RALLY NEWS NO.4                   Pickering Showground/Sat.  2.20
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Cropton
1st (12) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 30.30.1
2nd (14) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 30.43.9
3rd (16) Julian Reynolds/Ieuan Thomas (Impreza) 30.48.5
4th (18) Charles Payne/Craig Thorley (Lancer) 31.04.5
5th (17) Leon Pesticcio/Howard Davies (Lancer N) 31.53.6
6th (3) Gwyndaf Evans/Chris Patterson (MG ZR) 32.14.9
7th (24) Phil Morgan/Martin Douglas (Impreza N) 32.23.5
8th (20) Nigel Heath/Steve Lancaster (Impreza WRC) 32.31.2
9th (2) Guy Wilks/Roger Herron (Ford Puma) 32.45.8
10th (5) Kris Meeke/Glenn Patterson (Ford Puma) 32.50.7

Status quo was resumed through stage 4, Cropton, with Jonny Milner fastest overall in his Corolla WRC and Gwyndaf Evans quickest of the Super 1600 cars, following an 18 minute gearbox change on his MG at service.  Milner recorded 8m24.1s for the long Cropton test, Steve Petch was 9s slower, Julian Reynolds a further 6 down and Charlie Payne, with Craig Thorley on the notes, just a further 2s back.  Payne was saying earlier that he made a cautious enough start to the rally. A bit hesitant on the "2s and 3s" corners.  Otherwise going well. 

Leon Pesticcio set fastest group N time in his Promax Lancer, almost 10s faster than Phil Morgan in the gpN Subaru. 
Closest to Gwyndaf Evans in the Super 1600 category was Kris Meeke, 4s slower, then Guy Wilks and Rory Galligan just 1s behind Meeke.

Looking back for just a moment, the reason for young Finnish sensation, Jari-Matti Latvala's retirement was down to a misfire that crept into his Lancer towards the end of stage 2 and then brought the car to it's knees on stage 3.  Jari-Matti is just 17 years old, comes from a town called Tuuri, 100 miles north of Jyvasklya.  The young Finn is tipped to be a big force in world rallying in the future. New Scottish Champion Barry Johnson's  Subaru engine let go when the cam belt broke.  In the Historic section of the rally, Dessie Nutt has taken the lead when fellow Porsche driver Steve Perez slid his similar 911 into a ditch for 3 minutes.  Charles Golding is fighting for the lead of the Post Historics. In the National Rally after 3 stages Brian Bell had taken the lead in his Focus WRC from David Brown, Steve Bannister 3rd in his Mk2 Escort. Ryan Champion leads the 1400 Ford Puma contenders and is in line for the championship. Darren Snape has retired.  In the Ford Ka series Shaun Woffinden has retired his example when the fuel pump packed up - Barry Clark leads, and if he finishes in front it means the series will go down to the last round, The Tempest.

Looking outside Yorkshire for a moment - Derek McGarrity and Robbie McGurk are battling for the lead of the Bushwhacker Rally in Northern Ireland. Top series contenders Eugene Donnelly and Stevie Whitford have retired with transmission trouble to their Celica and Lancer respectively. More news later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON   www.rallynews.net