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"Thank you for putting on what can only be described as 'one-helluva' rally..." "Fantastic event, can't wait for next year..." "Well done ! The best fun we've had since the 80's..." __________
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2004 Rally Report & On-Event NewsTuesday Full Report view photos
First blood went to Wilson with a stunning time 36 seconds quicker on SS18 Kershope 2. Blomquist rose to the challenge on SS19 Bewshaugh taking some of that time back leaving the competition finely balanced with only one stage to go before first service. But it all changed at SS20 Chirdonhead when Wilson went up a fire-break at high speed damaging the rear axle mountings too much to continue. Wilson was "gutted" not to finish although he went on to say about competing on the event "I feel like I've never been away". Also coming to grief on this stage were the two Porsches of Richard Tuthill and Steve Perez, both going off backwards into the scenery. Quick thinking Perez put the tow rope on the front of his 911 and hoped someone would pull him out. Bryan Gill sportingly obliged in his Opel Kadett GTE but unfortunately, the tow hitch broke on the Porsche leaving it stranded and out of the rally. This left Blomquist with a comfortable lead over Jeremy Easson's MkI. The battle for what now became third place between Bellm and Mikkola was going in the Finn's favour with a string of fast times. Perez's retirement settled the fifth place tussle in favour of the Squires brothers, an excellent position given their relative lack of experience at this level. Mikkola finally clawed ahead of Bellm taking the fastest time on SS22 Rooken. Whilst Mikkola/Thomas pulled away to a solid third place finish, Bellm pushed to the end sharing joint fastest stage time with him on the last stage of the rally, a high speed, crowd pleasing, sideways blast around the Croft circuit. Stig Blomquist and co-driver Ana Goni duly completed their victory on the inaugural Roger Albert Clark Rally reaching the Don Valley Stadium this evening. Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook finished a fine second in their ailing car. A stunning prize giving followed with the victorious Escort being driven, to rapturous applause, into the darkened room, lit only by the car's spotlights. Prizes were presented by Mrs Judith Clark, Olly Clark and the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. 'Spirit of the Rally' award went to Garry Preston and Mike Sones in their Mini Clubman GT who survived two accidents during the rally, including a roll. Showing true determination, they were cheered through the final stages in their battered car. Yorkshire man Steve Bannister won the Open Rally in his Ford Escort while husband and wife team Chris and Hilary Green won the Historic award in their Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1. 1. Stig Blomquist/Ana Goni 3:20:41 2. Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook 3:25:55 3. Hannu Mikkola/Ieuan Thomas 3:29:46 BD/IB/SB Tuesday 9.00am Kielder ends Wilson's leading rally charge A last morning off on the classic Kielder loop of stages has put leader Malcolm Wilson out of the Roger Albert Clark Rally. The challenging four day round Britain event has produced a final sting in the tail, bringing the hard-charging Cumbrian's rally to an end. Early reports indicate a mid-stage off at SS20 Chirdonhead ripped off his Ford Escort's rear axle, making it impossible for the local hero to continue. At this point, Wilson and former World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist were still trading seconds on the final leg of the event which finishes this afternoon at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. Positions at the end of Chirdonhead show Blomqvist now leading from Jeremy Easson, former World Sportcar Champion, Ray Bellm in third with four times RAC Rally winner Hannu Mikkola in fourth. SB/JH Monday update view photos Big news of the day is that former World Champion, Hannu Mikkola's challenge to the leaders has faltered late in the day due to electrical problems in SS16 Kershope. He also lost time in the last stage of the day Ash Park. He is now in 6th place almost ten minutes behind leader Malcolm Wilson. This left the battle at the head of the field to Wilson and Blomquist. With scant few seconds between them overnight, the two traded seconds in a titanic battle, reminiscent of previous RAC rallies. The end result is that home favourite Wilson, driving Escort RS 1800 eked his lead out to 53 second at the end of the day (SS17 Ash Park). But with over 50 miles of Kielder to negotiate tomorrow, the event is finely poised for a grandstand finish. A spin or puncture could cost either of the leading pair the title on this event. It remains to be seen which of the drivers have held a little in reserve for the final challenge. Third are the post-historic leaders Jeremy Eason & Alun Cook in their Escort Mk1. they've been slowed by fluctuating oil pressure and are falling away from the lead battle. However with four minutes in hand over fourth placed Richard Tuthill they are well placed for a third overall in addition to the class win. From being one of the early leaders, Richard Tuthill hit problems on Ae with a broken throttle cable that cost him four minutes. This started a multitude of electrical problem that was to slow him down until the last stage of the day, Ash Park. He ended the day seven minutes behind the lead. Others to hit trouble during the day were the only Mini of Preston/Sones who retired after a light roll. They will continue in tomorrows 'Trophy Rally' now that a new screen and some panel beating has made it look more like a Mini again. The tough Scottish stages also accounted for Mark Butler's Escort RS1600, which landed on the co-driver's side in a ditch after entering a sharp right hand bend too fast, only a 4x4 could extract the car which unfortunately went OTL. The Escort suffered light damage and will also re-start tomorrow. Today's route through Southern Scotland and Northern England comprised 9 stages totalling 75 miles of wet and slippery forest roads. Crews began as dawn was breaking with two stages in quick succession in the forest of Ae. The weather ranged from sunshine, to rain and fog on the two last stages, which were also in the dark. The early start was not welcomed by Dave Hemingway/Jim Plevey as they were up to 2am repairing the damage from the previous day. Another notable absentee was the MGZR of Tony Jardine/Maurice Hamilton. They were having cooling problems after contact with a straw bale removed the bottom hose. They are believed to be one of the few permanent retirements as they have damaged the engine too much to continue. Spectator stories abound, we found one group of lads from Nottingham, following the rally and sleeping in the cars, they had even had their own "Roger Albert Clark Rally" door plates made up!! We have also spoken to people from Holland, Belgium and Finland who have travelled over just for the rally. So far over 1200 marshals have signed on and literally thousands of spectators have attended the event, everyone we have spoken to have been very complimentary to the rally. Stephen Hall TR8 is now running better after a day of teething problems that slowed them down. Tomorrow's battle re-commences at 05:21 when the crews head back into Kielder for another seven stages and then to Croft for the rally's final stage. Roger Albert Clark Open Rally - Monday Steve Bannister continues to lead the now depleted field in his Escort. Robert Dick is in second place, but can't match Bannister's pace. There is now only one of the two Peugeot 205s remaining in the rally as Stephen and Tony Graham retired in service after SS13 Heathhall. It is not known whether they will be able to make the re-start in the morning. Sunday update up to first Carlisle Service view photos After yesterday's single stage at Rother Valley SS1, Sunday dawned and was a complete contrast to the bright sunny weather of the day before. First car away from the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield was the MK I Cortina of Chris and Hilary Green, the Greens asking "can we have the rally in June as Rother was so slippery". They were only joking of course, as they have been major supporters of the rally right from the original idea. Rother Valley SS2/3 was very well supported, with the Country Park giving an estimate of 10,000 spectators attending. Many crews reported spins in the slippery conditions, one of whom was Tony Jardine/Maurice Hamilton in the MG ZR who spun on the very first corner in full view of the Press and Marshals' enclosure!! They then went on to hit a post on the same stage, damaging the suspension but more importantly the radiator, continuing with a temporary fix until the Carlisle service. Two teams that didn't fair quite as well were the RS1600 of Richard Lepley/Ian Bevan, the car reportedly bursting into flames early in the stage. They managed to extinguish the flames and continued but with a time loss of around five minutes. Worse still was the Opel Kadett of Robin Morgan/Mike Robinson, spinning the car into the trees near the lake sustaining damage to the roof, sill and nearside door on the second Rother. As the door refused to stay shut, they decided it was unsafe to continue. A shame as this was their first event in the car. Leyland SS4/5, claimed another victim with the Open Class Escort of Martin Kilburn/Tim Buckley throwing a rod through the block. Leyland photos Gisburn SS6 was a revelation with heavy rain and near freezing temperatures. However, spectator numbers were massive with the spectator control car having to make a decision to run the stage or not. Fortunately they sorted out the problems and the stage ran without problems. First car in (The Greens) reported that "if the spectators all held hands they would stretch from the start of the stage to the finish". David Stokes overcame his exhaust manifold problems to take fastest stage time. Onto Carlisle Service and once again a very good turn-out of spectators with over 2000 people braving the cold. Carlisle Service photos Most crews reported slippery conditions on the stages, the Mini of David Foster/Terry March complaining of tight road timings due to the bad weather. Worst hit into service was Malcolm Wilson who suffered the rear gearbox bearing seizing on the M6, the service crew worked a miracle and dispatched him with the minimum of time loss. At the time of writing, the crews were heading off into Harwood SS7 and Rooken SS8 for their first taste of the forests at night. Sunday end of day quotes Stig Blomquist, "very foggy in Rooken, patchy, could be bad for one car and clear for the next". David Stokes, alternator wire broke on road section between Harwood and Rooken, took a long time for service crew to get to him, OTL, just had got up to fifth, will carry on to do trophy rally. Rob Pilcher, rolled on Harwood, about a third of the way through the stage into a 90 right 90 left combination, took the hand brake into the right and the rear of the car dug in and the car rolled onto its roof, took 45 minutes to get the car out of the stage, OTL, damage to windscreen could prevent car from restarting. Steven Hall, finished the car three weeks ago, it's event, baptism of fire as he develops the car from stage to stage. Roger Mark Fowler, Manta 400 head gasket blew on Thursday, recovered an Astra that he had leased out at 3am on Saturday morning in time to make Scrutineering. After Robin Morgan's rally ending off at Rother Valley, he kindly gave Richard Lepley his fire extinguisher allowing Richard to continue, Richard's original extinguisher having been emptied when tackling the Escort's fire on the same stage. Mobi-Lift doing a roaring trade fixing up Chris Green's car and one of the event officials. Willie Polesznig, went off backwards into a ditch in Gisburn, he said "On any other rally that would have been it but suddenly masses of spectators appeared and literally lifted the car back on the road". Ray Bellm, "now I am over 35 and an amateur, I'm only in it for the enjoyment". Malcolm Wilson, on a real flyer, took the lead on Rooken when he was 20 seconds quicker than anyone else. Richard Gower, arrived in service on the end of a tow rope after the alternator failed. Two cars took maximums on Leyland after missing the split and Tony Jardine took a slight hesitation before deciding which way to go. Hilary Green commented at Carlisle service that running on maps made her appreciate pace notes!! David McErlain put some small dents in his Porsche with a spin at Rother Valley this morning. Garry Preston/Mike Sones (Mini) were seen in one of Kielder's deep ditches with a Peugeot 205 parked neatly behind them! Both cars were recovered and made service at the end of the evening. Phil & Mike Squires (Escort RS1800) have never done any of these stages before, but are having a ball & learning quickly. Saturday update Photos from scrutineering & start at Don Valley Stadium
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 • 2004 rally report • 2004 rally results • 2004 rally route • 2004 entry list • 2004 photo gallery • 2004 in your words • 2004 thank yous ___________ • event sponsors ___________  
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At the start of the last leg Malcolm Wilson and Stig Blomquist had both decided that they were going to push for the win.