An action packed rally up in the Lake District saw Charlie Payne & Carl Williamson take back-to-back victories in the BTRDA championship. It all came after late drama for David Wright & Steve Pugh as their Focus WRC had differential problems, making the car want to swap ends constantly through the final stage. They did inevitably spin and a hard fought 13 second lead became a 23 second deficit handing Payne the win. Connor McCloskey & Damien Duffin (Mini WRC) had been fastest through the first stage but getting stuck in a deep water filled hole on stage 2 ended their rally. Wayne Sisson & Neil Shanks (Evo X) took the final podium spot after a consistent drive throughout the event, just over a minute behind Payne.
In the 2WD battle Steve Bannister & Kim Gray (Escort MkII) came out on top from Boyd Kershaw & Bryan Hull (Escort MkII) by 11 seconds. Early on Bannister had been pushed hard by Matt Robinson & Sam Collis (131 Abarth) who were just a few seconds behind going in to the 2nd half of the rally. Grizedale North saw Robinson lose 50 seconds dropping him out of the 2WD top 3, then a superb time through stage 6 for Phil Burton & Mal Capstick (Escort MkII) saw them take the lead. They then threw it away with a minute or so lost in a ditch on Thornsgill 2, dropping them out of the top 3. Gavin Edwards & Caron Tomlinson (Escort MkII) completed the 2WD podium, despite a rock strike on the first stage.
In the 1400’s it had been a 2 way battle between Mat Smith & Derek Cornforth (Satria) and the always sideways Dave Brick & Keaton Williams (Nova). Gearbox issues saw Brick retire on stage 5, so Smith went on take victory by 40 seconds. Jordan & Paul Hone (Satria) just pipped Matthew Jackson & Claire Williams (Micra) by 3 seconds to take 2nd spot.
90right UK Rallying 