For the second consecutive year, John and Caroline Price returned home from the Sligo Stages Rally, the fourth round of the Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, with a maximum score under their belt.
The duo brought their MG Metro 6R4 home in fourth place overall to move into fourth in the points table with two rounds left to run.
In fact, following the Sligo Stages Rally, a mere twelve points separate the top five drivers, and a fascinating end to the season is in prospect.
Defending MSA Asphalt champion Steve Simpson, co-driven on this occasion by Andrew Roughead, had been the leading series contender for much of the day but his Hyundai Accent WRC suffered a last-stage puncture and four minutes were lost while the offending wheel was changed. This pushed them out of the top ten but, with the retirement of David Kynaston, Simpson moves into the lead of the series - just.
Kynaston and Andy Russell had already scored two maximums and one second this season and another good score would have really made life difficult for their pursuers. However, having suffered the indignity of engine failure on the first stage on the 2007 Sligo Stages Rally, they were not to reach the end of the opener this year either. Their Audi A3 Quattro's steering rack failed shortly after the start, pitching them off the road and into retirement. The 2006 MSA Asphalt champions will now have to wait until the end of August for the opportunity to retake the initiative.
![John Price / Caroline Price. MG Metro 6R4. Sligo Stages Rally. July 13 2008. [Pic credit: CMWI / actionphotos.ie]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/467687.jpg)
