events I have some knowledge of. It helps that they are towards the business end of the year.”

The iconic ‘Molls Gap’ opens proceedings on Saturday morning before crews tackle ‘Healy Pass’, ‘Cod’s Head’ and ‘Ardgroom’ twice and round off the opening leg with a run over ‘Kilmackillogue’. Sunday comprises two loops of three special stages: ‘Gortnagane’, ‘Meentoges’ and ‘Ballintourig’.

Killarney International Rally of the Lakes - Top 10 Seeds, 1: Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5); 2: Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 3: Matt Edwards/David Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 4: Jonathan Greer/Niall Burns (Citroen C3 Rally2); 5: Cathan McCourt/Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 6: Declan Boyle/Patrick Walsh (Citroen C3 Rally2); 7: David Kelly/Dean O’Sullivan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5); 8: Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2); 9: Garry Jennings/Ger Conway (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 10: Michael Boyle/Dermot McCafferty (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5).