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RALLY NEWS
NO.2 Ae forest...Saturday 10.30 am
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1 - AE
1st (1) Tapio Laukkanen/Kaj Lindstrom (VW Golf) 17.38.1
2nd (3) Neil Wearden/Trevor Agnew (Vauxhall) 17.54.2
3rd (11) Marko Ipatti/Teppo Leino (Lancer N) 18.11.9
4th (10) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Celica N) 18.14.0
5th (17) Neil Simpson/Mike Gibson (Lancer N) 18.16.9
6th (16) Mike Brown/Aled Davies (Lancer N) 18.30.5
Tapio Laukkanen shrugged off the wet slippy conditions through
Ae forest to score a stunningly fastest time. His Volkswagen
Golf sustained a puncture just before the stage finish, but that
didn't worry Tapio. Mark Higgins lost a fair bit of time,
his Astra suffering a puncture just 3 miles into the stage.
Former British Champion Mark told us "I was keeping it clean
and neat, I just couldn't believe it when the tyre went dow."
Mark's Astra team mate Neil Wearden reported "Went OK, the
tyres got very hot, the stage was very slippy". Higgins'
time was 18.38, Kytolehto was another to do most of the stage
with a puncture and his time was 19.04.6. Despite some
traction troubles Andrew Pinker had a good run and recorded 18.35.4.
While Finnish visitor Jani Pirtinen had 18.35.6 and commented
"We had little bit the wrong tyre, very slippery".
Current Mobil 1 British Championship leader Marko Ipatti said
"We went carefully". Jonny Milner had a front
wheel puncture just before the end, but also had a good run.
David Higgins was the fastest of the Super 1600 competitors,
David recorded 18.42.0 in his Peugeot 106 Super GTi, and reckons
he lost a few seconds while he fiddled with the brake balance
bar. Mats Andersson had 18.47.3, Mats saying "We made
a steady start but you know some places very good grip, some
places nothing, very exciting".
Niall McShea was slightly off the pace and happy to get going,
his time 19.30.4 and he felt he might have had a loose rear shock
absorber. Mike Brown lost a bit of time when he caught the Saxo
6 miles from the stage finish, Mike worried about stones hitting
the Lancer's intercooler, so he backed off slightly. Neil Simpson
in the Pirelli Lancer reported some pad knock off but otherwise
OK. Stuart Egglestone's bad luck continues, he is reported
parked in the stage with the bonnet up. On the Acropolis
Rally in Greece, Colin McRae still leads from his Ford team mate
Sainz, with Burns up to 3rd. Chris Patterson has sent us
a text message to say that Stephen Finlay's brilliant run is
over - his Focus steering rack broken. Alister McRae is gone
with steering/suspension damage. Mark Fisher was an early
retirement with accident damage/fuel problems. Back here on the
Scottish, some more times include - Justin Dale 19.10.8: Gavin
Cox 18.47.0: Dave Wood 18.52.3: Nik Elsmore 19.00.2: Keith Robathan
19.08.0: Guy Anderson 18.51.8: No time as yet for Jock Armstrong,
his Golf slightly delayed when it clouted the wooden bridge..
More news from Dumfries service. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON |
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