RALLY NEWS NO.7                 Boscombe Pier/Saturday  6.15

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 16 - final stage
1st (6) Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Impreza WRC) 1.13.25.2
2nd (29) Craig Middleton/Robin Hernaman (Accent WRC) 1.13.26.2
3rd (7) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 1.13.34.0
4th (16) Steve Perez/Plug Pulleyn (Focus WRC) 1.14.38.3
5th (14) Paul Bird/Larry Carter (Focus WRC) 1.14.40.1
6th (17) Brendan Crealey/Steve Harris (Lancer N) 1.14.53.4
7th (30) Dorian Rees/Patrick Walsh (Impreza N) 1.15.06.7
8th (15) Stephen Harron/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.15.19.6
9th (5) Mark Perrott/Paul Morris (Escort WRC) 1.15.24.1
10th (24) Rory Galligan/Jonty Bolsover (Lancer N) 1.15.45.6 

There were certainly some dramas towards the end of this Rallye Sunseeker.  Roger Duckworth and Mark Broomfield were lying in 3rd place with just a few stages to go, but came through to win by just 1s from young Craig Middleton.  Marcus Dodd had led the rally for much of the day, but he crashed out on the final loop of stages.  We understand that Marcus eventually got the David Greer Corolla WRC out of the Plumley Wood stage, but there is still no sign of him here at the finish in Bournemouth.  Craig Middleton was 9s ahead of Duckworth going into the final stage at Somerley, but his Hyundai developed 3rd gear problems just a short distance into the stage.  Craig, the current ANCRO Junior Champion, said "Its sods law, but I said before the start that if I finished in the top 5 I'd be delighted, so to finish 2nd is great". 

Roger Duckworth & Mark Broomfield climbed out of their Pirelli shod Subaru here at the Bournemouth finish almost surprised to learn that they were the winners. Roger saying "The competition was very hot, Craig Middleton was the one I was worried about. Steve Petch, Perez and a whole lot more are going to make it a very tough championship this year." The 38 year old consultant engineer from Northampton continued. "The rally was difficult but very enjoyable, the car went well although we had an oil leak from the turbo, but we decided not to change it and it held out".  Third placed Steve Petch commented "The rally was a real challenge, very exciting, difficult this morning but a cracking event". 

There were further dramas in the group N category with the news that Geoff Jones crashed his Subaru on the final stage to give the Production win to Brendan Crealey in his new works Lancer. Dorian Rees was 2nd in gpN in his Subaru.  Rory Galligan survived a puncture to finish 3rd overall in gpN and score top points in the Evo Challenge. Paul Wedgbury was 11th overall and 2nd in the Evo Challenge.  Richard Hill was 3rd Evo Challenge contender.

In the Peugeot 206 Super Cup the latest news we have is that Gareth MacHale has lost the lead with 2 stages remaining. Stuart Jones has moved to the front, MacHale is 2nd,. No times as yet for Paul Jones and then its Rowlands, Moffatt and Moore. Late news is that Gareth McHale has  moved back into the lead of the 206 battle, taking maximum Supercup points from Stuart Jones with Iuean Rowlands in 3rd.
Some further positions include - Bob Ceen bringing his Subaru into 12th. Phil Morgan 13th. Ollie O'Donovan 17th. Roy White 18th.
Finally for now, many thanks to everyone who helped and supported the RallyNews service on this Rallye Sunseeker and well done to Rick Smith and his superb team of organisers. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON            www.rallynews.net