The outcome of this Sunday's Cork 20 Rally will decide the destiny of the Samdec Security 2024 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship title, between Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin, who last took the crown in 2016, and the reigning Tarmac champions Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan.
It is Cronin who hold the leads in the points standings going into the final round in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2, lying 15 ahead of Devine and O'Sullivan
Cronin has taken three wins in the Tarmac series this year in the Galway, West Cork, and Ulster rallies.
Cronin also lost a near-certain victory on the Rally of the Lakes to a puncture, where Devine and took the laurels, and took victory on the following round in Donegal, where Cronin crashed out early.
The success of Cronin on the most recent event, the Ulster Rally, has put him in a strong position heading to Cork.
"The way the points stand, Callum has to win or finish second in Cork to take the title, with us finishing at least two places behind them," said Cronin.
"It sounds straightforward, that we just have to shadow them for the day, but we can't afford to be too relaxed, there will be others there as well, and we can't let them get in between to take points away, so it will be something of a balancing act."
While the Cork 20 takes place in Cronin's home county, he does not see that as giving him an advantage, in view of a number of factors.
"The stages are in the Fermoy area, that's an hour and half from me, about the same as Cavan is from Dublin, so from my point of view it's not much different to going rallying anywhere else in the country," he said.
"Callum won the rally last year, and this year's route is the same as the Sunday stages in 2023, so he'll have something of a head start, he'll have his pacenotes that he can just fine tune, he'll have his in-car camera footage to look at.
"I didn't do any of the Tarmac rounds last year, so I'm starting from scratch with this one really."
While all eyes may be on the title contenders, others too will be in the mix for the Cork 20 victory, and their finishing positions could impact the outcome of the championship battle.
Matt Edwards is third in the standings, and while out of contention for the Tarmac title, could yet wrestle second place from Devine.
Josh Moffett is entered in a Citroen C3, looking to add to his other Cork 20 victory in 2022, while Eddie Doherty could also be well in the shake-up in his Skoda.
Josh McErlean is competing in the WRC2 World Championship with the support of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, and his appearance on the Cork 20 entry list a latest-spec Skoda is a fantastic addition.
Also sure to feature at the sharp end will be Meirion Evans in a Toyota GR Yaris.
Evans contested the entire ITRC Tarmac Championship in 2023, but has concentrated on the British series this year, although he did make the trip to the Donegal Rally in June.
The Welshman started the final stage in Cork last year just 2.7 seconds down on Callum Devine but was denied the chance to make up the difference when the cancel flag had to be shown, and so will be eager to finish unfinished business this time around.
The Cork 20 route will consist of eight stages in all, with a loop of three, Mullentaura, Badgers Hill and Chimneyfield, being tackled in the morning and in the afternoon.
The first two out of the three form the final challenge of the rally and the victors of the 2024 ITRC title will be known shortly after 4pm.
