The 23-year-old 2009 British Rally Champion and winner of the Pirelli Star Driver shoot-out last year, Cronin, along with new co driver Barry McNulty, were making their competitive debut for the Carnforth-based team at the opening round of the 2010 series and the pair stamped their authority from the word go with a blistering time on the opening 16 miles of Myherin.
Going 22 seconds faster than anyone else gave the County Cork driver a lead he would maintain until the end, taking six fastest stages times out of the eight stages during the day to return to Welshpool victorious for the second year in a row.
23-year-old Scottish Group N Champion Euan Thorburn from Duns along with co driver Paul Beaton enjoyed a very strong run, narrowly missing out on the final podium position after recovering from a broken driveshaft early in the event. Apart from the second test, where he was nursing the damaged component, Thorburn consistently ran inside the top five all day long and returned to the finish a mere 15 seconds off the podium.
TEG Sport associate drivers had mixed fortunes on the event as Adam Gould also battled well to claim the final podium placing whilst Alan Cookson retired with a broken driveshaft at half distance.
The victory heralded the first International win for the latest shape Subaru Impreza S15 rally car on British soil proving that the Subaru is more than adequate as a title contender.
The result is also a historic moment for TEG Sport as it also signals the very first International rally victory on gravel for the team.
Keith Cronin:
"I am very pleased with how today has gone. We aimed for a good clean run in the morning and ended up leading! We made a few small set up changes during the day but nothing major, the car has been fantastic and full credit to the team for giving me the tools to defend my 2009 title."
The next round of the Dulux Trade British Rally Championship takes place on 23/24th April with the Pirelli International Rally based in Carlisle.
Results
1 Keith Cronin/Barry McNulty - Pirelli TEG Sport Subaru Impreza - 1:40:03.0
2 Dave Weston Jnr/Ieuan Thomas - Subaru Impreza - 1:42:04.7
3 Adam Gould/Craig Drew - TEG Sport Subaru Impreza - 1:42:31.6
4 Euan Thorburn/Paul Beaton - Pirelli TEG Sport Subaru Impreza - 1:42:47.1
5 Jonathan Greer/Dai Roberts - Mitsubishi Lancer - 1:43:04.5
6 Darren Gass/Neil Shanks - Subaru Impreza - 1:44:59.5
7 Jason Pritchard/Robbie Durant - Subaru Impreza - 1:45:28.8
8 D.Sigurdarson/A.Sigurdardottir - Mitsubishi Lancer - 1:46:00.4
9 Elfyn Evans/Andrew Edwards - Ford Fiesta ST - 1:50:30.5
10 Robert Swann/Darren Garrod - Subaru Impreza - 1:50:47.8
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