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DENIS
BIGGERSTAFF AND DAMIAN MCCANN
took their Eurocables and Excel sponsored Metro
6R4 to an excellent fourth overall at the Mourne
Rally last weekend despite having a plethora of
problems throughout the day.
The
event started well for the two times Northern
Ireland Rally Champion with fastest time on the
opening stage. Denis was five seconds faster than
his nearest rivals on the short Small Gullion
test but stage two was to tell another story.
The Metro 6R4 lost revs on the eight mile Big
Gullion stage when the fan belt broke and the
Millers Oils 6R4 dropped seven seconds to Eugene
Donnelly.
Not
easily deterred, Denis and Damien traveled to
stage three determined to make up for lost time
but when they arrived at the start, another problem
was beginning to raise its head. The Metro 6R4’s
engine was overheating and Denis had to bleed
the radiator before attempting to attack the stage.
With
the radiator bled, Denis started the stage with
one eye on the road and the other on the temperature
gauge. He reached the end of the test with a respectable
time and took the car to the first service of
the day where they attempted to find the source
of the problem. Their investigations were futive
however as they couldn’t find the problem
but Denis decided to continue – minus the
grille and windows!
The
return to the short Small Gullion stage allowed
Denis to go flat out. There was no reason to worry
about the temperature on such a short test and
the Eurocables and Excel Metro 6R4 set fastest
time once more. Big Gullion was next on the cards
and once again the radiator had to be bled before
the start of the stage. This was dropping him
further down the starting order behind much slower
cars but Denis and Damien battled on. By the mid-point
of the rally, they were losing an increasing amount
of time on the stages as they were slowed by other
crews.
After
the second service at Carbane Industrial Estate,
it was time to tackle stage seven but midway through
the test Denis had more than his temperature gauge
to worry about:
“We
were having a blinder!” Denis said. “But
we overshot a chicane and went through a rough
ditch bending a wheel rim and wishbone. She came
out of the ditch like a little Mini Zetor!”
Despite
the off road excursion, Denis went on to set joint
fastest time together with the Escort WRC of Glenn
Allen. Two more ‘hairy’ runs over
stages eight and nine resulted in Denis arriving
at the final service in second position. A new
wishbone was fitted to the car and the Eurocables
and Excel 6R4 was ready for action once again.
Fastest
time on the final run over Small Gullion moved
Denis and Damien further ahead of Glenn Allen
but disaster struck on stage ten. The 6R4 ace
had been bleeding the radiator in his 6R4 before
each stage of the day and by this time he was
running very far down the order. Luck was not
on the Kinallen man’s side as the car in
front of him went off the road and blocked the
stage.
“We
were having a blinder, my best run of the day,”
Denis said. “We were running about car 50
but the car in front had a big accident and the
stage was blocked. The navigator was standing
with the OK board so we tried to pass but it was
impossible.”
All
following competitors were given a nominal time
– the slowest time of the previous crews
who had completed the test. Denis was allocated
a time more than one minute slower than the fastest
time set by Eugene Donnelly. With one stage remaining,
he had dropped from second position to fourth
through no fault of his own. With Glenn Allen
more than one minute ahead, there was no chance
of being able to regain second position and Denis
had to cruise to the finish.
Second
fastest time on the final stage made no difference
to the leaderboard and Denis arrived at the finish
in the Eurocables and Excel Metro 6R4 in fourth
position. It was a case of what might have been
for Denis and Damien but nonetheless they were
pleased with their performance on the day.
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