RALLY NEWS NO.5
Kielder Water/Saturday 10am
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8
BOWER
1st (2) Mark
Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Focus WRC) 51.51.4
2nd (4) Austin
MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 52.15.2
3rd (5) Paul
Bird/Ian Windress (Focus WRC) 52.16.4
4th (1) David
Higgins/Daniel Barritt (Lancer N) 52.45.0
5th (14) Gareth
MacHale/Paul Nagle (Corolla WRC) 53.03.1
6th (3) Jonny
Milner/Nicky Beech (Corolla WRC) 53.28.6
7th (9) Sebastian
Ling/Ian Allsop (Accent WRC) 53.30.0
8th (8) Tapio
Laukkanen/Harri Kaapro (Impreza N) 53.32.0
9th (7) Steve
Perez/Neil Dashfield (Focus WRC) 53.36.3
10th (16) Richard
Gower/Aled Davies (Accent WRC) 54.17.6
Mark Higgins dominated the
time sheets on this opening stage of Day 2 of this Pirelli
International Rally, with Austin MacHale the best of the rest,
although Paul Bird was only a fraction of a second slower than the
Dubliner. When Mark Higgins brought his Focus WRC to a halt at
the passage control (manned by Robbie Head’s father George), Mark
told us “The stage was nice, not too slippy and we had a good run.
I was going hardish”. Austin MacHale said. “We fitted new pads to
the car and they weren’t 100 per cent bedded in, but it was OK and
I tried to keep it tidy”. When Paul Bird finished the stage all
he wanted to know was MacHale’s time. He was obviously slightly
disappointed to be .2 of a second slower, but said. “Its close,
its good fun”.
David Higgins continues to
lead Group N Production as well as hold 4th overall,
and he recorded a time of 8.03.08. Tapio Laukkanen 2nd
gpN was .1 of a second faster in his Prodrive Impreza. Tapio
pleased to have turned the tables a little, but disappointed that
it wasn’t more! David Higgins reported no problems, a good run.
As did Tapio.
Young Gareth MacHale
maintained his 5th place with a fast time, Gareth
saying. “I thought I was a bit too steady but that’s OK”. Former
British Champion Jonny Milner was 9th overall last
night and put in a good charge this morning to move up several
places. Jonny was feeling a bit unwell last night, seems a lot
better this morning. Sebastian Ling moved backwards from his
overnight position, not happy with the handling of his Impreza
which he says is swinging about all over the road.
Richard Gower had a good run to hold
station in his Accent, although he did admit to running wide on a
few corners. Steve Perez Vodka Kick Focus WRC emerged from the
stage with a right rear puncture, but seemed to lose little time.
Stephen Petch is 3rd Group N and he was a bit happier
this morning having managed to get his own helmet back, having
been forced to borrow 2, one for himself and one for his co
driver, from a course car yesterday. Lorna Smith lost a few
seconds this morning, her Group N Impreza getting pretty sideways,
Lorna reckoning that she picked too hard a compound tyre. She is
13th overall.
Jon Ingram is 11th
in his Focus WRC, Jon feeling a bit better this morning and set a
top 6 time, just 1s slower than Austin MacHale. Aaron MacHale is
14th, had a good run, but not a fantastic time. Barry
Clark was well down the order overnight, 23rd, and he’s
been re-seeded this morning on safety grounds. Barry’s problems
last night included punctures and overshoots.
Overnight class leaders
included: Robbie Dale leading F2 in his Cleo from Shaun Woffinden
in the Fiat Stilo. Shaun the sole representative left of the Fiat
Rally Cup, so he is guaranteed maximum points. Chris Davies leads
the S1600 in his Clio from Brian O’Mahony (Puma). Further
retirements include Tony Davies who withdrew his Impreza WRC at
last night’s service. James Edwards crashed his Lancer in stage
3. Swedish driver Anders Fredricsson went out after stage 4 when
his Cleo Ragnotti had mechanical problems. This left 25 cars still
running at this morning’s re-start.
More news from service at
Hadrian’s Camp. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
