Rally reports
Photo: Writtle Photographic, William Neill, pro-rally.co.uk
Organiser: Manx Auto Sport When: May 11/12 Where: Isle of Man Championships: MSA Asphalt Rally Championship; Manx Rally Championship; ANWCC Stage Rally Championship; SD34 MSG Stage Rally Championship Stages: 16 Starters: 112
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Focus WRC05) scored a fourth victory in five years with a dominant display on the Manx National Rally, fastest on 15 of the 16 stages.
Friday night’s leg began in testing conditions, heavy rain and mist, but nonetheless the Builth Wells driver beat the bogey on SS1 Creg-ny-baa to open a 12s lead over Jamie Jukes/ James Morgan (Mitsubishi Mirage R5), as 2017 winners Hugh Hunter/rob Fagg were stranded just two miles into the event with an electrical failure on their Ford Fiesta WRC.
Ironically, Hunter had inherited the win a year earlier on the penultimate stage when Pritchard also suffered an electrical failure.
Pritchard was fastest on SS2 Druidale by 20.8s despite describing the conditions as the worst he’d seen, with Daniel Harper/chris Campbell (Mini WRC) now second after Jukes crashed out at a chicane in the mist. Leading local crew Andrew Dudgeon/joseph Dooley put their Mitsubishi Lancer E6.5 off the road, dropping four minutes.
The attrition continued on SS3 Knocksharry as fourth-placed Dan Colley/adam Yates crashed their Lancer E9 and Stu Bainborough/ Jane Nicol lost boost in their E6.
Damian Cole/jamie Edwards (Fiesta WRC) dropped over five minutes by first service after SS4, selecting intermediate tyres and struggling with handling problems and withdrew after SS6, while Tristan Pye/andrew Falconer retired their Subaru from third place.
Amid the drama, Pritchard pushed the lead to a substantial 1m40.7s by the end of the night (SS8), eclipsed only on SS6 by Peter Taylor/andrew Roughead (Fiesta WRC) who were subsequently excluded for outside assistance, promoting Wayne Sisson/ Max Freeman (Lancer E10) to third behind Harper.
Bob Fowden/den Golding (Subaru Impreza WRC) moved up to fourth as the rain stopped, Barry Groundwater/ Neil Shanks (Lancer E10) overhauling Paul Kirtley/david Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) for fifth place on the final stage of the night.
Timmy and Cliona Collins (Subaru, clutch) and Gary Leece/john Tarrant (Lancer E6.5, propshaft) both retired from the top eight, adding to the woe for the local crews.
By complete contrast, Saturday brought glorious sunshine. John Indri was the first to capitalise, forcing his way into the top 10 on SS9 Keristal on his first drive in a Mitsubishi Mirage R5 with Mathew Smalley, at the expense of Rory and Paul Mccann, whose 1600cc Honda Civic broke a driveshaft.
Fowden’s rally came to a halt with an exhaust manifold fire on SS10, and Groundwater ceded time having elected to head out on wet tyres on now bone-dry roads, Kirtley taking his fourth place on SS11 Parville.
Donnie Macdonald/michael Hendry (E9) climbed into the top six, passing Kex Walker/dannii Matthews’ BMW 325. Geoff Wright/jonathan Turnbull withdrew their Ford Fiesta S2000 from eighth with a broken gearbox casing.
At the front Pritchard’s pace continued, the winning margin passing the three-minute mark on the final stage over Harper, as Jukes rejoined and set a series of top three times.
Sisson was a further 5m35.1s back in third, as Kirtley extended his advantage over Groundwater and Macdonald, with Indri climbing to seventh after switching to team-mate Jukes’ rear suspension set-up for the final loop of tests.
Richard Clews/hamish Campbell (Subaru) moved ahead of two-wheel-drive leader Walker to finish eighth as Brian Watson/ Caroline Will (Subaru WRC) climbed from 15th overnight into the top 10.
Results
1 Jason Pritchard/ Phil Clarke (Ford Focus WRC) 1h45m08.9s; 2 Daniel Harper/ Chris Campbell (Mini John Cooper Works WRC) +3m06.2s; 3 Wayne Sisson/ Max Freeman (Mitsubishi Lancer E10); 4 Paul Kirtley/ David Jones (Subaru Impreza); 5 Barry Groundwater/ Neil Shanks (Mitsubishi Lancer E10); 6 Donnie Macdonald/ Michael Hendry (Mitsubishi E9); 7 John Indri/ Mathew Smalley (Mitsubishi Mirage); 8 Richard Clews/ Hamish Campbell (Subaru Impreza STI); 9 Carine (Kex) Walker/ Dannii Matthews (BMW 325); 10 Brian Watson/ Caroline Will (Subaru S11).
Class winners: Pritchard/ Clarke; Sisson/ Freeman; Walker/ Matthews; Phil Turner/ Ian Meakin (Ford Escort); Dai Roberts/ Stephen Christian (Peugeot 205 GTI); Lloyd Morgan/ Marc Clatworthy (Nissan Micra); Martin Doherty/ Kevin Flanagan (Ford Escort RS1800).