Frustration for Morris family at Snetterton

BARRY Morris’s hopes of reclaiming the MSN Rally Championship title were left in tatters on Saturday when a slower competitor held him up for a lap before throwing a stray stone that forced his Darrian to stop on the stage.

That third stage incident cost Morris and co-driver, Tom Hutchings over three minutes and dropped them from third overall to 20th.

The Galbally man channelled that frustration over the remainder of the day and climbed back into the top 10 where he finished after stage eight, leapfrogging his dad, Seamus, who along with co-driver Jarlath Kelly, also endured a problematic day to finish 15th overall and fourth in class.

Although disappointed that the slower driver failed to yield for so long and ultimately cost him a tilt at the title he won in 2020, Morris is keen to see out the remainder of the season as he bids to seal the class D crown outright.

“It was frustrating,” he fumed. “We were chasing a car, who reluctantly wouldn’t get out of the way. We followed him for a full lap and coming into a gravel section we were on his tail and a stone bounced up and knocked the kill switch on the outside off and the car stopped. We lost three minutes trying to find the problem.

“Looking back on the times, that would have left us third overall so it’s disappointing, very disappointing because it just knocks you out of winning the championship now.

“We might get second or third, but I wanted third. There are only two rounds left and the chances of the competitor at number one retiring from both of them would be very unlikely, but we should still get second overall or third overall and the class win so whether it’s determination or ignorance, we’re going to keep going!”