1^st Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Subaru) 32.03.0

2^nd MarkPerrott/Garry Mansell (Escort WRC) 32.23.1

3^rd David Mann/Alun Cook (Subaru) 32.24.5

4^th Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Subaru) 32.34.9

5^th Steve Hill/Andrew Bargery (Lancer) 33.13.2

6^th Warren Philliskirk/Eurig Evans (6R4) 33.14.9

Although shown in 4^th place on the above leaderboard, Roger Duckworth is contemplating retirement here at the second major service, as his Subaru WRC is starting to give clutch trouble.

Out at the front of the rally Mark Perrott’s challenge to Kenny McKinstry for the lead faded somewhat in stage 7, Perrott’s Escort WRC clipping a rear corner on the last bend of the stage. When McKinstry climbed out of his Subaru World Rally Car here at service, he commented "We’re going well, but I’m finding the going tough as well. I remember when I was here 2 years ago I had a feeling there was something wrong with the brakes on the car then, but I’m having exactly the same feeling today, so it must be the different type of surfaces. The car just won’t slow down easily. The spin that I had on stage 5 was on that horrible black mud, the car just started to go sideways and then we got sort of stuck between two trees, losing quite a few seconds."

Other stories from the lead cars include…Steve Petch dropping a fair bit of time through stages 6 and 7 when his Hyundai’s engine started to cut out. Steve’s total into service is 33.38.3. He is not far from the leaders but at the same time just too far to mount a serious challenge. David Mann reported his car stalling in stage 6, then he tried to start the engine by pressing the horn button! On stage 7 he ran out of road slightly on a fast medium left corner and clipped the rear quarter of the Lancer against a tree. Brian Bell was another to stall his engine – his Focus engine seemed to cut out under braking plus handbrake, and he lost about 10s on a hairpin right. Graham Middleton reports his Corolla WRC very twitchy on the long straights. Charlie Payne had 2 spins in stage 7 which did not please co driver Craig Thorley one bit!! Although setting some really good stge times Ollie O’Donovan is reported to be struggling towards service, his Legacy very low on oil. His team mate Kevin Barrett came out of stage 7 with a rear suspension strut burst on his Impreza WRC. Kevin Stevens was leading the gpN Mitsubishi Challenge earlier but had a couple of spins in stage 7 which may knock him back a bit. Gareth Griffiths/Mike Panes crashed their Escort earlier in Matchams.

Finally for now, very nice to see the World Rally Champion and Honorary President of Craven MC, Richard Burns, here at service – his comment "The Mazda Winter Rally brings back some happy memories"…..BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON

ã 2002 www.rallynews.net (Patterson Agencies). All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Last update24/02/02 00:49:45