CLARK HEADS PIRELLI WELSH CHAMPIONSHIP ON WOODPECKER
Liam Clark and new co-driver Chris Williams topped the contenders in the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship during round four, the Woodpecker Stages on Saturday, August 30.
In truly testing conditions, as intensifying rain made the forests incredibly slippery, Clark drove a faultless rally to scoop maximum points and finish third overall in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. "We found the morning better than the afternoon," said Clark. "But it was just inconsistent grip, and it was an achievement just to finish this one," he added. A late puncture in stage six cost a little time in an otherwise trouble free rally.
The same could not be said for Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5, who finished just 10 seconds back and second among the PWRC pack. However, they were handed two minutes' worth of road penalties during the afternoon loop and also lost time when they caught a slower car limping out of stage six in what proved to be a frustrating day for the reigning champions.
Another strong performance netted third PWRC points for James Giddings/Aled Davies (Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem Mitsubishi Lancer E9) who survived a trip into a ditch on the second stage and spent the day searching for whatever grip was available. "We got straight out of the ditch. We were lucky that the bank was soft," said Giddings of the second stage incident.
There was a big battle for the honour of the Forest of Dean as Bob Morgan/Adrian Williams (Winner Garage Skoda Cinderford Skoda Fabia R5) headed Nik Elsmore/Ifan Devine (CDS Taxis/Calico Interiors Mitsubishi Lancer E9) by just four seconds after a day-long contest. Half a minute back after a strong run was the Ford Fiesta R5 of David Tomlin/Keith Ashley (Axon Commercial Catering Equipment).
Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport), Colin Griffiths/Marc Morgan (Cefnsuran Farm Self Catering Holidays) and Rob Aslett/Ashley all battled through the day to finish in their Subaru Imprezas, as did of Colin Minton/Jordan Joines (Ignition Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5) and Geoff Cottrill/Nathan Crewe (Cottrill Transport Mitsubishi Lancer E9).
Sadly, the ever-growing list of retirements included Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers Mitsubishi Lancer E9s) with a wheel off in stage one while driveshaft failure sidelined the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Rob Morris/Paul Spooner (RMG Groundworks). Other retirements include the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company) and the Subaru Impreza of Martyn Andrews/Steve Greenhill.
Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss (Wales Motorsport Ford Escort Mk2) were magnificent as they took third place overall Welsh points and won the historic section by handsome margin. It was a faultless drive from the former British champion as Dan Mennell/John Roberts (Mennell Motors/Pirelli/Speedline) and Robert Gough/Jack Bowen led the chase. A little way back, Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver narrowly headed the new pairing of Stefaan Stouf and Paul McCann.
Hywel Jones and Sion Rowlands had a good day in their Escort Mk2 to finish second in class H6 in the Interclub section, finishing clear of the Escorts of Peter Jones/Gareth Davies, Graham Palmer/Mike Webb, Lyn Davies/Aled Richards (57 Tyres) and the Volvo 244 Darrell Denning/Steve Wellman (Genuine Cars and Classics/J&S Handling). Ron Morgan/Jodan Jones (Restruct/Wales Motorsport) and Peter Hinton/Ryan Witty (Yorkshire Garden Maintenance/Rallynuts) were also pleased to reach the finish of a challenging event.
Class wins from the historic ranks went to the VW Golf GTi of Chris Hellings/Daniel Morefield and the Ford Cortina GT of David Wood/Reece Brookes. Out of luck were Richard Gough and Johnny 'Tad' Evans who slid their Escort Mk2 into a ditch and Neal James/Brian Stubbs who retired with a misfire in the morning loop, while the Peugeot 205 GTi of Paul Clayton/Veera Johnson went out in the afternoon loop.
The BMW of Mike and Nikola Brown scored an emphatic Class 3 victory, well clear of fellow BMW crews Andrew Fox/Jamie Lee-Fox and David Jones/Glyn Price. Despite losing a lot of time, Riley Chester and co-driver Steve Davey battled home to score maximum PWRC points in Class 5 in their Ford Fiesta.
Class 6 was all about family rivalry as Callum Griffiths beat his brother Liam by half a minute. Callum and William Lewis kept their Ford Fiesta ST150 ahead of Liam and Robbie Sandford as both attacked the wet and muddy stages in some style. The Ford Escort of Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins (Cherry Rock Ltd/Dave Jenkins Motorsport) led the chase of the Fiestas but Jeremy Harris/Alexandra Harris (Kilcot Garage Ltd/PJW Construction/Gurneys Family Butchers) were off in SS2.
Further back in Class 6 were the Escorts of John Woodward/Kevin Ikin, Simon Millington/Samuel Kelter and Russell and Wendy Mason. Paul Gorge and Daniel Hurst (Mazda MX-5) were another crew to make it home despite a major time loss.
In Class 7, for the up to 1600cc cars, the Opel Adam of Oliver Phillips/Barry Young (GPM/Damper Tek) had a very strong run to head the Honda Civic of Martin Walters/Marie Fletcher (Digger Parts Direct/Tegiwa) from the Welsh championship contenders.
The up to 1400cc PWRC pack was again topped by the hard-charging Nissan Micra of Dylan Fowler-Bishop/Dan Evans. Chasing the mighty Micra was the Vauxhall Nova of Geraint Williams/Caron Tomlinson (Gwynedd Skip and Plant Hire/GW Services/RG Hire Ltd/Ceir Seiont Cars/T D Plant Hire/Carafannau Ham), the Peugeot 106 of Joel Lewis/Jamie Mills (Bucknell Auto Services) and the 1000cc Nissan Micra of Dominic Hodge/Brian Cammack (Humphris Motorsport).
Other awards within the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship include the David Stokes Historic Challenge award for drivers and the Guy Weaver award for co-drivers, Hockly Motorsport awards for 2WD and 1400cc and the 57 Tyres Welsh Challenge for drivers and co-drivers who have not finished in the top 10 overall on any round of the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship or any equivalent status championship event. The Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship remains dedicated to helping develop young rally talent and with the support of OnThePaceNote and Restruct, the under-25 category continues to grow.
The remaining schedule for the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is:
5 Oct 25 Cambrian Rally
6 Nov 8 Wyedean Rally
Championship registration is open and is available via: https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk
Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship. Tel 07778 547918. For enquiries about the championship, please contact Bryn Pierce via e-mail:
