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RALLY NEWS NO.2
Harwood - Friday - 8pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2 Salt Meadow 1& 2
1st (19) Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Impreza WRC) 1.39.5
2nd (10) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 1.40.6
3rd (8) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 1.41.0
4th (9) Jari-Matti Latvalla/Carl Williamson (Focus WRC) 1.41.5
5th (15) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 1.42.8
6th (11) Tapio Laukkanen/Miikka Antilla (Impreza WRC) 1.43.3
7th (31) Dougie Hall/Steve Egglestone (Lancer) 1.44.0
8th (2) Gwyndaf Evans/Howard Davies (MG) 1.44.1
9th (20) Paul Bird/Larry Carter (Accent WRC) 1.44.8
10th (41) James Thompson/Plug Pulleyn (Lancer) 1.44.8
The first 2 stages of this Pirelli International Rally were short spectator
affairs in Gateshead. In overall terms of the Pirelli Rally and the
tough stages through Kielder forest the times will probably mean little at the
end of the event. But still, they do give some indication of the form
book. There were many spectators on the special stage, and that was
despite the wet and misty weather conditions.
The drivers did not particularly enjoy the 2 stages, recognising of course
that it is a necessary part of modern rallying, the promotional side.
Mark Higgins, first on the road, commented "We never really got out of
first gear, it was slippy and getting worse 2nd time through".
Gwyndaf Evans in the MG just got on with it and set pretty good times, just
scraping into the top 10. Garry Jennings in the Peugeot said "The
car is fine but the stage was narrow and slippery".
Current Pirelli British Rally Champion, Jonny Milner, in the Corolla WRC,
commented "We got into 3rd gear once, but not for very long! The
stage is extremely tight". Young Simon Hughes perhaps had the right
attitude when he said "No, there wasn't much grip, but it was a bit of
fun".
Jari-Matti Latvalla's co driver Carl Williamson commented "It was a bit
messy, we hit a bale, fortunately with no damage, but we were trying".
Julian Reynolds in the Subaru reported his car having a sticking clutch and
the car jammed in gear.
Aside from the overall leaderoard, the front runners in the Super 1600
category were - Gwyndaf Evans fastest in his MG. Then Guy Wilks in the Ford
Puma. Italian visitor Baldacci was 3rd. Simon Hughes 4th. Ryan Champion 5th in
the Ford Puma. 6th was Clark, 7th Higgins, 8th young Kris Meeke in the Opel.
9th Garry Jennings and 10th Martin Stenshorne. It must be remembered of course
that there were only seconds between them.
When the rally crossed the ramp at Baltic Square in Gateshead it would appear
there were only 2 principal non starters - Charlie Jukes in the Subaru was to
be at 18 and David Greer could not get the Corolla WRC ready in time. More
later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Ciara Conlon)
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