Rally - Rintoul's Kingdom

It was so cold at Crail yesterday, it would have frozen the chilblains off a snowman. At least it was dry, unlike Wales! Fortunately, the pace was a bit hot and gave the chilled ranks of spectators a bit of excitement. John Rintoul took the win in his Hyundai, but by only 14 seconds from Bruce Edwards in the Frisbee.

It was pretty slippy over the first two of the day’s six stages and that gave Rintoul and early advantage. But when it dried out later, Edwards was in heat seeking mode, faster over the next four stages but not by enough to snatch victory.

Gary Adam and John Paterson finished the day 35 seconds apart in their Escorts but at one point they were so close they became quite intimate, Gary’s driver’s door showing a dunt which matched the dent on the passenger side of John’s machine!

Chris Collie was on the case till a propshaft sheared and Donnie MacDonald didn’t get the chance to be quick when the Lancer head butted an awfy big bale and flattened the radiator on the first stage!

There will be a full report up on the on-line mag mid-week.

Kingdom Stages Top Ten:

1,  John Rintoul/Ross Hynd  (Hyundai Accent WRC) 58:41 

2,  Bruce Edwards/Jim Smith  (Darrian T9 GTR) 58:55 

3,  Gary Adam/Gordon Adam (Ford Escort) 59:10 

4,  John Paterson/Craig Wallace (Ford Escort) 59:45 

5,  Shaun Sinclair/Sarah Sinclair (Subaru Impreza) 59:46 

6,  Barry Renwick/Steve Dargan (Proton Millington) 59:56 

7,  Alistair Inglis/Colin Inglis (Lotus Exige) 60:22 

8,  Alan Kirkaldy/Garry Muir (Ford Escort Mk2) 60:29 

9,  Nigel Feeney/Shona Hale (Subaru Impreza) 60:34 

10,  Colin Gemmel/Derek Keir (Subaru Impreza) 60:37 

Rally - Scots in Wales

After an alternator problem cost him around 30 minutes on Friday, David Bogie and Kevin Rae didn’t re-start Day 2 on the main Wales Rally GB event. Jonny Greer with Kirsty Riddick had a bad day and dropped to 60^th overall by the end of Saturday.

In the National Rally, the Scottish contingent are still going exceptionally well with Jock Armstrong leading last year’s winner Mike Faulkner, but look who is in fourth place. Fraser MacNicol is a star!  In fact, five of the top ten crews are Scottish with Jim McRae just outside the top ten in 11^th place in the big silly Firenza – all that power and all that rain and mud. Mad.

And yes, I know Mike Storrar isn’t Scottish but anyone who rallies a Morris Marina with a Honda engine is also a star in my book!

Leaderboard at end of Day 2:

1, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe (Subaru Impreza)  1:32:29.3

2, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) 0:00:30.0

3, David Howells/Robin Hernaman (Subaru Impreza) 0:05:12.5

4, Fraser MacNicol/Aaron Johnston (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI) 0:05:27.2

5, Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Subaru Impreza N12b) 0:06:17.9

6, Simon Webster/Frank Richer (Ford Escort) 0:06:27.3

7, John Morrison/Peter Carstairs (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) 0:07:13.5

8, Ben Friend/Cliff Simmons (Ford Escort) 0:07:20.5

9, Lee Hastings/Julie McGuire (Subaru Impreza) 0:07:38.8

10, Richard Sykes/Emma Morrison (Citroen DS3 R3T) 0:08:22.1

14, Jimmy McRae/Pauline Gullick (Vauxhall Firenza Can-Am) 0:09:19.8

47, Caroline Carslaw/John Duke (Ford Fiesta ST) 0:26:05.3

59, Michael Robertson/Gary McDonald (Subaru Impreza) 0:31:20.7

62, Carl Tuer/Robin Tuer (MG ZR Kit Car) 0:32:10.5

65, Mike Storrar/Andrew Jones (British Leyland ADO 28) 0:33:08.1

74, Iain Wilson/Keith Riddick (Subaru Impreza) 0:46:54.6

76, Thomas Gray/David Wilson (Proton Satria) 0:52:48.2

Rally - Meerakle?

There was a brief moment of glory for Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke yesterday afternoon  when he led Wales Rally GB after SS11 (Dyfnant 1). Thierry Neuville had gone off, and held up Sébastien Ogier as he tried to get past his car on the stage. Kris temporarily inherited the overall lead, before the Clerk of the Course awarded Ogier an adjusted time which handed the advantage back to the former leader. The rotter (private opinion!)

Earlier, Kris Meeke had set off in second place on roads that the heavy rain had left sodden. Although he began by cutting the gap to rally leader Sébastien Ogier, he was particularly focused on consolidating his position and keeping ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen. He ended the day’s long second leg 24.7 seconds clear of the third-placed driver.

Mads Østberg picked up a puncture on SS8, dropping a place in the overall standings. He quickly regained fourth position from Dani Sordo, before then running into trouble on Dyfnant 1. After going off and becoming stuck in a ditch, he had to wait for spectators to come to their assistance before they could get away again. With almost two minutes lost, they finished the leg in eighth position.

At the end of the Leg, Kris commented: “We had a strong day, despite the difficult conditions. We are focused on our goal of finishing second in the manufacturers’ championship, so I tried hard to consolidate my position without taking any risks. We know it’ll still be very hard tomorrow.”

Mads Østberg said: “We had started at a good pace this morning, but after a puncture and minor off, we now have to look at the race from a different perspective. We really have to be careful now to make sure we bring home important points for second place in the manufacturers’ standings.”

The other top Brit, Elfyn Evans finished the day in 7^th place: "I feel as though it's been a pretty good performance from us today. We didn't have the best run through Gartheiniog [SS7 and SS9], but apart from that we've been the best of the rest behind the leading pack. It's been a solid performance and we had a pretty decent run through the dark stages this evening [SS14 and SS15]. There's all to play for tomorrow so we'll push on and see what further gains we can make."

Sunday’s final leg of Wales Rally GB features four stages and is due to finish around 2pm this afternoon.

Leaderboard after Day 2

1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 2:40:25.2
2. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (DS 3 WRC) +35.7
3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +1:00.4
4. Ott Tanak / Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:41.1
5. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +2:55.8
6. Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +3:13.9
7. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +3:18.3
8. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (DS 3 WRC) +4:21.9
9. Stéphane Lefebvre / Stéphane Prévot (DS 3 WRC) +5:32.6
10. Robert Kubica / Maciek Szczepaniak (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +6:31.

Rally - Local Interest

David Bogie and Kevin Rae were lying 21^st overall on the International event after 2 stages but struck trouble on the 4^th test and dropped to 53^rd place at the overnight halt. Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick fared better holding 25^th place overall as the cars returned to Deeside Service.

In the National event Jock Armstrong got the best start and leads from last year’s winner Mike Faulkner at the end of Day 1, but Paul Benn rolled in the first stage.

Leaderboard at end of Day 1:

1, Jock Armstrong/Paula Swinscoe (Subaru Impreza)  0:42:15.7

2, Mike Faulkner/Peter Foy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) +0:00:43.2

3, Bob Ceen/Andy Bull (Subaru Impreza WRC S9) +0:00:53.3

4, Jamie Jukes/Dave Williams (Mitsubishi Mirage R5) +0:01:56.6

5, Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Subaru Impreza N12b) +0:03:19.8

6, David Howells/Robin Hernaman (Subaru Impreza) +0:03:27.3

7, Fraser MacNicol/Aaron Johnston (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI) +0:03:45.7

8, Simon Webster/Frank Richer (Ford Escort) +0:03:54.5

9, John Morrison/Peter Carstairs (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) +0:03:59.3

10, Iain Wilson/Keith Riddick (Subaru Impreza) +0:04:06.0

11, Lee Hastings/Julie McGuire (Subaru Impreza) +0:04:06.4

17, Jimmy McRae/Pauline Gullick (Vauxhall Firenza Can-Am) +0:05:06.0

25, Carl Tuer/Robin Tuer (MG ZR Kit Car) +0:06:34.2

27, Mike Storrar/Andrew Jones (British Leyland ADO 28) +0:07:11.8

29, Thomas Gray/David Wilson (Proton Satria) +0:07:19.3

49, Michael Robertson/Gary McDonald (Subaru Impreza) +0:09:06.1

56, Caroline Carslaw/John Duke (Ford Fiesta ST) +0:09:39.2