|
|
| |
| Manx International Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - After SS5 - Friday @ 15:54:11 |
| |
|
RALLY NEWS NO.4 Grandstand/Douglas/Friday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 5 Cringle
1st (1) Mark HIggins/Bryan Thomas (Impreza N) 51.23.6
2nd (2) Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 52.16.3
3rd (6) Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Lancer N) 53.33.2
4th (3) Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 53.57.4
5th (4) Adam Gould/Sebastian Marshal (Impreza N) 54.05.2
6th (12) Nigel & Michaela Cannell (Lancer N) 54.36.7
7th (11) Steven Quine/Paul McCann (Lancer) 54.38.6
8th (7) Euan Thorburn/Campbell Roy (Impreza N) 55.34.8
9th (8) Dave Weston Jnr/Aled Davies (Impreza N) 55.36.5
10th (15) Tom Walster/Tim Sturla (Clio) 56.06.3
Stages 4 and 5 brought their fair share of drama. Stage 4, the longest one of the rally, had to be stopped after 4 cars had passed through, when Davie Bogie spun his Lancer and got jammed between 2 high banks. Stage 5 saw Mark Higgins regain the lead when Keith Cronin’s Lancer suffered rear differential trouble. Mark had been fastest through stage 4 anyway by 4s from Cronin but Cronin still led by 14s. Mark was having his own problems with the rear brakes locking on and he was arriving into lots of corners in a massive rear wheel slide. He seemed quite worried about the problem and whether it could be sorted at service. Keith Cronin recounted that on the long stage 4 he had put a rear wheel into a ditch at one point and the wheel had filled up with mud and then vibrated to the stage finish. On the next stage Keith and co driver Greg smelt oil from the differential and then there was a crunching noise and no drive to the back wheels. They dropped over a minute to Mark Higgins. Keith has a spare differential at the service van so hopefully the car will be in full health for the next loop.
Jonny Greer had a good run over stage 5, he was second fastest, and reported all well. Alastair Fisher knocked a bumper off his Lancer at the hairpin at Ronague. Adam Gould feels that his Impreza isn’t handling properly following the incident on stage 2 even though most of the suspension has been replaced. Initial stories on David Bogie indicated that he had a big accident at a hairpin in stage 4 but then he arrived into service with hardly a mark on the car and it turned out he had just spun and got jammed between 2 banks. A farmer on a tractor lifted the front of the car round eventually to get David going. David commented. “The way my luck is going I wasn’t surprised. I just drove through stage 5 then as the exhaust was squashed”. Euan Thorburn has softened the suspension on his Impreza and feels it has improved. Steven Quine told us the brakes are sorted on his GpA Lancer but the car is very lively over the bumps.
Nigel Cannell turned in a very good time for stage 5 to move up into 6th o/a. Tom Walster leads class R3 even though he is not terribly happy with the suspension of his new Clio. The Clio Ragnotti of Matti Rantanen has stopped in stage 5, possibly with a broken drive shaft as it was after an uphill acute corner. Craig Breen continues to lead the Fiestas and is driving conservatively until he gets to the end of stage 8. Jason Pritchard has moved into the lead of the Citroen Racing Trophy and is 11th o/a with Marty McCormack in his Citroen in 12th despite bashing into a bale at a chicane and possibly knocking the wheel alignment out slightly. In the Historic Rally Dessie Nutt leads the Pre 67 cars in his Porsche while David Stokes leads the Post Historics from Derek Boyd. Gwyndaf Evans in the Phil Mills Escort leads the Classic section from Phil Collins in his Ascona. Gwyndaf said. “We’ve had a good run. This is such a fun thing, you get a great buzz but have to work at it – leaf springs, no power steering and 70 profile tyres”. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
|
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
