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Montgat (Barcelona) on November 29. - Alex Sabater and Iain Tullie (Ford Escort) have crossed, together with about forty survivors, the final podium of the Roger Albert Clark Rally placed in Carlisle's English locality. This one has been, no doubt, the hardest edition of the " RAC Rally " of the seven that have been disputed up to today. With four very complicated stages, the snow, the ice and the cold have been some of the obstacles that there have been almost ninety participants who on Friday initiated the round.

 

The face of weariness and at the same time from happiness of Alex and Iain to his arrival to Carlisle, it was revealing what these four days of competition have represented, not only for the members of the team ASM Motorsport but for all the participants. Weariness for the marathon days where they have accumulated more than six hours of delay on the expected schedule due to the difficulty of circulating along the English and Scotch tracks, with more than one small plot of snow and without nails. Weariness for having to support averages of seven degrees under zero, weariness for crossing more than thousand five hundred kilometres of tour, of which three hundred were corresponding to speed sections ... but happiness for which in the end it is for what all the participants look in this rally, to live an experience and unrepeatable experience. 

 

The race was beginning on Friday with the corresponding checks while the first snowflakes of snow were doing his appearance in the zone a few hours before. The competition was beginning in the middle of the evening with the dispute of four night sections that were shaping the first stage, already covered by the white element. A few hours later was promising to be the possibility that it was not possible to realize the second day, for the strong snowfalls fallen during the last hours, though the organization was working end to be able to take her with normality, although there fights the possibility that there are disputed the timed sections located between Yorkshire and Kielder's forest without the public's presence, as the Forest Commission was advising.

 

 

 

 

Against any forecast the organization was managing to extract forward the stage, although the difficulty for keeping the caravan of the rally close was doing that the schedule controls were annulled and the participants were acceding to the special ones as they were coming to the beginning from these. Little by little the delay about the theoretical hour of step of the vehicles was more well-known, accumulating more than six hours at the conclusion of the day. With the weariness still clear, and without a lot of time to sleep, the teams were initiating the third stage crossed the border to enter the Scotch forests, happening to be the mud the protagonist. On returning to Carlisle, and to Kielder's forests, the snow was returning to do act of presence already until the end of the rally, being advised the fans again that should not move up to the sections on there having no been site to park, since the parkings were collapsed by the snow.

 

Alex Sabater and Iain Tullie (Ford Escort) have realized a rally of less to more, finishing in the third position of the Category C3 and in the twenty-seventh one of the general classification. For the pilot of the team ASM Motorsport, to be able to re-live through a "RAC Rally" in these conditions has been the whole dream. "It has been incredible. If in the moment to register someone had said to us that we would have the possibility of disputing a rally in these conditions, he had said to him without me it thinking that where we had to sign. There comes a moment that the result goes on to background, which matters is to enjoy and to live through the moment more intensely than one could. It is sure that the next year we will repeat the experience and hope that it is equal of fantastic that this "

 

The Belgian Stefaan Stouf (Ford Escort) was placing at the top of the rally happened the third day, when Rob Smith (Vauxhall Chevette), that was the leader, was suffering two punctures and later, in an attempt of recovering the yielded time, an exit of road that was leaving him out of the race. The second position was finally for Gwyndaf Evans (Ford Escort). The official ex-pilot of Ford, Seat and MG in England, was suffering certain delay during the first day, but he was recovering positions in three days, always to the assault. The podium, and domain of the Escort, completes it Andrew Haddon (Ford Escort), with a vehicle very similar to that of Evans.

 

Classification Overall Roger Albert Clark - Final

1.-Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard - Ford Escort RS1600, with 2:17:19,       

2.-Gwyndaf Evans/John Millington - Ford Escort, at 0:01:18, 

3.-Andrew Haddon/Mark Crisp - Ford Escort RS1800, at 0:01:43, 

4.-Paul Griffiths/Sam Collis - Ford Escort RS1800, at 0:02:46, 

5.-Phil Collins/Nicky Grist - Opel Ascona 400, at 0:02:59,  

27.-Alex Sabater/Iain Tullie - Ford Escort RS2000, at 0:30:57

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