‘Newby beats strong Manx opposition’
Subaruimprezacrewkeeptheircool.by Chrisboyde
TEG Sport-run Subaru Impreza crew Arron Newby/rory Kennedy dominated the second day of the Pokerstars Rally to take a commanding victory as their rivals each hit trouble.
Manx crew Andrew Dudgeon/joseph Dooley (Mitsubishi Lancer E6) set the early pace on Friday night over Little London and The Garey, but then lost almost two minutes when the car cut out at Snuff the Wind on SS3.
Newby, who hadn’t competed on the island for almost three years, moved ahead as Paul Mackinnon/tom Woodburn, having a first run in a Ford Fiesta R5, were delayed behind Dudgeon. Mackinnon then went fastest on SS4, Brack-aBroom, despite a misting windscreen to move into a share of the lead at first service.
Rain arrived on the second loop with most crews caught on slicks. Newby fared best, opening an 18s advantage after SS7 as Mackinnon again caught another car. The Mull driver then took 12s back on the night’s final stage, SS8, to lie six seconds down overnight.
Early casualties included the reigning Manx champions Daniel Harper/chris Campbell, a broken rear suspension link throwing their Mini John Cooper Works WRC off the road just three miles into the opening stage on Druidale. Fifth-placed Sean Kelly/kirsty Duke (Lancer E9) crashed close to the finish of SS2 and, by the end of the night, Paul Bird/jack Morton were also gone. After holding third despite struggling with gearshift issues on their Ford Focus WRC07, they crashed at a chicane at Round Table on SS7.
Locals Nigel and Kayleigh Cannell (Lancer E9) were third despite spins at Sartfield hairpin on both SS1 and SS4, with Michael Dunlop/rob Fagg (Ford Escort Mk2) in fourth place after an SS4 stall as Tomas Davies/eurig Davies (Fiesta R5) also dropped time with a puncture.
Mackinnon’s challenge for victory suffered a blow on Saturday’s opening test in SS9, The Curraghs, when a puncture cost him 41 seconds. Worse was to follow on SS12 as the power steering went on the Fiesta and a further minute was dropped as he struggled through three stages in the north of the island before the steering rack could be changed at service.
It left Newby in complete control, fastest or joint fastest on each stage of the day apart from the final SS17, to push his final victory margin to 2m11s.
Davies climbed to third, happier on the fast and flowing stages as rain came and went, until a broken driveshaft on SS13 Andreas put him out. Dudgeon also retired with a blown turbo and James Macgillivray/ian Fraser (Subaru) a broken manifold.
The Cannells then reinherited third until the Mitsubishi developed a misfire that worsened, and they were overhauled by Dunlop on SS15, scoring an impressive podium finish despite a run up a bank in SS12 in the slippery conditions.
For Cannell, there was the consolation that fourth place brought with it a fourth Motor Mall Manx Rally Championship title.
Dan Colley/charlotte Shimmin (Lancer E9) had a trouble-free run to fifth, ahead of Alan Kirkaldy/cameron Fair. The latter crew had excelled on the second day, moving up from an overnight 11th place despite a run up a bank on SS15. For Kirkaldy, it was a first ‘proper’ event on closed-roads with pacenotes.
Timmy and Cliona Collins (Subaru Impreza) were delayed by a broken exhaust mounting on Saturday morning and finished seventh ahead of Kevin Davies/max Freeman (Ford Escort).
George Collister/adam Yates (BMW E30) were denied a top 10 finish by a broken differential on SS15 as Jonathan Mounsey/ Richard Wardle (E9) took ninth place with Calum and Iain Duffy enjoying their Manx debut to complete the top 10.