DAVIES AND BLOXHAM BAG BATH FESTIVAL TARGA RALLY
Top seeds John Davies and
Nick Bloxham emerged as surprise winners of the
Festival Targa Rally.
James Appleby and Sam Treleaven had led for most of the day, but then picked up large penalties for test faults on the eighth of ten tests. This put Alyn Welsby/Dan Parsons into the lead but on Test 9, where Davies/Bloxham were quickest, they picked up a line fault.
This dropped them to second place, 11s off the lead.
Welsby beat the leaders by
27s on the final test, but their time was 26s under the bogey and their advantage was therefore just one second, the amount that Davies/ Bloxham were over bogey.
Ethan Davies/Matthew Smalley and Dan Morris/Geth Johnson had been expected to be in the lead battle, but both crews retired before the halfway point.
The inaugural Dishforth
Targa was won Bev Blacker/Abi Ruddock after they had led from the halfway point to the finish. The pair hadn’t been fastest on any of the 15 tests, but a consistent run, and no test faults, gave them a comfortable winning margin. Matt Hewlett/Phil Savage led for the first eight tests but fell back to fourth at the end.
The North Yorkshire airbase provided an excellent venue, with both Tarmac and gravel sections.
Festival Targa Rally
Organiser: Bath Motor Club When:
February 24 Where: Castle Combe Championships: BTRDA, ASWMC and CMSG Tests: 10 (48 test miles) Starters: 90
1 John Davies/Nick Bloxham (Ford Puma) 92m45s; 2 Alyn Welsby/Dan Parsons (Ford Escort) +10s; 3 James Appleby/Sam Treleaven (Ford Fiesta ST150); 4 Gary White/Aled Jones (BMW 318i); 5 Bradley White/Jamie White (BMW 318i); 6 Adrian White/Ellen White (BMW 318i); 7 Tom Brooks/Tony Brooks (Toyota MR2); 8 Huw Morris/Zak Linham (Ford Focus); 9 Bleddyn Thomas/Sam Weller (Ford Escort); 10 Joseph Thomas/Aled Jones (Rover 200) Class winners: Simon Ayris/Lewis Ayris (MG ZR); Ian Taylor/Dean Wiltshire (Proton Satria); Andrew Lees/Grace Lees (Vauxhall Nova); William Lewis/Callum Griffiths (Fiesta); Tim Smith/Andy Balfour (Vauxhall Corsa).
Dishforth Targa Rally
Organiser: Clitheroe and District
Motor Club When: February 24 Where: Dishforth Airfield Championships: NESCRO Tests: 15 (38 test miles) Starters: 58
1 Bev Blacker/Abi Ruddock (Ford Escort) 92m39s; 2 Kris Coombes/Charles Andrews (Nissan Micra) +28s; 3 John Gornall/Martin Gornall (Peugeot 206 GTi); 4 Matt Hewlett/ Phil Savage (Proton Satria GTi); 5 Chris Dodds/ Liam Charlton (Proton Satria); 6 Mark Blunt/ Blake Blunt (Ford Fiesta); 7 Neil Raven/
Claire Raven (Mazda MX-5); 8 Douglas Brown/ Joshua Brown (Vauxhall Corsa); 9 Joe Mallinson/Jason Metcalfe (Ford Fiesta); 10 Alex Willan/Glenn Fothergill (BMW 325i). Class Winners: Blunt/Blunt; Chris Day/ Claire Day (Mini Cooper S).