RallyRoots Rally Results Service - Panaround National Rally 1999

Panaround National Rally 1999

Sponsored by Vauxhall

Caernarvonshire & Anglesey Motor Club

14th March 1999

Clerk of the Course: Jimmy Jones

Stages: 3 (45 Stage Miles)

Venue: Myherin, Sweet Lamb & Hafren

Starters: 55

Winners: Bob Ceen/Alistair Douglas (Ford Escort Cosworth)

Bob Ceen/Alistair Douglas emerged as victors after a close fight with Richard Gough/Tony Beddoes on the Vauxhall Panaround National Rally. The event ran alongside the Sunday run of the Rally of Wales, the national competitors following the international crews through the day's three stages - Myherin, Sweet Lamb and Hafren.

Rally of Wales Winners: David Higgins/Chris Patterson (Subaru Impreza)
Photograph: Aled Richards

Vauxhall Rally of Wales

The result of the Vauxhall Rally of Wales, Round One of the British Rally Championship, caused some controversy. The win was taken by David Higgins/Chris Patterson in a Group N Subaru Impreza. However, Higgins didn't score any BRC points as the series was open only to Formula 2 cars in 1999.

In addition, as F2 cars were assured of running at the front of the field, when the event was reseeded for Day 2, Higgins, who was leading, had to restart behind cars that were already 20 minutes slower than him

Top championship points went to second placed Martin Rowe/Derek Ringer, who were competing in a Renault Megane Maxi. They finished 14 seconds behind Higgins. Tapio Laukkanen/Kaj Lindstron, in the second works Megane, finished in third.

Ceen, troubled by brake problems, was thirteen seconds slower than Gough's Mitsubishi on the first stage, but then pulled two seconds back on Sweet Lamb. With a storming drive through Hafren, the Escort pilot emerged three seconds ahead at the finish control - his first rally win in the bag. Gary Smith/Phil Clarke came home third, fifty seconds behind.

Having driven for four miles on a puncture, Phil Squires/Michael Squires went off on the flying finish on SS3. Fortunately they'd passed the timing beam before the crash and survived to finish eighth. Russell Fry/Alan Frame had a trying time in their V8 engined Escort - going off on the first corner of the rally and then picking up two punctures on Sweet Lamb, as a result they were outside the top twenty at the end.

Hugh Hunter/Calvin Cooledge failed to make it to the first stage, having had problems getting their Ford Saphire Cosworth fired up. Edward Roberts/Vernon Brown broke the gearbox on their Escort Cosworth, while the similar car of Mitchell Mountford/Andrew Sankey suffered clutch failure on Myrherin.

On what was only the driver's second forestry event, Nigel Hathway/Paul Waldron took a class win in their 1600cc Nova.

Panaround Formula 1400 Rally

Paul Fox/Voirrey Howland were simply the class of the Formula 1400 field on the Panaround National Rally. By the end of the event's forty-five stage miles the Manx crew were over four minutes clear of their nearest class rival and took eleventh place in the overall placings. This was despite losing their Nova's first gear on Stage One.

As expected Vauxhall Novas dominated the class, Nick Runcie/Jude Wylie were second, with Paul Blackburn/Alexis Harper third. The latter crew would have been closer to Fox if a starter motor problem hadn't caused them to pick up of 30 seconds road penalties.

Andrew Marwood/Chris Chadwick were the first Lada crew home in fourth. While another Nova, that of Jack Ingley/Sophie, Ingley was fifth, this was despite being delayed by a puncture on Stage One and sticking brakes on Stage Two.

Martin Shaw/Ian Prout had spent twelve months building their Lada for the 1999 championship and were delighted with sixth place as the car ran without any probelms. Not all Lada crews were as happy; Ian Glenister's Riva Estate broke a propshaft on the run out from Wrexham, while Phillip Morton's saloon example came to a halt with severe overheating at the end of Stage One.

OVERALL RESULTS (Positions in bold indicate a Formula 1400 contender)

Pos	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Penalty
1	Robert Ceen	Alistair Douglas	Ford Escort Cosworth	51m 02.5s
2	Richard Gough	Tony Beddoes	Mitsubishi Carisma GT	51m 05.1s
3	Gary Smith	Phil Clarke	Ford Escort Cosworth	51m 54.5s
4	Martin Healer	Martin White	Ford Escort Cosworth	51m 59.9s
5	Malloch Nicholl	Roy Campbell	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4	52m 33.6s
6	Gary Adam	Gordon Adam	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4	52m 43.9s
7	Robin Bradbury	Peter Thomas	Ford EScort RS	53m 22.7s
8	Philip Squires	Michael Squires	Ford Escort RS	54m 53.1s
9	Marko Ramanen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Honda Civic	55m 00.8s
10	Dennis Parry	Huw Lewis	Ford Sierra 4x4	55m 03.1s
11	Shaun Fox	Voirrey Howland	Vauxhall Nova	55m 15.8s
12	Geoff Cottrill	Philip Pearce	MG Metro 6R4	56m 12.3s
13	Nigel Hathaway	Paul Waldron	Vauxhall Nova GSi	57m 12.9s
14	Mark Goodwin	Wayne Davies	Ford Escort	57m 15.1s
15	Paul Thomas	John Connor	Vauxhall Astra	57m 35.3s
16	Dave Hull	Pamela Hull	Vauxhall Astra GSi	57m 35.3s
17	Nick Runcie	Jude Wylie	Vauxhall Nova	59m 19.6s
18	Neil Collins	Andy Cobley	Ford Ka	59m 23.7s
19	Paul Blackburn	Alexis Harper	Vauxhall Nova	59m 26.6s
20	Andy Senior	Dave Ellis	Honda Civic VTi	59m 26.8s
21	Jack Ingleby	Sophie Ingleby	Vauxhall Nova	61m 27.4s
22	Martin Shaw	Ian Prout	Lada Riva	61m 28.0s
23	Russell Spry	Alan Frame	Ford Escort V8	61m 28.3s
24	Jeremy Nolan	Paul Nolan	Peugeot 106 S16	61m 36.9s
25	Jon Adams	James Wardle	Ford Escort	62m 02.7s
26	Steve Aram	Paul Aram	Vauxhall Nova	62m 24.0s
27	Emlyn Wynn	Phil Gooch	Suzuki Swift GTi	62m 28.2s
28	Robert Williams	Kevin Savage	Vauxhall Corsa	63m 02.5s
29	Andrew Marwood	Chris Chadwick	Lada Riva	63m 15.5s
30	Paul Cook	Linda Whitmore	Vauxhall Nova	63m 44.0s
31	Sean Bannister	Terry Bannister	Peugeot 205	64m 32.4s
32	John James	Adrian Cooper	Ford Escort	67m 17.5s
33	John Lloyd	Louise Ibbotson	Vauxhall Chevette	66m 20.9s
34	Mark Cowell	David Swift	Skoda Felicia	66m 21.7s
35	Andrew Blower	Mike Barker	Vauxhall Nova	70m 08.0s
36	Tim Arkinstall	Andrew Cookson	Opel Corsa	72m 36.0s
37	Simon King	Richard Bannister	Vauxhall Nova	75m 49.2s
38	Colin Hughes	John Youd	Skoda Favorit	77m 44.7s