Le Noa speed king of the Guernsey lanes
JERSEY took the spoils but Guernsey wore the biggest smiles.
Pulling together, like few other domestic sports can do, the Guernsey Kart and Motor Club, with a big helping hand from their sponsor, a set of western parishes, Jersey officials and some helpful homeowners, came away with a big triumph – the successful staging of the island’s first rally.
The Caesareans have been at it for 35 years while their ‘donkey’ adversaries concentrated on hills and sprints.
But the time had come, suggested GKMC president Karl Marshall, and indeed it had.
It mattered not a jot that Jersey, who dominated the entry, filled the top four spots in the final standings, because this was all about getting the ‘job done’ which the organisers achieved without any hiccup of note.
There may have been a few scraped hedgerows, but nobody got hurt, despite remarkable three-figure speeds achieved in a series of tight country lanes which, in stages, came to noisy life throughout Saturday and well into the evening.
Ross Le Noa, driving a Ford Escort Mk 2 2500cc, took the honours with a 20.8sec. advantage over fellow islander Jeremy Baudains, the winner completing the 16 stages in a total time of just 19min. 03.1sec.
Le Noa, who had Dominic Volante by his side as navigator throughout, had yet to have his victory stamped by race officials when he suggested, in the chilly darkness of the pits at Specsavers car park, that he’d ‘done not too bad I suppose’.
The victor tackles rally driving a whole lot more fiercely than media interviews but added: ‘It was nice, tight, twisty.’
‘It could have done with being a little bit more open, which would have suited the car a little bit more,’ he said before adding: ‘I’d definitely come back.’
More in Monday's Guernsey Press.
