RALLY NEWS NO.7                  Duns - Service - Saturday - 8.45pm

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 17 Abbey St Bathans
1st (12) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 1.38.10.6
2nd (17) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 1.39.08.4
3rd (16) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 1.39.09.1
4th (25) Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter (Impreza WRC) 1.39.15.6
5th (15) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 1.39.25.4
6th (14) Austin McHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 1.41.18.5
7th (23) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 1.42.53.4
8th (26) James Thompson/Plug Pulleyn (Evo) 1.44.17.0
9th (4) Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson (Opel Corsa) 1.45.17.5
10th (36) Seamus Leonard/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza N) 1.45.35.04

NB - no times for Eamonn Boland in as yet - Eamonn was lying 7th starting the stage but was running late due to his earlier oil pipe problems and could appear into the leaderboard later.

Fastest through stage 17, the longest one in the rally, was James Thompson on 12.43.0. Peadar Hurson was 2nd fastest on 12.43.6. Then it was Nesbitt on 12.49.3.  Rally leader Andrew commented "This rally is not over yet. We backed off on that stage a little in the fog, taking no chances. The car seems good and we are looking forward to tomorrow. The boys will give it a good check over now but I am still a little concerned about the noise in the gearbox". Second placed Derek McGarrity said "I hate the fog, very glad to be out of that stage".  Jonny Milner said "We had a very good run, keeping it sharp and still thinking about the Pirelli British Championship".  Fourth placed Peadar Hurson reported a clean run, but we feel that Peadar could be slightly further up the leaderboard when all the times are checked. In our book 18 seconds have gone astray somewhere. Fifth placed Eugene Donnelly was laughing when he came off the stage, and no wonder……his Subaru had just escaped a massive moment. Co driver Paul Kiely explained "We took off on a 3 left over a crest, hit the bank on the other side, a 2 right, then we hit another bank and spun down the road, stalled, but it was all pointing the right way and we continued with no damage".  James Thompson said about his quickest time "Really enjoyed it, it was nice and dry, predictable, although there was a bit of fog". Austin McHale is in bother with his Subaru, the exhaust manifold broke and has also damaged some of the electrics.

In Group N Seamus Leonard really screwed up the wick in there and was 13s faster than Roy White to take the gpN lead. Roy thought he had had a good run but was amazed at Leonard's time, although Leonard admitted he was on the ragged edge.

In the Super 1600 category Ryan Champion turned in a stunningly quick time and commented "That was the first stage the car really worked as it should. The earlier trouble with the engine was when we hit the ford too hard, the radiator was shifted and there was a lot of bent plastic which stopped the fans working, which over-heated the engine". Ryan was 15s faster than Leon Pesticcio in the Punto, who in turn was 3s faster than Kris Meeke. The latter driving carefully to preserve his lead.

Just some of the class positions after stage 16 - Glenn Wilson is leading the F1600 in his Peugeot 106 from Tom Hynd in his Civic with Ian Brooks 3rd in another Peugeot.  Pat Kearney was 2nd in his Peugeot but has dropped back to 5th following clutch cable troubles. Aisling Doors leads the F1400 category and is the leading lady driver from Shelley Taunt, who is also 2nd in the class. Richard Walsh in his Vauxhall Astra leads the F2000.  Raymond Munro leads the Scottish championship part of the National Rally. Dessie Nutt in his Porsche led the Jim Clark Memorial Historic Challenge from Stephen Hall in his TR4. Steve Perez is down the list having lost time on stage 12 with a small excursion. Rupert Lomax leads the Post Historics. More news in the morning. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON                         www.rallynews.net