MSA British Rally Championship, Swift Sport Cup - Round 4 review, International Rally Isle of Man
25 year-old
Yorkshireman Luke Pinder and co-driver Peter Scott dominated the Swift Sport Cup
on this weekend’s Rally Isle of Man, the fourth round of the MSA British Rally
Championship’s 1600cc one-make series.
The winning margin
over nearest rival, local driver David Harrison, was one minute eighteen
seconds, but by the final pair of stages Pinder had eased off considerably,
having built a buffer of over two minutes.
They stamped their
authority on the event from the second stage, the first having been stopped by
an accident further up the field, over thirty seconds clear of youngster
Harrison and co-driver Glyn Thomas after the 11.21 mile Kella
stage.
By the close of the
first day Pinder had almost achieved his two minute buffer and even the
inevitable rain on Saturday couldn't stop fastest stage after fastest stage.
True, Harrison and new Championship leaders Gordon Nichol & Emma Morrison
both had their chance at the top of the time sheets on the final pair of stages,
but at the TT grandstand it was Pinder who took maximum points to close the gap
to Nichol.
Harrison’s event
was interspersed with niggling problems, his front brake pads breaking up and
replacement ones fading. He and Thomas also had a couple of overshoots while
pushing hard, but their worst incident came just before the finish ramp.
Unsighted in the service area, they collided with the side of Nick Everard’s
Swift, damaging the front of their previously unmarked
car.
Scot Nichol ran
consistently third for the two days of this mammoth event, on such a tight
budget that the whole team camped and took the overnight ferry to arrive early
on Thursday morning. The consequent lack of sleep meant that they elected to use
organisers’ pace-notes, struggling to adapt back after perfecting their own
system during the early part of the 2009 season.
However, they now
lead both drivers’ and co-drivers’ Championships, overtaking Molly Taylor and
Jemma Bellingham who had a difficult first Rally Isle of Man. Initially fifth
early on in the event, the Australian driver continued on her immensely steep
learning curve, overtaking Nick Everard on stage seven despite an earlier
overshoot and spin.
Unfortunately the
only all-female British Rally Championship crew was caught out on Saturday’s
first stage, careering over a bank on a tricky downhill junction. The car
launched into the air and landed heavily on its roof, thankfully both crew only
shaken by the crash.
Both days’ opening
stages saw the demise of Richard Sykes and Simon Taylor, breaking a gearbox on
Friday, only for the driveshaft to let go on Saturday after an overnight repair
and re-start.
Nick Everard and
Chris Davies took the final position at the end of the 180 mile rally, having
endured an eventful first Rally Isle of Man. They struggled with brake and
suspension set-up, also having to affect a repair on a burst front brake pipe
with ingenuity and mole grips. Despite the drama, both crew pronounced
themselves happy at the finish, the incident with Harrison causing surprisingly
little damage to their car.
With crews now
starting to consider dropped scores, Luke Pinder is in a strong position as all
the drivers must discount their lowest score at the end of the season. Both his
and Taylor’s non-finishes on one round each, do however mean they need clean
runs on the forthcoming Toddsleap.com Ulster International Rally (August 21/22)
and the season finale in Yorkshire.
Date published : 15 Jul 2009 - 15:30:36
