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ATS Coracle Stages 1999

Sponsored by A.T.S. (South Wales) Ltd

Carmarthen Motor Club + Epynt Motor Club

4th July 1999



Clerk of the Course: Ryland James & Mike Kennett

Stages: 9

Venue: Hafren & Sweet Lamb

Starters: 76

Winners: Steve Petch/Peter Croft (Ford Escort WRC)




There was no battle for the Coracle Stages win, Steve Petch simply took fastest time on all stages and ended the day almost two minutes clear of the field. The main interest of the event was the contest for supremacy in the Peugeot 106 Super Cup. Twenty-nine of the French cars started and Mark Fisher took his first Cup win.

ATS Coracle Stages 1999

Competitors faced nine stages in Hafren and Sweet Lamb; the final test being a 9.3 mile stage all within the Sweet Lamb complex. As well as the Peugeot 106 Super Cup, the Coracle was also a round of the Evans Windows Welsh Clubmans Forestry Championship.

The first two stages were in Sweet Lamb, with the third in Hafren. SS1 (Maen) was 3.05 Miles, while SS2 (Airstrip) was 2.55 Miles. SS3 (Hafren), linked by the connecting road from Sweet Lamb, was 5.55 Miles. After a service halt, these three stages were repeated. The remaining three stages were all within Sweet Lamb - SS7 (Bryn Du) 2.95 Miles, SS8 (Foel) 5.77 Miles and SS9 (Mint sauce) 9.32 Miles.

Steve Petch/Peter Croft (Ford Escort WRC) were using the rally as a testing exercise for their Mintex National Championship campaign. Despite checking out different set ups throughout the day, Petch was in a class of his own. A lead of 33 seconds after three stages, was extended to 39 after six and ended as a 1m 52s victory margin.

The contest for second place in the early stages was between the Mitsubishi Lancers of Richard Davies/Keith Jones and Shaun Gardener/Tony Mantle; the latter also on a testing exercise. Davies, still getting accustomed to his Lancer after taking third place on the Mid Wales Stages, held the upper hand. The matter was decided on Stage Six in Hafren when Gardener went off the road and lost almost a minute. He eventually finished in sixth, while Davies, despite gearbox worries, took the runner up spot.

Guy Robinson/Andy Marchbank (Ford Escort Cosworth) started at Number Two, but went out on the opening stage with suspension failure.

Mark Fisher/Gordon Noble and Marcus Dodd/John Bennie were separated by just one second on Stage One, but then Dodd picked up a puncture on SS2 and lost 20 seconds. The Poole driver suffered another puncture on SS4 and spent the rest of the day fighting back.

After the first loop of three stages Fisher led Andy Burnell/Carl Sorensen by nine seconds, with Super Cup leaders Martin Sansom/Phil Wells in third, two seconds behind Burnell. Dave Pattison/Lyn Jenkins had been on their pace after SS2, but then went off in Hafren and lost four minutes.

Andy Burnell blotted his copy book in Hafren when he rolled his 106 for the second event in succession. He lost over two minutes and ended the day 12th in the Peugeot standings.

After SS6 Fisher had extended his lead in the Super Cup to 12 seconds. Martin Sansom was in second, having taken fastest times on SS4 and SS5, but had a recovering Marcus Dood only five seconds behind; Dodd had been fastest by 12 seconds on the second visit to Hafren.

Fisher took fastest time on the penultimate stage to finish the day as winner of the Super Cup round and in third place overall.

Sansom led Dodd by two seconds going into the final stage, but then got baulked after he caught a slower car; Dodd was eleven second faster over the test, taking second place in the Super Cup and fourth overall. Sansom had the consolation of retaining his Super Cup series lead

Rory Galligan hadn't been confident of a good performance. It was a first time pairing with co-driver Jonty Bolsover and the Irishman lacked forestry experience. However he finished as fourth 106 and seventh overall. There were six 106s in the top ten.

There was a three way fight for the lead in Class 3 (1600-2000cc) between Will Onions (Opel Manta), Simon Rogers (Ford Escort RS) and Dennis Parry (Ford Sierra XR4x4). Parry retired after two stages but the battle between Onions and Rogers continued. They were tied after SS3, then Onions got in front on SS4, but Rogers reversed the positions on SS6. Going into the final stage, Onion was back in the lead and retained the position as Rogers' car ground to a halt with a broken drive shaft.

Welsh Clubmans series leader Andy Stokes (Ford Escort Mk1) was just behind this battle until the first Hafren when he put the car onto its side and he lost six minutes. He finished in 48th place and lost the Evans Windows Championship lead to Steve Hetherington, who finished 31st in his Nova.

A poorly supported Class 4 (Over 2000cc) was won by Richard Newman/Christopher Allsopp (Ford Escort), who were the only finishers in the category.

Colin Bound/Gary Moult dominated Class 1 (Under 1400cc) in their Nissan Micra, they took fastest time on every stage and finished over six minutes ahead of their nearest class rival.



OVERALL RESULTS

Pos Driver Co-Driver Car Penalty
1 Steve Petch Peter Croft Ford Escort WRC 45m 37s
2 Richard Davis Keith Jones Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5 47m 29s
3 Mark Fisher Gordon Noble Peugeot 106 48m 11s
4 Marcus Dodd John Bennie Peugeot 106 48m 22s
5 Martin Sansom Phil Wells Peugeot 106 48m 26s
6 Shaun Gardener Tony Mantle Mitsubishi Lancer 48m 49s
7 Rory Galligan Jonty Bolsover Peugeot 106 49m 02s
8 Tim Hookway Jayson Brown Peugeot 106 49m 36s
9 Steve Clarke Paul Brown Peugeot 106 49m 37s
10 Will Onions Steve Quine Opel Manta 49m 56s
11 Kevin Furber Chris Wood Peugeot 106 50m 01s
12 Tim Freeman Daryl Salvage Ford Escort 50m 30s
13 James Harvey Paul Arberry Peugeot 106 50m 41s
14 Marcus Luxton Philip Luxton Peugeot 106 51m 03s
15 Rob Russell Tracey Gager Peugeot 106 51m 21s
16 Jon Ellis Matthew Strachan Peugeot 106 51m 24s
17 Andy Burnell Carl Sorensen Peugeot 106 51m 42s
18 Neil Edwards Anton Shaw Peugeot 106 51m 44s
19 Steve Trotter Brian Heather Peugeot 106 51m 59s
20 Richard Newman Chris Allsopp Ford Escort 52m 00s
21 Chris Earles Iain Scott Ford Escort RS 52m 10s
22 Gareth Lloyd Dilwyn Llewellyn Ford Escort 52m 10s
23 Andrew Kenny Gary Kenny Mitsubishi Lancer 52m 11s
24 Alan Pendry Peter Oakley Peugeot 106 52m 26s
25 Simon Morton Bob Ashley Subaru Impreza 52m 40s
26 Sam Bryan Neil Sisson Vauxhall Astra GTE 52m 40s
27 Richard Lewis Keith Davies Peugeot 205 52m 46s
28 Dave Pattison Lyn Jenkins Peugeot 106 52m 49s
29 Andre Roelands James How Peugeot 106 53m 31s
30 Mark Lakeland Andrew Sharples Ford Escort 53m 33s
31 Steve Hetherington Tom Last Vauxhall Nova 53m 36s
32 Richard Fishleigh Chris Ruby Ford Escort 54m 11s
33 Robert Davies Andrew Powell Peugeot 106 54m 16s
34 Gavin McIntyre Mike Jones Peugeot 106 54m 23s
35 Paul Wedgebury Chris Neville Peugeot 106 54m 35s
36 John Rowlands Sion Rhisiart Ford Escort 54m 40s
37 John Shelley Neil Shelley Ford Escort 54m 59s
38 Colin Bound Gary Moult Nissan Micra 55m 11s
39 Chris Rimmer Neil Irvine Peugeot 106 55m 19s
40 Sabrina Shaw Huw Lewis Peugeot 106 55m 37s
41 Darren Snape Anthony Adams Talbot Sunbeam 55m 43s
42 Mike Faulkner Malcolm Roberts Peugeot 106 55m 57s
43 Andrew Edwards Dewi Evans Talbot Sunbeam 56m 02s
44 Sean Edwards Helene Mars Ford Escort 56m 09s
45 Richard Perry Clive Townend Peugeot 205 57m 10s
46 Julian Broadhurst James Barrowfield Ford Sierra XR4x4 57m 28s
47 Anthony Gluyas Tim Hamer Ford Escort 57m 31s
48 Andrew Stokes Russell Benson Ford Escort 58m 04s
49 George Butler Will Arnold Vauxhall Nova GTE 58m 37s
50 Adrian Fleming Mark Hughes Nissan Micra 61m 34s
51 Andy Kibble Martyn Duncan Vauxhall Astra 63m 23s