Gregg takes Rally lead

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

The crowd erupted in loud cheers as the screaming wheels of Gary Gregg's Ford Focus World Rally Car came dashing around the corner of the main spectator stage in Lydford, St Ann, yesterday.

He looked a picture of confidence as he and co-driver, Hugh Hutchinson, assumed the early lead in the Petcom/JMMC Rally Jamaica event.

Larry Henrigues, one of the officials of the event, confirmed that up to the lunch break, Gregg and Hutchinson were leading. This was according to the provisional results, up to that time, which also suggested that they were ahead of Barbados' Roger Skeete/Gary Clark and Sean Gill/Michael Cummins, the United Kingdom's Robert Swan/Darren Garrod.

Despite a light morning drizzle, enthusiastic motorsport fans turned out in droves and wasted no time in transforming the setting into a carnival- like atmosphere. Twenty-four cars faced the starters yesterday morning at the Petcom Service Station in Moneague, St Ann.

Before noon, at least six of the competitors were forced out of the event, some crashed, while others developed mechanical problems. The badly damaged car of John Powell was observed being towed away by a wrecker in Lydford. Meanwhile, Jamaica's Jeffrey Panton had problems with his clutch.

The rally will restart this morning at the Petcom Service Station in Angels, Spanish Town, St Catherine, then move onto the Wakefield and New Works stages in rural St Catherine. The two-day event ends this afternoon at the waterfront in downtown Kingston.

"The excitement of the rally will be the rivalry for the respective class titles," commented Errol Anderson, president of the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club (JMMC).