Davison and Murphy overcome Friend and Rogers for top spot
Andy Davison and Tom Murphy took their Talbot Sunbeam VXR to a second consecutive BTRDA Silver Star victory, after a day-long battle with Ben Friend/
Jez Rogers’ Ford Escort Mk2.
The result was decided when Friend’s car caught fire on the last stage and he retired, handing second to Max Utting/claire Williams (Ford Fiesta ST). Third was Tommi Meadows/osian Owen (Ford Fiesta R2) who collected runner-up points in the Silver Star standings.
Davison and Friend set matching times on SS1, and on each of the next three tests the Talbot driver could only take one second out of his rival. Eventually the unrelenting pace told and Friend’s Escort was crippled by an underbonnet fire.
The resulting points haul consolidated Davison’s second place in the championship.
Meadows overcame several problems including having his foot run over in service, a near-miss with a deer in Haye Park and, later in the same stage, a stone that jammed his rear wheel to stay in front of fellow R2 Cup contenders James Giddings/rhys Stoneman and Rob Wright/ Terry Malins’s class B11 Escort Mk2. Wright took fourth after a clean drive on his first visit to the Woodpecker.
Almost unnoticed, Callum Black/ Michael Gilbey took their MG ZR to its fourth BTRDA 1400 category win of the year and also clinched the 2019 championship. They set a storming pace all day, constantly setting times inside the top 20. Even when they lost third gear on Haye Park their speed dropped minimally.
Chris Powell/jim Lewis still had a title shout but their Talbot Sunbeam’s clutch expired in Hopton. Steve Black/paul Morris (Suzuki Swift) finished second, 1m35s down. Black Sr later admitted:
“The car is getting better but I just wish we could be more on Callum’s pace.”