HIRST AND DEAR TAKE CONVINCING BTRDA VICTORY ON WELSH STAGES
Mathew Hirst and Declan Dear made it two wins in Wales within a month as they took victory on a longer-thanusual Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages in their Ford Fiesta R5.
They ended the day a minute ahead of second-placed Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh
(Ford Fiesta Rally2) in the Interclub element of the rally, while a strong afternoon run elevated Rob Wilson/Martin Haggett to third place in their Mitsubishi Lancer E7.
Running for the 50th time, the event attracted a bumper entry for seven classic Welsh forestry stages in Sarnau, Tarennig, Myherin and
Hafren, with the final two tests being long runs through Myherin and Hafren/Sweet Lamb.
After being a close second best to Payne through Sarnau, Hirst moved to the head of the BTRDA field after setting the fastest time in the following three tests ending the morning with a lead of almost 40 seconds.
“How can I not be happy with that?,” asked Hirst at service. “The fog [in stages two and three] was challenging, but it’s the same for everyone, we committed to the notes and have a good lead, a bit like last year,” he commented, while mindful that late problems dropped him to third in 2023.
Following his good start,
Payne had a mixed morning, not helped by having to run a different restrictor as he was also contesting the National BRC event. Nonetheless he was still in a comfortable second position ahead of Russ Thompson/Stephen Link.
Unlike Payne, Thompson said his morning’s run had been “very good with no issues” but he was unable to relax as fellow Mitsubishi crew Rob Wilson and Martin Haggett were close behind.
Vivian Hamill, whose VW Polo GTi R5 was off the road near the start of SS1, was already out of the event. A lack of brakes accounted for Perry Gardener’s Fiesta R5 and Gunnar Karl Johannesson, who had been as high as fourth-place, retired his Fiesta with clutch issues.
A drama-free afternoon ensured there would be no repeat of Hirst’s 2023 woes as he had a steady run through Sarnau 2 before rounding off the day with fastest times on the Myherin and Hafren/Sweet Lamb tests.
“It’s been a solid day in the woods, and a good challenge with the extra mileage,” he said after securing the Interclub win.
It was much of the same for Payne in the afternoon, finishing the day as secondplaced BTRDA driver following a drama-free run though he finished the final stage with a front-right puncture. Behind him though, things were getting exciting.
A spin in Sarnau proved costly for Thompson who dropped behind Wilson, who was second fastest behind Payne. It was the start of a great afternoon for Wilson, who equalled his best BTRDA finish with third place. “We had a fun afternoon, we were all over the road,” said Wilson as he rounded off the day with second-fastest time on the final stage.
Going into the long Myherin test, Thompson had been hoping his tyre strategy would prove beneficial. “We fitted harder tyres to play the longer game, but it didn’t pay off,” he explained. His Mitsubishi was delayed on the final test following another car’s accident, and he ended the day in fourth place.
Like Thompson, Daniel Siguroarson and Asta Siguroardottir lost time here and, having run fifth, they dropped to seventh in their Fiesta R5 at the finish.
Battling for fifth place were Rory Young/Allan Cathers and Scott Beattie/Peredur Davies, with Young having the better morning. Driving a VW Polo GTi R5 for the first time,
Young made a good start before spinning and stalling at a Myherin hairpin. A puncture in Sarnau 2 didn’t help, but a good run through the Myherin test resulted in a fifth-position finish.
“It’s been a really good day,”he said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the stages, and I do like this car,” he added, after a successful first outing in the car.
On his first outing in the Welsh forests, Beattie felt it had been a mixed day, as he completed the morning stages. “Struggling for grip, the stages are good but tricky,” he said. A change of tyres worked well in the afternoon, giving him more confidence to push, as he set fourth-fastest time on SS7, finishing the day just four seconds behind Young.
After overcoming handling problems in the morning,
James Giddings and Aled
Davies had a good run in the afternoon to finish eighth in their Mitsubishi Lancer E9.