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RALLY
NEWS NO.1
Bournemouth/Saturday 08.00
"Ah, shiny day" observed Kumho lady Yung A Lea leaving the
Highcliff Hotel here at Bournemouth this morning to start this Rallye
Sunseeker. A shiny day indeed. Fabulous weather plus a breathtaking entry for
the rally mark the start of this 2003 Kumho National Championship. Rick Smith
and his hard working Southern Car Club & Croydon District Motor
Club teams have laid on a superbly organised event for the 115 crews entered.
Indeed the rally has all the flair and hallmarks of the very best
International Rally.
Current National Rally Champion Mark Perrott leads the cars away down the
opening Bournemouth promenade stage in his Escort Cosworth World Rally Car.
Behind the Leominster man is a wide variety of cars ranging from Subaru
WRC's, through to the fabulous GpB Metro 6R4's, Peugeot 206's and a veritable
horde of Mitsubishi Lancers.
Perrott looked at the entry list and remarked, "This is not going to be
an easy one to win. I'm a bit worried about running first on the road on the
gravel stages, having to clean the loose off the top, plus nobody else's
lines to follow. It's important that I finish. One dropped score on this
Championship puts too much pressure on for the rest of the year. I've altered
the differential settings and suspension set up since the Wyedean. Andy
Burton had the edge on me there, but we'll see what happens here"
Behind Perrott is three times former Sunseeker winner Marcus Dodd. Marcus,
co-driven this time by Stephen McAuley, has taken a break from the sport
since last summer. As he stood beside his fabulous Subaru Impreza WRC S7 he
told us, "I'm looking forward to the rally, but at the same time I
haven't sat in the car for a while. The car is sold, so I'm going for fun. My
days of going fast are over - I'd like to be in the top five at the
finish." (Well that's what he said!).
No.3 seed Andy Burton commented "We'll give this a real go" as he
surveyed his very potent 2.5 litre mid-engined hybrid Peugeot. Steve Petch at
4 in his Hyundai WRC, fresh from his win on the Kall-Kwik last weekend said,
"Hopefully we will go well here. However I'm not a tarmac driver, so
don't expect too much on the first three stages. The car's good, but the
engine has nearly run its hours. However, being a good Yorkshireman, I'll
take the maximum out of it!"
Raymond Munro at 5 won the Snowman last week in his McKinstry prepared Subaru
so should be in top form, while Charlie Jukes in the Acrylicon backed Subaru
rounds off the top six. Charlie is another who hasn't been rallying for a
while but he clearly demonstrated by leading the Rally Wales International
last year until a puncture intervened that he has the speed to compete with
the best.
At 8 David Mann in his Subaru is looking good for a result here, while Robert
Woodside (No7) has changed from Subaru to Corolla WRC for the rally. His saga
of getting the David Greer Motorsport Toyota here to Bournemouth would fill a
page on its own. Dark horses on the rally include Steve Fleck in his Impreza
WRC, seeded at 21. Charlie Payne at 22, who led the Kall Kwik for most of the
way last Sunday in his Gp! Subaru. Gary Midwinter at 23, Ollie O'Donovan at
24, Phil Morgan at 25…all could figure with the top runners. London
based Limerick man O'Donovan has upgraded his Subaru to a Kenny McKinstry
"active" Impreza.
That's just a flavour of this Rallye Sunseeker. There are so many more
stories, so many angles. Over 20 Mitsubishi drivers will battle for Lancer
Challenge honours. The Peugeot 206 Winter Cup will be decided here. Leon
Pesticcio or Richard Sykes are favourites for the crown, several other
drivers could also take it. All in all it should be a fascinating event. More
news from service:
BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
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