106 Cup - Round 3 - Carlisle City Challenge

Posted: May 10, 2000 1:00 PM

The rally began for the Peugeot\'s on a spectator stage in Carlisle airport. This stage was run twice giving competitors a chance to settle in before they faced the long stages in Kielder. The rally then headed a long 22 mile stage. Conscious of Kielders\' fearsome reputation, Rory was somewhat over cautious on this stage.

However by special stage 4, Rory and co-driver Jonty Bolsover had definitely found the pace which they are now known for. Quickest Peugeot by 38 seconds and also quicker than the two factory Peugeot Super 1600 Kit Cars of Justin Dale and David Higgins, Rory certainly proved that his growing experience on forest stages was paying off.

Day 2 started badly for Rory, 5 minutes into the stage he misheard a pace note and slid wide into an infamous Kielder \"bog\", losing nearly 4 minutes. On special stage 6 Rory was again quicker than all other Peugeots’ and many of the top factory entries in their highly sophisticated and expensive rally cars.

However it all turned sour on the last stage of the event. Rory had a major accident while flat in 5th gear, probably due to suspension failure caused by a very heavy landing earlier in the stage. Rory and Jonty crashed heavily into a large rock launching the car onto its roof. Thankfully both crew members were unhurt but it was not the ending that Rory was hoping for. Having never driven or seen Kielder before Rory certainly showed his immense talent on the forest stages.

Dubliner Max McKillen was 3rd overall after a steady run, his best result of the championship. However it was not a good weekend for other Irish crews, joint fastest on the first stage Seamus Donnelley and Billy McCullins retired with gearbox failure on Sunday. Paul Crossen and Peter Martin punctured on the first forest stage and after the car fell from the jack they lost several minutes and did not restart on Sunday.

The next round is the Red Dragon Rally - 3rd/4th June.