Mewla Rally

A dry but overcast day greeted the crews for an interesting stage route across the Epynt ranges. Stephen Simpson & Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) set the fastest time through the first loop of 3 stages and the 1st stage of the 2nd loop to hold a lead of 13 seconds before losing 11 seconds on the 5th of 14 stages. Damian Cole & Elliott Edmondson (Focus WRC) struck back on the 5th stage with fastest time over the next 4 stages, taking the lead on the 7th stage. Simpson pushed hard but a few indiscretions at Copse meant he ended up 2nd to Cole who won by 14 seconds, with Cole setting 8 fastest stage times on his way to victory. Completing the podium in 3rd were John Indri & Peter James (Darrian GTR) a further 20 seconds back with 2 fastest times during the event.

Mewla Rally

Our 2nd trip to Epynt in August and on the Mewla Peter Lloyd & Carl Sorensen (Impreza WRC) stormed home to a two minute victory. He did not have it easy though as Damian Cole (Focus WRC) and Steve Simpson (Impreza WRC) were not far behind but a dramatic 10th stage saw Cole retire and Simpson limp through the stage. So it was a superb 2nd overall for John Indri & Peter James (Darrian T90 GTR) taking the 2WD victory in the process with Eian Pritchard & Steve McPhee (Focus WRC) a fine third overall.

Harry Flatters Rally

A mixed day of weather conditions, up on the ranges, made it a tyre selection lottery and one which provided a surprising result. If anything you would have expected a WRC or 4WD rally car at least to have dominated this event but against all odds Mark Straker & Neil Harrison took their Darrian T90 GTR to a fine 13 second win overall. After going fastest on the opening pair of stages Damian Cole & Jonathan Griffiths (Focus WRC) were leading by over 6 seconds but the longest stage of the loop saw Straker go fastest by almost 10 seconds. Straker then went fastest on all the stages of the 2nd loop, beating the bogey on the 3rd stage of that loop. Cole took stage 7, Straker stage 8 by a bigger margin and on the final stage lost almost 12 seconds of his lead to flatter Cole’s 2nd place. Peter Lloyd & Neil James (Impreza WRC) completed the podium over a minute further back, having not quite been on the pace all day.

Mewla Rally

The record books will show another win for Damian Cole & James Morgan (Focus WRC) over Epynt, securing the 3rd straight National Asphalt title for Cole. It looked as though he was not pushed at all but Cole had his issues through the day even if he lost one rival before the start of the event, Steve Simpson, and then the no.1 seeded car of Peter Lloyd & Gwynfor Jones (Impreza WRC) after the 2nd stage and hitting multiple sheep at the stage end. Congratulations to Cole & Morgan and behind him Ashley Field & Bridie Hall (Darrian T90) ended up only just over half a minute back. Completing the podium were Ray Horton & Paul Wakely (Darrian T90 GTR) almost two minutes behind Cole.

Harry Flatters Rally

The first trip on to asphalt in this years BHRC and a full championship return for the Harry Flatters Rally. It saw an epic battle which led to victory for Gareth James & Steffan Evans (Escort MkII) beating Nick Elliott & Dave Price (Escort MkII) on a rare asphalt outing. The gap was just under 25 seconds but crucially Elliott failed to win category 3 for the first time this year whilst category 2 saw main title contenders Julian Reynolds & Patrick Walsh (Escort MkI) fight back from gearbox issues early on to win the category and finish 3rd overall just under a minute back.

Tour of Epynt

A bumper entry turned out for the first round of the 2012 REIS Get Connected MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. Strangely the weather also played its part with unseasonably good conditions all day for the Tour of Epynt. Damian Cole & Dave Engwell (Focus WRC) led after the first loop of stages but from stage 3 onwards Melvyn Evans & Aled Davies switched their Impreza WRC onto the correct rubber and never looked back. In the end they took victory by over a minute from Cole with Peter Lloyd & Ryland James (Impreza WRC) 14 seconds further back.

Mewla Rally

The REIS Asphalt Championship made its 2nd visit of the season to Epynt for the Mewla Rally. The event started in atrocious conditions and it was Peter Lloyd & Carl Sorenson (Impreza WRC S12) who held an early advantage after the first loop of stages. It was a lead that would only grow and they took their 2nd win in 4 weeks over the ranges, this time against the massed ranks of the National championship runners.  It was 2nd place that was crucial for the championship. Simon Mauger & Brian Cammack (Escort MkII) had to beat Damian Cole & James Morgan (Focus WRC) and after the first loop they were ahead but as the stages dried out Cole moved past.

Harry Flatters Rally

It had been a long time since we last watched on the asphalt up on the military ranges and as ever there was a bumper entry. In the main rally Peter Lloyd & Graham Handley (Impreza WRC) dominated to win the event by almost a minute and a half. 2nd place was a revelation though as Mark Straker & Neil Harrison took their Darrian T90 GTR to a fine 2nd overall in their first event in anger, for the new car. Completing the podium were Chris Jones & Carl Williamson (Focaru) a similar margin back on their first event in best part of a year.

Tour of Epynt

Whilst the rest of the rallying world changes the Tour of Epynt once again signalled the start of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. The overnight rain had made the stages slippery first thing but from the 2nd loop onwards the stages were effectively dry. The 2nd loop proved key in the rally too as Steve Simpson & Aled Davies (Impreza WRC) went fastest on the first stage and held on to a 0.1 second lead after stage 2 where Peter Lloyd & Martin Henry (Impreza WRC) had been quickest. Stage 3 went to Simpson and then Lloyd stopped in stage 4, before restarting a few minutes later, eventually retiring after stage 5. From there on in Simpson went fastest on every stage and took victory by over a minute.

Mewla Rally

Another mixed day up on Epynt caused chaos in the morning with the changing conditions. Peter Lloyd & Graham Handley (Impreza S14 WRC) set the inital pace with Damian Cole & Craig Drew (Focus WRC) keeping them honest with a couple of fastest stage times. Lloyd led by 33 seconds at the break with Eian Pritchard & Steve McPhee (Impreza S11 WRC) almost a minute back on Lloyd in third. In the first afternoon loop Cole halved the deficit on stages 5 & 6 and it was game on. Stage 7 saw disaster though as an excursion cost him over a minute, but he was lucky to have got away with nothing worse! Lloyd now had it in the bag with a 1 minute lead over Pritchard but on the final stage he had an excursion into a bog and it was rally over as the car was stuck. Pritchard took a fine win with Cole closing in to just 10 seconds behind. 2nd place saw Cole take maximum points and the National Asphalt title. His only title rival , Simon Mauger, took 3rd overall in his Escort MkII co-driven by Tracy Giddings.