Hat-trick for Lepley and Woodburn in R2 Cup
After making a steady start to the R2 Cup on the slippery opening tests, championship leaders George Lepley/tom Woodburn found the Gartheiniog tests more to their liking and they arrived at service with a 13-second lead, promising to attack harder in the afternoon.
With the car and tyres to his liking, Lepley was true to his word and took his third win of the year in the Cup, and sealed B10/R2 class honours in the process.
On stage times, Bob Vardy/ Keaton Williams would have finished second, the pair trying harder but not reaping the rewards on the afternoon stages, but the pair were excluded for an OK/SOS board issue.
Therefore, it was Tommi Meadows/emma Morrison who took the runner-up spot on their second outing in a Fiesta R2. They nearly overshot a hairpin as they got used to the car, and despite hitting a bale had a “brilliant” afternoon to finish second. Despite a troubled day when their Ford Fiesta’s gearshift snapped and the anti-lag system malfunctioned during the mornings stages, Richard Wells/calvin Houldsworth had a better run in the afternoon and finished third ahead of Will Graham/steven Davey, who had a problem-free run, with Roger Nevitt/mike Smith finishing in fifth position. Unfortunately, Jack Lees/ Michael Gilbey, who had been fastest on the first stage, went off the road on SS3 in their Peugeot 208 R2.
Historics ace Ben Friend was out in a prize-drive Fiesta R2 from Peter Smith, and took third in the B10 class in an impressive debut in the car – his first event in a lefthand-drive car – but didn’t register for the cup.