WEE MANX TALES NO.5 Grandstand/Saturday
2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 11 PARVILLE 2
1st (1) Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Impreza WRC) 1.20.51.8
2nd (3) Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Impreza WRC) 1.20.59.7
3rd (108) Melvyn Evans/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.21.23.8
4th (4) Paul Bird/Ian Windress (Impreza WRC) 1.22.03.7
5th (6) Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery (Accent WRC) 1.23.17.8
6th (14) Jon Ingram/Ian Allsop (Focus WRC) 1.24.21.3
7th (5) Tony Davies/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 1.24.36.5
8th (7) Steve Fleck/Tony Ettlinger (Impreza WRC) 1.25.32.6
9th (16) David Kynaston/Andy Russell (Audi A3) 1.25.46.7
10th (21) Rob Watson/Rob Fagg (Nova Kit) 1.27.26.9
11th (20) Alistair Tough/Alistair Mackay (Impreza N) 1.27.31.4
12th (15) Richard Gower/John Bennie (Accent WRC) 1.28.34.1
Roger Duckworth
was fastest through stage 9 in his Subaru from Paul Bird in a newer
example and with Jon Ingram 3rd. McKinstry was down in 8th. In stage
10 it was Paul Bird who was fastest from Melvyn Evans with Duckworth
3rd and McKinstry 4th, just seconds separating the cars. Then on
stage 11 the three fastest cars all beat the “bogey time”
by various amounts. When rally leader Kenny McKinstry arrived into
service he took time out to say. “The first stage out was
the Marine Drive, I was on new tyres and I thought I’d need
to take it easy for about a mile to warm them up. On the first couple
of corners they felt fine and I though, well we’ll go for
it, we can lean on them. But we spun twice and hit a kerb, it’s
the first time in a rally car I’ve been scared.” Kenny
went on to say then that the rim had been damaged and he had to
switch tyres around running one soft compound and three hard compound
Pirellis. All went well in stage 10 and he really went for it in
stage 11, then made a mess of a hairpin and jammed the hand brake
on. Kenny beat the bogey time by a handful of seconds but it might
have been 15s under except for the hand brake incident. Anyway,
that’s all ifs and buts….he finished off by saying “I
think there’s more to come from that stage 11, I very nearly
took Fisher’s bend, the 3 right before the Mines, flat out.
I chickened out but I think its on!”
Roger Duckworth
reported no real problems over the last 3 stages and said. “The
bogey time helped us to keep Kenny in sight. This is the closest
I’ve been to a win, we both, me and Mark, really want to win
here on the Isle of Man”. Mark also said that they were playing
about with brakes, they had nearly too much to the front and not
enough to the back, so they are adjusting that for one last blast.
Melvyn Evans’ co driver Sean Mullally said. “I said
earlier that this just wasn’t our day, beating the bogey was
a blow for us, we’ve been going very hard, especially on the
tight stuff”. Paul Bird will be hard pushed now to improve
on his 4th place even though he set a fastest time through stage
10, and he said. “Yes, its going a lot better, but the car
is still too soft. I’m happier to be on the pace but the car
could still be better, could still be stiffer, but there’s
not much we can do now”.
Marcus Dodd
in 5th place reckons now it’s a matter now of getting the
car to the finish. While Jon Ingram in 6th has lost time over the
last couple of stages as his Focus WRC clutch has started to slip
on the high speed sections. Ingram said. “We’re gong
to change the clutch now, bit of a shame this late in the rally,
its £10,000 for the clutch, no sale or return!” Tony
Davies has 6th gear troubles now with his Impreza and has lost a
bit of time. Steve Fleck has improved over the last few stages having
changed the type of tyre on the Subaru. Mark Jasper has retired
his Metro 6R4 at the hairpin in stage 11, unconfirmed reports are
that a wheel had come adrift, anyway, it’s the end of a good
top 10 drive for Jasper. John Bogie has speeded up over the last
few stages and commented. “Tortoise and hare springs to mind!”
Alistair Tough continues to lead GpN in his Subaru, the Scottish
driver saying. “I really love it here on the Island, we had
a big off here in 97 and I missed a few years when I concentrated
on looking after my young lad in the karts and he became a double
Scottish Champion, but not its great to be back”. Anthony
Willmington settled down over the last few stages and is fairly
solid in 2nd group N, 14th overall and Conrad Rautenbach is 3rd
gpN in his Subaru despite 2 spins, one at the Ballabeg hairpin.
Co driver Dave Senior is trying to impress on Conrad to look after
the car in preparation for the Pirelli next weekend. Stephen Petch
has retired his new Lancer, the engine went sick and they’re
trying to save it. His co driver Michael Wilkinson reckons they
have only finished twice here from 7 starts.
Richard Gower
is gradually speeding up as the day progresses, his Hyundai now
going well, but he said that he is doing his best to listen to the
notes but still seems to make one error on nearly every stage. Stephen
Quine still has brake problems and is lying 2nd to Rob Watson in
the class. Rob said that the car feels fantastic, Dunlop told him
that he wasn’t leaning on the tyres enough, so now he’s
virtually on 2 wheels everywhere! Emma McKinstry is devastated to
have been forced to retire her gpN Lancer with a broken gearbox,
Emma had all sorts of problems during the rally. Co driver Simon
Mooney was sick during last night’s stages, there was no intercom
this morning, then 3rd and 4th gear went and now a large hole has
appeared in the side of the gearbox casing. Declan Magee has retired
his wee Peugeot 2 miles from the end of stage 5, possible broken
drive shaft, while Colin Britton is leading the 206 Super Cup.
More news later.
BRIAN & ELIZABETH PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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