Morris wins on annual rally visit to mira

Horiba D’isis Rally By Peter Scherer Organiser: Quinton MC When: April 28 Where: MIRA, Nuneaton Championships: AWMMC Heart of England; ANWCC; EMAMC; ACSMC Tarmacadam Stages: 6 Starters: 87. Tom Morris and Colin Harkness never really looked under threat at MIRA as their Metro 6R4 took yet another dominant win in cold and wet conditions.

Colin Gemmell/derek Keir’s Ford Escort Mk2 held second, but were overhauled by Josh Payton/ Marcus Mizen after three stages.

But Payton/mizen was late out for the next stage, lost time and dropped to ninth, leaving Gemmell a minute clear of new third-place men Nick Beddoes/ Jamie Vaughan in their Escort.

Once Mark and Jeremy Straker’s Darrian had made up for a slow start, they charged up the leaderboard too and started the penultimate stage two seconds down on Beddoes. They were 27 seconds quicker and clinched third, with Beddoes retaining fourth from Mark Rowlands/richard Mason’s Escort and the recovering Payton.

Jonathan Hudson/chris Worrall’s Suzuki Swift won Class A by well over four minutes after first stage leaders Mark Jones/edward Lewis blew the engine in their MG ZR, when 10th overall.

John Deegan/shane Smith had head gasket failure in their Subaru Justy, which left Adrian Mayall/rob Hayden’s Alfa Romeo 33 a distant second.

Kyle/gordon Adam’s Escort was never headed in Class B, but Tony Rendell/ Lisa Simeone’s Escort Mk1 edged out Chris Phillips/sarah Hughes’ Peugeot 106 for second on the last stage. Despite losing out overall, Payton regained the advantage in Class C, demoting Mike English/andy Robinson from the class lead on the final stage too. Results 1 Tom Morris/ Colin Harkness (MG Metro 6R4) 1h07m57s; 2 Colin Gemmell/ Derek Keir (Ford Escort Mk2) +1m17s; 3 Mark Straker/ Jeremy Straker (Darrian T90 GT); 4 Nick Beddoes/jamie Vaughan (Escort Mk2); 5 Mark Rowlands/ Richard Mason (Escort Mk2); 6 Josh Payton/ Marcus Mizen (Escort Mk2); 7 Mike English/andy Robinson (Escort Mk2); 8 Chris Mccalllum/ Richard Stewart (Escort Mk2); 9 Mark Clarke/andrew Stark (Mitsubishi Lancer E7 WRC); 10 Clive Hitchman/jeremy Griffiths (BMW E36 Coupe).

Class winners: Jonathan Hudson/ Chris Worrall (Suzuki Swift GTI); Kyle Adam/ Gordon Adam (Escort Mk2); Payton/ Mizen.