Brick seals the 1400 title as Powell takes the Trackrod win
Dave Brick secured the 1400 class title with a steady drive to third place, while main title rival Chris Powell took overall honours in his Talbot Sunbeam.
Powell came into the weekend knowing he needed to win and Brick finish lower than fourth for him to stand a chance of snatching the title.
The Weobey driver, partnered by co-driver Jim Lewis, began strongly and gapped Steve Black’s Suzuki Swift by nearly 10 seconds on the opening stage at Cropton.
A “flat-out” approach to the remaining stages told in the time Powell was able to find in SS2 (Gale Rigg), extending his lead to a staggering 26.7 seconds. A further stage win on North Dalby ensured Powell would not be caught by the end, with the Sunbeam taking victory by a comfortable 1m36s over Black, albeit in vein.
“I was pushing flat-out and I hoped that I might have enticed Dave to join in because he loves a challenge, but he was sensible and had a measured drive,” said Powell.
Brick kept his Vauxhall Nova’s nose clean all day and maintained third place for almost the entire rally. The Ludlow driver stayed out of trouble on a day where others fell by the wayside early on.
Frontrunner Tommi Meadows lost nearly 40 seconds on the first stage after getting stuck behind another car and losing visibility in the hanging dust. Keen to claw back this lost time, his Ford Ka, shared with Emma Morrison, slid off the road at high speed and into retirement.
Chris Bush and Robert Smith endured an “eventful” rally in their Vauxhall Corsa. After clipping a bale on SS1, Bush had to contend with the car jumping out of fifth gear before a battery issue cut their intercom. Their rally came to an end with an off on SS4.