Hall leaps to victory

Date: 19-07-2009

M.S.A Rally Elite Members Kris Hall and navigator Robbie Durant had a difficult start on the Manx International Rally but bounced back to take overall victory on his home event the day after. 

The fifth round of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sporting Trophy was based in the seaside resort of Douglas, the event gave crews over 80 miles of some of the toughest tarmac stages the infamous motorsport renowned island has to offer. Before the event even began there was drama on the shakedown stage for Hall (19) from Appleby, clipping a bank and bending the rear beam. Some superb work through the night from the service crew allowed Hall to begin the event all be it with some light exterior damage.

 With Friday morning came dry weather conditions for the eight tough stages of the day. However disaster struck again for Hall as exiting a slow 90 left, he clipped another bank but this time sent the car into a light roll. Suffering minimal damage apart from a heavily smashed windscreen the fourth round winner lost 3 minutes to rival Breen and with it the hopes of a second consecutive win. Stage two and three were less eventful however Hall was still dropping time due to poor visibility through the broken windscreen. At the first service of the day Hall was fitted a new windscreen whilst the other remaining crews reported no problems. Stage 4 was cancelled due to an earlier accident from an International competitor; Stage 5, Cringle at 13.66 miles brought Hall back in to contention with clear vision and an increased pace allowing him to take second quickest. Stage 6, Glen Roy at 4.66 miles saw Hall take his first stage win of the rally which was quickly mirrored on the penultimate stage with another stage victory.

 This final push and a cool head gave Hall fourth in the FST Championship and despite a troubled beginning to the event Hall still stands strong in the overall championship in 2nd only 10 points adrift – a great result considering his two offs during the event!

 Now Hall’s thoughts turned on to the challenge ahead. A quick ferry ride home and a few hours sleep saw the dynamic duo competing again on Sunday at the more familiar home ground of the Greystoke Stages. Taking advantage of the opportunity to gain some four wheel drive experience Hall competed in his father’s Red Mitsubishi Evolution 9 for the first time.

 Only driving the car for a few miles on tarmac the week before Hall didn’t know what to expect from the car. Easing in gently Hall set respectable times over Stages 1 and 2 with no reported problems. In second place overall and in to the groove the young Cumbrian upped the pace catching out the rest of the field to take a commanding lead from fellow competitor, Peter Sinclair who was also competing in an Evo 9 to take 1st place from the third stage onwards. Hall never looked back impressively setting the fastest stage times on stages 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 building a comfortable lead to take victory by over 1 minute.

 Hall Said “It’s been a hectic weekend to say the least. We didn’t have the set up quite right at first in Isle of Man but when we got it sorted we were the fastest its just a shame we made that mistake in shakedown other wise the car would have been right. I am pleased how we bounced back and we picked up some handy points with just 2 rounds left. Winning today has been great, this is my first overall win and it felt great. I didn’t know what to expect but the Evo is great to drive. It took a while to get used to the power but the times were good. I couldn’t have done this without the help of my Sponsors Stobart, Ast Signs and my dad so I just want to thank them”.