CUMBRIAN CLASH FOR CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS

The historic Border city of Carlisle has seen many a battle over the centuries and yet another is in prospect next weekend as all the leading contenders for the Kwik Fit/ Pirelli British Rally Championship roar into town, ready for a tough, two day encounter over the testing, twisting, slippery tracks in the forests of North Cumbria and the daunting “Killer” Kielder complex where many a promising result has disappeared in an instant over one of the many blind crests and unexpected bends.

Following disasters on the opening round in Wales, a number of drivers are playing catch up, notably the Higgins brothers, Mark and David (Abermule) who retired with mechanical problems, both are former winners of the Pirelli International Rally and will want to get their championship programme back on track, as will double British champion Jonny Milner (Huggate), who makes a welcome return to the championship after missing the opening round but series leader Austin McHale (Rathcoole) won’t want to make things easy for them and would like nothing better than to go back across the Irish Sea with another haul of points.

There is plenty of class in the field, should the top seeds slip up, with Paul Bird (Langwathby), Scottish champion Barry Johnson (Shildon), ANCRO Champion Steve Perez ( Chesterfield) and “Flying Finn” Tapio Laukkanen, another former Pirelli winner, all likely to be in contention. A little further down the field, there will be keen interest in the first British appearance of the new Ford Fiesta S1600, developed by M-Sport at Cockermouth, it will be in the very capable hands of Welshman Gwyndaf Evans, yet another former winner of the Pirelli International Rally.

The rally gets underway with a city centre send off, the first car leaving the ramp outside Carlisle’s Old Town Hall at 18:31 (Friday 20 th.) with the action proper starting with a couple of runs on the specially constructed P-Zero Spectator Stage at Crosby on Eden before the crews head for the forests and a long night which will see several stages run in darkness. The surviving crews face an early start the following morning with another long day in the forests culminating with the winners crossing the ramp back in Carlisle at about 18:30 on Saturday evening.