PAYNE SETS THE PACE ON A HIGHLY TRICKY KIELDER FOREST CHALLENGE
Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh won the modern section of the Carlisle Stages Rally by 39 seconds from Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson at the end of the rally, but that didn’t tell the whole story of a day in Kielder.
Six stages made up the day with service after three, with rain falling heavily for most of the event. Payne and Walsh had spent the opening loop swapping times with fellow Fiesta Rally2 crew David Henderson and Chris Lees. The Galloway Hills and Trackrod winners headed into the midway service with a seven-second lead over the rest of the field after a very clean morning. The Fiesta crew was doing all it could to give Lees the Scottish co-driver’s title.
Payne and Walsh were happy in second, using the event to test different tyre compounds before this weekend’s Cambrian Rally. At service they were 35s clear of Petch and Wilkinson, who were delayed with a slow puncture in SS3.
A further seven seconds back, Angus Lawrie and Paul Gribben were continuing their good form from the Galloway Hills. Having already wrapped up the Scottish Challengers title
Lawrie was feeling no pressure and had 15s over the Proton Satria Evo of Mark McCulloch and Michael Hendry. The Proton crew dropped time on the third stage with a badly slipping clutch and hoped to bodge a solution together in service.
The Hyundai i20 of John Wink and Neil Shanks was another six seconds back but unimpressed with a slow start by their standards. They were just two seconds ahead of the Subaru Impreza of Jock Armstrong and Cameron Fair. The Impreza limped into service with a broken front bottom arm that amazingly hadn’t put them out of the event. Luckily, they had the spares they needed to keep going.
Michael Binnie and Claire Mole had started very steadily after two accidents in two events. Eighth at service wasn’t going to be enough for Claire to take the Scottish co-driver’s title and they were looking to step things up in the afternoon. That left them just in front of the battle for top two-wheel drive. The Ford Escort Mk2s of Stuart Egglestone/Brian Hodgson and John Crawford/Josh Davison were separated by just five seconds after three stages.
As the crews headed back out for the final three stages there was drama for the rally leaders. Henderson and Lees dropped to sixth with a puncture in stage four. Worse was to come in SS5 when the Fiesta slipped off the road and into a gentle roll, thankfully without major damage or injury but ending Lees’ title hopes.
That left Payne and Walsh in charge, and they continued their tyre test without risking damage to the car, allowing Petch and Wilkinson to be only 39s back by the finish. Highlight of the day for Petch was fastest-equal time in stage five and both Fiesta crews were fairly satisfied with their day’s work.
With the Impreza’s suspension repaired, Armstrong and Fair were back on the pace after a couple of set-up tweaks. Two second-fastest times and a fourth moved them into third overall and top Scottish Rally Championship crew. This result left Fair and Claire Mole tied on points in the Scottish co-driver’s championship and it took a count back before Fair was awarded his first Scottish title based on the number of maximum scores.
Lawrie and Gribben maintained their solid pace all the way to the finish, taking a fantastic first SRC podium, only nine seconds away from the Impreza. Behind them, Wink and Shanks were another crew to up their pace in the afternoon. The i20 finished the event just one second behind the Mitsubishi and marked a nice return to the SRC podium for Wink and Shanks after a difficult 2022.
Binnie and Mole were over a minute back in sixth and a little disappointed at Claire losing out on the Scottish title but still happy to both be second in the championship after a very impressive year.
Egglestone and Hodgson retired in SS4 with the Escort beached but undamaged after a muddy moment, leaving Crawford and Davison to take the top two-wheel-drive honours. It was one of their best drives in the Escort since their return to rallying, 34s clear of the Impreza of Paul Britton and John McElhinney.
Robert Adamson and Jamie Edwards rounded off their Scottish championship season with a solid ninth overall in their Fiesta, ending the event just seven seconds ahead of McCulloch and Hendry. The Proton crew rounded out the top ten despite a nightmare of an afternoon, with clutch problems continuing despite several attempts to improvise a solution.