Despite the changeable conditions that were prevalent throughout the weekend, former ANCRO Champions Paul Bird and Ian Windress saw off the weather as well as the opposition to take a comfortable victory by just under a minute in round four of the 2009 Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship on the Manx Telecom Rally.

Never having won around the Manx lanes in eight years of trying, the Penrith driver and his Northallerton co driver took maximum points after a controlled drive in their Ford Focus WRC07 to see off championship rivals Marcus Dodd and Andrew Bargery (Hyundai Accent WRC) and the similar Ford Focus of Steve Perez and Stephen McAuley as well as the major Group N runners to throw the series wide open at the halfway stage.

After clutch problems had beset him on the opening stage last night, Bird bounced back to set fastest time on ten of the next twelve stages to build a lead of over a minute before easing off on the final couple of tests today to ensure his inaugural victory on the Island, to add to the TT successes gained by his motorcycle racing team over the years.

Winner of the previous three rounds, multiple ANCRO champion Dodd had no answer to the 2005 champions on this occasion and was happy to settle for fourth place overall behind the Subarus of non-registered crews Melvyn Evans and Roger Duckworth meaning second placed ANCRO points, with Perez, who seemed eternally blighted by an incorrect tyre choice, one place further back in fifth overall and taking third place on the ANCRO podium.

Championship leaders Daniel Barry and Martin Brady won the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge round ahead of Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew and Simon Hughes/Craig Parry and although all had major moments around the unforgiving Manx lanes, all saw the Douglas finish ramp to add to their various points tallies.

Sadly for Alan Cookson and Julian Wilkinson, they retired their Subaru on SS11 with gearbox problems meaning they were the only registered crew to not finish the tortuous event.

"This is a very important win as I thought that the Manx may just prove elusive and this place means an awful lot to me. I've been close in the past but to win is amazing and vitally important as Marcus was getting a bit of a foothold in the championship.

It was a tough event and tyre choice was a nightmare but the boys at TEGSport have done a great job for us and it's great to get that win under our belts this season.

The job's a dream and it's time to go and celebrate" said the Cumbrian before asking for the latest information from Monza where his World Superbike Championship team is in action this weekend!

With both Bird and Perez missing the Severn Valley National Rally which comprises the next round of the series on Saturday 30th May, due to their participation in Rally Barbados.

Dodd is odds-on favourite to add to his points tally and when the stagger of dropped scores starts to unravel on the following round which also takes place in Wales with the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Stages Rally, the destiny of the title may just become a little clearer.

For full details, including championship positions and other information, visit www.gravelrally.co.uk

Pictures attached (courtesy of www.cmwi.net) Paul Bird and Ian Windress heading for victory, and celebrating their win on today's Manx Telecom Rally.

They Said What...?
(any complaints, see Ciara Conlon...)

"I'm off on a major bender tonight..." You'd have thought Paul Bird had something to celebrate...

"The gearbox is now soup..." It's perhaps some West Country delicacy that Alan Cookson is partial to...

"Wrong tyres AGAIN..." Steve Perez after SS2, SS3, SS4, SS5 - see a pattern emerging...?

"That was good fun..." Nik Elsmore's perverse sense of humour after tackling a very wet SS1 on slicks...

"Even the bloody spare was wrong..." Steve Perez punctured and only had a slick in the boot...

"I'm a big boy and I can handle it..." Not sure if Nik Elsmore's muscle strain had anything to do with it...

"I hit two bumps, spun in the ditch and bounced off the last one..." Simon Hughes enlightens us as to this fifth-gear three-sixty degree spin...

"He speaks a strange enough language as it is..." ANCRO's Rick Smith comments as to Ulsterman Stephen McAuley who replaced Swede Staffan Parmander in Perez's Focus.

"We've got some feathers in the front grill; I don't know where they came from..." Probably some little unsuspecting 'Bird', Ian...

"It's harder to drive flat out than at eight tenths..." Some Irish logic in there Mr Barry...

"That was the toughest rally of my life..." says Martin Brady, who has done a few...

"There was no point in crashing so I backed off..." Marcus Dodd adopts the sensible approach...

Manx Telecom Rally Results (ANCRO points scorers in bold italics)

1 Paul Bird/Ian Windress (Ford Focus WRC 07) 1:27:59.5
2 Melvyn Evans/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) 1:28:56.4
3 Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1:29:29.3
4 Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery (Hyundai Accent WRC) 1:29:36.1
5 Steve Perez/Stephen McAuley (Ford Focus 07 WRC) 1:31:36.1
6 George Collister/Janet Craine (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) 1:33:43.6
7 David Mann/Alun Cook (Subaru Impreza) 1:34:05.4
8 Daniel Barry/Martin Brady (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:34:54.6
9 Wayne Sisson/Daniel Stone (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:35:20.4
10 Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 9 1:36:04.4

Provisional 2009 Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship Standings after Round Four

1 Daniel Barry 78
2 Simon Hughes 74
3 Marcus Dodd 73
4 Paul Bird 68
5 Nik Elsmore 67
6 Steve Perez 63
7= Alan Cookson 47
7= Owen Murphy 47
9 Alan Carmichael 43
10 Sean Devine 25