by Geoff Mayes
In 2006 one car won every single one of the Quinton Stages
en-route to a historic win. That was the rallying debut of Norwegian wonder boy Andreas Mikkelsen.
In 2007 this was repeated… to a degree. Once more one car won every single stage to win by some margin - but this year it was Andy Burton and his unique Peugeot Cosworth.
The weather in the weeks leading up to the 2007 Quinton Stages was abysmal and everyone expected conditions to be similar to those on the recent Dukeries Rally, which bore more resemblance to a Safari Rally than a forest event in the U.K. However, come Saturday, and the sun shone brightly, the weather was pleasant and warm and there was even dust on the stages.
All of this was irrelevant for Burton who was on fine form all day long. He opened his account with a time that was a full 10 seconds faster than anyone else.
Second fastest was Shaun Gardener in his Mitsubishi Evo hybrid whilst Sebastian Ling was third quickest in his Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9. Top seed Steve Perez, in his Ford Focus WRC, was languishing down in 12th place after a wild spin early in the stage.
Burton was fastest over the next two stages as well, with Shaun Gardener going second quickest on both.
Perez retired after hitting a rock on Stage 2 but after three stages Burton held a commanding lead of almost 30 seconds over Shaun Gardener. Damian Cole was third in his Hyundai WRC, but only a mere 3 seconds further back was a rapid Sebastian Ling, leading Group N by 7 seconds.
Stage 4 was Caeo, a stage that hadn't been used for a few years. Burton was fastest again, no surprise there. Second quickest was Will Nicholls in his Subaru Impreza WRC, but a mere second further back was David Howells in his Production class Subaru: “We were absolutely flat through there. For the last mile or so the car would not physically go any faster. That was mega!!” said Howells.
![Andy Burton [Pic credit: Geoff Mayes Media / www.geoffmayesmedia.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/347700.jpg)
