Mini Epynt Stages

Two rallies in two days on two different surfaces as we watched the inaugural running of the Mini Epynt Stages. The entry contained a lot of Epynt novices as this event was very much geared towards the clubmen driver. With a field largely composed of two wheel drive machinery it was the TVR Tuscan of David Bishop & Simon Crew who took a memorable victory, from being seeded number 23. Just behind them in second place, but running directly in front as car 22, were Paul Fowden & Paul Wakely in their Impreza. Completing the top three, after the demise of Jason Pritchard’s C2R2 with a broken driveshaft on the final stage, was our driver of the day Ed Lloyd. He certainly entertained in his TR8 always visibily closing on the car in front, on every stage we saw.

Severn Valley Rally

Dust, dust and more dust but it wouldn’t be a Severn Valley without it! In the Nationals there wasn’t much between the top two as Marcus Dodd & Andrew Bargery took their Accent WRC to 0.6s victory over the Impreza WRC of Roger Duckworth & Mark Broomfield, who had led from stage 1 of the event until the start of the last stage. Completing the podium, and heading up the Evo Challenge runners in third place, was the Evo IX of Daniel Barry & Martin Brady with yet another cracking performance.

In the Clubmen event Nigel Griffiths & Jon Scott took a start to finish victory in their Impreza from the Focus WRC of Michael O’Brien & Ian Allsop. It had been a close run thing with less than 10 seconds separating the top two all event and the final victory margin falling to just 3.8s. As the front two pulled away it was the Escort MkII of Henri Grehan & Chris Ridge that took 3rd place, winning their class, and beating a significant amount of 4WD machinery in the process.

Jim Clark Rally

A superb weekend up in the Scottish Borders saw a battle royale between Eugene Donnelly and Tim McNulty. The Fabia WRC of Donnelly & Paddy Toner eventually came out on top with the Impreza WRC S12B of McNulty & David Moynihan 23 seconds behind. Eamonn Boland & Michael Jo Morrissey completed the podium in their Impreza WRC S12B.  In the BRC Mark Higgins & Bryan Thomas (Impreza N11) held off the hard charging Evo IX of Keith Cronin & Greg Shinnors, with both crews suffering numerous issues throughout the event. Completing that podium was the Impreza N14 of Adam Gould & Seb Marshall after a good battle with the Impreza N12 of Euan Thorburn & Claire Mole. In the rest of the classes Matti Rantanen & Mikko Markkula took R3 class honours in their Clio Ragnotti, Martin McCormack & Phil Clarke were victorious in the R2 class in their C2 R2 Max and finally the R1 class went to the Swift of Gordon Nichol and Emma Morrison.

Plains Rally

A mixed day weather wise greeted the crews tackling the Plains, this year. The top three were set for a titantic battle and going in to the Gartheiniog stages they were separated by a few seconds. The Peugeot Cosworth of Andy Burton then blitzed Will Nicholls (Impreza WRC) and Hugh Hunter (Focus WRC) on stage 3 and extended his lead each subsequent stage, until stage 6. Gearbox gremlins crept in which saw Burton slip to third after stage 6 and ultimately retire on stage 8. Nicholls inherited the lead but dropped 15 seconds on stage 8 to Hunter. Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank took a close fought victory to register their first win in the 2009 BTRDA season. Wills Nicholls & Nick Broom scored solid points with second, with David Wright & Michael Wilkinson were an excellent third on their first attempt at this rally.

Manx National Rally

Once again the Manx National provided us with great entertainment and four seasons in one rally! Whilst the entry may have been depleted upon previous years, the sharp end was as competitive as ever, with a trully impressive top ten line up. With the local crews going well over the opening stages, in changeable conditions, it took a few stages for the leaderboard to settle down overnight. Paul Bird & Ian Windress took the overnight lead in their Focus WRC from the Accent WRC of Marcus Dodd & Andrew Bargery. Bird extended his lead through the Saturday to take a historic first Manx victory. Dodd dropped back with Melvyn Evans & Sean Mullally moving their Impreza WRC in to second place on the first loop. The podium was completed by Roger Duckworth & Mark Broomfield who snatched third on the final stage, after losing time getting used to their new Impreza WRC on the Friday night.

Welsh Rally

A bumper field tackled the Epynt ranges for the second time in 2009, largely due to the addition of the BMW and 205 championships. The sharp end may have only had one World Rally Car in the starting line up but Epynt is a challenging place and nothing is guaranteed. Damian Cole look set to take a dominant win until he hit a sheep on the final stage. His subsequent retirement left the door open for Ray Horton & Chris Ridge in their Darrian GTR. The victory margin was only five seconds over Robert Tout & Dan Holley. The Evo IX crew overshooting at our vantage pointon the final stage, almost certainly costing them the win. Completing the podium was the Peugeot 205 of Andy Baker & Stuart Powell, another 18 seconds back.