Wood leads after SS4 but Dalton is on a stonker of a charge
Steve Wood has pulled another 9″ out of Meirion Evans after the second spin around the Shanbo test, but whatever John Dalton’s crew did to the Darrian in service has paid off, either that or the tyre choice he had talked to me about. He came within 1.4″ of the time of the grippier and more powerful Subaru. The long straightish start to the stage must have fallen right into his hands. Gary Kiernan and Frank Kelly were also faster on that pass than Evans and a repeat of this on SS5 would see Dalton and Kiernan move above Evans in the overall standings and have Kelly breathing hard down his neck.
Richard Moore is doing his home rally proud, prowling just behind the top 5 and James Bradley is flying the purple and gold well just outside the top 10.
What we have so far after SS4
| O/A | Car | Driver/Codriver | Make | Class | Pos | SS4 | Road | Total | Diff 1st | Diff Prev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (=) | 1 | Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty | Subaru Impreza S11 | 7 | O/A | 5:12.2 | 0:00 | 22:43.8 | ||
| 2 (=) | 8 | Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson | Hyundai I20 R5 | 5 | O/A | 5:21.1 | 0:00 | 23:15.8 | 0:32.0 | 0:32.0 |
| 3 (+1) | 4 | John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones | Darrian T90 GTR | 14 | O/A | 5:13.6 | 0:00 | 23:18.3 | 0:34.5 | 0:02.5 |
| 4 (-1) | 3 | Gary Kiernan/Darren O’Brien | Ford Escort | 14 | 1 | 5:17.7 | 0:00 | 23:19.8 | 0:36.0 | 0:01.5 |
| 5 (=) | 5 | Frank Kelly/John McGrath | Ford Escort | 14 | 2 | 5:20.8 | 0:00 | 23:38.0 | 0:54.2 | 0:18.2 |
| 6 (=) | 10 | Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies | Ford Escort Mk2 | 14 | 3 | 5:33.1 | 0:00 | 24:17.3 | 1:33.5 | 0:39.3 |
| 7 (=) | 11 | Richard Moore/Brian Halligan | Ford Escort Mk2 | 14 | 4 | 5:34.5 | 0:00 | 24:26.1 | 1:42.3 | 0:08.8 |
| 8 (=) | 9 | Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird | Ford Escort RS Mk2 | 14 | 5 | 5:32.1 | 0:00 | 24:28.3 | 1:44.5 | 0:02.2 |
| 9 (+1) | 24 | Paul Rowley/Daragh Mullen | Ford Fiesta R5 | 5 | 1 | 5:30.2 | 0:00 | 24:33.6 | 1:49.8 | 0:05.3 |
| 10 (+5) | 16 | Adrian Evans/Martin Henry | Ford Escort | 14 | 6 | 5:31.3 | 0:00 | 24:58.4 | 2:14.6 | 0:24.8 |
| 11 (+7) | 7 | Mark Straker/Michael Coady | Darrian T90 GT ‘R5’ | 14 | 7 | 5:36.4 | 0:00 | 25:08.2 | 2:24.4 | 0:09.8 |
| 12 (+7) | 15 | James Bradley/Maria Kehoe | Honda Civic | 11F | 1 | 5:39.8 | 0:00 | 25:12.0 | 2:28.2 | 0:03.8 |
| 13 (+8) | 12 | Simon Chapman/Neil Colman | Proton Millington | 20 | 1 | 5:44.0 | 0:00 | 25:25.0 | 2:41.2 | 0:13.0 |
