SUNSEEKER SOUNDINGS No.1


As crews begin arriving at the service area at Canford Arena after the first four stages of the morning, it is the Subaru Impreza WRC of Will Nicholls/Nick Broom that tops the time sheets, less than three seconds ahead of the brand-new Ford Focus WRC of Paul Bird/Ian Windress.

Early leaders – and defending champions – Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery had set fastest times on the first couple of stages, but it all came to nought at the start of SS6, the first run through Somerley Park, when their Hyundai Accent WRC’s engine cried enough. By then, Steve Perez/Paul Spooner had also posted a retirement as their Focus WRC was beached on the previous stage. Although relatively undamaged, it was unable to continue and joined an ever-growing list of retirements.   

In addition to the Subaru Impreza WRC of Geoff Underhill/Adrian Grinsted, which was involved in the incident that forced the suspension of proceedings last night, two other cars also failed to take the start this morning. The Skoda Octavia WRC of Bambos Charalambous suffered a broken differential on the start line of the first stage, while Andy Drummond’s Land Rover Discovery was involved in an accident.

Top 10 After 6 Stages :

1          Will Nicholls/Nick Broom                             Subaru Impreza WRC          25m25.8s
2          Paul Bird/Ian Windress                                Ford Focus WRC                  25m28.2s
3          Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield           Subaru Impreza WRC          25m39.5s
4          Sean Devine/Francis Regan                        Subaru Impreza S11             26m15.3s
5          Anthony Willmington/Andy White              Mitsubishi Lancer EVOVI    26m29.5s
6          Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew                              Mitsubishi Lancer EVOIX    26m34.0s
7          Daniel Barry/Martin Brady                           Mitsubishi Lancer EVOIX    26m34.5s
8          Simon Hughes/Patrick Walsh                     Mitsubishi Lancer EVOIX    26m35.4s
9          Andreas Magnusson/Henrik Hulterskog   Mitsubishi Lancer EVOIX    26m51.2s
10        Alan Cookson/Julian Wilkinson                  Subaru Impreza WRC          26m51.6s

More News Later….