As the Formula Rally competitors head up for their second attempt at the long (18.5miles) Ae stage, a recap on the top positions for those Super 1600's is that Justin Dale (Peugeot) has almost 42s of a lead over Mats Andersson, with David Higgins in the VW Polo a further 19s back. Martin Sansom is 4th in his Peugeot, Patrick Maguaid 5th and Paul Wedgbury 6th. Retired from the Super 1600's is Martin Rowe, whose engine lost power, Simon Mauger, Martin Meadows, Paul Alexander and Ian Barrett - all retired with mechanical problems.

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER SS4 - 2 DAY SCOTTISH

1st (57) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Impreza) 32.19.1

2nd (59) Alistair Ginley/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 33.57.5

3rd (56) Raymond Munro/Neil Ewing (Impreza) 34.34.1

4th (4) Jock Armstrong/John Richardson (Lancer N) 34.55.0

5th (3) Brian Bell/Paul Spooner (Escort WRC) 35.35.2

6th (6) Dave Weston/Neil Shanks (Impreza N) 35.36.7

7th (58) Steve Palmer/Bruce Harper (Lancer) 35.37.4

8th (60) Eamonn Boland/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 36.03.5

9th (11) Ryan Champion/Cliff Simmons (Peugeot) 36.03.9

10th (10) Rory Galligan/Paul Nagle (Peugeot) 36.06.1

11th (7) Stuart McQueen/Alistair Green (Lancer N) 36.08.7

12th (14) Mike Faulkner/Alan Clark (Peugeot) 36.14.5

Mark HIggins reported "We're feeling very comfortable, the car does everything we want it to do. Obviously it is not as quick as a Focus WRC, but a nice car". Second placed Alistair Ginley in the Pirelli backed McKinstry Subaru was 2nd fastest through stage 4, co-driver Rory Kennedy commenting "Alistair's just not used to this type of car, there's a lot more to come, it's a big learning curve". Third placed Raymond Munro told us "We changed to a softer compound tyre and we are starting to go better, and as well as that we're having to get used to the new notes, but everything is working well and we're going for Ginley".

In the Peugeot Super 106 Cup category there is has been a change with Ryan Champion turning on the style through that Castle O'er test to beat Rory Galligan by 5.5 seconds, to move into the lead of the category. Ryan said "It didn't seem anything special, we weren't trying particularly hard". Galligan reported "We had a couple of slides, just ran wide, cost a few seconds". Mike Faulkner was lying 2nd in the Peugeots but he dropped a few seconds, telling us "The car felt a little understeery through that one, maybe we knocked the tracking out a bit, nothing serious, but we can't afford to lose any seconds at all".

Other stories from the 2 day part of the rally include..Jock Armstrong continuing to lead group N - this is Jock's home patch and he is a little bit worried about the brakes of his showroom Lancer fading on the 2nd visit to the Ae stage. Eamonn Boland's Subaru still has a misfire, the Dom Buckley mechanics have changed just about everything electrical, but it is still not cured. Dave Weston reports his Impreza's rear diff making all sorts of weird noises but still going. Young Simon Hughes had a spin and a punctgure on the first stage, but now has his Peugeot in the groove and was 2nd fastest of the 106 contenders through stage 4. In the Lex Army Land Rover section - Alan Parrymore & Simon Nock lead Jim Clark by 52s with Jason Webster 3rd over a minute back...that was after 2 stages. Also after SS2-David Bateson leads the Polo Challenge from Ian Chadwick with Clive Wheeler 3rd Adrian Kermode 5th. More later.BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON