MANX
TALES NO.3 End of stage 5/Saturday 09.45
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD
AFTER STAGE 5 BARROOSE
1st (1) Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Impreza WRC) 36.57.0
2nd (108) Melvyn Evans/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 37.09.1
3rd (3) Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Impreza WRC) 37.20.2
4th (4) Paul Bird/Ian Windress (Impreza WRC) 37.48.7
5th (6) Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery (Accent WRC) 37.57.1
6th (14) Jon Ingram/Ian Allsop (Focus WRC) 38.55.3
7th (5) Tony Davies/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 39.01.6
8th (19) Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt (Metro 6R4) 39.05.7
9th (11) Steve Hendy/Aled Davies (Escort WRC) 39.20.0
10th (7) Steve Fleck/Tony Ettlinger (Impreza WRC) 39.26.5
11th (16) David Kynaston/Andy Russell (Audi A3) 39.34.3
12th (20) Alistair Tough/Alistair Mackay (Impreza N) 40.12.5
Kenny McKinstry
was fastest through the opening Saturday stage (Baroose), the Banbridge
man’s Subaru stopped the clock on a fairly dramatic 2m43.4
for the 3.25 mile test. Not bad going. Kenny said at stage finish.
“A fantastic morning, bright sunshine, bone dry roads, car’s
great, couldn’t be better”. Earlier we were treated
to the sight and sound of British Rally Champion Mark Higgins steering
the famous ex Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro through the stage as course
opener. Although being reasonably careful with the car Mark recorded
a time of 2m.55s, faster than most of the people in the rally. Clerk
of the Course John Skinner co-drove for Mark in the test and said
about the run. “Quite an experience”. Mark said. “There
was a bit of a misfire in the car last night, that has been fixed
and the power is awesome, but it doesn’t particularly like
the corners or the bumps, especially compared to a modern rally
car”.
Melvyn Evans
was second car through the stage and indeed 2nd fastest. Melvyn
said he had new brake pads fitted to his Subaru at overnight service
and they faded just a little bit in the stage. Roger Duckworth was
a few seconds slower than Evans and he felt that his car was moving
about a bit on cold tyres, and also that he may have touched a front
left wheel, although he looked OK to us. Paul Bird was 4th on the
road and he was a lot happier with his hired Impreza this morning,
the mechanics having done a fair bit of work to the suspension.
Marcus Dodd in the Hyundai just said. “Steady away”
(wonder does he think he’s on a Sunseeker boat or something?!!)
Jon Ingram was next up in 6th and when his Focus came to a halt
at the control outside the Craig-ny-Baa pub he said. “Apart
from feeling unwell everything otherwise is OK”.
Mark Jasper’s
Metro 6R4 was next on the road, the whine and flat out roar of the
engine echoing over the top of the hills as Jasper screamed into
view and reported all well. Tony Davies moved up a place on the
leaderboard with his 3rd fastest time through the stage, Tony saying
that his Subaru gearbox has now been fixed and all is well. Steve
Hendy in 9th still has that disconcerting misfire in his Escort
WRC and now a slipping clutch is adding to his woes. Steve Fleck
rounded off the top 10, his plain white Impreza WRC, very understated,
very impressive, finished the stage with bonnet flapping slightly,
the front right catch not properly secured, otherwise Steve was
OK, but obviously the distraction of the bonnet took a very slight
edge from his stage time.
Just outside
the top 10 David Kynaston had a good run in his Audi A3 Quattro
although it looked just a bit smoky at stage finish. Group N leader
Alistair Tough had a good time in his Impreza N12 but said he had
a wee bit of a moment, pumping the brakes a little and the stage
was very fast. Rob Watson continues his giant killing charge and
when his Nova came to a halt he sported an ear to ear Colgate grin
and saying. “That was a nice start to the day, felt really
good”. John Price was next and he wasn’t smiling at
all. The multiple Tarmacadam champion reporting a continuation of
his brake problems from last night, his Metro just that few vital
seconds off the pace. He reported “I just don’t understand
it, we’ve changed everything and the pads are the same as
we were using last year when you only had to look at the brakes
and the car stood on its nose”. Most of the following cars
reported no real dramas although Steve Simpson damaged his Accent
WRC a little when he clipped a bank in the stage. A couple of retirements
from last night’s stages included: Barry Johnson whose gearbox
cried enough and Craig Middleton who had a bit of a fire at the
back of his Hyundai. Nick James crashed his Lancer out on stage
3 happily with no serious injuries although it was a major moment
with Stephen Petch having to take avoiding action, both to miss
the stricken Lancer and also a Corsa that was first on the scene
and had stopped to assist. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
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