SIMPSON SECURES NEIL HOWARD STAGES HAT-TRICK
Ford Fiesta crew survive battle of attrition to finish top.
It seemed to be a rally nobody wanted to win until Stephen Simpson took it upon himself to grab a third Neil Howard Stages victory in a dramatic Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship opener at Oulton Park.
“It’s all about getting to the finish” were Simpson’s words while in contention for success, and that phrase summed up the narrative in Cheshire as twice big hitters fell by the wayside while leading comfortably.
Even before the event, Simpson’s perennial rival Kevin Procter opted out of the rally he had won for the last three years due to family reasons.
“Me and Kev have been at each other for around 20 years,” said Simpson, his rival replaced by household rallycross name Andy Scott and co-driver Marc Fowler in the Ford Fiesta R5.
World Rally and R5 machinery was touted to run the show, and that proved the case in changing conditions across the day.
Quickest out of the blocks was the returning Frank Bird, the Formula Renault single-seater driver bagging fastest stage times on SS1 and SS2 to gain bragging rights in his Focus
WRC07 over his chasing Fiesta R5 rival, Matt Edwards.
The latter was hindered by a 10-second time penalty for missing a chicane on the opening stage, albeit unintentionally. “We’ve had brake problems on that stage so I had no choice to try and avoid the barrels,” he said.
These problems did not deter the twotime British Rally Championship winner and two stage wins, coupled with a halfspin for Bird on SS4, slashed the deficit of 15s to just 10 by the afternoon.
With battle lines drawn, mechanical gremlins soon took a stranglehold on the lead battle. First to suffer was Graham
Coffey, who lost ground through a niggling boost issue early in the day on his Fiesta S2000 which was rectified.
That was not the case for leader Bird on SS5, as the Focus WRC07 dropped into limp mode after disagreeing with the water splash. “It’s gutting for him as he needs points,” said co-driver Jack Morton, as the pair were forced to retire due to the issue.
Edwards’ luck had changed, but in a flash it turned full circle as his Fiesta stopped at the hairpin exiting Cascades. A small engine fire confirmed retirement, leaving Simpson’s Fiesta R5 suddenly in the hot seat with a 30s lead over a recovering Coffey.
“It could be me next,” Simpson quipped as he pondered the thought of matching Procter’s tally of three Neil Howard Stages wins. “I can’t slow down though or the car doesn’t respond.
It’ll be flat chat to the end.”
Sticking to their words, Simpson and co-driver Patrick Walsh reeled off a brace of stage wins to move realistically out of reach. A steady finish sealed the deal, Simpson taking his first win since 2016 by 37s. “I can now say to
Kev [Procter] that we’re three all,” said the winner. “It’s an excellent rally, and we did our own thing which was get it to the end.”
They left behind a gripping scrap for second between Coffey, Scott and a flying James Self in another Fiesta R5.
Scott grew in confidence as night descended and was rewarded with his first fastest stage time on the penultimate test to take advantage of Coffey’s slower run, trimming nine seconds out of his rival to move clear in second spot.
“We knew we had to pull something special out the bag,” said Scott. “I kept improving, and I’ve got to thank Kevin for giving me the opportunity.”
Coffey hung onto the final podium spot by a solitary second over Self, as Joshua Davey rounded out the top five in the returning Darrian T90. Davey almost joined the retirements list after suffering front wheel damage from a jarring trip through a pothole on the second stage of the day, but broke up the Ford stranglehold thanks to a raft of top-five performances throughout the day’s stages.
A second Darrian followed with Barry Morris behind the wheel, beating Steve Tilburn who upheld the Ford Escort Mk2 flag in seventh ahead of Richard Wells (Mitsubishi Lancer E9). A Mitsubishi Mirage earned a top-10 finish thanks to Paul Smith as Paul Murro’s Escort Mk2 rounded out the top 10.