JAMES WRAPS UP THIRD SPOT
JAMES Williams secured third place in the 2022 Motorsport UK British Rally Championship on the final round, the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally in North Wales last weekend.
The 24-year-old from Newcastle Emlyn, who had secured three podiums ahead of the season’s curtain call, was ready to do battle for his first win of the season in Britain’s premier rallying series.
Two days and 10 stages awaited him, co-driver Dai Roberts and the Hyundai Power Products rally team.
Two night stages opened the proceedings on the opening day, with 13 miles held under total darkness.
Williams gambled by running the Hyundai i20 R5 rally car in Tarmac specification, with only a 15-minute night time service to change the car over to gravel specification for the following day.
Unfortunately, the potential advantage was wiped away when a turbo boost pipe disconnected, leaving Williams with limited power.
Into the evening service and the Hyundai Power Products Rally team managed to change suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres and fix the boost pipe in under 13 minutes, a heroic effort to give the Carmarthsnhire pair a shot of making an indent into the time loss on the second day.
Williams woke up in an inspired mode, firing the fourwheel-drive Hyundai to three fastest BRC times, some just a handful of seconds behind World Championship driver and the eventual event winner Oliver Solberg.
While in attack mode, Williams lost his front bumper and headlight when brushing a straw bale, leaving the service team with a repair job before the afternoon loop.
Salvaging whatever spare parts they could, the team turned the Hyundai around for the final set of stages with a shot of podium in site.
The event took another turn for the worse as Williams’s power steering failed, meaning he had to wrestle the car to the finish. His reward for his heroics was third in the BRC and with it third in the championship standings as well as top rookie in the series.
“You just couldn’t script our Cambrian Rally,” said an exhausted Williams.
“It didn’t start on the right foot for us and it just snowballed from there. I was personally disappointed, but the morale of the team just lifted me every time.
“I owe everything to the Hyundai Power Products team – they turned the car around on Friday night with time to spare and helped me salvage a result this weekend to tie up third place in the championship.
“We have to look at the year as a whole. We have had some greats moments but we showed some real character and resilience as a team during the dark times, and by digging deep it enabled us to finish top rookie and I am immensely proud of that.
“I want to thank all my partners, sponsors and supporters for helping me get to the end of the season. This result was for them as they kept me going and got me to the end of the year. We have lots to do ahead of 2023 – but we want to get on the planning early so we can aim for big things in the new year.”
Williams would like to thank his team of loyal partners: Hyundai Power Products, Rally Cover, Performance 1st Coaching, West Wales Lubricants, Palletline, Craftric Technology, Speedline Corse UK, Hide Away Wales, West Coast Finance, Ceir Castle Motors, VP Racing Fuels, Michelin and the Gareth Roberts Memorial Fund. If you would like to become a partner, get in touch with the team at jamescwilliams107@hotmail.com.*