Roger Albert Clark (RAC) Rally 2008 results & videos: Malcolm Wilson wins in the Pirelli Stobart Energy Kick Mk2 Escort
Malcolm Wilson took victory on the Roger Albert Clark Rally (RAC) driving a Stobart Mk2 Escort.
Wilson, who had fellow M-Sport man and former Motoring News Road Rally champion John Millington sitting with him, won the event by nearly six and a half minutes ahead of David Stokes in a Mk1 Escort. Irishman Seamus O'Connell took an excellent third o/a in his Mk2 Escort.
Wilson wins the RAC Rally
Image: bhppix.co.uk
Wilson had been pursued by Marty McCormack for much of the four day event, though McCormack got off to bad start after sustaining a heavy impact with a park bench on SS1 and losing much time. McCormack got the margin to Wilson down to 56s by day three but put the car off for good on SS21.
Phil Collins was out for the second time in his newly built Opel Ascona 400 with Nicky Grist sitting alongside him, but they suffered mechanical problems throughout, mainly the gearbox, and rolled out of the rally during Sunday's leg on Twiglees.
Steve Perez nearly didn't make the start due to engine problems with the Lancia Stratos. He did though, but was hampered by mechanical woes throughout the event and retired on the final stage Broomylyn when the engine expired. Perez was classified 10th o/a under SupeRally rules.
Perez commented:
The idea of this fantastic event is to recreate the golden days of the Lombard RAC and if that had happened to me then, then I'd have been a retirement, end of story. The modern day rules have classified us in the results but for me, that's not in the spirit of things as far as I'm concerned"
The rally started on Friday evening in Leeds before heading north through Yorkshire and Cumbria on Saturday. On Sunday the event went to south west Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway) then the final leg was in Kielder Forest. The route covered 946km with 204km held over 31 stages.
Videos of the Roger Albert Clark 2008:
Day 2
Day 3
Twiglees
Langdale
Temple Newsam
Malcolm Wilson said about his victory:
I’m absolutely overjoyed. Roger Clark was my hero and to come back and win the rally that carries his name is a real joy. It’s so easy to forget the physical effort required and in the old RAC rallies we didn’t really have many second passes over the stages; but here I found it really demanding. However, it’s also very rewarding to know I can still be reasonably competitive.
I knew, after competing on the McRae Stages, just how difficult this rally would be and I trained hard for it and its really paid off. But I have to take my hat off to Milly, he was fantastic on the maps and his preparation for the rally was first class; he left no stone unturned.
“The boys in the team here have done a stunning job as well. The car was only started on the morning of the rally and it’s run like clockwork with no major problems at all. And I can’t believe I haven’t put a scrape on it either, that’s not like me!”
Roger Albert Clark Rally 2008 Results:
1 Malcolm Wilson/John Millington (Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800) 3hr 42m01s
2 David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort RS1600) + 6.24
3 Seamus O'Connell/Paul Wakely (Ford Escort Mk2) + 9.56
4 Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby (Ford Escort) + 10.19
5 Phil Squires/Mick Squires (Ford Escort RS1800) + 11.34
6 William Onions/Tim Hobbs (Ford Escort RS1800) + 16.11
7 Reg Britton/Gerry Buckley (Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800) + 21.01
8 Andrew Siddall/Colin Thompson (Ford Escort RS2000) + 21.28
9 Bob Bean/Malcolm Smithson (Ford Lotus Cortina Mk1) + 21.31
10 Steve Perez/Kevin Rae (Lancia Stratos) + 28.44
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