FISHLEIGH TACKLES BACK-TOBACK ISLAND CHALLENGES
Ford Escort man competes on the Isle of Man and Jersey in succession
Cornishman Richard Fishleigh and his co-driver Jason McCullough have just completed a mammoth two weeks of rallying by competing on the Isle of Man and Jersey on backto-back weekends in their Ford Escort Mk2.
The clubmen team and their 2.5-litre Duratec-engined Escort were away for nearly a fortnight as they travelled straight from the Isle of Man to Jersey. They capped the trip with a resounding second overall in Jersey, only headed by the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Frank Bird.
Fishleigh is a regular competitor in Jersey and usually makes the event into a family holiday. This year, he decided to compete on the Isle of Man the weekend before to be ready for the challenge of Jersey.
They left Launceston early on Tuesday morning to drive to Heysham for the ferry to the
Isle of Man where they finished eighth when the rally concluded on Saturday afternoon.
Fishleigh told MN: “I called it a measured drive to make sure we were car fit for Jersey.”
They left the island at 1930hrs on Saturday evening for the ferry to Heysham and then drove through the night to
Poole to get the Sunday afternoon ferry to Jersey.
After a day or two to re-prepare the car and make their notes, they were ready to start the second rally at lunchtime Friday. It didn’t start well as a moment on
SS2 when they hit a bank pushed the radiator back and damaged a hose.
“We also had a problem with low oil pressure on Friday night, but we’re able to fix that. It’s a shame that Ross La Noa went out. He’d have been a good yardstick in Jersey. We were away for nearly two weeks, but we really enjoyed both events. That’s it for the season for us now,” he added.