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| Manx National Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.7 - After SS16 - Saturday @ 16:39:13 |
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WEE MANX TALES NO.7 Grandstand/Saturday 4.40
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 16 – FINAL STAGE
1st (4) Paul Bird/Ian Windress (Focus WRC) 1.27.59.5
2nd (1) Melvyn Evans/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.28.56.4
3rd (2) Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Impreza WRC) 1.29.29.3
4th (3) Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery (Accent WRC) 1.29.36.1
5th (6) Steve Perez/Stephen McAuley (Focus WRC) 1.31.36.1
6th (23) George Collister/Janet Craine (Lancer) 1.33.43.6
7th (8) David Mann/Alun Cook (Impreza WRC) 1.34.05.4
8th (10) Danny Barry/Martin Brady (Lancer N) 1.34.54.6
9th (15) Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone (Lancer N) 1.35.20.4
10th (12) Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew (Lancer N) 1.36.04.4
Paul Bird and his co driver Ian Windress took the lead of this Manx Telecom Rally on the 2nd stage and through all sorts of wet and stormy conditions surged ahead to build up a comfortable lead they were not to lose. This result brings Paul Bird into 3rd provisionally in the Pirelli backed ANCRO Gravel Championship on 69 points with Marcus Dodd 2nd on 73 and Danny Barry will continue to lead on 77. Barry and his co driver Martin Brady extend their lead in the Evo Challenge with today’s result. In the MSA Asphalt Championship, of which this Manx Telecom Rally is also a round, Melvyn Evans in his Subaru extends his lead with his 3rd maximum score here.
When Paul Bird brought his Focus WRC into the Grandstand finish he was quite emotional and he told us. “I’ve been trying for so long to win this rally. I was never really on max, I had plenty left in the tank and when I was driving hard I felt I could have comfortably gone faster. We only used 8 tyres, 4 wets and 4 slicks.” There was bright sunshine at the finish and it seemed like a different country from the squally storms throughout the rally and as Paul said a quick hello to his partner Lindsey and his beautiful baby daughter Lexie he continued. “It was such a tough rally but when we opened the gap up to a minute we were able to control it from the front and the car was fantastic”. Second placed Melvyn Evans was naturally pleased to have his extended his lead in the Asphalt championship and his co driver Sean Mullally said they went really hard over some of the last stages, but they always seemed to be 2nd to someone.
Third placed Roger Duckworth tried the McKinstry Subaru for this one and he said. “It goes a little bit faster than my own and stops a bit better but maybe in the wet last night I would have been quicker in my own car”. Marcus Dodd slipped from 3rd to 4th over the final loop but didn’t seem to be too upset and enjoyed his run on the rally and said. “Happy enough”. Steve Perez stayed in 5th for most of the rally, his Focus having a small gear change problem towards the end, more of a software issue, but really he seemed to be on the wrong tyres for most of the event which held him back. George Collister and his co driver Janet Craine upheld local honours by bringing their Lancer into 6th o/a.
Danny Barry & Martin Brady did another fantastic job to win group N as well as take maximum points in the Evo Challenge. Their times seemed to falter a little towards the end but Danny said. “We just took it easy after the service. We knew the lead we had, we backed off and plodded through with no silly mistakes.” There were a couple of moments of drama when Danny’s Lancer was leaving service but it was down to an over filled fuel tank. Nik Elsmore got 2nd in the Evo points and was trying new suspension settings towards the end and was pleased with his result. Wayne Sisson took 2nd in GpN in his Lancer following an accomplished drive.
Finally for now well done to all the hard working officials of the rally and our thanks to all who helped and supported our RallyNews service. It has been a very enjoyable rally but in some respects a sad one as well as it marks the end of 25 years with John Skinner being Clerk of the Course. The rally has always been John’s “baby” and he has served it well. We have been fortunate indeed to have him at the helm for so many years. We will miss you. Thanks John, it has been a most enjoyable 25 years!
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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