BRIT INGRAM FLIES TO EUROPEAN RALLY GLORY
SKODA DRIVER IS THE KING OF THE STAGES
Organiser: Herefordshire Motor Club When: November 9 Where: Builth Wells, Powys Championships: Cotswold Motor Sport Group Stage Rally Stages: 14 Starters: 60
Brothers Wayne and Will Lloyd emerged as winners of an exciting to and fro scrap with Steve Ellis/ Iwan Thomas on the Builth Showground Stages.
In slippery conditions better suited to four-wheel-drive machines, the Ford Escort Mk2 crew held their BMW 325-mounted rivals at bay by just two seconds after 14 stages.
Last year’s winners, Sam Davies/ Martin Lasper, led early on as their Vauxhall Nova coped well on tracks made slippery by overnight rain and frost. However, a broken rotor arm on SS3 cost two minutes and dropped them out of the top 20. Davies’s misfortune left Lloyd and Ellis battling for top spot.
Ellis’s BMW ran faultlessly as he led by three seconds after SS4, but Lloyd hit back to take a two-second lead after SS6 and the two drivers were tied on times after SS8. The pivotal moment came on SS10, as despite breaking his gear lever midstage Lloyd emerged three seconds in front. Having fixed the lever in service he held off Ellis on the final tests, run in the dark.
Christian/carys Prynne (Peugeot 205 GTI) finished third, despite running on well-worn tyres all day. They overcame an early diff problem and duelled with Dan Evans/jessica Hockly’s Nova throughout the morning. Evans’s engine stopped on SS7, leaving Prynne to hold off Huw Jones/ Darren Williams (Peugeot 206) by two seconds. Jones’s day was blighted on SS4 when a puncture cost one minute.
Marcus Pagett/rhys Stoneman (Nissan Micra) finished fifth and won the 1400cc class on their first visit to Builth Showground. Their lack of outright horsepower proved a boon on the slippery surface and their diminutive car ran troublefree all day. “We’ve just put fuel in it,” reported Pagett. Fitting fresh rear tyres midrally transformed Mark/claire Lennox’s Escort Mk2 and they finished strongly in sixth, 14s ahead of Davies/lasper, who fought back hard after their rotor arm problem.
Eighth-placed Conrad and Sophie Law (Escort Mk1) had to put out an underbonnet fire while waiting to start SS4. Fellow competitor Alun Horn sportingly loaned them his extinguisher to continue in the rally and they made the most of the gift, winning the two-litre class.
Results
1 Wayne/will Lloyd (Ford Escort Mk2) 48m7s; 2 Steve Ellis/ Iwan Thomas (BMW 325) +2s; 3 Christian/ Carys Prynne (Peugeot 205 GTI); 4 Huw Jones/ Darren Williams (Peugeot 206 Cup Car); 5 Marcus Pagett/ Rhys Stoneman (Nissan Micra); 6 Mark/ Claire Lennox (Escort Mk2); 7 Sam Davies/ Martin Lasper (Vauxhall Nova); 8 Conrad/sophie Law (Escort Mk1); 9 Phil/ Clive Jones (Escort Mk2); 10 George Williams/ Cadog Davies (Escort Mk2).
Class winners: Pagett/stoneman; Jones/williams; Law/ Law; Prynne/ Prynne; Ellis/thomas; Lennox/ Lennox; Chris Jones/ Daniel Harris (Vauxhall Chevette); Edward Lloyd/ Brian Barrell (Subaru Impreza).