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| Circuit of Ireland |
| RALLY NEWS No.5 - Banbridge - Saturday @ 10:27:12 |
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RALLLY NEWS NO.5 Banbridge/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 7 BUCKS HEAD
1st (1) Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroen DS3R5) 55.36.9
2nd (3) Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Jaroslaw Baran (Fiesta R5) 55.54.8
3rd (6) Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Fiesta R5) 55.57.4
4th (16) Marty McCormack/David Moynihan (Fabia S2000) 56.33.7
5th (11) Jaromir Tarabus/Daniel Trunkat (Fabia R5) 56.38.3
6th (39) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Fiesta R5) 56.45.9
7th (9) Fredrik Ahlin/M.E.Abrahamsen (Fiesta R5) 56.48.1
8th (41) Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Fiesta R5) 57.04.6
9th (15) Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3R5) 57.12.9
10th (10) David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Fabia R5) 57.15.9
On last night’s Newtownards spectator stage it was Alastair Fisher & Gordon Noble who set the fastest time in their Modern Tyres supported Fiesta R5. Rally leader Craig Breen had a spin at a chicane and lost quite a few seconds to reduce the margin over 2nd placed Kajetan Kajetanowicz to 25s. Alastair was just 2s behind the Polish driver in the overnight standings. Another competitor to have a problem at Newtownards was Swedish driver Fredrik Ahlin. His Fiesta slid into a kerb and damaged the rear suspension costing about 50s and 3 places on the leaderboard.
Derek McGarrity led the National Rally overnight despite his Fiesta WRC having a constant misfire throughout the day. Wesley Patterson was 2nd National in his Escort: Ollie Mellors (Proton) was 3rd and Declan McNaughton (Escort) 4th, Alistair Cochrane 5th Escort). Clive Kilpatrick led Group N and was 6th o/a National. Simon Woodside was 2nd GpN in a similar Lancer and was 10th.
Fastest through this morning’s opening stage was Welshman Elfyn Evans. He retired his Fiesta yesterday when leading because the alternator pulley wheel broke. Evans is running in Rally 2 today and has little to prove, but is using the exercise to check his notes. Interestingly, his father Gwyndaf, co driven by former WRC Champion Phil Mills, is keeping a watching eye on Elfyn today. When Gwyndaf stopped at a petrol station here in Banbridge there were immediately 2 rally fans at the door of his Impreza turbo asking for autographs from Gwyndaf & Phil.
Aside from Elfyn Evans (who is in Rally 2 and does not affect the leaderboard) Josh Moffett was quickest of the top 10 drivers by less than a second from Kajetanowicz, Alastair Fisher and Fredrik Ahlin. Craig Breen was quite a few seconds down and his lead is whittled back to 18s. He said at stage finish ‘It is no issue, I will have to push harder’ Kajetan commented. ‘It was difficult to find the rhythm, I was on soft compound tyres and my driving was nervous’ Alastair Fisher told us. ‘I was cautious on the fast stuff, it was greasy and really I will be quite happy to maintain a podium position’ Alastair is of course chasing Tarmac Championship points and is the highest registered contender at the moment. Overnight frost has mostly disappeared from the stage roads but nearly all the top drivers were saying that it is still slippy and muddy in places. Further stories include – Sam Moffett reported that a gearbox change has cured his clutch worries with his Fiesta R5. Swedish driver Fredrik Ahlin was full of praise for his mechanics after they changed the rear suspension of his Fiesta following last night’s drama. David Bogie lost time this morning when his Skoda slid into a hedge on the very first corner of the opening stage, cold tyres to blame. Max Vatanen is reported to be stopped on that Bucks Head stage.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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