HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge - Isle of Man

Despite concerns over their engine, Gareth Lloyd and Ryland James maintained their unbeaten run in the 2006 HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge during round six, the Isle of Man Historic Rally (3-5 August).

With a sixth win from six events, Lloyd/James are looking highly likely to retain their championship title and turned in another stunning performance on the toughest rally on the schedule.Although their winning margin back at the finish in Douglas was well over five minutes, there were some anxious times for Lloyd/James in the later stages of the rally. The Holbay engine in their Escort Mk2 was losing water, and they were forced to cut revs and reduce their pace on the final day of the rally to ensure a finish. Earlier in the event, they had battled for overall victory with the post-historic Escort Mk1 of David Stokes/Guy Weaver. "There's a fine line between pushing hard and making mistakes," said Lloyd as rain arrived on Friday afternoon.

With several other leading crews failing to finish, the battle for second in classics was between D3 contenders Arwel Evans/Dai Roberts and Mark Clifford/Mark Harmer. The pair of Pinto-powered Escorts had a fabulous battle and both crews pushed to the limit throughout the rally. Ultimately, on his first visit to the Isle of Man, Evans won the fight by 39s. "I didn't expect the stages to be quite as fast as this – the roads are brilliant," said Evans after yet another hugely impressive performance. Meanwhile, Clifford was driving hard as well and both crews were rewarded with top 10 overall historic finishes. "We thought we had a fuel leak on the first stage on Friday, but we got back on the pace after that," reported Clifford after another excellent run on the island. Less fortunate were Martin Freestone and Joanne Oakey, who had been second at the end of Friday in their Escort Mk2. They went off heavily on Saturday morning on the tricky Rhenab stage and ended with the car rolled between a house and a wall. The crew were unhurt, but the car was quite badly damaged.

Also out went Terry Brown/Den Golding with diff failure in their Escort. They were already concerned about their second gearbox when the diff failed at Ramsey and put them out. They had run second at the end of the opening leg as Brown tackled the Isle of Man roads for the first time.

Another fine battle raged for fifth place in the Classics as Isle of Man debutants Chris Shooter/Bev LeGood (Escort Mk2) headed the Triumph TR7V8 of Michael and David Pedley by just three-tenths of a second. The Pedleys were quicker by over nine seconds on the final 14-mile stage, but just missed out on grabbing fourth place.

More at: http://www.hrcr.co.uk

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