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| Ulster Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.7 - RALLYNEWS No.7 - Saturday @ 09:51:10 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.7 Antrim/Friday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 SLEMISH
WRC
1st (W2) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Impreza WRC) 59:12.3
2nd (W1) Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 59:16.2
3rd (W4) Aaron MacHale/Eugene O'Donnell (Focus WRC) 1:01:46.4
4th (W5) Arjen de Koning/Hein Verschuuren (Lancer WRC) 1:06:59.4
RALLYNI
1st (4) Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Fiesta S2000) 1.00.11.1
2nd (2) Keith Cronin/Barry McNulty (Impreza N) 1.00.28.0
3rd (1) Gwyndaf Evans/Phil Pugh (Lancer N) 1.00.39.2
4th (3) Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 1.01.24.5
5th (9) Adam Gould/Craig Drew (Impreza N) 1.01.54.6
6th (7) Bryan Bouffier/Xavier Panseri (Citroen DS3 R3) 1.02.22.7
7th (28) Daniel McKenna/Andrew Grennan (Lancer N) 1.02.51.2
8th (5) Jonny Greer/Dai Roberts (Lancer N) 1.02.52.0
9th (24) Marty McCormack/David Moynihan (Citroen C2R2 Max) 1.03.59.5
10th (8) Jason Pritchard/Robbie Durant (Impreza N) 1.04.04.2
In the WRC part of this Ulster Rally, Derek McGarrity was 4s faster than Gareth MacHale through the Slemish stage to move into the lead. In the Rally NI section, Keith Cronin was 2s faster than Gwyndaf Evans and 3s up on Craig Breen, although the positions at the top remain the same.
When Gareth MacHale brought his Focus into service, he said, “I’m still driving with the Tarmac Championship in mind. A non-finish here and my championship is gone. We may stiffen the suspension a little for the next loop. I’m not taking it away from Derek, he si going very well.” For his part, Derek McGarrity commented, “Those were nicer stages, I’m very pleased with that. However, at the chicane at the creamery in Cairncastle you would need a motorbike to get through the bales!” Aaron MacHale has gone better this morning and said, “I think I was still on holiday last night.” Hein Verschuuren who is co-driving for Koning in the Lancer said, “The car is better with the softer suspension but still we find it difficult to read the jumps. But you know, this is a small GpA car not a WRC and they only lose a second or two per km to the WRC’s.”
Keith Cronin commented, “We had a good clean run this morning, not pushing as hard as last night.” Craig Breen said, “We were on the limiter again for miles through SS8. It’s killing me. I’m trying to make up for it on the tighter stuff and under braking.” Alastair Fisher’s co-driver Rory Kennedy told us, “We had a very good run on the first stage this morning and went well also on the second one. Alastair is driving well but you know in this company if you even think of lifting your right foot on the high speed stuff, the slightest hesitation, it’s a second at least gone.” When Daniel McKenna brought his hired Lancer in, he was still fretting about his time loss in SS7 and said, “I still had it in the back of my head through SS8 but I have my head cleared now, no issues, I’ll keep plugging away.” Adam Gould, who admitted to being a bit messy on the opening stage said, “The second one was a bit better, but not totally committed.” Adam went on to say that his Subaru is definitely an older car and may not just have the legs of the machinery in front.
French driver, Bryan Bouffier emerged from his new Citroen as immaculate as ever – the car and the driver. “My feeling is better. The suspension of the car is a little bit harder. One big jump on the opening stage was a bit surprising!” Marty McCormack is keeping an eye on Bouffier’s times and is indeed very close to them. Marty did have a big moment this morning when a power steering pipe burst on a compression jump over a bridge and spread red fluid all over the windscreen. Marty discovered then that it wasn’t so much a burst pipe but one had come loose from the pump and he was able to tighten it up. He filled the reservoir with engine oil instead of hydraulic fluid and it seemed to work OK through the Slemish stage. Robert Barrable was having a great race with Marty last night for Citroen Racing kudos but it would appear that Robert has over cooked it this morning in Cairncastle and knocked a wheel off on a hairpin left. This leaves Mark Donnelly, the top driver in the Citroen Racing Trophy UK series. Mark has changed the fuel pump on his car but says it still feels a bit down on power.
Neil McCance has stepped up the pace a little this morning in the race for Mitsubishi Evo Challenge points and is lying just outside the top 10. Neil is lying 12th, 1 place behind Mark Donnelly in his Lancer. Elfyn Evans continues to set some great times in his Fiesta. Elfyn is lying 15th and seocnd in Cl R2 to Marty McCormack. Mark Donnelly’s Citroen is 3rd in class and the Finnish Matti Rantanen is 4th in his Twingo, one place ahead of Mark Sheehan (C2R2 Max).
Daniel Sigurdarson is lying 13th tells us that he had a good run through SS7 but a bad one in SS8. He spun his Lancer twice and on the 2nd occasion killed the engine which took time to re-start. The Icelandic commented, “I want to get into the top 10. That is our goal and also to have more smiles per mile!”
More news later: BRIAN PATTERSON & MICHAEL PATTERSON & THE GIRLS www.rallynews.net
*For SMS results text RALLY ITC to 53030 (Irl) or RALLY ITC to 60066 (UK). Text STOP to switch off. Cost 30c/25p. Provided by stagetimes.com |
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