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RALLY
NEWS NO.3
Dolgellau/Saturday 4.45
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2 DYFNANT
1st (2) David Higgins/Craig Thorley (Accent WRC) 28.08.7
2nd (1) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Impreza WRC) 28.11.5
3rd (11) Dougie Hall/Steve Egglestone (Focus WRC) 28.28.5
4th (7) Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Focus WRC) 28.36.2
5th (6) Paul Bird/Andrew Bargery (Focus WRC) 28.47.7
6th (4) Steve Perez/Daniel Barritt (Focus WRC) 29.01.6
7th (9) Seb Ling/James Phillips (Lancer N) 29.04.3
8th (16) Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson (Corsa) 29.07.3
9th (5) Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Impreza WRC) 29.21.0
10th (19) Aki & Mika Teiskonen (Saxo) 29.21.9
11th (57) Julian Reynolds/Ryland James (Impreza WRC) 29.22.1
12th (30) Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Ignis) 29.24.0
Mystery surrounds Austin MacHale's stage time for stage 2. The
Dubliner was in 3rd position after stage 1, reports a good run
through stage 2, wasn't caught by the car behind, but the official
results sheet shows him with a time 1 minute down on Perez, although
the Perez did not pass MacHale in the stage. Along with the
other leading drivers Austin also talked of the dangers of driving
in such thick foggy dust. He can't understand why he cannot
have a 2 minute interval on safety grounds.
Rally leader David Higgins said that in some places the only thing
that marks the corners is the spectators on the banks, which means
late braking and over-working the front brakes which are fading on
his Accent WRC. David was able to bleed the brakes between the
2 stages but they started to go again towards the end of the 2nd
test. He went on to say that he picked a Pirelli tyre with a
slightly closer tread than either Milner or MacHale, that his
Hyundai is hard on the front tyres. He gave them quite a
battering and he was getting some wheel spin towards stage finish.
Still, he was fastest, to move ahead of Milner. The latter
said "We were a bit cautious through the narrow stuff, but
still on a good pace. I'm finding some wash out understeer on the
very long corners, but its probably down to the conditions".
Jonny's co driver Nicky Beech told us "Still we're on a nice
pace, after the dramas of the Pirelli Rally we are able to settle
down and get to know the car a bit better".
Dougie Hall is shown as 3rd now in the results, and set a time just
half a second slower than Higgins through the 2nd stage.
Matthew Wilson was 11s down on Higgins through the 2nd test, Matthew
saying "We had a better run on that one, the notes worked well,
it felt better, I'm reasonably happy". Steve Perez in the
Vodka Kick Focus WRC had a good clean run, as did Paul Bird in a
similar Ford.
Seb Ling was again fastest of the Group N drivers although he did
stall the car following a tight hairpin right. Dorian Rees is 2nd
gpN, Jenni-Lee Hermansson up to 3rd GpN in the 22 Motorsport
prepared Impreza, 8s ahead of Aaron MacHale, with Lorna Smith 3s
behind Aaron.
In the Super 1600 category Kris Meeke was just faster than Aki
Teiskonen through that 2nd stage, Meeke reporting stalling at a very
tight hairpin, which he reckoned cost 6 or 7s, and feels also that
there is more to come from the new suspension which they are still
tweaking. Guy Wilks is 3rd Super 1600, Guy just over a second slower
than Meeke in SS2. Wilks said "The car feels good but
there are still some small things to adjust in the suspension set
up". Leon Pesticcio was slowed when he knackered his 2
front tyres on the first stage, and unlike some of the other
drivers, wasn't carrying 2 spares so he could go into stage 2 with
fresh rubber. Gareth Jones in the Clio seemed a bit subdued coming
into service and reported the suspension set up just not quite
right.
Steve Hill was allowed to run his Alfa Romeo on the rally although
the gearbox does not comply with homologation, and he is leading
F2000. Shaun Woffinden is 2nd and heads the Fiat Stilo category from
Chris Davies. Simon Redhead unfortunately had an accident ins tage 1
and caused a delay to the later numbers. Approximately 20m.
This should be made up here at service/regroup. More news later.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
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