EDWARDS OFF TO A FLIER
FIESTA MAN WINS BRC OPENER
Having fallen short of a maiden British Rally Championship win on no fewer than three occasions in 2017, Matt Edwards finally buried the hatchet in supreme fashion by claiming victory in the opening round of the season in Carlisle, also his first international win. Alongside co-driver Darren Garrod, Edwards was the dominant force throughout last weekend’s Pirelli International and won five out of eight stages in his M-sport Ford Fiesta R5, defeating Rhys Yates by a margin of 20.5s.
Defending champions Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin capped off an impressive debut for their new Hyundai i20 R5 with a podium, having led the event early on.
Following an enforced month-long break due to the cancellation of the Border Counties Rally in March, the picturesque landscape of the Kielder Forest played host to a slightly warmer curtain raiser.
That postponement allowed Cronin and Galvin to mark their first event since being crowned for the fourth time on the Isle of Man last September, replacing their title-winning Fiesta R5 in a late deal.
Indeed, it was the Irish duo who led after the opening passes through Pundershaw and Roughside, as pre-event favourite David Bogie crashed out in spectacular fashion.
Keen to make a flying start to the season, Bogie had been up on Cronin by just over two seconds when the Dumfries driver misjudged a right hander halfway through the 8.33-mile SS1. He slipped his Skoda Fabia R5 into a ditch, launching it end-over-end and into retirement. Both Bogie and co-driver John Rowan thankfully emerged unscathed.
With Bogie out of the running and Cronin losing time on SS2 and SS3 (The Forks), Edwards took his first stage wins of the day and arrived at opening service with a four-second lead over the Irishman.
From then on, Edwards – running on Pirelli’s covers – not only managed to keep Cronin at bay, but he extended his margin over the champion, claiming a further three stage wins to take his first ever BRC victory.
“We came here looking for a topthree, but to come away with a win is the perfect start,” Edwards said.
“Everything we did last year was a building block towards 2018, so to be able to put a rally together and win it on merit is really good.
“We had a good test with the team last week and did our homework.
“It’s one thing to get into the lead at this level and another thing to keep it, so from a mental point of view it’s very encouraging.”
While Edwards continued to extend his advantage over the field in the remaining two stages – the longest of the event at 15.39 miles (The Forks) and 10.11 miles (Whitesike) – Michelin-shod runners Yates and Cronin were embroiled in a titanic battle for the runner-up position.
The gap ebbed and flowed with just two seconds splitting the pair entering the final stage.
Still smarting from a final-stage defeat of second place in the Speyside Rally a fortnight ago, Yates threw caution to the wind and came out on top by 1.5s over Cronin.
“I’m well happy with that!” beamed Yates post-event, his best BRC finish at the beginning of only his fourth full-season of rallying.
“I didn’t have a massive push in the final stage but I knew I could make up the time on Keith so I went for it.”
The Chesterfield driver admitted he’d been “overdriving a bit” during the morning loop, which caused him to spin into a hay bale at a chicane, costing him a chunk of time.
But a superb final two stages delivered the result, no doubt benefiting from the expertise of the CA1 Sport team – which was running his car for the first time – and a new Fabia R5 replacing his trusty Fiesta of three years.
For his part, Cronin atoned for his retirement at the same event 12 months ago and was relieved to have secured a podium on his first competitive outing in the i20.
The Cork man lacked significant testing time in the car and also took time to get used to the Michelin tyres to which he switched in the offseason, having been a DMACK man.
Two stage wins however, on SS1 and SS4, were enough to leave the champion optimistic ahead of Ypres in June – an event he won last year.
“Considering I didn’t finish this event last year, I can be happy with third place,” he noted. Cronin was particularly pragmatic when putting his championship hat on and was quick to point out that bagging points each time is critical if he is to claim his fifth title this year.
He added: “As we learned last year, the championships aren’t won until the last stage of the last rally. You just have to make sure you’re in the race at the end, so this podium is positive.”
Despite posting the second-quickest time on the opening stage, Marty Mccormack and David Moynihan fell down the order throughout the morning loop due to gearbox issues.
The Northern Irishman complained of worrying noises at the front of his Fabia R5, but after flushing the gearbox fluid at service, proceeded to set consistent stage times on the way to fourth overall.
Replacing his usual Citroen DS 3 R5 for a Fiesta for the opening round of the championship, Jonny Greer spent much of the morning getting used to his new office on gravel for the first time.
A few reverses from the incredibly tight chicanes aside, he eventually found the sweet spot and set a stunning time to go second on SS7, just 8.4s behind Edwards. A puncture at the end of the stage forced a wheel change and curtailed any chance of a repeat in SS8, leaving Greer to settle for fifth.
Greer’s struggles at the chicanes – implemented to slow the cars on the fast Kielder stages and avoid them beating the average speed bogey time – were a source of frustration throughout the service park.
Both Yates and local man Peter Taylor lost time through the chicanes via spins and overshoots, forcing them to conduct a series of time-consuming reverses.
Taylor, who finished nearly four minutes behind Edwards in sixth after taking too hard a compound tyre in the morning, was especially frustrated as he battled to manoeuvre his Fiesta RS WRC round the tight confines.
“I spun into the bales a couple of times at the chicanes in the morning and then had to reverse out of another because I just didn’t have the steering lock to get round,” he said.
“You’ve got a bale on each turn and getting the car in and out of there is nearly impossible.”
Alex Laffey enjoyed a steady run in his Fiesta R5 to finish seventh overall. The Scotsman ran sixth ahead of opening service but lacked the pace of the leading quintet to provide any challenge. A better afternoon loop produced more
consistency, leaving him 50s clear of Lawrence Whyte at the finish.
BRC debutant Whyte – in his fifth ever rally – and co-driver Stuart Loudon, in his 100th, usurped Thomas Preston’s Skoda Fabia R5 in the final stage to claim eighth.
Preston was another to suffer spins at one of the chicanes after a “steady run” in the morning loop. An incident-free afternoon enabled him to pick up points, finishing clear of Sacha Kakad’s Fiesta, his first outing in the car in anger.
The crews face another month-and-ahalf wait until the roads of Ypres in Belgium, with Edwards keen to continue his championship charge where he took second last year.
“We’ve been building a championship since the end of last year,” said Edwards. “We won’t get carried away, but it’s been a great start to the season.”
He’ll have to fend off the formidable duo of Cronin and Galvin, who are confident the Belgian Tarmac will kick start their latest title defence.
“I think we will have a good package on Tarmac,” said Cronin. “The car and tyres should be good so we’ll see how we get on there.”