Kelly and Duke come out on top after dominant display in Isle of Man with Mitsubishi Lancer E9
DMC Summer Stages
Organiser: Druidale Motor Club When: August 3 Where: Jurby Motordrome, Isle of Man Stages: 8 Starters: 20
Sean Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer
E9) scored his first event victory on the Summer Stages after overcoming a slow start to dominate the rally at Jurby Motordrome on the Isle of Man.
Steven Ormond-smith/charlotte Shimmin took a surprise early 12-second lead in their Gp N Ford Fiesta ST in warm, dry conditions.
Reigning Manx champions
Carine Walker/dannii Matthews (BMW 325) held second place early on, with Maxx Bradshaw/stephen Christian (BMW E3) a further two seconds back.
Kelly and co-driver Kirsty Duke were fourth but surged into the lead on SS2 and were fastest on all the remaining tests despite overheating issues and not running anti-lag on some stages.
Ormond-smith suffered a broken throttle on SS3 and SS4 and also incurred cone penalties as Kelly pushed the lead past 30s.
Bradshaw retired from a dice with Walker for second when he couldn’t select any gears at the start of SS5, and Ben Lyon/eleanor Devereau were up to fifth place when the engine blew on their Proton Satria GTI.
Brothers Paul and Michael Mcevoy (Subaru Impreza) moved up to third and tried to pressure Walker ahead, closing to within 6s after SS7, but Walker secured second place on the final stage, as Kelly ran out the winner by 1m32s.
Results
1 Sean Kelly/kirsty Duke (Mitsubishi Lancer E9) 49m21s;
2 Carine Walker/dannii Matthews (BMW 325) +1m32s; 3 Paul/ Michael Mcevoy (Subaru Impreza N11); 4 Chris Heyes/rick Sutcliffe (BMW E30); 5 Steven Ormond-smith/charlotte Shimmin (Ford Fiesta ST); 6 Tim Andrews/cara Boalch (Nissan Micra); 7 Karl Berrie/walter Bridson (Impreza); 8 Jez Hill/decca Kelly (Peugeot 205 GTI); 9 Michael Diehl/harry Stubbs (Vauxhall Corsa); 10 John Kneen/william Brown (Lexus IS 200 Sport). Class winners: Tim Andrews/ Cara Boalch (Nissan Micra); Hill/ Kelly; Ormond-smith/shimmin; Walker/matthews; Kelly/duke.