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RALLY NEWS NO.6
Hexham Service/Saturday 2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 CHIRDONHEAD
1st (24) Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Ford Puma) 1.17.03.8
2nd (11) Tapio Laukkanen/Miikka Antilla (Impreza WRC) 1.17.07.0
3rd (1) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Clio) 1.17.11.7
4th (8) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 1.17.16.4
5th (2) Gwyndaf Evans/Howard Davies (MG) 1.18.44.5
6th (23) Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson (Corsa) 1.21.59.5
7th (4) Simon Hughes/Calvin Cooledge (Clio) 1.22.22.3
8th ((25) Mirco Baldacci/Giovanni Bernacchini (Punto) 1.22.32.2
9th (31) Dougie Hall/Steve Egglestone (Lancer) 1.22.39.1
10th (41) James Thompson/Plug Pulleyn (Lancer) 1.23.22.4
11th (9) Jari-Matti Latvalla/Carl Williamson (Focus WRC) 1.24.19.2
12th (15) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 1.25.12.3
13th (10) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 1.25.51.5
14th (28) Neil Buckley/Dougie Redpatch (Lancer N) 1.26.32.6
With 2 stages remaining on this Pirelli Rally it would appear that we have a
grandstand battle for victory in store. Tapio Laukkanen and Jonny
Milner, Subaru and Corolla respectively, are now travelling a couple of
seconds a mile faster than the Super 1600 cars of Guy Wilks, Mark Higgins and
Gwyndaf Evans. Interestingly, young Kris Meeke set fastest Super 1600
time through stage 8, the Colin McRae protégé just a smidgeon off fastest
through stage 9 where Mark Higgins held the honour. In overall terms Jonny
Milner was fastest through stage 8 and again through stage 9. Milner
commented "I reckoned if the rot went any further it wouldn't be good and
I had to put a stop to it." Tapio Laukkanen told us "We had a
puncture 4 miles from the end of stage 8 and stalled the engine at a hairpin
in stage 9, now we have a transmission problem.". Mark Higgins
recounted "We had quite a lot of marbles on the stage, very loose on the
surface, it was difficult".
Gwyndaf Evans' co driver Howard Davies said "If the MG was a chicken it
would be dead, we wrung the neck out of it, there was nothing
left". Kris Meeke told us that those 2 stages, Bower and
Chirdonhead, were the first two that the little Corsa had been right on,
brakes, suspension, everything OK. Jari-Matti Latvala reported that 6th
gear has gone which in these fast stages is of course a disadvantage. Austin
MacHale knocked the rear bumper off his new Impreza WRC, and also said that
the engine was smoking. Dougie Hall changed the exhaust on his Impreza to try
to cure the turbo boost problem, that didn't work, so he has jammed the waste
gate open and things are getting better. Plus the road rally man's confidence
is growing. James Thompson was another to turn in 2 really quick times through
stages 8 and 9. Faster than Latvala on both stages, faster than Laukkanen on
stage 8. And that was despite a very high speed excursion through the
undergrowth. Steve Petch reports all OK with his Accent and Paul Bird in a
similar car is also going well.
In the Peugeot 206 Super Cup after the first couple of stages today, Chris
Moore was leading from Jack Ingleby. Shaun Gallagher was 3rd, Spanish driver
Joan Roca was 4th, Rodney Wilton from Cavan 5th and Sebastian Ling 6th. Shaun
Gallagher was the points leader going into last night's round, which Chris
Moore of course won. Shaun reckoning that the cars at the front of the
Super Cup got the worst of the fog, and he was really caught off guard by
Chris Moore's performance.
In the Ford Ka section today in the Northumbria Rally, John Moffatt who has
won the last 2 rounds was leading after their first 2 stages with John Wigmore
2nd. Ian Forgan 3rd. Young Stephen Petch retired his Ka when the engine
expired. Darren Snape went out with a broken drive shaft. Shaun Woffinden in
the Puma still going strong, but more or less on his own in the Ford Puma
Challenge. More news later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
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