Having missed out on victory by just six-tenths of a second in 2004, Craig Middleton has won Rallye Sunseeker, the opening round of the MSA Gravel Rally Championship, in his Hyundai Accent WRC. After 15 special stages, he and co-driver Robin Hernaman arrived back at the finish in the centre of Bournemouth nearly half-a-minute ahead of runners-up Steve Perez & Neil Dashfield (Ford Focus WRC).
As has become the norm, Rallye Sunseeker was split into two legs, with the first taking place on Friday evening prior to an overnight halt. Leaders at the end of the first leg, for the third year running, were Paul Bird & Ian Windress who had forsaken their 2005 ANCRO National Championship-winning Focus in favour of a hired Subaru Impreza WRC. Loss of fourth gear early on Saturday, and no replacement box, hampered their progress throughout the remainder of the event, but they persevered and were rewarded with 3 rd place overall.
Fresh from a win on the Inverness-based Snowman Rally last weekend, reigning Scottish Champions Barry Johnson & Stewart Merry travelled virtually from one end of the UK to the other to take 4 th on the south coast in their Subaru Impreza WRC. Richard Gower/Aled Davies (Hyundai Accent WRC) & John Lloyd/Pauline Gullick (Subaru Impreza WRC) rounded off the Top Six.
Local interest focussed on south of England Ford Main Dealer Steve Hendy (Ford Escort WRC) who had spent much of the day dicing with fellow National Asphalt Rally Championship contender Steve Fleck (Subaru Impreza WRC). However, the outcome was put beyond doubt when Fleck retired with electrical problems at the end of the final stage, while Hendy continued on to 7 th place.
Almost one-third of the total entry for Rallye Sunseeker was made up of Group N ‘production' category cars and, as expected, the battle for top honours here was also extremely hot! After several changes of leader during the day,
Anthony Willmington not only emerged as category winner, but also as the first-ever recipient of the spoils of a round of the Mitsubishi Evolution Cup in his Lancer EVO6. Alistair Tough (Subaru Impreza) was right behind him, with early leader Rob Smith (Subaru Impreza) eventually taking 3 rd
On his first event in a four-wheel drive car, Sunseeker regular Tony Jardine, co-driven by Motorsport News Editor Jim Holder, finished 17 th overall and 9 th in class in a Subaru Impreza, declaring himself well pleased with the result.
Neil Weaver won the two-wheel drive section in his 1400cc Vauxhall Corsa, finishing almost three minutes in front of his nearest rival, Jamie Hickman, who took maximum points in the Peugeot 206 Cup.
On a bitterly cold, but dry, day the retirement rate was considerable. Amongst those who would not see the finish were four-times Rallye Sunseeker winner Marcus Dodd who was, indeed, leading the event once again when clutch trouble intervened and put his Hyundai Accent WRC out of the running. Other former Sunseeker winners Kenny McKinstry & Roger Duckworth (both Subaru Impreza WRCs) were both forced out with mechanical troubles.
