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RALLY
NEWS NO.4
End of Wether Lair 2-Saturday 09.45
www.rallynews.net
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Wether Lair 2
1st (2) David Higgins/Chris Wood (Accent WRC) 34.08.6
2nd (4) Alistair Ginley/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 35.06.3
3rd (9) Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Focus WRC) 36.08.6
4th (8) Steve Perez/Daniel Barritt (Focus WRC) 36.18.8
5th (6) Paul Bird/Andrew Bargery (Focus WRC) 36.28.5
6th (26) Sebastian Ling/James Phillips (Lancer N) 36.53.2
7th (5) Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Impreza WRC) 37.23.6
8th (16) Alessandro Broccoli/Giovanni Senese (Fiat Punto) 37.49.4
9th (31) Barry Clark/Neil Shanks (Puma) 37.56.7
10th (10) Neil Buckley/Neil Ewing (Lancer N) 37.51.9
The unfortunate but sensational news from this 4th stage of the
Pirelli Rally is that British Champion Jonny Milner has crashed his
Subaru. Jonny was able to get the car back on the road and
keep going, but there is a lot of damage. Other top drivers
having lesser troubles included Paul Bird, whose Focus WRC had a
front right puncture, and young Matthew Wilson. Matthew has moved up
to 3rd, but didn't have a fantastic stage time, his Focus WRC power
steering giving trouble.
The cold facts of Milner's accident are that he put his Subaru off
on a very sudden square left over a crest. He had to roll the
car over to get it back on to the road. Damage is significant,
but the car is still driving. The human side of the accident
is that Jonny was virtually in tears at stage finish. It was
clear testimony to his passion and commitment to the car and to his
performance. Any chance of a good result has now gone.
Indeed, whether he will be able to keep going is debatable.
Another down side to the accident is that when Jonny managed to get
the car back on the road, his one thought was to get to the end of
the stage. Unfortunately he held up Aki Teiskonen in the process.
The Finnish driver was bursting with frustration and anger when he
reached stage finish right on Milner's battered bumper.
Monster Mob Ducati man Paul Bird's puncture was to a front left tyre
and he feels that it may have been after he passed Milner's
accident. Possibly slightly distracted he clipped a stone. No
such worries for rally leader David Higgins. The USA double
Rally Champion set a stunning time of 5m35s.3 for the 7.03 mile
stage. That speed is clear evidence of the fine
conditions here in Kielder this morning. Higgins confirmed that his
engineers had changed the set up to the front of his Petch Hyundai
at service this morning, and the front was giving more bite.
Alistair Ginley, up to 2nd place, also reported that he had his
front suspension stiffened, the car was better but at the same time
his only driving was, in his own words "Nothing special".
Young Matthew Wilson had no real time to tell us about his power
steering problem. He was in a rush to get on down the road to
see if he could sort anything. However with a short road
section to the next stage, and no service crews allowed, Matthew
could have a hard battle to get the car back to Hexham service. His
mother Elaine was spectating just up the road, and when she heard
about the problem, she joked "He will have arm muscles like
Popeye after this!" Steve Perez had a
good run in the Vodka Kick Focus WRC and he is now breathing down
Matthew Wilson's neck.
In Group N Neil Buckley was fastest on 6.04, Sebastian Ling, still
leading the category overall, was 6s back with Dorian Rees a further
2 back. Buckley seems to have the bit between his teeth.
Also in Group N we have several lady drivers. Swedish girl Jenni-Lee
Hermansson was leading overnight from Lorna Smith, but Loran was 5s
faster on this stage to close the gap a little. Jenni-Lee bought the
22 Motorsport prepared Impreza to a halt at stage finish, and said
"The car is fine, very good, it just depends on me now".
In the Super 1600 division fastest time we have this morning so far
is from Barry Clark, 2s up on overnight leader Broccoli. As
usual Clark was grinning from ear to ear at stage finish and
reported all well. Broccoli speak really no English, but we think he
said that he has some small problem with the front brakes.
Gareth Jones had a good run in the Clio. Gareth was delayed onstage
3 last night with a small gearbox problem, and in stage 2 with a
spin. In the Fiat Stilo Cup overnight leader Catalan driver
Joan Roca could only manage 4th fastest on this stage, 10s down on
Metcalfe, with Bonniwell and Davies sandwiched between the two.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Ciara
Conlon & Chris Moore).
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