PUB JORDANS TEAM UP IN GT40
DOWN THE WITH JASON PRITCHARD Mike and Andrew will drive together in Goodwood feature event
“It’s a perfect start to the season. We aimed to do it but the competition is very tough so to come away from the Red Kite with maximum points is perfect. We did the same last year but the conditions were very different and today was more down to pace whereas last year it was more down to the ice and snow and what tyres you had and things like road position.”
The fog was tough “I’d only ever been across Route 60 once before and that’s the sort of stage where you can make up a lot of time if you know it. But in the fog it was really a case of committing to the notes. You really couldn’t see very much at all. At the start of the stage my co-driver Phil Clarke and I had a laugh and said that if I lifted between one particular corner and the finish he could tell me off. But in those conditions you had to lift a little bit. Phil was spot on again; there’s no drama there and I trust him 100 per cent.”
He had a cushion for the final stage “The second pass of the stages was very tough and so we were quite lucky to have a 28s lead going into the last stage in Caio. We were able to take it a bit easy and try and not get a puncture and pick our way through, rather than have to attack.”
The target is the BHRC crown “The aim is to win the MSA British Historic Rally Championship again. Only David Stokes has won backto-back BHRC titles so far. So it would be very nice to be in that company. That’s our first target and then we’ll do the Manx National again in the Ford Focus World Rally Car.”
It is a family team “My dad Eian is going to do some of the new R.A.C. Asphalt Championship in the other Escort Mk2 we have. That’s the one I rolled on the Roger Albert Clark Rally a couple of years ago but it’s now immaculate again and all ready to go in asphalt specification. It’s nice that there are a few events that we can both do. I’ve told him he can have my second hand tyres.”
ROAD RALLY ROUND-UP
An incident packed Rali
was won by John Davies/aled Richards, who emerged from a tight tussle for the lead as many of their rivals hit problems.
Irfon Richards/ Max Freeman held a 40-second lead at Petrol but soon after the restart they lost over three minutes when they hit standing water and lost their electrics. They continued to the Finish and would have been classified fourth but were excluded for a give way offence.
Davies/ Richards had been in second at the halfway point but had Dale Furniss/ Nick Bloxham just one second behind. The latter crew were delayed in the second half, initially by a rear caliper problem and then by a broken gearbox mounting. They survived and would have taken sixth but for a wrong approach at a PC, the resultant fail dropped them further down the order.
These dramas meant that the battle for first place was between the winners and last year’s victors, Steffan ‘DR’ Davies/justin Davies. The latter crew reduced their halfway deficit slightly but were still 30 seconds behind at the Finish. However the result was enough to give Steffan ‘DR’ the lead in the Welsh Championship.
Defending Welsh Champions Ian ‘Dude’ Roberts/gwawr Hughes were delayed by a misfire in the first half but finished fourth.