Dale totals opposition
The fourth round of The Formula Rally championship saw the crews tackle 65 miles of forest tracks in six timed stages through the Dumfries and Galloway forests on the Scottish Rally.
The Peugeot pairing of Justin Dale and Andrew Bargery totally dominated the event, winning by over one minute from the Proton of Mats Andersson. The pairing were fastest overall on every single stage of the day. The win takes Dale and Bargery into the lead of the Drivers Championship and Peugeot the Manufacturers Championship.
Stockbridge based Justin Dale and Andrew Bargery from Brighton took the bull by the horns on the very first stage Ae 1. The 18.79 mile opener saw Dale and Bargery charge away from the opposition with a time 32.3 seconds ahead of nearest challenger, Mats Andersson in the Proton. David Higgins was lying 3rd in the Volkswagen.
Dale’s main challenge in the race for the championship, Rowe suffered a torrid opening stage with the throttle on his Puma sticking open leading to a small off. The Ford crew lost about four minutes. They subsequently retired on Stage 3.
Dale went into stage 2 Windy Hill 1 unaware of his wide first stage lead and had a couple of moments! Despite these he finished the stage 2.3 seconds quicker than Andersson and 7.4 seconds up on Higgins. Dale was quite surprised when he learnt of the size of his first stage lead and said "We were struggling being first on the road and Windy Hill resembled a field in places, we will look to change the tyre to a more efficient pattern to clear the mud as soon as possible."
With a 34 second lead Dale took the decision to moderate his speed and aim to preserve their extensive lead. This was going to plan until the re-run of Ae, Stage 5. The crew were again quickest this time a full 35 seconds faster than their morning effort and 24.1 seconds ahead of the second placed crew Andersson in the Proton.
The Super 1600 Gti went into the final stage with an unassailable lead of 1 minute 5 seconds. Amazingly the crew extended this by a further 26.7 seconds to complete an excellent and trouble free day. Dale said "I’m delighted, it was a shame the Ford retired so early as it meant we had no real challenge. However the points gained take us into the lead of both the Drivers and Manufacturers Championship and the car never skipped a beat all day."
15th September 2001
