Kiernan geared up for year learning Fiesta Rally2

February 8, 2024 Rallyinsight

“Challenging.”

Cavan’s Gary Kiernan isn’t a man to mince his words. Short and sweet was his reply to how he was finding his first event behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Kiernan is best known for his maximum attack antics in his blue and yellow Ford Escort Mk2. Fighting for category wins has been Kiernan’s bread and butter for years.

Now, he finds himself in a whole new world. Pre-loads, damper clicks, and a raft of ratios – it is a black hole of technicalities.

And let’s not forget about left-hand-drive. The Galway International Rally was Kiernan’s first time sitting on the “wrong” side of the gearbox.

Challenging sounds about right. Still, Kiernan was excited. It was like he had unlocked a new chapter of rallying.

“The brakes are serious,” Kiernan began. “We had the suspension tuned completely wrong – I have it tweaked and I think it is fairly good now.

“Our last Fiesta was right-hand drive. We only used it twice and got it to a good base set-up so we knew what we were going for.

“This is on a European damper but all the boys are running different stuff – some are on an Irish Tarmac damper and some are on a later-specification European damper. I am just getting used to it all.

“Grip and corner speed on the medium-speed corners is the big thing to get used to. When the car is set up right then it is phenomenal.

“I made a suspension change on Sunday and it made a massive improvement. When you get that feeling then it makes you really look forward to getting back out again.”

Kiernan was aiming to get within a second of a kilometre of Ireland’s fastest Rally2 drivers by the end of the event.

If he could do that, then he was happy.

Sitting tenth overall, Kiernan was on the periphery of the Rally2 drivers for most of the weekend.

A big push on Galway’s final stage resulted in his best stage time of the two-day event – seventh overall.

But what about that second per kilometre?

Kiernan’s best efforts may have fallen shy of rally winner Keith Cronin’s efforts but his final stage time achieved the 1s/km goal when benchmarked against Callum Devine or Sam Moffett.

So what next?

Mayo, of course. Kiernan will waste no time in getting more Rally2 experience. He’ll take on the National Rally Championship opener ahead of a trip to West Cork.

“We will probably stick to the Irish Tarmac Championship to get as much time in the car as possible.

“If Rally Ireland is to come in 2025 then I would like to be comfortable in the car and be on a good pace.”

Photos by D Harrigan Images