TINN ON TOP AS WEST LEADS MN SERIES
Cadwell win for Tinn, west faces a fight for MN glory. by Peter Scherer
David and Alice Tinn had elected to start the Cadwell Park Stages Rally on a set of old tyres, a decision which was soon rectified as they struggled for pace in their Proton Satria S2500 Millington.
With new tyres all-round, their fightback began, taking the lead with one stage to go and sealing victory by only two seconds over Chris West/ Keith Hounslow’s Peugeot 306 Maxi.
It was Peter Stephenson/patrick Walsh who set the early pace, one second up on Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship leader West on the opener, before doubling the lead on stage two.
“We put new front tyres on for stage two, having started on wets, but had a big lock-up on the first lap when they were cold,” said West.
Tinn had shared third-best time on stage one with Joshua and Tamsyn Davey’s Darrian T90 but, although he consolidated third place on stage two, there was a dramatic conclusion for Davey. “We had gone through the finish and hit a fence, but a post pierced the screen and landed on my hand on the steering wheel,” he explained.
Tinn had also fallen behind defending MN champion and winner of this event in 2016, Ian Woodhouse, but a change of compound, and a new tyre rather than an old set, would benefit Tinn in the long run.
Although Stephenson had gone into stage three with a two-second lead, he lost out in traffic and dropped to joint second with Davey, after West took a one-second lead. Davey had clipped a chicane but there was no penalty and he still pulled out a further threesecond gap on Woodhouse, while Tinn and John Stone/jack Morton’s Fiesta continued to complete the early top six.
West continued to push to the limit and had a lurid moment on stage four, while increasing his lead to six seconds over Stephenson and Davey.
“A bit too much handbrake with cold tyres again, I was probably giving it 120 per cent,” admitted West.
Tinn started to close in on the lead on the next stage, moving into third place, two seconds off second-placed man Davey. The gap came down still further on stage six, leaving West with only a two-second cushion as darkness began to fall.
A misfire on the penultimate stage not only lost West his lead, but brought second place under threat too as Woodhouse had moved up, despite hitting a pheasant at Barn Corner, which took out one of his spotlights.
“We found moisture around the throttle sensor and it just lost power, so it was a real problem on those long straights,” West explained.
So Tinn went into the final stage with a four-second cushion, but West wasn’t finished yet and made a determined effort to recover his lost lead.
“I had to work really hard for that, I just tried to keep it neat and tidy,” said Tinn after his margin was reduced to only two seconds. West added: “We did our best but just didn’t have enough.”
Davey’s hold on third had disappeared on stage seven too.
“The gear linkage broke and I couldn’t change down,” he said. “We made it to the stage finish and repaired it by bolting a small spanner to it, I couldn’t get neutral but at least it changed up and down and we could go for the class win.”
Woodhouse therefore completed the podium, but Davey was still fourth after last-stage dramas for Stephenson: “I spun off, rejoined and went off again on the other side. Then the steering wasn’t right so we spun again and then lost a cylinder near the end.” He dropped to seventh.
Mark Kelly/andy Baker’s Escort had been seventh overall after every stage until the last, when he vaulted ahead of Stone and Stephenson to take fifth place.
“I was cautious on stage one after last year’s crash, but the car was a bit too tail-happy as our rear tyres were too soft,” said Kelly of his morning run. “We changed them for stage five and it was much better.”
Stone’s sixth place was enough to secure Class D2 honours in the MN series, and the lead in the class championship too.
Graeme Bell/russ Radford’s Proton Millington, was eighth from stage four after John Griffiths/nigel Wetton’s Subaru Impreza spun.
Griffiths managed to reclaim ninth place from Stephen Beck/gary Whittington’s Escort, but was still 21 seconds shy of retaking eighth from Bell at the finish.
Beck was delighted to retain his place in the top 10 however, on his first visit to Cadwell Park in a car.
After the second round of the MN Circuit Rally Championship, West leads by five points over shock second-place driver Davey, in his Class C Darrian.the championship heads to Knockhill for its next round, held on December 3.