Rally - At the Pirelli

You have to admire the enthusiasm and dedication of young, aspiring rally drivers. After 3 stages in Kielder, Gareth White arrived in Carlisle for the 20 minute service. He jumped out of the car, into his baggy mechanic's overalls quicker than a Kwik-fitter, and was underneath the Citroen changing the disc pads himself. Compare that to the bigger teams who have a flock of mechanics, sorry, technicians, who work on the car while the crew go into their private quarters for high energy meals, fruit drinks and team talks. But full marks to Gareth, first time out since the Trackrod last year, he finished fourth in the BRC Challenge event at the Pirelli Rally today.

It was the same for Steven Smith who finished sixth overall. He's now on his fifth engine after a string of 4 engine failures last year. Note that I didn't say 'new engine', his current 200 quid unit was extracted from an 85,000 mile Peugeot 206 write-off. He drove up from Ipswich last night, got a few hours kip this morning and is off back to Ipswich tonight - he's on night shift at work next week!

In the main event, John MacCrone was lying third overall after 4 stages but has dropped 4 minutes in SS5 which has left him in 14th place at the overnight halt. Culina Palletforce Citroen team mate Peter Taylor is 7th and Garry Pearson in the Fiesta is 12th. Ruary MacLeod has had two maximums in the last two stages, so he's not having a good day.

A road traffic accident on the A69 closed the road earlier this afternoon so if you're wondering why the rally is running a wee bit late, now you know.