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RALLY NEWS
NO.7 Service..Saturday..03.15..yawn..yawn..
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 - WHITEADDER DAM
1st (2) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (V/hall Astra) 50.30.9
2nd (4) Jarmo Kytolehto/Arto Kapanen (Coupe) 51.14.2
3rd (1) Tapio Laukkanen/Kaj Lindstrom (VW Golf) 51.23.2
4th (5) Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery (Peugeot) 52.08.1
5th (6) David Higgins/Shaun O'Gorman (Peugeot) 52.41.1
6th (17) Neil Simpson/Mike Gibson (Lancer N) 52.47.5
7th (3) Neil Wearden/Trevor Agnew (V/hall Astra) 53.17.7
8th (16) Niall McShea/Michael Orr (Saxo) 53.32.9
9th (15) Martin Rowe/Chris Wood (Ford Puma) 53.47.4
10th (24) Guy Anderson/Dave Taylor (Lancer N) 53.56.1
Tapio Laukkanen was fastest through the final stage of this first
day of the SEAT Jim Clark Rally with a time of 6.53.1 as against
Mark Higgins who scored 6.58.1. However, Finnish driver
Laukkanen had been leading the rally going into stage 8, but
dropped approximately a minute through the 2 Langton spectator
stages, numbers 8 and 9. British Rally Champion Tapio told
us here at service "We had a gear selection problem, a fork.
We knew about this before, it happened in Ireland when it jammed
in 2nd gear, and I had the spare and was able to fix it".......
Mark Higgins commented "We had quite a good run, no real
problems". While his Vauxhall team mate Neil Wearden
told us "I'm scratching the head a bit to tell you the truth,
OK, we're running the spare lamp pod after the accident, and
it's a different sort, and maybe that is affecting our time,
but I though I had gone better". Wearden was 8s slower
than Laukkanen through stage 10, Kytolehto 10s slower.
Jarmo told us "We had a clean run but I lost the stay between
the bumper and the lamp pod so the lights were flickering badly.
Maybe also too hard a front tyre, but it is some information
for tomorrow evening".
Mats Andersson's Proton has stopped in the middle of stage 10
- too early yet to say that the Swedish driver has retired, but
certainly there is no sign of the little yellow machine into
service. Justin Dale continues to lead the Super 1600 division,
but he was a few seconds slower than his Peugeot team mate David
Higgins through stage 10. Justin saw the oil light flickering
a few times and eased back ever so slightly. David Higgins said
"It was our 2nd time over the stage and I suppose my confidence
is growing. This is my first time in an F2 car on tarmac since
1996 and I feel I should have the "L" plates up".Niall
McShea had a good run over Whiteadder and seemed a lot happier
here at service, telling us "The power steering was a whole
lot better than time, as it turned out there was no problem with
the pump, the alternator was over charging and the pump couldn't
cope. Maybe now the engine is running a little hot and is down
on power slightly, but we're giving it a real good go now, although
I did overcook a corner or two in that stage". Martin Rowe
is just a few seconds off the top 1600 pace in the Puma, Martin
having a good run so far.
Gavin Cox had a spin at the hairpin in Whiteadder, he told us
"No big drama, I just had to reverse a bit". Nik Elsmore
lost about 50s in stage 10 with a spin. Latest news on
the Peugeot Super 106 cup after stage 9 was that Irishman Rory
Galligan had a 11s lead over Martin Sansom with Wedgbury 3rd
and Seamus Donnelly 4th. In the National part of the rally Neil
Buckley was dominating in his Polo after 5 stages. BRIAN &
LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Davy & Michael Patterson &
Tom Collins..) |
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