206 Cup - Pirelli National/Gateshead Rallies 25-26 Apr 03

Posted: May 9, 2003 9:22 PM

Championship contender Richard Sykes had rolled his car on a test session on Thursday and had to work through the night to complete the repairs at 5.30 on Friday morning and join the 25 other starters in Gateshead. However, Richard and co-driver Mark Andrews were among several crews held up on the first stage by a car from the preceding International event, and as a result were awarded scratch times. At the end of Stage 2, Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy had a lead of 0.3 seconds over newcomers from Ireland Graham McClintock and Ger Loughrey although less than ten seconds separated the top fifteen.

The cars then headed into the infamous Kielder forest, beginning with a 12 mile run through dark and foggy Harwood. Chris Moore immediately demonstrated his local knowledge by setting fastest time a full 19 seconds ahead of Jack Ingleby but everyone agreed that the conditions were pure nightmare. Spaniard Joan Roca and Dani Guirro found the conditions particularly difficult and were overtaken by both Shaun Gallagher and Sebastian Ling but all of the 26 Peugeot 206’s who started the stage struggled through to the finish although James Robertson and Mike Rollo were to go no further as they had broken the trackrod. Unfortunately Stage 4 saw the demise of no fewer than seven cars. Irish brothers Philip and Simon Morrow ended their event in a ditch on the final stage of the day.

Chris Moore went on to complete a hat-trick of fastest times on Stages 4 and 5, giving him a final lead of a minute and a half over another newcomer Rodney Wilton and Derek Coleman with Jack and Grania Ingleby a further 6 seconds behind in third place

"Double Tops”
The Pirelli Gateshead Rally - 26th April 2003

With a double header unique to the Peugeot 206 Super Cup, Saturday morning saw the runners start the Pirelli Gateshead Rally this morning with a clean sheet. The crews had been allowed to repair any damage sustained, and though Greek George Phillipedes and Southerner Paul Jones had both worked hard through the night to repair their cars they finally admitted defeat and were unable to restart.

In complete contrast to the dreadful dark, wet and foggy conditions of Friday night, the day dawned fine and sunny as crews headed back to Kielder for a rerun of Friday’s final two stages. The first stage of the day, Wetherlair, claimed Andy Pawley and James Robertson who both ended in a ditch and also Stuart Jones, whose clutch had failed. Ian Warren completed the retirements with electrical gremlins.

Chris Moore continued where he had left off, setting fastest time. Shaun Gallagher, Rodney Wilton and Joan Roca shared three seconds behind, split by a mere 7 tenths and Jack Ingleby a further two seconds after that. After the next stage, the eleven mile repeat of Highfield, the situation was even closer. Jack Ingleby put in a fastest time to amazingly equal Chris Moore’s total, with Shaun Gallagher a scant 0.6 seconds behind and Joan Roca in fourth place a vast three seconds down. Joan commented “I can tell you where I have lost each of those seconds!” Rodney Wilton showed that his second place of yesterday was no fluke, and was only two seconds further back, with Welshman Sebastian Ling not too happy being 14 seconds down. Scot Mike Faulkner stated that despite a pace which would have won stages in previous years, he was out of the top five, such was the speed at the front.

At the following Service at Hexham, Jack Ingleby stated that he could go faster but was not going to push, but then set fastest time on the very next stage, the first visit to the Bower just south of Kielder Reservoir. This popped him into the lead, a tiny one tenth in front of Moore. Moore commented that he had “missed third gear twice” explaining away the deficit. Gallagher kept the closeness of the competition being 8 tenths adrift, with Joan Roca maintaining his attack despite being two whole seconds behind. These four were on a pace to set the forests alight, Rodney Wilton being excluded from the club after sliding wide on a square left on a crest and losing time in the infamous ditches.

The next stage, Chirdonhead, Shaun Gallagher had set out his intention to “go for it” and sure enough, he set fastest time taking the overall lead and forcing Chris Moore into third place behind Jack Ingleby, but still with less than three seconds between them. Roca underestimated a chicane on the stage, sliding into the side, costing him ten valuable seconds.

The penultimate Stage, a rerun of Bower, had Chris Moore fastest, four seconds up on Roca, to retake the lead from Gallagher, with Ingleby now in third place. Roca stayed in fourth.

The final stage saw Ingleby repeat a fastest time, but it was not enough to move him up a place, a delighted Chris Moore taking the honours for the second day running, and Shaun Gallagher splitting the pair. These three were under four seconds apart at the end, after a ferocious seventy miles of motoring. Roca consolidated 21 seconds adrift.

And though the rally seemed to be all about these top drivers, lots of excitement was happening further down the field. The battle for 5th place was held between Olly Marshall, Mike Faulkner and Sebastian Ling. These three were split by a mere 4.5 seconds, ending in that order. Olly Marshall had rolled his car out of contention on Friday, and despite most of his panels being bent, he had a good day saying that it still drove very well. Faulkner had a couple of overshoots, but was happy now that he had developed a good relationship with new co-driver Peter Foy, while Ling had been “trying too hard” but building the pace throughout to finish 7th.

Richard Sykes smiled his way to 8th place, getting his confidence back, while former Super 106 Cup runner Dessie Keenan had another fierce tussle with Gareth MacHale, declaring that he was not going to give way, and finally achieving his aim by 8 seconds, with Gareth rounding off the top ten happy to get points on the table. Yet another Irishman, Graham McClintock, was “going a bit better” happy to achieve a result while Phillip Morrow from the North commented that it “just wasn’t his rally” as he punctured after hitting a pot hole, losing several vital minutes. Rodney Wilton finished in 13th, with Trevor Martin “just not fast enough” in 14th. Richard Phillipson calmly drove into 15th place.

Olympic skier Alain Baxter was delighted to finish with the Peugeot celebrity car still in immaculate order. He did comment that his usual concentration span was only required to be about 47 seconds, so he coped remarkably well with the longer stages. Stuntman Paul Swift suffered a puncture to finish a rueful 17th, while tyre tester Scott Armstrong was “slow but safe” into 18th. Newcomer Peter Salter finished this event, despite the car cutting out at inopportune times, and Matt Jessup completed the finishers in 20th place, despite his car now sporting dents on the passenger side, to match the previous day’s dents on the driver side!

But the weekend belonged to local lad Chris Moore and Scot Mike Panes calling the notes. Clinching a deal with the local Peugeot dealer Springfield on Thursday night had just added to his joy and his beaming smile lit up the ramp in the shadow of the Millenium Bridge spanning the Tyne.