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RALLY NEWS NO.4
Sunday..still wet @ Caerwent! 1.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8
1st (5) Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery (Peugeot) 56.03.4
2nd (17) Paul Wedgbury/Neil Dashfield (Saxo) 56.03.6
3rd ((15) Martin Sansom/Phil Wells (Peugeot) 56.18.1
4th (1) Mats Andersson/Claire Mole (Satria) 56.33.9
5th (7) Martin Rowe/Chris Wood (Ford Puma) 57.09.0
6th (33) Michael Brew/Breeshey Christian (Peugeot) 57.40.1
Unfortunately stage 8 has had to be stopped temporarily because Max
McKillen has crashed his Citroen Saxo at the end of the long straight.
Dublin man Max has been taken to hospital as a precaution, it is
believed just for a check over. His co driver Paul Nagle has
arrived into service, sore where the belts jolted him, but otherwise OK.
At the front of the rally, there is a tremendous struggle now for the
lead
with Justin Dale just squeezing ahead of Paul Wedgbury. The latter
commented when he arrived into service "Both Justin and Martin are
going hard, I'm concentrating on keeping the car on the road".
Justin Dale commented "We're pushing reasonably hard, but not going
mad". Martin Sansom said "Fairly steady, we had a few
dramas early on, but we are getting more used to the terrain now".
Martin Rowe isn't making any real impression on the drivers at the
front, Formula Rally championship leader Martin, commented "It's
just the samed really" and then went into a huddle with Pirelli's
Dick Cormack about which rubber to pick for the next loop.
Conditions are still wet but getting better. Earlier we reported on
Patrick Magaud's Puma being stuck in 1st gear, engineer Phillip Dunabin
told us that they were able to change the selector mechanism in the
gearbox without changing the complete unit. The Frenchman lost a
mountain of time in stage 6, but set a cracking time in stage 7
andreasonably good in stage 8. Strangely, the 2 works Pumas are fairly
close tothe Peugeots through stage 7, but in stage 8 they are quite a
bit off the pace. In Magaud's case 16s - for Rowe 17s.
Guy Wilks, 2nd of the Ford Puma championship runners today, behind David
Henderson, told us "I'm trying to keep it neat as well as quick,
I'm getting a lot more confidence in the brakes, but had to slow
slightly for Max
McKillen's accident". Mats Andersson told us "We're
changing the anti roll
bar here at service, softening it off a bit, but really the car works
fine
and I'm very happy, especially considering it is my first time here, and
always I am learning". Garry Jennings reports no problems at
all and is
determined to try to catch Manxman Michael Brew for the Peugeot Super
106 Cup maximum points today.
We reported earlier that Clive Wheeler was leading the VW Polo Challenge
after stage 6 - because of the stage interruption in stage 8 we are
still
waiting for further times from the VW Polos.
More news later..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
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