On his first experience of rallying on the Isle of Man, Gareth Lloyd won round six of the HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge within the Conister Trust Manx Historic Rally (28-30 July). Partnered by Ryland James, Lloyd’s Escort Mk2 moved ahead late on Friday when alternator failure put Martin Freestone/Chris Heyes out of their home event.Running on the awesome asphalt event for the first time, the Classic contenders faced a tough event covering 21 stages from Thursday evening through to Saturday afternoon. Only on the final day did weather conditions start to improve.On his home event in his Escort Mk2, Freestone shot straight into the lead on Thursday as the rally route passed within a mile of his house. However, a clutch problem was causing Freestone concern and the unit was changed overnight. Lloyd/James also had a tough run on Thursday’s stages. “The recce was dry and we’ve stiffened the car too much,” he reported. Changes were made for Friday and Lloyd was far happier with the car’s handling.With only the two short sea-front stages at Ramsey left on Friday, Freestone/Hayes ground to a halt in Jurby when their alternator finally expired. Suddenly, Lloyd/James were left with a three-minute advantage over their nearest classic rivals. “We just want to cruise home now,” said Lloyd of their plan for Friday.
Through Saturday, now enjoying the car’s handling, Lloyd/James consolidated their lead and ended the rally over four minutes clear of their nearest classic rivals. To celebrate his win, Lloyd drifted the Escort out of the final chicane outside the service area at the TT grandstand. “The boys were watching there, so we couldn’t disappoint them!”Into an amazing ninth overall and second classics went Mark and Brett Clifford in their D3 winning Escort Mk2. “We just keep finding the limit,” said Mark on Friday as he rallied on the island for the first time. By the end of Saturday, they had scored a great result.
“Unbelievable,” he said at the finish. “I’m absolutely knackered!” Another big attack on the final 13-mile Barclay Classic stage took them ahead of Dick Slaughter/Liz Jordan (Escort Mk2), with a final margin of just 2.2s.Slaughter/Jordan still had a great run to second in class D5. “I’m very pleased to be here,” grinned Slaughter at the end of the final stage. During Friday afternoon they overhauled the Triumph TR7V8 of Stephen Hall/Aggie Foster as the Triumph suffered gearbox dramas. With only third and fifth working properly, Hall had to nurse the car through Saturday, but lost another overall classic position in the process.
However, class D4 victory was secure, well clear of championship debutants Michael and David Pedley who did well to get their TR7V8 to the finish first time out.With the Opel Kadett GTE of Bryan Gill/Nigel Hutchinson going out early on with engine failure, second in D3 went to the other Kadett in the hands of Robin Morgan/Louise Towers
