Despite the pre-rally ominous
weather predictions, warm sunshine and a sticky, muggy air greeted competitors
at the weekend's Glendinnings of Prudhoe Tyneside Stages Rally. There was a brief heavy shower mid afternoon but the
roads dried remarkably quickly in the heat, then came the downpour with the
rain fair stoatin' off the tarmac on the final two stages. 'Slick' stages were instantly transformed to 'full
wet' while the sudden-ness caught out quite a few crews already on their way
out to the final blast.
Whether it was divine
intervention or just plain black magic Tom Preston and Andrew Roughead were one of the few top seeds who left final
service in a wet-shod Fiesta WRC. It might have been a bit of a gamble on the
penultimate test but when the heavens opened on the final run that was the job signed,
sealed and delivered. They finished 12 seconds clear of Rory Young and Allan
Cathers in their Fiesta R5.
A further 14
seconds back were Daniel Harper and Chris Campbell in the wicked looking MINI
WRC, with sweat pouring off Daniel like rain water off the car as he tried to
get on terms with the top two on the final runs.
Gordon
Morrison finished a lucky fourth in his Subaru Impreza after knocking a chunk
out of an alloy and yet the tyre had stayed intact. Graham Coffey was 5th as he
struggled to get to terms with the launch control on his new Fiesta R5 and Andy
Fenwick rounded off the top six first time out in his new Fiesta R5.
As for 'Drive
of the Day' that must surely have gone to the only 2WD car in the top ten.
Alistair Hutchinson finished 7th overall in the Renault Clio, a feat matched
only by the class winning 1600cc Peugeot of Barry Lindsay who finished just
outside the top ten in 11th place.
Paul Kirtley
was 8th in the Subaru which bore a few close-combat battles scars by end of
play and John Marshall was a cautious and careful 9th first time out in his new
Fiesta R5. Rounding off the top ten was the Evo of Richard Slinger.
Over the
opening stages, Andrew Kirkaldy's Mk2 looked like some wayward MOD armament as
it blasted over the Ranges but an off-line moment in SS4 incurred a bent rear
axle when the wheel hit a stone in the long grass. Kevin Proctor didn't last
much longer when the Fiesta broke its input shaft, Alistair Inglis broke a
driveshaft in his Lotus Exige, Phil Jobson had a scary brake failure in his Mk2
and Stephen Petch was on course for a top ten finish till he hit a patch of wet
concrete in the final stage and the Hyundai WRC slid into a ditch.
Stephen
Bethwaite took the 1400 class in his Vauxhall Nova from the 'real' Mini Cooper
S of John Cressey.
(There will
be a full report in the on-line mag later in the week )
Results
1 Tom
Preston/Andrew Roughead (Ford Fiesta WRC) 50m 30s
2 Rory Young/Allan
Cathers (Ford Fiesta R5) +0.12s
3 Daniel
Harper/Chris Campbell (MINI JCW WRC) +0.26s
4 Gordon
Morrison/Calum MacPherson (Subaru Impreza) +1.31s
5 Graham
Coffey/Chris Purvis (Ford Fiesta S2000) +2.46s
6 Andrew
Fenwick/Daniel May (Ford Fiesta R5) +3.01s
7 Alistair
Hutchinson/Andrew Hutchinson (Renault Clio) +3.10s
8 Paul
Kirtley/David Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) +3.17s
9 John
Marshall/Scott Crawford (Ford Fiesta R5) +4.21s
10 Richard
Slinger/Stuart Walker (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) +4.36s
Breen impressed on his first WRC
drive in an i20 and the Irishman lent a helping hand to team-mate Thierry
Neuville in the Belgian’s title bid. He deliberately incurred a 20sec penalty,
allowing Neuville to leapfrog him into sixth and score extra points with Craig
adding: “This has been an amazing
rally. To have the opportunity to return to this level of rallying has been
very special and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has made it possible.
I have enjoyed myself immensely as part of the Hyundai Motorsport team, and I
was immediately comfortable in the car. We knew the job we had to do this
weekend, and I think we’ve achieved that; it’s been a privilege to play our
part in the team’s championship efforts. ” 
Despite the pre-rally ominous
weather predictions, warm sunshine and a sticky, muggy air greeted competitors
at the weekend's Glendinnings of Prudhoe Tyneside Stages Rally. There was a brief heavy shower mid afternoon but the
roads dried remarkably quickly in the heat, then came the downpour with the
rain fair stoatin' off the tarmac on the final two stages. 'Slick' stages were instantly transformed to 'full
wet' while the sudden-ness caught out quite a few crews already on their way
out to the final blast.
