Pritchard starts BHRC defence on Red Kite Stages

Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke got their season off to a perfect start with victory on today’s Red Kite Historic Stages (Sunday 21 February), the opening round of the 2016 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship.

The ice and snow of the 2015 Red Kite was replaced by persistent rain and, at times, thick fog to deliver another tough start to the season but Pritchard and Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2) never put a wheel wrong and took maximum points to open their title defence in style.

Red Kite Stages

A damp and windy Red Kite Stages saw plenty of action throughout and ultimately it was two superb times through Caeo that proved decisive. David Bogie & Kevin Rae (Fabia R5) made a superb debut in their new steed for the 2016 season but after two stages it was a tight battle with Julian Reynolds & Patrick Walsh (Focus WRC). Then came Caeo and Bogie pushed his advantage home going over 20 seconds quicker. It was the same through the 2nd runs of each stage and Bogie took victory by 41 seconds in the end. The podium was completed by Rhys Yates & Tom Woodburn (Fiesta R5) over a minute further back and almost two minutes behind Bogie.