Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Report, round five: Isle of Man Historic Rally
Ryan Barrett and Paul McCann were the stars of the weekend as the Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship headed to the Isle of Man for round five, the Isle of Man Historic Rally (9/10 July).Once again, the closed roads of the island delivered a marvellous challenge as rain and thick fog made life truly demanding for the crews. Those that reached the finish in Douglas on Saturday afternoon had all climbed a mountain.While Barrett and McCann topped category three after a big battle with Darren Moon and Chris Parsons, the other categories fell to David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Jonathan Gale/James Whitaker after equally impressive performances.Category 1From the very start of the 20-stage rally, category one was a head-to-head between the Sunbeam Tiger of Gale/Whitaker and the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride. Throughout Friday's stages, the advantage went back and forth as some stages favoured the Porsche and some the Tiger. "It seemed to depend which side of the island we were on," said Gale of the ever-changing conditions.
However, on day two, Gale was able take control a little more and built his lead to just over a minute at the end of a tremendous contest. "The suspension was too soft for the first three stages," said Nutt. "We just had to keep him under pressure," he added of his rival.Into third in the category after a fine performance came the Porsche 911 of Rikki Proffitt/Barry Green, but only after a trying day on Thursday when the gearbox was out of the car four times chasing an oil leak and a flywheel problem. The rally went remarkably well, with only a close moment with the Duck Pond at Eairy troubling Proffitt's progress.
Class B1 victory with another epic performance went to Gary and Jane Edgington and their Singer Chamois on their fifth island finish in a row with the car. An alternator drama throughout Friday caused some concerns, but the Singer kept on going at prodigious speed.Mini Cooper crew Mervyn Johnston and Wendy Blackledge claimed class B1 after a strong run, while B4 fell to the MGB of David Mylchreest/Allan Cathers over the Volvo Amazon of John and Stephen Moxon. The brothers, rallying for the first time since the 2009 Isle of Man Rally, were on the rally for the 34th time and got quicker as the event progressed.Category 2Right from the start of the rally and the short stage away from the TT grandstands, Stokes and Weaver were in control of category two in their Escort Mk1. They had a remarkably straightforward rally and built their lead stage by stage with a commanding performance. Only the thick fog on Saturday troubled Stokes, but he lost little time in the tough conditions. "Those two in the fog were not good and we didn't have a starter motor all through Saturday," said Stokes. However, fellow crews were always on hand to give them a push start into the stages. "Guy doesn't do pushing," said Stokes of his co-driver. The result means that Stokes has finished either first or second in category one for six years in a row on this tough event.
All through the rally, the chase of Stokes came from Rupert Lomax and David Alcock in their Escort Mk1, out for the first time this season. Like Stokes, Lomax was great value through the streets of Castletown on Friday evening. "We had two spins on Friday morning and clipped the cattle grid on Tholt-Y-Will," said Lomax as he duly took a strong second to Stokes.
Retirements thinned out category two considerably, with Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson losing a certain C3 victory with a blown engine on Saturday. Meanwhile, an off on the Corlea stage put the Porsche 911 of Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne out of the rally when heading for C4 victory and fourth in the category. On Friday, James Slaughter and Pete Johnson were unfortunate to crash out in their Escort Mk1 when a diesel spill on the road sent them into a bank.Instead, victory in class C3 fell to brothers Michael and David Pe
dley, who contested the rally without a service crew in their road rally specification Escort Mk1 RS2000. They had a clear run and then drove the car back to Manchester!Next up in C3 was local crew Matthew Carter and Mark Collister in their Escort Mk1, while Manx newcome
rs Jeremy Wells and Pete Phillips did well to get their Escort into third on their first experience of an event of this scale.
With Peter Smith out, class C4 went to the Porsche 911 of Edmund Peel and Janet Craine, while local crew Bruce Craig and Phil Perryman used super rally rules to win C1, having retired on Friday with driveshaft and clutch failure.Category 3A tremendous category three entry turned in a big battle for victory and the result was in doubt until the final stage of the rally. Initially, Moon set the pace with an attacking start and was 25s clear at the end of Friday. But chasing hard was Barrett, who started steadily on only his third asphalt rally, while Guy Woodcock/John Skinner were also in contention after a giant-killing day in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk2. The wet weather and a mighty combined local knowledge played into Woodcock's hands, but it was still a hugely impressive drive."We hit the cattle grid in Tholt-Y-Will," reported Moon. "It was a big bang, but we got away with it." Barrett, meanwhile, was learning fast and served notice of his pace by taking 20s off everyone in the 17-miles of Ballanank on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, Barrett continued his attack just as Moon struggled through the opening Orrisdale stage with a misfire. Eventually, Barrett edged ahead with four stages left to run, but it was still not over. With a major push on the penultimate stage of Staarvey, Moon pulled back 18s to leave Barrett's lead at 22s going into the 13-mile Classic stage.
But any chance of a grandstand finish at the grandstand were dashed when Moon lost his clutch early in the stage and had to ease back to make sure of finishing. Meanwhile, Barrett lost his intercom, but hand signal from McCann got them through the fog at a prodigious pace to secure a famous victory.
"I cannot believe it, because I wasn't thinking this was how it was going to be," said Barrett after the drive of his carer. "I thought I might be top five or six." Moon, meanwhile, had driven a superb event. "It’s been an absolute humdinger of an event; I loved it," said Moon, who was clear of his team mates Will Onions/Dave Williams and Woodcock/Skinner at the finish. "Given my lack of asphalt experience, I'm just pleased to be here," said Onions who moved ahead of Woodcock during Saturday. "I thought that as it was his car, I'd better let him beat me," joked Woodcock, who was hindered by a slipping clutch on Saturday.
Woodcock claimed a commanding D3 victory, while into second after an excellent run came Matt and Dood Pearce on their first asphalt rally with their Escort RS2000. "The gear knob kept coming off in my hand, which was rather interesting," said Matt.
Class D4 fell to local ace Adrian Kermode and Maurice Beckett in their Porsche 911, but they were lucky to finish after an oil pipe detached on Friday morning. They borrowed oil from a marshal to get the car back to service.
Wrapping up the top six in category three were Roger Kilty and Lynette Banks (Escort Mk2) after a strong performance despite going off backwards at the corner that claimed Slaughter and Terry Brown/Martin Jones (Escort Mk2).
