C.E. - The Free Weekly Online Car Magazine
Contents
Mobil One British Rally 1999 - Round 4 Round 4 Round 5 - Stena Line Ulster Rally

30 - 31 July 1999

  1. Wearden/Agnew: Vauxhall Astra Kit Car
  2. Evans/Davies: SEAT Ibiza
  3. Higgins/Thomas: Volkswagen Golf GTi
  4. McGarrity/Carrothers: Subaru Impreza
  5. Simpson/Gibson: Volkswagen Golf
  6. Milner/McMath: Toyota Celica
  7. Dale/Bargery: Peugeot 106 Maxi
  8. Whitford/McAully: Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 5
  9. Higgins/Patterson: Subaru Impreza WRX
  10. Laukkanen/Lindstrom: Renault Megane Maxi
The new-look Astra gets its first British Rally victory - photo by Anthony Hunter Motorsport Photography by Anthony Hunter (copyright)

The lanes of Northern Ireland played host to the penultimate round of the British Rally Championship last weekend. The title race usually goes down to the final round on the Isle of Man but one man was going into this event confident that he could take the title on the Ulster event. That man was Tapio Laukkanen in the Renault Maxi Megane. Having won the last three events in the series the Finn was in a dominant position going into the Ulster Rally. Not only was the Championship title on Laukkanen's mind but the possibility of securing a WRC drive for 2000 if he was to take the crown.

The narrow bumpy lanes would provide a tough test for all the entrants. From the very first stage the drama unfolded. The Seat of Toni Gardemeister slid sideways into a wall injuring ten spectators. His co-driver, Paavo Lukander, sustained a head injury as a result of the accident and was taken to hospital with the injured spectators. Laukkanen took the early advantage leading his team-mate Martin Rowe by 1.5secs going into stage two. This was the stage that would impact most on the final result and decide the outcome of the Championship. The Megane of Laukkanen ran wide on a left hander some way into SS2, the impact ripped a rear wheel from his car costing him nine minutes and leaving hopes of an Ulster victory in tatters. On the very same stage Rowe, rolled his Megane out of the event putting an end to any realistic bid for Championship honours.

The ensuing battle was between the Volkswagen Golf of Mark Higgins and the Vauxhall Astra of Neil Wearden. The unusually hot Irish weather made for tricky conditions. The tar was melting in the brilliant sunshine making the tarmac stages slippery. Higgins suffered transmission problems, which saw him, drop down the leaderboard. Wearden seized the advantage and took the lead by SS5. The overnight halt saw the Astra driver in first position. Higgins was in fifth place followed by the Seat Ibiza kit car of Gwyndaf Evans in sixth.

Saturday morning saw a three-way battle between Wearden, Evans and Higgins. Wearden started the second leg with an advantage of over one minute. The drive of the day went to Evans. Overnight changes to the power steering specification of the Ibiza were attributed to assisting Gwyndaf posting fastest times on each of the day's eleven stages. Mark Higgins nursed his Golf GTi to the finish in Belfast. The victory went to Neil Wearden and Trevor Agnew in the Vauxhall Astra kit car, 1m50s ahead of Gwyndaf Evans and Howard Davies who were followed in third place by Mark Higgins and Bryan Thomas.

Tenth place was where Tapio Laukkanen finished the event but it was enough to make him the 1999 British Rally Champion. Having battled with flu all weekend the Renault driver was pleased to have lifted the title considering his accident on stage two. He later commented "I thought I had blown it when I had the accident". The win gives Renault their second consecutive manufacturers' title. Laukkanen is the first non-British driver to win the title since 1983. This win should go a long way in helping him realise his WRC aspirations.

More photography from the Ulster Rally - Anthony Hunter owns the copyright to these pictures. Please do not use for any other purpose without his permission. Email


[Home] [Contents] [News] [Features] [Car of The Week] [Motorsport] [A-Z]

Designed & maintained by caint.com