Rallye Charlemagne (France) - 6-7 July '01

Posted: July 9, 2001 6:04 PM

The second day opened with an overcast sky and the damp atmosphere was a clear indication of the problems the crews were likely to have with the very changeable weather. Tyre choice was to be critical.

Overnight leader Champion immediately suffered on the days opening stage, S3 La Bascule, he was caught out mid way through the 13.45km stage and overshot a junction dropping twenty seconds to the hard charging Championship leader Galligan.

Galligan now found himself eighteen seconds clear of the field with Jennings a distant 3rd after the promising Kris Meeke suffered his second consecutive retirement of the season when he ripped out a drive shaft after clipping a bale navigating around a tight chicane.

Chris Moore’s traumatic event continued when he dropped way down the field with a puncture which cost him over ten minutes, eventually retiring with head gasket failure.

S4, Le Biau saw Champion get ten of the lost seconds back from Galligan who had a poor run through the stage, Jennings split the pairing with a time six seconds light of Champion.

The weather reserved its worst for Les Courbeteux, S5. The top three crews, Galligan, Champion and Jennings got through the stage just before the heavens opened, the remaining competitors were left having to navigate through torrential rain on totally unsuitable tyres, losing much time.

Carnage ensued on this stage with Seamus Donnelly removing his rear windows with a huge high speed spin. Moore dropped yet more time, Shaun Gallagher and Robert Gough both had punctures and dropped over five minutes apiece. Martin Evans had a torrid time with a visit to the ditch, followed by a puncture and then suffered the ignominy of the jack breaking when he tried to change the tyre in the stage, in total he lost over twenty minutes.

Les Capiots S6 fell to Champion who took twenty six seconds from Galligan to open up a nine second lead, which he held to S13. The three way battle with Jennings continued until S9, where Galligan punctured, having to stop and change mid-stage losing considerable time. Alexander too punctured on the same corner, as did Dunbabin, Fowle and Sykes on the third run through, all losing around 4 minutes.

SS11 saw the demise of Galligan as he rolled off the stage whilst avoiding a spectator who had slipped and fallen on the road in front of him whilst helping another crashed car. This stage was subsequently cancelled.

Ryan continued his domination at the top of the field, taking 6 fastest stage times, Jennings topped the table with 4 and Galligan took 2, as did Alexander. Our youngest competitor, Barbadian Barry Mayers, finding his feet in the rain compared to his own sunny country, took his maiden fastest stage. However, Ryan’s domination all changed on S13, although stopping to change a puncture only dropped him down to second, as the players at the front of the field had built up a massive lead over the course of the event.

Jennings then took the lead and the collection of spoils, winning Top Junior, Top Rookie, as well as now leading the Super 106 Cup championship by three points from Ryan.

Richard Sykes took the Total Quartz 9000 award, as lying virtually last place overnight, he passed and repassed the same Volvo 240 (not a mean feat on the narrow roads) on each of the day’s 12 stages, whilst still enjoying his event. Simon Hughes benefited from his late entry and thus poor seeding to collect the Motorsport News subscription for Best Improvement on seeding, just pipping Jazz Nandhra.

So congratulations to Kesh man 23 year old Garry Jennings, with his new co-driver Martin McGarrity, on taking his maiden victory, especially rewarding as being his first event on asphalt on “proper” road conditions.

Peugeot Sport UK Supporters Club