TURNER MAKES IT FIVE VICTORIES ON A TOUGH TEST ON THE PRESTON

Owen Turner secured his fifth Preston Rally win and navigator Andy Ballantyne made it two victories on the legendary Chelmsford MC event.

The pair finished ahead of the field on one of the toughest editions of

East Anglian rally as the numerous tracks used were covered in ice throughout.

Top seeds John Davies and Nick Bloxham led until shortly before the first petrol halt, but then their Puma broke a bottom arm which pulled out the driveshaft and they went no further.

Turner/Ballantyne then moved to the front and maintained their advantage until the finish. Until the later section they were under pressure from Chris and Jamie Woolley and the BMW crew were within seconds of the lead until falling back towards the end. They took the runner-up spot, ahead of Ethan Davies and Mathew Smalley.

The novice crew of Joe Philpott and Colin Brand finished in fourth but would have taken the overall win if they hadn’t booked into a time control early. This error added five unnecessary minutes to their total.

The Mel Harris Memorial Rally in South West Wales was called off just over an hour before the first car was due to start. Dangerously icy conditions made much of the route impassable and there were concerns for the safety of marshals.

Results

The Preston Rally

Organiser: Chelmsford Motor Club When: December 10-11 Where: East Anglia Route: 200 miles Starters: 58. 1 Owen Turner/Andy Ballantyne (MG ZR) 28m39s; 2 Chris Woolley/Jamie Woolley (BMW E30) +1m48s; 3 Ethan Davies/Mathew Smalley (Ford Puma); 4 Joe Philpott/Colin Brand (Honda Civic); 5 Mark Peterson/Alan Coombs (MG ZR); 6 Justin Chapman/Emily Chapman (Peugeot 205 GTi); 7 Craig Varney/ Alex Higgins (MG ZR); 8 Rob Palmer/David Smalley (MG ZR); 9= Peter Riddle/Jonathan Stimpson (MG ZR); 9= Jon Bray/Ian Graham (MG ZR). Class winners: Peterson/ Coombs; Philpott/Brand.