Payton’s strong form continues at TSH

Organiser: South Hams MC When: May 19/20 Where: RAF Portreath, Cornwall Championships: ASWMC Sealed Surface; ACSMC Tarmacadam; Gwynnespeed Rally Challenge Starters: 65 Stages: 14

Josh Payton and co-driver Marcus Mizen produced a dominant performance on day two of the TSH Stages Rally, setting four fastest times on the trot to turn a 19s overnight lead into a 1m2s winning margin over Paul King/alicia Miles.

The two Ford Escort Mk2 crews headed third-placed Tony Rees/jamie Vaughan’s Darrian T90 GTR by 11s at the end of a hard-fought 110 stage miles that saw nearly half of the 65 starters retire .

Saturday’s nine stages featured a neck and neck tussle for the lead between Payton, King, Rees and Kev Carr/chris Pippen (Escort Mk2). But for second seeds Martin Waters/ Ian Edwards (BMW E30 325i) it was the proverbial early bath, retiring with a broken driveshaft after SS1.

Day two, Sunday, consisted of five much longer stages. King got on the gas first, reducing the lead to two seconds. But Payton responded with four fastest times, settling the issue on SS13 by stopping the clocks 14s faster than his rival. Behind Rees, Carr’s strong run finished on SS10 due to electrical problems.

Paul Davis/keith Richings (Vauxhall Corsa) continued their recent good form by winning the 1400cc class after leading from SS1.