EDWARDS MAKES IT THREE IN A ROW
FIESTA MAN TOPS BRC ON ULSTER RALLY
The Ulster International Rally was one of many firsts for Matt Edwards. The Welshman had failed to record a single scratch time on previous visits there. And he hadn’t come close to featuring on the podium, either. But that all changed on the
latest instalment of the Ulster.
Of greatest significance, however, is that he and co-driver Darren Garrod stole more ground in the British Rally Championship standings with a third straight victory. Beforehand, he privately spoke of the belief that he could win in Ireland. Now everyone knows that he’s capable of it, too.
The event took a hit before it had even started, with two of the quickest Tarmac drivers – Keith Cronin and Sam Moffett – not attending for their respective reasons ( see rally news). It was not the perfect start for a new-look event swapping Londonderry for Antrim this year.
As the cars gathered in Antrim’s picturesque Castle Gardens for the start, the words on everyone’s lips were ‘Glendun’ and ‘Torr Head’ – the jewels in the crown of this year’s newlook meeting. In fact, they are two of the best stretches of road you will find anywhere in Great Britain or Ireland, according to World Rally driver, Craig Breen. The Citroen employee is a particular fan of Torr Head, while former BRC regular Fredrik Ahlin referred to it as the sealed equivalent of Ouninpohja when he pitted his skills against the snaking test two years ago on the Circuit of Ireland.
It started wet and, as usual on this event, the R5 cars were allowed to use full wet tyres. The R2s were able to cut their tyres, with organisers able to do so thanks to a clause in the regulations. Wets aren’t permitted otherwise.
Quickest to find a rhythm was Rhys Yates in his new Skoda Fabia, the Czech car’s superior pick-up out of corners boosted by a recent update giving him the confidence to really attack. He went one-and-a-half seconds quicker than the Fiesta belonging to Josh Moffett before fellow Ford driver, Jonny Greer, took up the chase with Kirsty Riddick alongside. Second fastest before cars returned to service in Antrim was a bold statement from Greer who complained of traces of fluid on the road, organisers denying the fluid emanated from the course car as was rumoured. A statement read: “The stages were checked by safety cars which ran ahead of the competitors. All competitors were made aware of this in advance of starting the stages. Following the stage, competitors reported no issues.”
BRC leader Edwards was also largely content with his speed and notes, which he tweaked on the morning of the rally. David Bogie, in fifth, was another to complain of fuel on the first pass; this seemed to affect his confidence and resulted in cosmetic damage to his Skoda Fabia.
With fresh rubber beneath him, Greer wanted to regain the initiative, especially as he had nominated his points-boosting Joker card on his home round.
But it all ended prematurely on the Cairncastle stage when the greasy conditions caught him out. He joined Desi Henry – who scythed down a telegraph pole and broke the car’s steering arm – at the same corner. That left organisers with little alternative but to cancel the test and award nominal times to everyone except Moffett and Edwards.
They successfully completed the stage before the melee had unfolded, promoting Moffett into the lead, which he held on to by just over four seconds at the overnight halt. More importantly, however, was the fact Edwards held second from Yates – a position that would return maximum points if things remained unchanged.
“I had never done Torr until today,” said Edwards. “I have recced it plenty of times but plans didn’t work out the way we wanted to before. We had two really good runs over it and that has put us where we are.”
By comparison, Marty Mccormack, by his usually high Ulster Rally
standards, was only fifth. The wet roads caught out Alex Laffey on the first loop, a half spin costing him somewhere in the region of 10 seconds and putting him sixth.
Saturday started in similar fashion to Friday; Yates led after the Langford Lodge stage. Despite labelling the conditions as “standard Irish” – dry stretches strewn with damp patches – he went fastest to go top, his stand-in co-driver James Morgan doing the job while Elliott Edmondson worked on Rally Germany.
At service and the regroup in Randalstown, Edwards had time to gather his thoughts. In truth, he wasn’t too despondent to have been caught napping and felt the slower, technical nature of the two stages in the Sperrins would enable him to reel in Chesterfield man Yates – and that is exactly how it played out. He went from being 3.6 seconds off top spot to lead by 4.3 seconds after Lisnamuck and doubled it after the 13-miles of Doraville.
Back at service he was a picture of calm. Two doors down, Yates was spending what free time he had studying onboard footage of Langford Lodge. Inbetween he was kicking himself, his gamble of
running a hybrid of softs on the front and wets on the back not paying off. And Bogie? The affable Scotsman predicted the pack would be reshuffled once more as the rally reached its climax.
No sooner had Langford Lodge started than his words came to pass. Yates clouted the rear of his Fabia, punctured and limped through to the finish, leading his mechanics to break out the Gaffer tape at service. Not only did he surrender a place to Bogie because of it, but also any hope he had of asking some serious questions of runaway leader Edwards, who added another four seconds to his cause.
“Before that the Michelins were tacky and really grippy,” said a reflective Yates, almost unable to find the words to explain what had exactly happened. “On that occasion we leant hard on the tyres – and they just didn’t work.”
As the focus switched west, Mccormack remained a distant fifth. He was fortunate to still be among the runners after a heartin-mouth spin on Saturday’s opening test. More lairy moments followed, so with three stages left, he decided to park his Skoda up while the going was good, handing the place to Laffey.
Two stages remained and, rather than adopt a steady approach, Edwards chose to really put the hammer down, the feeling in the Fiesta as good as it has ever been, to sign off with nearly half-aminute in hand over Moffett.
“This is an achievement,” he said at the finish. “It’s a big rally to win; it’s the biggest over here, especially with the weather being so changeable as it has been. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Bogie really put the afterburners on to close to within 2.5s of Moffett on the final pass for an overall podium. With a new Fabia in the pipeline, and runnerup in the BRC points, it has given him reason for optimism with Rally Isle of Man and the double-header of Rally GB to look forward to. Yates, meanwhile, was left to ponder what might have been. Laffey equaled his fourth-place finish from the Ypres Rally.
The result is a huge one for Edwards. It means the Conway driver has three maximum scores, and if he wins on the Isle of Man next month, Bogie will have to finish second or third.
Otherwise, the title will return to Wales for the second time in three years. The previous Welsh victory one Elfyn Evans...