Swan '98 Rally

Wessex Rally 1998

A rather depleted field emphasised the huge gulf currently forming between the Masters and Experts in Road Rallying. Quite simply the Masters are too good for today's style of event and another tier of events are required to provide sufficient challenge for them.

Both Stuart Wood/Paul Waterton and Doug Kingsley/PRAR were only penalised at one control all night and as a result were first and third respectively. Splitting them came Ian Orford/Bob Jones who posted the best time at TC59, only to see things slip in the final sections.

First Experts (Class B) were Martin Baker/Peter Barnard, who's only major indiscetion was to miss TC53. The 30mph schedule set by Steve Sanders proved to be slightly beyond them. The same was true of Class C (Novice) winners Donna Whalley/Ron Barrett, who recovered well after bungling TC6.

The only clean sheet of the night was posted by Beginner crew Ian Burnell/Jonathan Carey, who made the most of having all the handouts at the start of each half and come home over ½ hour ahead of the next crew.

The route was a typical North Devon maze of narrow twisty lanes, steep hills and poor condition roads that make South Western events amongst the most challanging. With some time recovery sections thrown in to stave off OTL Steve managed to find some roads where even the experts would suffer. The navigation conformed to the usual ASWMC standards, but when you can give nine or ten instructions in a mile of route there was plenty to keep the navigator busy!

The final result, although not in any doubt amongst the competitors, took a while to resolve. A case of mistaken identity initially put Wood/Waterton 6th, but once the marshal had been contacted and the matter resolved they gained their rightful number one position.

PRAR

Final Results: