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RALLY
NEWS NO.2 Kent Showgrounds-Service-Sat.
09.00
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD FORMULA RALLY SUPER 1600 AFTER SS1 Grain West
1st (5) Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery (Peugeot) 4.56
2nd (9) Francois Duval/JM Fortin (Ford) 5.00
3rd (7) Martin Rowe/Chris Wood (Ford) 5.01
(15) Martin Sansom/Phil Wells (Peugeot) 5.01
5th (1) Mats Andersson/Claire Mole (Proton) 5.04
6th (3) David Higgins/Mike Gibson (VW) 5.05
7th (17) Paul Wedgbury/Neil Dashfield (Saxo) 5.26
Early leader of the Super 1600 category, Justin Dale, in the Peugeot,
remarked about that Grain West stage "Incredibly slippy".
There were no major problems reported amongst the lead drivers, although
Mats Andersson's Proton seemed to be leaking a little fuel, didn't seem
to be a real problem, and Simon Maugher talked of a small misfire.
Further news from Grain East (SS2) is that Patrick Magaud (Ford) and Paul
Wedgbury in the Saxo have not emerged from the test. Unofficially we hear
that Magaud had engine problems, also unofficially that David Higgins in
the Polo has gearbox trouble in stage 4, all up at the Grain
complex.
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1-Ashford Rally
1st (36) Simon Hughes/Phil Pugh
(Peugeot) 5.22
2nd (31) Garry Jennings/James O'Brien (Peugeot) 5.23
3rd (37) Chris Moore/Mike Panes (Peugeot) 5.27
4th (33) Ryan Champion/Cliff Simmons (Peugeot) 5.30
(39) Guy Wilkes/Clive Jenkins (Ford) 5.30
6th (35) Kris Meeke/Gordon Noble (Peugeot) 5.32
(41) Shaun Woffinden/Martin Carter (Ford) 5.32
8th (43) Richard Sykes/Mark Andrews (Peugeot) 5.33
The disappointing news in from stage 1 of the Ashford Rally, Kingswood
Forest, is that top Peugeot Super 106 Cup contender Rory Galligan has
parked the car a short distance into the stage. Unofficial news is
that the Irishman went straight on at a corner, damaging the 106 and was
forced to a halt when a front wheel folded under.
As can be seen above, Simon Hughes was fastest, commenting about the
stage "It was tricky, lots of grip in some places, very slippy in
others, as soon as you put the car sideways it just went from under
you". Ryan Champion said "When we saw Rory off we took it
a bit steady". Peugeot Super 106 Cup leader,Garry Jennings, told us
"We were off the road, in the ditch, a couple of times, so we're
happy with the time". Adrian McElvaney said "We're
settling in, getting rid of the demons after the Scottish accident".
Young Kris Meeke reported "Took it real steady, we seem to have big
problems on the first couple ofstages recently, so today we'll take it
steady early and see how we go later on".
In the Volkswagen Polo Challenge George Philippedes reported a problem
down shifting into 2nd gear, but still lying 3rd Polo. Guy Wilks,
Ford Puma Championship leader, was just 2s faster than Shaun Woffinden on
that first stage, but David Henderson who les 2nd in the Puma series was
14s behind Wilks, although reports no real problems. More news
later..BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
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