TOUR OF THE SPERRINS RESULTS

The 6R4 pairing finished in fourth position on the extremely wet Magherafelt and District Motor Club event after a day full of twists and turns. A steady run on the first stage resulted in Denis lying in joint fourth position together with the Ford Escort World Rally Car of Glenn Allen but stage two caused problems for the Eurocables 6R4 as Denis explains:

"We weren't that good in the water ruts at the start of the stage - they kept pulling me into the hedge and we lost a bit more time. Then, after the water splash, the car wasn't running clean."

Indeed, weather conditions had made the 'water splash' so deep that some competitors thought that they were going to need the HSS to get them out! Denis and Damien had no such worries but with the engine not running clean more time was lost over the final few stage miles. By the time they arrived at the stage finish, they had dropped 20 seconds to the fastest time set by event leaders, Trevor Moore and Philip McCrea.

Stage three, the first run through Moydamlaght, introduced another twist to the event as Championship leader Eugene Donnelly crashed his Toyota Celica out of the event. With the car blocking the stage, all following crews were given Trevor Moore's stage time and Denis remained in fourth position.

After the first service of the day, Denis and Damien made their way to stage four for the second run through Glenshane. The former Northern Ireland rally champions laid down the gauntlet to set fastest time by three seconds on the test. Another quick time on stage five left the Kinallen man just 14 seconds behind Glen Allen but disaster struck on the sixth test. The Millers Oils Metro 6R4 spun at the same place where Eugene Donnelly was caught out and, as Denis explains, it was difficult to get the car back on the straight and narrow again:

"We were having a good stage up to Eugene's accident corner but there was lots of mud on the road due to all of the recovery vehicles. We had a three quarter spin and needed about an eight-point-turn to recover - the road was only the width of the car with a big drop on one side!"

Glenn Allen and Richard Hogg also lost time at the same place but Denis came out worst as he dropped more than 20 seconds to the fastest time set by Kevin Lynch. With four stages remaining, the Metro 6R4 ace was in fourth position - 14 seconds behind the Impreza WRC of Kevin Lynch and Martin McNicholl.

Another service followed stage six and with the Metro 6R4 refettled, Denis and Damien headed to stage seven. A 'real good run through this one' resulted in second fastest time. The Altbrittain stage was up next and Denis put in a solid drive to consolidate fourth position.

The final stage of the day was cancelled so a second run through the Goles stage was all that was left to contend with after the final service. A steady drive and second fastest time allowed Denis and Damien to arrive at the finish of the event in their Eurocables and Excel Metro 6R4 as leaders of the 2003 Northern Ireland Rally Championship!

"The weather was terrible but it wasn't a bad day's rallying," Denis said. "We enjoyed it which is the main thing and considering the problems that we had, fourth position isn't bad at all!"

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