RALLY NEWS NO.5                    Pickering Showground/Sat. 2.45
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 5 Gale Rigg
1st (12) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 37.11.1
2nd (14) Steve Petch/John Richardson (Accent WRC) 37.31.2
3rd (16) Julian Reynolds/Ieuan Thomas (Impreza) 37.42.3
4th (18) Charles Payne/Craig Thorley (Lancer) 38.02.5
5th (3) Gwyndaf Evans/Chris Patterson (MG ZR) 39.15.7
6th (24) Phil Morgan/Martin Douglas (Impreza N) 39.32.8
7th (20) Nigel Heath/Steve Lancaster (Impreza WRC) 39.36.5
8th (2) Guy Wilks/Roger Herron (Ford Puma) 39.50.7
9th (5) Kris Meeke/Glenn Patterson (Ford Puma) 39.58.2
10th (4) Rory Galligan/Gordon Noble (Peugeot 206) 39.58.5

The leading drivers reported no major dramas through the Gale Rigg stage, but further down the leaderboard, Leon Pesticcio lost his gpN advantage when he put his Lancer on it's roof.  James Thompson did the same thing on the previous stage, Cropton. 

Rally leader Jonny Milner told us when he arrived into service "I'm just enjoying it now. The car did feel a bit wandery at the front through stage 3, but we have put a bit more positive on the front and it feels fine now".  John Richardson, co driving for Steve Petch in the Hyundai, said "I know I'm biased, coming from Yorkshire, but the stages are absolutely mint".  Julian Reynolds in 3rd place reports no dramas, while Charlie Payne in 4th reported losing a few seconds when he caught up with Leon Pesticcio's accident, but otherwise no trouble.

Gwyndaf Evans in 5th was again fastest of the Super 1600 cars in his MG ZR with Guy Wilks 2nd fastest in his Ford Puma, some 4s down. 

Howard Davies, Pesticcio's co driver, described the accident as "a half spin, the road dropped away, I yelled at Leon to keep the power on, but the car dug in an fell over. We were only in for about a minute, but then discovered the top of the radiator was damaged, and had to stop again to top with water and try to fix it with some chewing gum. The smashed windscreen was a big problem as well, bits of glass coming in on the high speed straights, and now I've got glass up my ass!"  Glass was also a problem for James Thompson we hear - following his roll in his Lancer he was reportedly paying a quick visit to the first aid unit at the start of Gale Rigg to have a little sliver of glass removed from his eye before the started the stage. 

Other stories from stage 5 included - Nigel Heath going strong in the World Rally Car but having some problems with the sequential gear change electronic mechanism.  Just outside the above leaderboard we have - Sven Haaf, still going well in the Corsa, then Geoff Smith in the gpN Lancer , the Jeremy Nolan who has changed to softer rubber on his Lancer and is feeling more confident. More later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON        www.rallynews.net