EDWARDS BATTLES BACK
FIESTA ACE TOPS PLAINS RALLY
Despite being delayed with a puncture on stage one, Matt Edwards/ Darren Garrod confirmed that they are the in-form crew of British rallying at present, as they fought back to win the Plains Rally for a third consecutive event win.
Just 20 seconds behind were Luke Francis/john H Roberts, who are getting more used to their new Ford Fiesta RS WRC, and after leading early on will surely take a maiden win in their new car soon.
Rounding off the top three were Paul Bird/jack Morton, who maintain their 100 per cent BTRDA podium finishes this year and continue to lead the BTRDA Gold Star Series.
After leaving the Welshpool start, crews faced two stages in Dyfnant before attempting two in Gartheiniog and, following a service halt in do lg ell au, these were repeated in the afternoon.
Conditions in Dyfnant caught some by surprise, with Francis saying that the slippery conditions weren’t helping with confidence.
Fastest time by eight seconds through the opening test was a good start, and this was followed up with a second fastest time through Dyfnant North. Two more second fastest times in the Gartheiniog complex meant he arrived at service with an eight-second lead.
A change of tyres was planned, although Francis admitted that where he had lost time on the opening two tests, he had made up on the latter two, so his initial choice of rubber hadn’t cost anything overall.
Things hadn’t gone so well for Edwards on the opening test, when his Ford Fiesta R5 nudged a bank, deflating a rear tyre and he and Garrod were forced to limp through the stage, dropping 28 seconds to the leader and languishing down in 13th place. The remaining morning tests had all gone well though, and fastest times on each of the following tests meant the pair moved up the field to second place at service. “We are eight seconds behind Luke now, and going in the right direction. Hopefully we have enough time left,” contemplated Edwards, planning his afternoon’s attack.
Initially, things had been going well for Bird/morton, who set top three times on each of the first three stages in their Ford Focus WRC07, moving up to the runner-up spot after setting second fastest time on SS3.
Unfortunately, things then went wrong on the last of the morning’s stages when the bonnet pins on the Focus were damaged following an overshoot, causing the bonnet to fly up and break the windscreen. The pair had to complete the test at reduced speed, dropping behind Edwards as a result.
Following a good start, with quick times on the opening two tests, Stephen Petch/michael Wilkinson quickly moved into second place in their Fiesta RS WRC, only for things to go wrong in Gartheiniog West.
“We had a massive fifth gear moment,” recounted reigning BTRDA champion Petch. “We lost the back-end by a log pile and got beached across the road.” Twenty seconds were lost as they tried to extricate themselves, the front of the car bearing some light damage.
“The bank was softer than hitting the logs with the rear of the car, it’s neat and tidy from now on, no more mistakes,” he promised.
Behind Petch, Sacha Kakad/james Aldridge were another crew still familiarising themselves with a new car. “I’m braking too early, there’s a lot more to come, but it’s a great car,” said Kakad. With no issues to report the pair were in a comfortable fifth position in their R5-spec Fiesta.
In the battle for Production Cup honours, Russ Thompson was pleased with his morning’s work. “We never seem to go well here, it’s a big improvement on previous years,” he said as he and Andy Murphy returned to Dolgellau leading the category in their Mitsubishi Lancer E9, despite a big moment on SS3.
Just seven seconds behind were Tom Naughton/will Rogers in a similar car. Having been concerned about his pace this year after a two-year lay-off, Naughton was relieved that remapping his car’s engine had improved its performance and he was pleased to be keeping close to Thompson.
True to his word, Edwards continued his speed of the later morning stages, setting fastest time by four seconds on SS5, and then moving into the lead after setting another fastest time on Dyfnant North.
Two more fastest times through the Gartheiniog tests rounded off his day as he and Garrod returned to Welshpool with a 20-second advantage.
“We had good rhythm there, the stages have been good – the organisers have done a really good job. The tyres worked well, although we made it more difficult for ourselves this morning,” he recalled, after taking
his second BTRDA win in a row.
For the second round running, Francis/roberts had to be content with the runners-up spot, the pair pleased with the progress that they are making.
“There is more time to come,” said Francis. “We just need to do a bit more work on the notes to help commitment.”
Top three fastest times on each of the afternoon’s stages shows they aren’t far off that first win in the car.
The afternoon stages proved to be less dramatic for Bird/morton as they too set consistent top three times to secure another podium result, looking forward to the next round on home territory, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Petch/wilkinson.
“The day’s been alright, but this morning’s spin cost us too much,” said last year’s winner. “It’s been nip and tuck with Luke this afternoon, but we couldn’t get the time back.”
Petch’s “moment” explained his time loss, as the reigning champion lies second on the championship leaderboard. The outright pace is lacking but he continues to score points.
Kakad’s acclimatisation to R5 continued as he took fifth ahead of old classmates Thompson and Murphy. The Group N winners claimed to have had a “pretty good day”. Unfortunately, rivals Naughton/rogers suffered an accident on stage five putting them out of the event.
Once again, seventh-placed Ieuan Rowlands/emyr Hall were leading twowheel-drive runners, the pair having a problem-free run using their Ford Escort Mk2, rather than the Hillman Avenger they use on Historic events.
An early puncture spoiled the day for Pat Naylor/ian Lawrence, although the pair found the afternoon’s stages better as they took their Lancer E9 to second in Group N despite a big moment near the start of the re-run of Gartheiniog West.
They were followed home by class B13 winners Keith Parry/eryl Evans, who were pleased to have survived a similar incident to Naylor on the same bend when run for the first time – the pair’s Subaru Impreza getting too close for comfort to Ian Joel’s Escort WRC, which was undamaged but stuck after going off earlier.
Rounding off the top 10 were perennial British Historic Rally Championship frontrunners Nick Elliott/dave Price in their Ford Escort Mk2, who equalled Rowlands on a couple of tests, and beat him on another – no mean feat on these stages, but over the latter stages they backed off to ensure the Historic category win.