here - Handbrakes & Hairpins

EVENTS
EVANS DELIGHTS WIN TARMAC WIN
BRC: JIM CLARK INT’L RALLY
28 - 30 May 2010
A delighted Gwyndaf Evans and Chris Patterson
broke their Jim Clark International Rally duck
in style this weekend, taking victory on the allasphalt
third round of the Dulux Trade MSA British
Rally Championship.
Story: www.rallybrc.co.uk
Pictures: Jakob Ebrey Photography
The fi fty-year-old Welshman proved
he still has the hunger for victory by
bouncing back from a double puncture
on Saturday evening, the 1996 British
Rally Champion also
surviving a high speed
moment on Saturday
afternoon. At the fi nish
in Duns, he offered his
thanks to a strategically
placed telegraph pole,
which while damaging
the rear of his JR
Motorsports Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
X, helped keep both car and crew on the
road at around 160km/h...
While Evans was the eventual
victor, four different drivers led the
event throughout its 215km of ultra-fast
asphalt. First blood went to Craig Breen
and Gareth Roberts who had proved
their ability in their Ford Fiesta S2000 on
the previous round in Cumbria, topping
the timesheets in the fantastic Duns
town centre spectator special stage.
Reigning BRC champ Keith
Cronin had other ideas though, and
along with Barry McNulty set about
showing their pace in the Pirelli TEG
Sport Mitsubishi Impreza on the
“a pole kept
the car on
the road at
160km/h”
technical Abbey St Bathans stage. Breen
responded, but Cronin held him off with
a repeat of Abbey, although all his good
work was undone in the darkness of
the fi nal test. Cronin clipped a bank,
losing a spotlamp and puncturing his
left front wheel, leaving Breen to hold
an overnight lead of a
whisker under thirteen
seconds. It was a
lead he would not
relinquish until SS10
when reports came in
from the stages that
he was stopped with a
sick engine. This was
confi rmed as terminal and the youngster
recorded his second non-fi nish of the
season, obviously very disappointed.
Another Irish youngster tipped
for BRC victory inherited the lead from
Breen, Alastair Fisher, ably guided by
double British Rally Champion Rory
Kennedy, was sadly unable to hold of
the advances of a charging Evans. Fisher
managed to keep the eventual winner
within his grasp on SS11, less than half
a second splitting the pair, but a misfi re
put paid to Fishers hopes and although
disappointed, he equalled his best ever
result, taking second from a distant
Cronin in third.
A delighted Jonny Greer/Dai
THIS PAGE: Gwyndaf Evans and Chris Patterson.
OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: Alaister Fisher; Adam
Gould; Owen Murphy; Craig Breen; Keith Cronin;
Steve Graham.
Overall Results:
01) G. Evans/C. Patterson
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X – 01h 54m 33,5s
02) A. Fisher/R. Kennedy
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX + 31,1s
03) K. Cronin/B. McNulty
Subaru Impreza + 01m 46,6s
04) J. Greer/D. Roberts
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX + 02m 44,2s
05) J. Pritchard/R. Durant
Subaru Impreza + 02m 59,0s
06) A. Gould/D. Robson
Subaru Impreza + 03m 25,9s
07) D. Sigurdoarson/A. Siguroadottir
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X + 06m 23,5s
08) D. Weston Jr/I. Thomas
Subaru Impreza + 07m 03,5s
09) R. Barrable/D. Connolly
Citroen C2R Max + 07m 35,6s
10) A. Cookson/J. Wilkson
Subaru Impreza + 08m 20,5s
Drivers’ Championship Standings:
01) J. Greer - 47 pts
02) G. Evans - 40 pts
03) J. Pritchard - 39 pts
=04) A. Gould - 38 pts
=04) D. Sigurdoarson - 38 pts
06) K. Cronin - 36 pts
07) D. Weston Jr - 29 pts
08) E. Evans - 26 pts
09) J. Nikara - 24 pts
10) R. Barrable - 22 pts
Teams Championship Standings:
JR Motorsport - 88 pts
Pirelli TEG Sport - 70 pts
Ramsport - 48 pts