|
|
RALLY
NEWS NO.4
Dolgellau - Saturday 7pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 PANTPERTHOG
1st (2) David Higgins/Craig Thorley (Accent WRC) 36.50.9
2nd (1) Jonny Milner/Nicky Beech (Impreza WRC) 36.58.1
3rd (3) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 37.09.2
4th (7) Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Focus WRC) 37.30.7
5th (6) Paul Bird/Andrew Bargery (Focus WRC) 37.43.1
6th (16) Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson (Corsa) 38.09.7
7th (9) Seb Ling/James Phillips (Lancer N) 38.10.0
8th (4) Steve Perez/Daniel Barritt (Focus WRC) 38.15.0
9th (19) Aki & Mika Teiskonen (Saxo) 38.33.8
10th (5) Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry (Impreza WRC) 38.34.7
11th (30) Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Ignis) 38.38.5
12th (57) Julian Reynolds/Ryland James (Impreza WRC) 38.43.8
The earlier query over Austin MacHale's stage 2 time was resolved,
and in fact Austin was shown to be fastest through that 2nd stage.
In stage 3 David Higgins was quickest, 4s up on Milner with Austin
MacHale a further 5s back. Dougie Hall set a top 3 time through
stage 2, Dyfnant, but he put his Focus WRC off the road for 10
minutes in stage 3, Pantperthog.
In the Super 1600 category Kris Meeke set a time of 9.02.4 through
stage 3, Aki Teiskonen was 9s slower, Guy Wilks 12s down.
In the Group N category Seb Ling was fastest through stage 3 with
Lorna Smith second fastest, Jenni-Lee Hermansson 3rd fastest.
Dorian Rees was well off the pace of Ling on that one. Dorian is
running his Impreza on controlled tyres to stay within the rules of
the Prodrive Subaru Cup. He is considering forsaking that in the
interests of having a real charge at Ling.
In the F2000 category we have an unconfirmed report that Steve
Hill's Alfa Romeo has run into clutch trouble. Shaun Woffinden,
whose Fiat Stilo had a misfire on the opening Pirelli round, leads
this time from Chris Davies. First round winner of the Fiat Stilos,
Will Bonniwell, was delayed in Dyfi when a stone burst a water pipe.
While Paul Tod, also in a Fiat Stilo, lost some time towards the end
of Dyfnant when his machine jammed in 4th gear.
Early times from stage 4 show David Higgins 11s faster than Austin
MacHale with Jonny Milner 3rd fastest, Paul Bird 4th. Bird had a
lucky escape earlier when he punctured 2 tyres against a bridge
parapet following a tight hairpin on stage 2, lost very little time.
Nigel Heath dropped over 4 minutes on that stage 2 when he punctured
a front left tyre on his Impreza WRC, stopped to change it, and
reckons his rally is more or less over. But at least his food
poisoning has cleared up. Stuart Jones has retired on stage 2
when he cut a corner too tight and rolled his Proton. The crew
reported to be OK, but a bit shaken, the car going no further.
London based Aussie driver James Gloster and his Irish co-driver Pat
Condon retired their Peugeot 106 on the 2nd stage. A front
left rose joint had broken on the first stage and they managed to
crawl out of the forest. They repaired the car at the side of
the road. It would appear that the nut gun didn't torque the wheel
nuts up correctly, the wheel falling off in stage 2.
In the Panaround Rally Tom Curtis led after 2 stages by 0.7 of a
second from Gwyndaf Evans in the group N MG. No.1 seed
in the Panaround Tim Clark retired his Impreza when he side swiped a
tree and took off a rear wheel.
Latest news from the World Championship Cyprus Rally - end of Leg 2
- Marcus Gronholm led from Loeb by 18s, Martin 3rd, Sainz 4th,
Rovanpera 5th. Early leader Solberg lost 10 minutes when reportedly
he got sand into the cooling system of the engine and the unit
overheated.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
|
 |
