Ireland’s Keith Cronin and co-driver Mikie Galvin were crowned Prestone MSA British Rally Champions after a gruelling three days of action on the Rally Isle of Man.

Cronin and Galvin in their DMACK-shod Ford Fiesta R5, clinched the championship for M-Sport after taking both round 7 and round 8 victories on the island classic. Cronin won four rounds in 2017 on his way to the title and has now clinched Britain’s premier rallying series for a fourth time – more incredibly in four different cars.

Three crews came to the Isle of Man with a mathematical chance of claiming the prestigious British Rally Championship crown. Fredrik Ahlin (Skoda Fabia R5), Keith Cronin (Ford Fiesta R5) and Matt Edwards (Ford Fiesta R5) would fight for supremacy on the famous island roads.

Cronin who drew first blood on the first timed test, the picturesque run across the Marine Drive as he and co-driver Mikie Galvin sprinted away to the first round victory, notching up seven fastest stage times from the ten challenging tests.

Cronin had to do the double on Rally Isle of Man to stand any chance of the title and attacked from the off on day two. He led by 9.1 seconds going into the nail-biting final stage, but Edwards in the Swift Rally Team Fiesta gave it everything to haul in Cronin, but is wasn’t enough as the Welshman lost out on his first BRC win by 0.1 seconds.

Ahlin needed a second place to secure the title but a spin on cold tyres on the penultimate night stage put paid to his title chances.

The Irish success continued into the Prestone Motorsport News Junior BRC as Callum Devine and Keith Moriarty in an Opel ADAM R2 clinched the championship and the £30,000 cash prize – one the biggest prizes in British motorsport.

Prestone MSA British Rally Championship Standings
1. Keith Cronin – 129
2. Fredrik Ahlin – 128
3. Matt Edwards – 94
4. Rhys Yates – 70
5. Osian Pryce – 66