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RALLY NEWS NO.2 Sligo/Friday/Noon
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 LOUGH GILL
1st (2) Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen C4) 34.20.1
2nd (1) Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen C4) 34.22.3
3rd (4) Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Focus WRC) 34.49.4
4th (9) Jari Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Focus WRC) 35.02.9
5th (7) Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Impreza WRC) 35.21.0
The above times are from the first few cars only. Provisionally Kris Meeke may be in 6th place but following Gronholm’s accident the stage was interrupted to get an ambulance in and most of the drivers completed the test at non-competitive speed. Further to the Gronholm accident. Marcus slid his Focus into a stone wall on a very fast right hander close to Parkes’ Castle. The surface was wet probably shiny tar. Marcus and his co driver Timo Rautinen seemed OK after the accident but then Marcus lost consciousness, it is believed only for a short time. He was soon on his feet again but complaining of some memory loss so he was taken by ambulance to hospital for a check up.
Chris Atkinson also had an accident in that stage. He managed to get his Subaru going and arrived into service quite a few minutes late. Xavier Pons is also reportedly crashed out on that stage, as has Sean Devine.
When Dani Sordo arrived into service he reported no problems, everything going well. Sebastien Loeb was relieved to get his Citroen here to service having struggled with the rear suspension fluid leak. Mikko Hirvonen is well placed in 3rd, just 27s down on Loeb and highest placed Focus. Matthew Wilson commented. “This isn’t like Irish rallying, its unbelievable. The grip was changing all the time in the 2nd stage, its an achievement just to get this far. I’ve had more moments this morning than all of Japan Rally”. Guy Wilks suffered 2 punctures on the middle stage this morning and was forced to fit a slick tyre for the 3rd one, so the fact that the stage was cancelled then did him a favour. Guy described the conditions as “horrendous”.
Andreas Mikkelsen had a hydraulic failure on the gear change of his Focus and dropped several minutes. Gareth MacHale had a spin in stage 3 as well as stage 2. He reported that the car was good on the fast stuff but on the slow stuff it was really treacherous. Petter Solberg still had his engine problems, sounded almost as if his Subaru was on 3 cylinders. Kris Meeke asked his crew for more lines to be cut in his tyres to get and get some grip. His co driver Paul Nagle remarked that it was a major disadvantage running back in the order, the conditions were so bad. Andrew Nesbitt was planning to get his Subaru front differential checked at service, He said he was getting absolutely no grip from his slick tyres. Eamonn Boland reported. “Not a problem”. Aaron MacHale was getting a rogue message on his dash read out through stage 4. This distracted him and on a downhill section had a big overshoot. He was able to sort the problem out on the road section.
Tim McNulty, Ray Breen and Kevin Barrett all made it safely into service and reported no major problems. Niall McShea said his tyres were working well on the first stage and he seemed to be quite happy. Mark Higgins reckons this should have been a gravel rally, so difficult were the conditions. Current Production World Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah said. “Steady for 2 stages, we try now and push but it is difficult”. Phillip Morrow has smashed the front left corner of his Lancer, but reckons everything should be sorted at service. Garry Jennings lost a lot of time when he stopped at the Sean Devine accident. James Foley clipped 2 wheels and now the car is “crabbing”. Colm Murphy joked “If we had a tractor we’d be fine!” Roy White in the FESP MG is having master brake cylinder problems, the rear brakes do not seem to be working. He can push the pedal to the floor and there is some stopping but he’s taking it very gingerly. Andrew Mullen in the Sligo Pallets Saxo said he is just trying to keep it going, never experienced conditions like these. Young Toni Kelly has made it into service, her Honda unscathed and becoming accustomed to her new co driver Gemma – and missing Joe!! More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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