Swansea bay rallý- úrslit og umfjöllun.

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  Hankook MSA Gravel Rally Championship

Press Information

Swansea Bay National Rally - Saturday 21st July 2007

Monday July 23rd 

STAGE SNIPPETS…

 

• Miles Johnson was a non starter as while car and navigator managed to get through to Swansea, unfortunately Miles couldn’t. That was despite driving round all night trying to find a road that hadn’t been closed by the floods. By the time he could have got through, he was too far away to make the start.

 

• Tom Walster was more fortunate as he too spent all night driving down many roads, then having to turn round at floods and this with the car on the trailer! But he did manage to find a way through and arrived at the start with only seconds to spare. The car was scrutineered on the trailer at the start and he started the event at the rear of the Clubmans field.

 

• Former champion Paul Bird wasn’t present in Swansea as he was away contesting the Manx International Rally which he pledged to do when his RBS Manx International Rally ended in retirement back in May. Whilst he was away, his Stobart Superbike Team notched up their first win in three years at Mallory Park!

 

• Thanks to everyone who spotted out deliberate mistake in the photo caption of Saturday night’s post event release whereby we had Claire Mole co driving for Marcus Dodd. Not that Andrew Bargery is particularly ugly, we just thought Marcus maybe needed a touch of glamour to spice up proceedings and at very least, it proved that lots of people do actually read the press releases. Apologies all round; we’d all had a long day!

 

• Mitsubishi Evo front runner Seb Ling rolled out of the event on the opening stage. On a very slippery section nine-miles into stage, he slid wide but a wheel clipped a bank and flipped the car over. Although resulting in very little damage and landing on its wheels, his Evo was going nowhere as it was stuck the other side of the bank frustratingly, just feet from the road. 

 

THEY SAID WHAT….?

 

"That was a wonderful first stage, I’m driving on adrenalin due to no sleep last night”” Tom Walster proves that sleep is for the weak, I mean who organises rallies in summer when they know that the country will be underwater…

 

“It’s too slippery; I’m driving like an old woman…” John Lloyd admits that with our advancing years, none of us are getting any younger although we’ve not seen Martha and Gertie Bobblethwaite on the stages lately…

 “The driving has improved to that of a middle aged woman! Do you realise we are the oldest team competing today with the exception of Harry Dodd, we are over 110 years old between us!” Point taken John…. 

“I don’t understand the two punctures…” Quite simple, Mr Petch, the pneumatic properties of a deflating tyre means the residual grip and adhesion to the contact path of the surface is greatly diminished…

 

"I’m trying to drive nice and steadily so as not to wake him…” Jonathan Sparks perhaps showing a little too much consideration for co driver Bradley Magnus who was another to have driven through the night because of the floods…

 

“Marcus caught me with my trousers down…”  That must have been some pre-rally party that Messrs Perez and Dodd had been to!

 

“It feels like I have done three hours in the gym I am sweating so much…”  Was Phil Morrow referring to the demanding SS4 or was he at the same party as Perez and Dodd the night before…

 

“Today was like walking into a party where everyone is drunk but you are not quite drunk enough!” This party thing is getting out of hand now but anyone who knows Jock ‘Lance’ Armstrong will vouch for the fact that if there was one, he’ll have been there…

 

“She’s running like a Massey Ferguson 35 Tractor…”  Neil McCance obviously knows his stuff when it comes to the latest agricultural model. Wonder if she was at the party…

 

Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge and Cup – by Simon Slade

 

For the fourth time this season, Phillip Morrow recorded victory in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge when he won Saturday’s round five, the Swansea Bay Rally. Together with his co-driver Daniel Barritt, he finished one-minute 48-seconds ahead of second-placed Nik Elsmore/Vicky Allen, with David Bogie/Robert Fagg in third.

 

With the recent severe weather creating havoc with the UK’s road network, many crews were experiencing problems even before the start as three of the Mitsubishi competitors were affected: Bradley Magnus, co-driver for Jonathan Sparks, spent all night on the M5 and started the event having had no sleep whatsoever. Wayne Radford’s team were also held up because of the conditions and his Lancer arrived in Swansea with just minutes to spare on Saturday morning. More unfortunate was Miles Johnston, who was also held up on the M5 overnight and, when traffic started moving again, he found was too far away to get to the start in time. Ironically, both Radford and Johnston are the two leading crews for the Evo Cup, the class for closer-to-standard Mitsubishi Lancers.

 

The officials of the event were also affected in similar ways and, with some marshals and rescue crews unable to get to Swansea, organisers had no choice but to cancel the shortest stage of the rally and re-deploy the manpower where it was needed. This meant that the day now comprised five stages instead of six, all of which took place in the Neath and Rhondda valley forests, the gravel roads reported to be extremely slippery because of the wet conditions.

 

Having won the previous round, Morrow carried on from where he left off and was the fastest of the Evo crews on SS1, a 12.5 mile run through Margam Park, albeit with a slow puncture. Julian Reynolds, who won this event outright in 2005 and was therefore expected to go well, was 11 seconds behind, having lost time after sliding wide on a corner, the consequent bumps causing the master ignition switch to cut his car’s electrics and he lost around 20 seconds before getting going again.

 

Stage three claimed the second Evo Challenge retirement of the day, Daniel Barry, who slid off the road at a down-hill hairpin beaching his car on its belly and, with no spectators around, could not push his stranded Evo back onto the track.

 

At the first service halt, after crews had completed three stages, Morrow’s lead had now decreased to eight seconds from Reynolds, with Bogie a further 50 seconds behind in third.

 

Stage four was the longest of the rally at 17 miles and where Morrow stamped his authority on proceedings by setting a time 20 seconds quicker than any other Evo Challenge competitor. His advantage was increased when a transmission shaft broke in Reynolds’ car, who took over two minutes longer than the young Ulsterman to complete the stage.

 

Wayne Sisson’s good run was ruined when he had to stop and change a puncture four miles into the stage, the five-minute delay destroying his chances of a much hoped-for podium finish. No such problems for Elsmore however, who had now moved into third, with Reynolds relegated to fourth,

 

With the second service halt providing teams with an hour to fix any problems, Reynolds’ car was repaired. However, the same could not be said for McCance, whose engine wouldn’t start when it was time to leave the service area.

 

The final stage was another run through Margam Park, by which time Morrow had amassed an 80-second lead and therefore opted for a steady run to ensure he made it to the finish.

 

Bogie was second and now 24 seconds ahead of Elsmore, but a spin in the last stage cost the Scottish youngster half-a-minute and he crossed the line third, six seconds behind a delighted Elsmore.

 

With his car retuned to 100% Reynolds proved a point by setting fastest time on the final stage and claimed fourth place. Petch survived a selection of spins and overshoots to finish fifth, with Thomas Naughton sixth having enjoyed the demanding nature of the rally, whilst Sabater was pleased to have made his trip from Spain to finish seventh - despite the conditions.

 

Sisson was disappointed to finish eighth after such a promising start, whilst in contrast Alan Carmichael was happy to be in the points in ninth. Radford claimed the top Evo Cup placing and was 10th of the Challenge runners too, whilst Sparks was relieved to get to the end of an event with his engine still functioning correctly – his co-driver’s efforts and the team’s determination to continue, rewarding them with the Tesco 99 Octane Spirit Award.

 

But it was Morrow’s day, as his performance also saw him win the event’s Production Class, claim an overall position of fifth, score maximum points towards the PIAA Junior Award – and, most importantly, places him in a commanding position in the race for the Evo Challenge title and the first prize of a Mitsubishi works drive.

 

Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Round Five - Results

1 Phillip Morrow (Lisburn)/Daniel Barritt (Burnley) – 1:03:02.8

2 Nik Elsmore (Coleford)/Vicky Allen (Denbigh) – 1:04:50.6

3 David Bogie (Dumfries)/Rob Fagg (Isle of Man) – 1:04:56.0

4 Julian Reynolds (Narberth)/Patrick Walsh (Aberystwyth) – 1:05:07.7

5 Stephen Petch (Richmond)/Michael Wilkinson (Tow Law) – 1:07:00.2

6 Thomas Naughton (Bury)/Horace Saville (Bury) – 1:08:05.5

7 Alex Sabater (Spain)/Miquel Amblas (Spain) – 1:08:27.9

8 Wayne Sisson (Carnforth)/Daniel Stone (Chesterfield) – 1:09:35.3

9 Alan Carmichael (Ballymena)/Ivor Lamont (Ballymena) – 1:12:05.9

10 Wayne Radford (Dinnington)/Paul Drew (Stroud) - 1:13:33.3

11 Jonathan Sparks (Glastonbury)/Bradley Magnus (Downham Market) – 1:13:34.1

 

Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Cup

1 Wayne Radford (Dinnington)/Paul Drew (Stroud) - 1:13:33.3

 

Championship Positions

 

Evolution Challenge

1          Phillip Morrow 53

2          Seb Ling 37

3          Julian Reynolds 31

4          Stephen Petch 31

5          Nik Elsmore 26

 

Evolution Cup

1          Wayne Radford 42

2          Miles Johnston 36

3          Mark I’Anson 18

4          Ferran Font 10

  Further information and championship positions at www.gravelrally.co.uk and PLEASE send Tony your press releases!!!