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| Pirelli International Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.3 - After SS3 - Friday @ 22:24:24 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.3 Carlisle/Service/Friday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Black Shed
1st (1) Keith Cronin/Barry McNulty (Impreza N) 24.19.6
2nd (2) Gwyndaf Evans/Chris Patterson (Lancer N) 25.33.7
3rd (3) Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Fiesta S2000) 25.52.3
4th (5) Dave Weston Jnr/Ieuan Thomas (Impreza N) 26.04.0
5th (4) Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 26.12.7
6th (10) Daniel Sigurdarson/Asta Siguroardottir (Lancer N) 26.18.5
7th (8) Jonny Greer/Dai Roberts (Lancer N) 26.34.0
8th (11) Mark HIggins/NIcky Grist (Impreza N) 26.35.0
9th(24) Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Lancer N) 27.21.6
10th (16) Jarkko Nikara/Petri Nikara (Twingo) 27.30.1
It was certainly an illuminating evening’s rallying, possibly not for the competitors were hampered by the thick dust through the Kershope Forest complex, but certainly the spectators were given a real treat as regards some fabulous driving, especially by rally leader Keith Cronin. That thick dust caused many drivers problems and several were slowed by punctures as their cars wandered slightly off line.
The supremely experienced Gwyndaf Evans said. “In placed it was dangerous although in all fairness I don’t know what the organisers can do. They gave us 2 minute gaps between the cars and we still couldn’t see anything. There was a long downhill section in stage 2 where I was trying to save the brakes, but was having to dab them all the time as I just couldn’t see the corners, and we ended up with a long brake pedal which cost us some time”. Rally leader Keith Cronin brought his Pirelli backed Impreza in here to service and told us. "“We were pushing quite hard but being first on the road the surface was very loose and we had no line. We had to use the full width of the track. However I was comfortable in the third stage and set a nice pace. We will tray and maintain that tomorrow although the surfaces are slightly different and I don’t have all the settings for some new suspension we have fitted”.
Third placed Craig Breen said. “I thought my confidence was fixed after my Circuit accident but the dust tonight was dangerous and difficult. Still, I’m very happy with my position. I’m driving conservatively and we’re going to change a few settings on the car to make things more comfortable”. Dave West Jnr in 4th was another who managed to keep out of trouble and he said. “In that dust its hard to pick your pace, its so easy to throw it all away, but I’m happy enough”. Definitely not happy was Alastair Fisher as his Lancer developed intercom problems and the car wandered off line picking up 2 separate punctures. Alastair is still in the picture however and his engineer Gerry McGarrity will have a bent rear suspension arm replaced tonight to leave Alastair’s car in top condition in the chase after Craig Breen in the morning. Just 20s separate the two, with Dave Weston sandwiched in between.
Icelandic driver Daniel Sigurdarson reported the rear of his Lancer kicking out over the bumps and he was asking the engineers to raise the ride height slightly. Daniel may also have a technical problem with his road timing that hopefully will be resolved later. David Bogie has retired his Lancer with a mechanical problem. Euan Thorburn has lost almost 10m following punctures. He had one on the 2nd stage and stopped to change the wheel, and then when he went to re-start Jason Pritchard passed him and Euan had to wait for 2m for the dust to subside, as he couldn’t see a thing. Adam Gould has also lost a lot of time, possibly 7m. Australian girl Molly Taylor has crashed her Citroen C2R2 Max off the road in stage 3, crew OK.
Richard Sykes is now the highest placed Citroen C2R2 contender and he is just 7s ahead of Robert Barrable.
More news tomorrow: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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