The changeable conditions also caught out Charlie Jukes and Leon Pesticcio. Jukes, getting off to a flying start as usual and determined to do well after missing the last event, locked up his Group A Impreza under braking, slid off into some trees and damaged his oil cooler too badly to continue. The unlucky Pesticcio (Group N Evo 7) had his own problems, sliding wide on a particularly slippery corner on the same Abbey St. Bathans stage and removing his near-side rear wheel against an unfortunately positioned telegraph pole. He retired a few hundred metres later, the wheel clattering uselessly along the road.
Others were faring better. The Irish contingent started making their mark from the outset, with Derek McGarrity, Eamonn Boland, and Irish Tarmac Champion Andrew Nesbitt (all in Impreza WRCs) mixing it with Championship leader Jonny Milner's Toyota Corolla WRC and PBRC regular Robert Woodside – having a tremendous run after a disappointing start to his season. Gwyndaf Evans, making a welcome return to the PBRC in the GSE-prepared MG ZR, was leading the Super 1600s from the works Peugeots of Justin Dale and Rory Galligan – all of them showing once again that these front-wheel drive cars can mix it with WRC and Group N cars on tarmac. Speaking of Group N, David Higgins' Impreza was leading the class from Alistair Ginley's Evo 7, both no doubt slightly more relaxed without the dominating presence of Tapio Laukkanen on this event.
By the end of Day 1 / Leg 1, after the seven fast and furious stages, Derek McGarrity led Jonny Milner by just over 13 seconds from Eamonn Boland, Andrew Nesbitt, Robert Woodside, Austin McHale (Toyota WRC) and another Irish Tarmac regular, Tim McNulty (Impreza WRC). David Higgins, two minutes down on the WRCs but going really well, led Group N from Daniel Harper (Evo 6), Ginley having lost a minute and a half with a faulty fuel pump. Gwyndaf Evans, after surviving a gearbox scare that necessitated the ‘box being changed at final service, led the 1600 category from Justin Dale. Martin Sansom, another who has had a dreadful start to the season, was at last showing his true worth in his Peugeot 106 kit car, and Simon Hughes was enjoying getting to grips with his brand new and dramatic-looking Asquith Motorsport-prepared S16 Renault Clio – the first appearance of one of these spectacular machines in the UK.
