RALLY NEWS NO.6 Canford Service/Saturday 4.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 13 WHITE SHEET

1st (1) Marcus Dodd/Stephen McAuley (Corolla WRC) 51.50.9
2nd (29) Craig Middleton/Robin Hernaman (Accent WRC) 52.20.2
3rd (6) Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Impreza WRC) 52.26.2
4th (7) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 52.26.5
5th (4) Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Impreza WRC) 52.48.3
6th (18) Geoff Jones/Rhydian Welson (Impreza N) 52.52.2
7th (17) Brendan Crealey/Steve Harris (Lancer N) 53.02.8
8th (16) Steve Perez/Plug Pulleyn (Focus WRC) 53.03.0
9th (30) Dorian Rees/Patrick Walsh (Impreza N) 53.12.9
10th (14) Paul Bird/Larry Carter (Focus WRC) 53.23.7
11th (24) Rory Galligan/Jonty Bolsover (Lancer N) 53.31.6
12th (15) Stephen Harron/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 53.38.5
As this Rallye Sunseeker has moved into the afternoon stages the leaderboard has settled down somewhat, leader Marcus Dodd summing the job up "Steady away now, no dramas hopefully". Most of the drivers described their trip through stages 11, 12 and 13, Somerley, Hurn North and White Sheet, as being pretty enjoyable. The snow and ice just about retreated. Craig Middleton did have his moments though, he tried to start stage 12 with his Hyundai not in gear, lost a few seconds, panicked a little and then stuck the car on top of some bales at a chicane. Third placed Roger Duckworth reported an overshoot in Somerley, otherwise had a good run. Steve Petch in 4th said "I've got my head down, going hard".
Barry Johnson continues to hold a steady 5th place, has pulled out a few seconds on Geoff Jones over the last few stages. Jones though probably isn't too worried about the car in front but the group N car behind driven by Brendan Crealey. The latter felt that he fell asleep over the last few stages, but there is still not what you would call a huge gap between the Subaru and the Lancer, just 10s. Jones did report a brush with a chicane but did not remark on any particular time loss.
Dorian Rees is 3rd in gpN in his Subaru and then it is Rory Galligan, 4th overall in gpN, but more importantly for Rory, leading the Evo Challenge. The Oldcastle man feels he is getting more and more settled into his new Lancer, and also getting the car "dialled in" to himself.
Steve Perez in 8th lost a few seconds with an overshoot in stage 13. Paul Bird in 10th is speeding up as he becomes more accustomed to his Focus WRC.
In the Peugeot 206 Super Cup Gareth MacHale leads after stage 12 with Stuart Jones at the moment showing 2nd, 12s in arrears of MacHale. However, we are still waiting for a time for Paul Jones who is seeded well down the entry and it takes ages for his time to come through. Behind Stuart Jones, Ieuan Rowlands is next up then Alistair Moffatt and then Chris Moore, still trying to make up for the time loss when he went off the road earlier. Chris Moore reckons he has taken 22s off Moffatt through the last couple of stages, but he needs to take another 20 over the remaining 3 stages to claim 5th.
Further stories from the front of the field - Phil Morgan lost about a minute at the start of the Somerley stage when he got his Subaru launch control sequence wrong, and the car chugged away from the start line. Bob Ceen had to ease off through one of the recent stages when one of his Subaru bonnet pins came undone, and he was afraid the bonnet might fly up. Stephen Harron is finding his Subaru still cutting out at junctions, and although he is lying just outside the leaderboard, he is losing a lot of time. Roy White is really starting to get his act together now after a slow start this morning, and he is creeping up the leaderboard. Nik Elsmore is losing some of his momentum, as he says himself, the advantage he felt he had on the icy roads is now gone, and also his arm is aching.
Ollie O'Donovan says his Subaru is OK, but he himself is on 3 cylinders, keeps stalling and won't restart!! Dorian Rees stalled his Subaru in stage 12, lost a few seconds, but still right in the gpN picture. Steve Palmer, car 31, reckons his car has some sort of differential problem, it was slipping and banking on stage 13 and playing up on the road section also. Well….dugong for now.
More later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net