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RALLY
NEWS NO.1
Dumfries/Friday 7pm
Buckets of rain are what some of the top drivers are praying for
as the start of this Scottish International Rally draws close.
Although there was some light precipitation out towards Newton Stewart
today it was hardly enough to settle the dust, which could be a
big problem for the drivers. Jonny Milner in his Subaru leads
the car away on this 3rd round of the Pirelli British Championship.
Jonny will have clean air in front of him tonight, although the
entry will be re-seeded overnight, and it is important to Jonny
that he keeps his No.1 position on the road. On that score he commented.
"Yes, it would be nice, but I'll not go daft tonight, what
will be will be. Punctures could decide the rally and I will try
to keep out of trouble. The stages are cracking, but as usual here
in Scotland they need respect in quite a few places. We've
done some testing with the car in Wales, have new Reiger suspension
which should help the traction. Hopefully the dust will not
be too bad, there's a little wind, so it should clear it a bit".
Behind Jonny is David Higgins in the Hyundai, David looking more
than slightly tired as he prepared for this Scottish Rally. He just
returned from a spell in China where he had undertaken some rally
tuition work. Double USA Rally Champion David told us that
there are new dampers and differential computer maps fitted, and
the Steve Petch car feels fine. As regards the rally he observed.
"The stages are mostly fantastic, but 2 of the longer ones,
Black Loch and the humps and jumps of Clatteringshaws are quite
deceptive, punctures and luck could decide the rally".
On the subject of the dust problem David has made a very strong
request to the organisers to increase the gap between the leading
cars from 1 minute to 2, but so far without success.
Third on the road Austin MacHale said "The car's 100 per cent,
but I will try not to take too many chances as the car has to be
on the Donegal International Rally next week."
The Dubliner laughed then and said "We'll still be going hard
here, I want to go one better in the championship and win!"
Behind MacHale there is a gaggle of Focus WRCs, including the ever-improving
Paul Bird, Penrith's Dougi Hall, young Matthew Wilson and Steve
Perez in the Vodka Kick Ford. Matthew Wilson's machine needed some
cylinder head attention after last week's Mutiny Rally when the
car was forced to run slowly in a dust cloud behind another competitor,
and some damage occurred. Sandwiched between the Focus WRCs
is Barry Johnson in his Impreza WRC. Barry found on his last outing
that the Subaru was a bit wayward, has replaced the suspension and
is hoping for a better run this time.
Sebastian Ling (No.9) heads a strong Group N Production contingent
on the event with his Lancer. Next Production car is Dorian Rees
at 12. Welshman Dorian leads the Prodrive Subaru Production
Cup points from Rob Gill (No.23). Dorian damaged his car in an accident
last weekend and is driving a hired machine for the Scottish, and
has had no chance really to test or settle in.
Guy Wilks and Leon Pesticcio, Suzuki Ignis and Fiat Punto respectively,
round off the top 10. Guy Wilks is fresh from a fantastic
Super 1600 win on last weekend's world championship Acropolis Rally,
and must be the man all the Super 1600s want to beat this weekend.
Leon Pesticcio is driving the same Fiat Punto as he had on the Rally
of Wales and has had no chance of testing, but is still in good
form for the rally. Other top Super 1600 drivers include Aki
Teiskonen in a Citroen Saxo, Barry Clark in his Puma plus Simon
Hughes and Gareth Jones in their respective Clios. Both Hughes and
Jones have been doing a fair bit of test and development work on
their cars since Rally of Wales.
Swedish lady Jennie-Lee Hermansson runs with No.44 on her 22 Motorsport
prepared Group N Subaru, but starts between car numbers 19 and 20.
Lorna Smith also in a 22 Motorsport Subaru runs with 55 on her Impreza
and starts between 21 and 22. Hermansson is driving a series N8
Impreza this time, while a new N10 is built by Prodrive, her N9
car being quite badly damaged in Wales.
There are 6 Fiat Stilos running from numbers 26 to 34 with Will
Bonniwell and Chris Davies joint leaders of the Stilo Rally Cup
the leading pair. Spanish driver Joan Roca is at 34, his example
getting a new gearbox fitted at a Fiat dealers here in Dumfries
just hours before the start. Just a few changes to the published
entry list include - Stuart Jones, a last minute entry in a Group
N Lancer and with Neil Dashfield co-driving, runs with 45 on the
car but slots in ahead of Lorna Smith. Julian Reynolds is driving
a development Skoda, No.46, and he slots in between 24 and 25.
Running at the back of the International will be 6 Lex Army Land
Rovers, and they have 3 Scottish crews in the team, all sporting
the home flag!! More news from service. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
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