The fourth round of the British Rally Championship Challenge kicked off on the Isle of Man under changeable weather conditions that have become synonymous with the event.
The event however saw a maiden rally win for the popular Callum Black who secured his first ever rally victory in only his second tarmac event. In an event that will live long in the youngster’s memory the Northamptonshire student extended his lead in the Championship.
The MSA Dulux Trade British Rally Championship support series is run as a double scoring event in both the Isle of Man and Ulster, with maximum Championship points being awarded for both the Friday and Saturday stages.
The Rally lived up to its reputation with the afternoon stages proving to be a war of attrition with notable retirements decimating the field.
The 11 car entry was reduced to just four finishers at the end of day one in a rally to remember for many reasons.
The day didn’t start well for Black and co-driver Paul Wakley when the pair spun on the opening stage leaving them at the bottom of the leader board. But when the weather turned so did the Northampton locals luck.
Jim Clark victor Richard Archer started the day looking to consolidate his tag as a tarmac specialist, “There’s a bit of pressure being the favourite but it comes with the territory, I just have to keep it on the island”.
After posting second fastest time on the first stage, Archer ran out of look on the second stage dropping lots of time after stalling his car on Dog Mills.
His look didn’t improve however when a gearbox problem forced him out of the event on SS5 and making him the biggest casualty of the day, “We can fixed it and be out tomorrow, I’ve never had this problem with the car before”. This isn’t the first problem to face Archer on the event though as he suffered a mechanical problem last year. “I need to get some luck soon here” he added.
Another front runner that had his fair share of problems was the Fiesta SportChallenge Championship leader Jonathon Cunningham, who suffered two broken driveshafts which ended his day.
Two other unlucky Fiesta drivers were Alex Laffey and Louise Cook who both failed to finish. Laffey was caught out by the conditions and had a big off which permanently put an end to his rally. While Louise Cook driving in her first Isle of Man event maintained a good pace throughout the day only to fail to finish on the last stage.
Brett Griffin and Sam Fordham seemed to be running a charmed life after two incidents which left the car damaged on both sides. “It’s the last rally this shell will do” remarked Sam at the end of the afternoon sessions. But their luck finally ran out on the last stage when lying in 3rd place they once again ran off the road, this time terminally.
Not all of the front runners succumbed to trouble, with Chris Peart and Jamie Forrest having an excellent debut in their new S1600 Corsa with a second place finish. “If you offered us 2nd place at the start we would have took it” remarked Jamie. “We only managed to test the car at a single venue event last month, we finished fourth overall and first in class” added Chris.
The top three was rounded out by Andrew Chalmers in his Suzuki Swift who dealt with differential problems throughout the afternoon. The fourth and final car to make it to the end of a tough first day was the 205 of George Morrison and David Jones.
But the first day belonged to Calum Black and Paul Wakley who managed the changing conditions superbly. “I’ve been rallying 27 years and never seen it so bad” said Paul. Callum spoke of his enjoyment of the final runs by saying “The last stages were great, it was just like being back in karting, finding good lines and getting into a rhythm”.
With day one over and day two still to come, those competitors who have managed to survive have it all to do again.
– Credit: www.rallybrcchallenge.co.uk