The team of Kyle Gregg and Marcia Dawes ended the first day of the Richard Stewart Memorial Rally Jamaica 2019 in the top spot, according to the provisional results up to the eighth special stage of the event.

The pair holds a healthy lead of over two minutes to their closest rivals, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX of Timothy Stewart and Stephen Gunter. Sitting in third, and seven seconds behind is Stewart’s teammate Thomas Hall, co-driven by James Lechler, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. Subaru drivers Leslie Madden Jr and Lee Vaz complete the top five spots.

The day saw only one retirement from the rally which is famous for its high attrition rate. Joel Jackson had a spectacular exit when his steering failed, throwing his Subaru Impreza STI into the unforgiving Bog Walk orange trees. Things haven’t been smooth for other competitors as problems befell Stewart. Early gearbox trouble stopped him from challenging for the lead.

Hall suffered two simultaneous flat front tyres, halting his progress up the leaderboard while Vaz literally rolled out of his second place running order while trying to maintain the significant pace. Despite this, the rally is far from won and the competitors have the night to fix their issues and fight again on day two.

1.         Kyle Gregg / Marcia Dawes                     – 00:37:59.098

2.         Timothy Stewart / Stephen Gunter       – 00:39:35.600

3.         Thomas Hall / James Lechler                 – 00:39:42.400

4.         Leslie Madden / Sean Williams              – 00:43:17.695

5.        Lee Vaz / Michael Fennell Jr.                  – 00:44:30.369

6.        Raynor King / Rameses McGregor        – 00:46:13.894

7.         Bobby Marshall / Marcel Brandon        – 00:47:45.392

8.         Harold Morley / Terry Hamilton           – 00:49:27.686

9.         Derrick McDowell / Matthew Isaacs     – 00:54:55.940

10.      Joel Jackson / Dmitri Dawkins                – DNF

The rally will continue on Sunday (Dec 8) at 8:43 a.m. using the Mickleton and Wakefield stages for the entire day.

SS#     NAME            FCO

MTC 5  Sports Club  8:30

11       Mickleton     8:43

12       Wakefield     9:01

13       Mickleton     9:39

14       Wakefield     9:57

15       Mickleton     10:35

16       Wakefield     10:53

MTC 6    Sports Club  11:28

MTC 7   Sports Club  12:31

17       Wakefield R 12:59

18       Mickleton R  13:17

19       Wakefield R 13:55

20       Mickleton R  14:13

21       Wakefield R 14:51

22       Mickleton R  15:09

MTC 8 Sports Club  15:29

—Article written by Nichola Beckford