UNOFFICIAL FORMULA RALLY SUPER 1600 LEADERBOARD AFTER SS1

1st (102) Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery (Peugeot) 18.44.7

2nd (104) Mats Andersson/Claire Mole (Satria) 19.17.0

3rd (103) David Higgins/Mike Gibson (Volkswagen) 19.24.3

4th (107) Martin Sansom/Phil Wells (Peugeot) 19.57.6

5th (105) Patrick Magaud/Guylene Brun (Ford) 20.10.3

6th (108) Paul Wedgbury/Neil Dashfield (Saxo) 20.41.0

7th (112) Ian Barrett/Andy Coupland (Satria) 21.51.2

8th (101) Martin Rowe/Chris Wood (Ford) 22.54.7

There was no shortage of news here at the end of the long Ae special stage...Championship leader Martin Rowe lost over 4 minutes, Simon Mauger did not make the end of the stage, and Robert Woodside lost over 5 minutes with a puncture.

As can be seen above, Justin Dale was fastest, the Peugeot driver saying at stage finish "It was very very slippy, but we had a good run. I went a bit too hard at the start, got a bit ragged but then settled down, was more controlled, and it went well". David Higgins was on his first run in the Volkswagen Polo - his very first drive - the car was not delivered to Dumfries until midnight following the accident earlier in the week...and David said "We got on surprisingly well, I'm struggling a little bit to get the brake bias set, but otherwise OK".

Martin Rowe eventually arrived at the stage finish, more or less 4 minutes down on his principal championship rival Justin Dale, the story was all a bit rushed, but the basics of it were that the throttle in the car stuck open, there was a visit to a ditch and much working at wires to get the throttle sorted.

Other stories included...Mats Andersson, 2nd fastest in the Satria, saying at stage finish "The car feels heavy, I don't know, I cannot explain it, it seems to be going OK, just feels heavy". Martin Sansom in the 2nd Peugeot said "It was amazingly slippy, I just tried to stick to the lines of the cars in front". Simon Mauger is reportedly stopped with mechanical troubles not all that far from the start of the 18 mile stage. Paul Wedgbury, who led the Caerwent round briefly in the Saxo until the differential broke, said "We had a steady run, I feel a bit rusty, haven't been in the forests since February". Robert Woodside told us that his puncture occurred about 8 miles from the start, just before the wooden bridge, and he made an instant decision to stop and change the wheel. The Ulsterman commented as well "There is less grip than I expected, but the car feels good, but I wasn't conscious of hitting anything to get the puncture. Anyway, that's the pressure off now to get a good finish, I can just enjoy myself - flat out!"

Martin Meadows' demise is reported to be a mechanical problem but this is unconfirmed. Paul Alexander was another to get a puncture, Paul decided to keep his Puma going and finished the test with the rear tyre in shreds. Paul dropped less time than Woodside who stopped to change his wheel. More news to follow..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON