Henderson’s relish with backto-back wins
David Henderson made it two wins in two weeks when he sealed an 18-second victory on the inaugural East Riding Stages, the first ever closed-roads rally in Yorkshire.
Despite early brake problems, the Ford Fiesta R5 of Henderson and Chris Lees had built up a five-second lead by half-distance, as James Williams/dai Roberts (Hyundai R5) duelled for second with Mark Kelly/neil Colman (Fiesta).
Kelly was a second down after a grassy moment on stage three, but took the place back on the next run. A trip into a field on stage seven and a stall at the start of the final test put paid to Williams’s hopes, leaving Henderson clear to add to his Snetterton Stages triumph the previous week and allow Kelly to reclaim second.
Williams held onto third, with Neil Roskell/ Andrew Roughead (Fiesta) fourth. Former British Rally champion David Bogie and Kevin Rae secured fifth overall with their Ford Escort.
Nick Heard and Monty Low became the first crew for 13 years to rally a Ginetta, when they entered in Heard’s G40, which is an ex-racer. “I work with the race team on weekends and in the factory too, and we just wondered how it would go on a rally,” said Heard. The duo finished 13th in class and 70th overall.