Rokland wins and mcerlean stars
Norwegian Steve Rokland overcame stiff local Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship
opposition to record his first asphalt win at the Ulster Rally. A fast but wellmeasured drive resulted in Rokland beating last year’s winner, William Creighton, and resisting a strong comeback by Josh Mcerlean.
In a rally that claimed many victims, including pre-rally JBRC points leader James Williams, Rokland was able to come through the rally’s 11 stages without any moments to record. Considering the last time he competed on these roads, he destroyed his Peugeot 208 R2 by felling a telegraph pole – on the 2016 Circuit of Ireland – it was no mean feat.
He now holds an 18-point JBRC lead over Creighton.
Mcerlean had come to within 0.4 seconds of Rokland with two stages remaining but a puncture on the penultimate stage cost him 16s. Mcerlean’s rally then ended with an off on the final stage, losing second place and a substantial haul of JBRC points.
A spin during Friday’s first loop of stages put Creighton on the back foot early on. Unable to find consistent speed through the weekend, he had fallen behind the hard-charging Mcerlean into third position, admitting he was lacking the last bit of pace to challenge Rokland. He was relieved to end up with points for second place at Sunday’s finish ramp.
Kevin Horgan found himself in third position at the end of the rally. Admitting he had a disaster of a first day, struggling to find any rhythm, the rally came to him through the final stages. His podium finish was evidence of the rally’s high rate of attrition.
Drivers to fall by the wayside included Williams, Marty Gallagher and James Wilson who suffered a hefty off during shakedown.
Wilson locked up on a very wet shakedown stage going into a lefthand bend. Ending up on its side in a field after travelling through a 3-metre deep hedge, his Peugeot 208 R2 was unable to start his home round.
Williams found the fast stages hard to get used to and lay in fourth, a minute off the leader, after six stages. His rally wasn’t to go much further as, similarly to Wilson, he locked up on the shiny surface into a square left and was a passenger as his Peugeot 208 R2 scurried into a bank. He was a non-starter, the car suffering a cracked radiator joint.
Rokland made his intent clear from the start, fastest on the rally’s opening stages Glendun and Torr Head, he built a lead of 16.7s. The famous stages were made even trickier as the equally famous Irish showers showed no rest on the twisting asphalt roads.
Rokland would only go on to set one more fastest stage time, Stage 10, as he watched his gap to Mcerlean dwindle away once the latter found his rhythm on the second pass of Glendun in his Ford Fiesta R2T. Rokland held tight though, comfortable in his pace and was rewarded at the finish.
“We did push, but it wasn’t full attack,” said Rokland about Mcerlean’s charge to 0.4s. “I wanted to finish, it was really good luck for me that he had problems.
“I have been consistent through the whole rally, I haven’t made any big mistakes.”
With previous experience of Torr Head and Glendun, Rokland was one of very few drivers who found Friday’s stages easier than those on Saturday. His time may have been gained on those familiar Friday stages but his rally was won by keeping calm on Saturday while leaking time to Mcerlean.
Like his JBRC counterpart, Finlay Retson showed speed and experience beyond his years to dominate the Ulster Rally’s Cadet Cup.
There were many firsts for the young Scotsman, first rally in Ireland, first asphalt closed-road rally and first stages tackled in the dark. But most importantly for Retson it was a first Cadet victory after a frustrating season before travelling to Northern Ireland.
“We’re glad to get to the finish after a few bad results at the start of the year,” said Retson. “It was my first time over here, so everything was completely new to me but I really enjoyed it.”
Jordan Reynolds finished second in the Cadet Cup after taking a while to get up to speed with the fast asphalt roads, and takes the class points lead. His rally got off to an undesirable start on stage one, hitting a bale and damaging the rear of his Ford Fiesta R2 against a wall. Struggling for confidence, he admitted Friday was a write-off and it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon’s drier roads until he felt comfortable with the rally.
Johnnie Mulholland was unable to make an impact on his local event but still finished the rally third in Cadets, gaining vital points and experience in his first BRC season.