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Solid run secures 3rd place for Fagg
The
event would be a first for the Isle of Man with a mixture of gravel and
tarmac making up some of the stages on the event.
After a week of rain showers the event started in the dry and
despite signs of rain these would hold off for the day. There
was a host of 4WD machinery at the head of field and with this in mind the
crew would take to the event with caution and look for a solid safe run to
reach the finish. Although
reports from the stages would suggest maybe they were taking it a bit to
safe but this was not reflected in the stage times. The
half way stage of the event would show George and Rob lying in 5th
place. This had been
helped by the early retirement of Michael Brew on SS1 and followed up by
John Corlett at the end of SS4.
Ahead of them as expected were the Lancer Evo’s of Irish man Phil
Cherry and Trails star Steve Colley, these two being chased hard by Lee
Batty and Nigel Cannell, Cannell holding only a one second advantage over
George at this point. The
first stage of the afternoon, SS7 would be omitted from the result due to
timing problems. Although
the stage did claim Phil Cherry after he slid off the road and was unable
to get the Evo back on to it. Fourth
place was now George’s and a fight was on the cards with Cannell for
third. A
clean smooth run on SS8 saw George pull back level with Cannell, but the
very next stage he dropped 9 seconds to the Corsa.
It was this stage that saw the Motivation Engineering Escort MKII
leave the road and narrowly avoid the trees.
The car was quickly returned to the road with the minimum of time
loss, although the time gained early on in the stage had be lost as a
result of this excursion. The
final three stages saw George pull back 5 seconds on Cannell to trail the
leading front wheel drive man by 4 seconds.
Provisional results showed George and Rob in a fine fourth place.
This was not to be there final position though, an appeal to have a
penalty re-imposed to Steve Colley for a jump start which had been removed
after the event was successful, promoting the Escort crew to third
overall. As
a result of this action Lee Batty would take the win and Nigel Cannell
second, Steve Colley would drop to fourth. Thanks
for continued support goes to: Motivation Engineering, Manx Motorsport
Youth Trust, Q & S Motors, Integrated Capabilities, www.manx.net, Manx
Telecom, Reynolds and Turner, Aon (IOM) Ltd and www.rallycodriver.co.uk Co-ordinator |
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