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| Ulster Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.3 - Ebrington Service - Friday @ 19:51:01 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.3 Ebrington Service/Friday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Holly Hill 2
1st (1) Elfyn Evans/Craig Parry (Fiesta R5) 35.33.4
2nd (3) Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3R5) 35.50.6
3rd (12) Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3R5) 36.06.9
4th (5) David Bogie/James O’Reilly (Fabia R5) 36.16.7
5th (2) Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Fiesta R5) 36.19.6
6th (10) Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Fiesta R5) 36.21.7
7th (4) Fredrik Ahlin/Morten Erik Abrahamsson (Fiesta R5) 36.41.3
8th (6) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Fiesta R5) 36.51.2
9th (7) Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Fabia R5) 36.58.9
10th (11) Tom Cave/James Morgan (Fiesta R5) 37.14.5
Alastair Fisher was leading the rally when the cars left service but that was all to change on the 2nd run over the Holly Hill stage when his Fiesta sustained a front wheel puncture. His closest rival Elfyn Evans set a scorching time to move into the lead, the Welshman saying at stage finish ‘We picked a dry weather tyre, it worked well. The car felt good’. Alastair Fisher’s Fiesta reached the finish of the stage with sparks flying off the front rim, the tyre completely gone, so Alastair probably did well to lose less than a minute. Keith Cronin was 7s down on Evans in the stage, Keith reporting a half spin when his Citroen ran wide on a left hander. He also said it was very slippy in places. Swedish driver Fredrik Ahlin was a little disappointed that he did not improve more on his first stage time through Holly Hill. Desi Henry on the other hand was a full 38s faster than his first visit and he reported the car much more stable and confidence inspiring. Josh Moffett had a half spin but still set a decent time. Not as good as his brother Sam, who was 2nd quickest in the stage.
When Garry Jennings reached the stage stop line he got out of the car and kicked the already rather dented front of his Mitsubishi and said angrily – ‘We were really getting into it and in the last mile I have had 3 accidents because the brake pedal just went straight to the floor’. Tom Cave dropped more time and reckons that something has broken in the transmission of his Fiesta R5.
The first dozen or so cars went through the stage in bright evening sunshine and suddenly the rain descended and the following cars nearly all reported big moments towards the finish of the stage. Jamie Anderson for example had an overshoot at a square right and Brendan Cumiskey’s Fiesta R5 ran wide on a right hander under trees and got stuck momentarily. Wesley Patterson said he was really struggling for grip. Alex Laffey had a half spin. Some drivers did manage a fairly clean run and that included Camillus Bradley who said he was ‘smoking through the stage!’. Chris Armstrong had another brilliant run, although at service he was 4s down on fellow Escort man Ryan Loughran. Young Welsh driver Rhys Yates had another good run in his R5.
Niall Devine in his GpN Lancer had another great time through Holly Hill which is his home stage. He was closely pursued by Clonakilty man David Guest who is leading the category in the Tarmac Championship. Gus Kearney is also chasing points in the Tarmac but his Group N Lancer got caught out on a 3 left 4 right with water running across the road, and he lost some time. His brother Pat in the second Sepam Lancer is going well. We mentioned earlier that Rob Duggan had bent the front suspension of his Adam and we believe now that the class is being led by young Callum Devine in his Opel Adam.
In the Historic Rally Andy Johnson in his Chevette HSR was leading after 3 stages from Frank Cunningham in his Escort. Dickie Hall has recently acquired a Sunbeam Lotus and he was 3rd. Hall was quite a star 30 years ago on the Ulster – in a Sunbeam.
On Rally Germany Mikkelsen leads from Ogier with Neuville 3rd and Tanak 4th. Lefebvre 5th. Jon Armstrong is still going, albeit in 40th place. Former Ulster Rally winner Osian Pryce is 38th. Both crews are battling for DMack points.
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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