Having taken his third victory on the Manx National Rally last year, Cumbrian Paul Bird will be going all out for a fourth win this weekend, one short of the record.
The Penrith man starts the 2014 event on Friday evening at No.1 in his Ford Focus WRC with the express intention of joining Ulsterman Kenny McKinstry and Melvyn Evans, from Llanwrda, as a four-time winner of what has become, since its inception in 1980, one of the most popular rallies in the British Isles.
Indeed, McKinstry holds the record with five wins, the last of which came in 2007, and Bird will no doubt feel that that is also within reach - but first things first.
Although McKinstry and Evans will not be present in the starting line-up, Manx Auto Sport have amassed a superb entry of 110 cars for this year’s event.
Bird will be accompanied by the experienced Aled Davies, who already has two Isle of Man wins to his credit - last year with Bird and 2012 with Evans.
The Manx National Rally is the second round of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship and, as such, all the main protagonists are present.
Defending champion Damian Cole (Ford Focus WRC) leads the table, along with co-driver Elliott Edmondson. Cole has yet to taste victory on the Manx and now would be an ideal time to break that duck as he bids for a record-breaking fifth consecutive Asphalt title.
Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh are next up in their Subaru Impreza WRC - 2007 Asphalt. Champion Simpson has never won the Manx either while, although Walsh hasn’t actually been do-drivers’ champion (he’s been runner-up for the past two seasons), he does have a Manx victory to his name - with Melvyn Evans in 2011.
Making the journey from one island to another, Mull resident John MacCrone will be making his tarmac debut in a Ford Fiesta R200 in which he recently finished top two-wheel drive car on the Granite City Rally. Dai Roberts will be pointing him in the right direction on this occasion.
On the 2013 Manx National Rally, Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke had a rare outing in a Focus WRC and put in one of the drives of the rally. They eventually finished runners-up to Bird by a mere 3.4 seconds, having set fastest time on the final stage by 7.5s. Who knows what might have happened if the event had been a bit longer.
They are back once again and, barring problems, will be hoping to go one better.
John Indri and Manx resident co-driver Pete Johnson, eighth last year in a two-wheel drive Darrian - now have the benefit of the four-wheel drive turbo-charged power of a Subaru Impreza WRC.
John Stone returns in the Skoda Fabia WRC that has taken him to top-10 finishes on the event in each of the last four years, the highest of which was fourth in 2012. Carl Williamson will be reading the notes.
The first two-wheel drive car in the entry is the Vauxhall-engined MkII Escort of Gwyndaf Evans and Phil Pugh. In spite of a glittering career, former British Rally Champion Evans has never actually won an event on the Isle of Man and, with the best will in the world, that is unlikely to change in the short term. But his presence will doubtless cause a great deal of interest, especially amongst the others in his class.
Behind the Welshmen are defending Eurocars Motorsport Manx Rally Champions Arron Newby and Kirk Michael’s Rob Fagg in the Subaru Impreza, while the top-10 is completed by the exciting Ford Fiesta WRC of Graham Coffey and Jenny Gaebler.
The leading all-Manx crews are Nigel Cannell/Graham Fargher and Steve Colley/Andrew Cowley (both Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX).
Bird and Davies will lead the field away from the start in Port Erin at 7pm on Friday. Six stages later they return to the TT Grandstand for an overnight halt, prior to the restart at 9am on Saturday. The finish is likely to be around 3pm.
ANDREW HAILL
Stage names/roads closed times:
Friday: Shakedown stage: Barroose (roads closed midday to 3.30pm). Special Stages 1&2: Port Erin (6.15-10pm); SS 3 & 6: St Mark’s (7pm-1am); SS4: Marine Drive (8.50pm-12.20am); SS5: Parville (9.10pm-12.45am).
Saturday: SS7: Druidale (8.45am-12.20pm); SS8: Knocksharry (9am-12.50pm); SS9: The Baldwins (9.15am-1.10pm); SS10: Marine Drive (11am-2.30pm); SS11: Parville (11.20am-2.50pm); SS12: Druidale (1.20-5.10pm); SS13: Knocksharry (1.50-5.30pm); SS14: The Baldwins (2.10-6.05pm).
