Wet and blustery weather on the opening stage that finished near Seaforde made the conditions difficult for the drivers. Even rally leader Robert Barrable, fastest on the qualifying stage at Holywood as well, was having his problems. On a square right hairpin left sequence near the start of that opening Bucks Head stage the side window of Robert`s Fiesta blew out in a blast of wind. This was disconcerting to say the least for the Dubliner. The wind was blasting in through his window, getting under the visor of his helmet and making his eyes water. It was fantastic that he scored the fastest time. At the finish of the stage Robert said. `I did not drive very well, it was a bit messy. With the 2m gaps I am out on my own`.
Craig Breen was not too happy at stage finish either. His Peugeot 208 T16 was giving turbo pop off valve worries yesterday at the qualifying stage and it was misbehaving through stage 1 as well. When Craig saw he was 7s down on Barrable he said that he reckoned it was the pop off valve that cost him the 7s. We are getting news in that Craig was faster than Robert through stage 2, Hamilton`s Folly, so maybe that will cheer him up a bit. Polish driver Kajetanowicz commented at stage finish. `All OK. It was really fast and completely wet. This is good learning for me and I try to compromise the speed with that learning`.
The talented French driver Robert Consani said. `The feeling for me is difficult. One minute it is fast then it is slippery. It is hard to find the right speed. But I am here to finish for the points`. Another French man, Charles Martin, was lying just outside the top 10 after the first stage and he told us that he found the stage very difficult, and on a big puddle the inner wheel arch of his Peugeot got dislodged and was dragging on the ground. As you can imagine this was quite a distraction. Martin McCormack is putting on a good show in the ex Neil Simpson Skoda, but he said that the back brakes did not seem to be working properly and they were making an awful grinding noise. (Sounds like our old Subaru Outback that just needs a new set of pads!) Jonny Greer in the Citroen DS3 R5 reckons he is on a learning exercise as he has never driven the car on the wet and on these tyres. Sam Moffett set a good time, 4th o/a on the first stage and he reported that it was not drama free. A large piece of head rest padding had come adrift and fallen down around his feet in the middle of the pedals and it distracted him for most of the stage.
Josh Moffett`s Fiesta RRC had a big slide into a ditch but Josh said otherwise it was a good run and he is not on the limit. Swedish driver Adielsson was slowed with a misfire in his Peugeot 208. Jon Armstrong and Chris Ingram are having a big battle for R2 supremacy with Armstrong leading by a fraction of a second.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON and Michael & Zoe Patterson *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
