Milner Wins 2010 MSA Gravel Rally Championship

First major retirement of Rallye Sunseeker is Daniel Siguardsson whos Mitsubishi Eco has retired with Gearbox troubles midway through Stage 2, another major retirement is Kenny McKinstry and Harvey Bell with terminal gearbox problems. Although they cleared Stage 4, sadly the gearbox cried enough 4 miles from service in the middle of Bournemouth.

News From, Service..............

Will Nicholls
Last years winner was in service to see what was happening in the rally today. He has sold his Subaru WRC, and has been out and about spectating " we have seen two stages so far, and they look really slippy and difficult. Marcus as usual looks good, but its early in the rally" Wills next event is at Bovingdon in a few weeks when he will be out in his new MkII Ford Escort.

Steve Perez
On arriving into service Steve told Rally Sunseeker "A little bit disappointed not to be leading really, as I backed off a bit as we are running first on the road. Its really tricky out there, very slippy in places and you could easily get caught out and cause yourself some trouble, but hey we are here and theres a long way to go yet. Looking forward now to the rest of the day"

Paul Bird
Arriving into service Paul said "The conditions really difficult today very slippy and its not easy to read the lines for your braking, couple of small niggles with the car, and we droppped 15-20 seconds on Stage one"

Andy Burton
Last minute entry Andy has had a good run this morning and told us "Its going really really well, but Marcus is going very well and its shaping up to be a really good battle. Thing is you really cant read the road as to where to push, and where the grip is, if you miss the apex it could be fun"

Anthony Wilmington
Anthony arrived here into service and was surprised to find that he was lying 7th overall after suffering overheating problems all morning "We saw blue smoke coming from the engine and our temperature was running quite high, so I am really surprised to be lying where I am. Hopefully now we can cure the problem we haved and go back out for a good run for the rest of today.

Jonny Greer
Jonny is lying 9th overall and commented here at Canford "Its going really well and we have had a good run this morning. We not doing anything heroic and driving steady, though we dropped time with a few spins, looking forward now to the rest of the day."

Jonny Milner
Jonny has suffered misfire problems in his Toyota Corolla WRC and said "Its not the misfire as such thats the problem, its how long it takes to clear and run fine again. Once its clear the car is flying y'know. I mean wehave never had issues with water and misfire on this car before so its a new one on us to be honest, but hey its a great rally and I am lovin it...long way to go yet and we are still 5th overall." He added "Its changing conditons and you need to watch your braking all the time"

Dave Weston Jnr
Dave is running a brand new Subaru here and said at Canford " The new car is great, it turns in really well, braking is excellent and we are just having a steady run, learning the car and driving sensibly, cos it is really tricky out there.

Charlie Payne
"Difficult so far in a brand new car, and the wipewrs stopped working on me. Had to come to a complete stop in the car which is not ideal. Car is bottoming out too, so we have raised it 10mm to see if that will help on the next loop and the plus thing is we are here with all four coners still attached... So I am well happy!

Marcus Dodd
Marcus arrived here as rally leader and said as he stepped from his Hyundai WRC "I have not been out for a while, and the stages are unpredictable for us. We know them well, but the conditions make your line through corners and braking points difficult to judge. But Yeah so far its been good and its nice to be here in one piece"

Roger Duckworth
"Very happy so far, we have kept it clean and straight, theres lot of puddles and lying water that could easily catch you out, so it will be a sensible approach to the rest of the day, car running fine and we are happy where we are"

Aled Davies (Co-Driver to Steven Hendy)
"We had a spin on Stage 1, but have kept it clean since then, as its our first loose rally for quite a while, y'know most of our rallying last year was Tarmac based so we are happy with where we are"

Shelley Taunt
"Its been really slippy out there this morning, but we have avoided some of the standing water, and made it here to service so we are happy"

Alex Allingham
"Its hard going out there, Jonny Greer is gong very well and we are finding it very slippy"

John McGaffin
"We are having a good run, and the cars gong very well, and Yeah its slippy out there, but sure its the same for eveyone really. Looking forward to the rest of the day now, we know where the grip is now"

Stuart Larbey
"This is a difficult Sunseeker, damp conditions, windows misting up, but I really loved the run through Somerley Park this morning, fabulous stage altogether"

Johannes Gunnarsson
" Really enjoying it you know, but goodness me it is very slippy. I never use the handbrake in Iceland, but here I use all the time on every stage...!"

Les Harrogate
"We had a good run on the first Stage, got stuck at a hairpin on another Stage, but we are having a good run, trying to sort a little misfire out here in service but it should not be a problem for us. We will head out for the next loop now and see how we get on"

Tony Jardine
"Co-Driver is perfect, hes in his element and we are enjoying it, though there are some big holes out there and the back of the car has leapt into the air, twice in Somerely in particular the car took off. But as usual its a great event and good stages, but the weather has not helped"

Xavier Mc Cartan

Sunseeker Media Manager