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Go Tour of the Sperrins: After SS3

After SS3: Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan have extended their lead after stage three of the GO Tour of the Sperrins Rally. They edged further ahead after the third test, leaving them 3.2 seconds ahead of Garry Jennings and Michael Moran going into service. However, Henry isn’t confident that he can stay ahead of his Impreza WRC rival through the second loops of stages…

“Happy enough,” Henry said. “We got another half second on Garry in the last one but I think we might struggle a bit going forward. When Garry starts getting the power down in the World Rally Car, I think the R5 will struggle but we’ll give it our best shot.”

Jennings was a bit flustered as he arrived into service. He had been held up by some traffic on the road section and was running a little bit behind schedule.

“I’m starting to enjoy it now,” Jennings said. “We’ve had a long layoff.”

Meanwhile, McGarrity commented that he was having to learn how his tyres performed in his Impreza WRC.

There was trouble further down the order as Philip Allen went off the road on stage two, causing a temporary delay. Thankfully, the crew walked away.

Paddy McVeigh reckoned his car was too soft and he was running with a tyre that was also too soft. Alan Smyth had a brief heartstopping moment when his Evo X refused to start as he arrived in service He had to stop at Philip Allen’s accident and should receive a notional time.

Niall Henry also had to stop at the accident and after his first stage scare, Henry eventually enjoyed his first ‘proper’ run on stage three.

Stuart Biggerstaff got away with a ditch hugging moment. He went backwards into a bank and then headed across the road where he got stuck in a hedge. The clutch overheated in the process and he reckons he lost around 30 or 40 seconds.

David Bogie is another competitor who thinks his car is a bit soft and is trying to “get back into the Escort style of driving”. Ryan Loughran’s manifold came adrift on stage two near his own doorstep. He was able to put it back on after the stage but was afraid to rev the car through stage three.

David Armstrong is suffering with a slipping clutch which he’s hoping to fix in service.

Both Camillus Bradley and Martin McCormack arrived into service very early. McCormack’s crew were trying to sort a misfire in the car.

Results available from www.rallyscore.net.

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