Press Releases - Cardiff Welsh Rally - 12 Aug 01

Posted: August 14, 2001 7:23 AM

1. Rory Galligan Rallying
The Peugeot 106 Cup is notorious for its competitiveness and did not disappoint this weekend when the R & M William's Welsh Rally played host to round 4 of the championship. At short notice this event was moved from the fast flowing stages of Epynt to a military training ground in Caerwent. Despite this change there were 12 challenging stages which entailed over 85 stage miles in total, but high kerbs, an abrasive surface and torrential rain were set to cause difficulty for all competitors.

Rory Galligan began the first stage cautiously, aware of how dangerous the conditions were and knowing that he needed a good finish on the event to move him further up the championship table. He suffered his only problem on stage 2 when the atrocious conditions caused him to slide off briefly, losing over 15 seconds. He then controlled his pace through out the remainder of the day aware that one slip could end his rally. Rory settled into a rhythm and swapped times with Shaun Gallagher and Chris Moore over the next few stages.

The rain finally eased up towards the end of the day and Rory upped his pace slightly but guided by experienced co-driver Billy McCullins did not take any risks and finished a comfortable 3rd only 2.5 seconds behind Gary Jennings and 10 seconds behind the victor Michael Brew. Rory is now lying 3rd in the championship and looking forward to the next round, the Scottish Rally in September.

2. Kris Meeke Rallying
The late switch of venues for the Welsh Rally made this event more intriguing than ever. A Foot and Mouth scare in the Brecon Beacons forced the organizers to switch to their contingency plan, which was an old military base at Caerwent.

Torrential rain after the morning recce made the going difficult for everyone, and Kris was too exuberant with his choice of tyres, deciding to tackle the first two stages on intermediates. The gamble backfired….

After being just four seconds off the lead, and 6th overall after the first stage, Kris commented in service… “In hindsight, I made a mistake with the tyre choice. On stage 2 we moved to the right hand side of the road to brake for a square left, but we just aquaplaned on a river of water. I was lucky to keep running”.

Stage 3, and Kris was fastest but complained of the engine cutting out on full throttle. The problem continued for the next four stages, but Kris was still able to match fastest stage times set by Rory Galligan and Michael Brew.

A further two excursions incurred as the charging Meeke tried to make up some places and salvage points for the championship.

“I was really looking forward to some running in the car this weekend, no matter where the rally was held. I got off to a bad start and never really recovered”.

“The guys that took it easier today benefited from the high attrition rate, so I suppose I’m not too disappointed with 7th place and some points. Credit is due to Formula Rally, Peugeot Sport and the associated Motor Clubs for managing to run an event at all”.

“Hopefully we can resume normal service at the Scottish Rally. The Championship is not over yet, but the next three events are crucial. Rest assured, I will not be going for points from here on”.