Steve Wood clinches the 2022 Protyre MSUK Asphalt Rally Championship title after a battle royal on the Isle of Man

Steve Wood has clinched the 2022 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship title after a battle royal on the final round of the series, the Best Cars Chris Kelly Memorial Manx Stages.

Co-driven by Dale Bowen, the Aberystwyth driver was lying third after an extremely wet and stormy start, which had seen rivers of water running down some sections of the famous Isle of Man stages on Friday’s opening two legs.

Despite a misfire in his City East Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Wood completed the third and final leg on a much drier Saturday to finish second – which was enough to secure him the UK’s premier sealed-surface title, the Protyre Trophy and prestigious BTRDA Gold Star award.

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Chris Kelly Memorial Rally

The conclusion of the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship saw 3 drivers fighting for the title. It would have been 4 had the Three Shires not been cancelled, as the countback denied Neil Roskell the chance to fight for the title he won in 2021. Mark Kelly & Neil Colman (Fabia R5) were fastest through SS1 and with SS2 cancelled they continued on through the rain soaked and flooded stages to the frist running of the Lhen. They went off in the appauling conditions and handed the lead to Peter Taylor & Jack Morton (Fiesta WRC). Neil Roskell & Andrew Roughead (Fiesta R5) had a point to prove and they went fastest through SS4 to grab the lead from Taylor.

Three amigos battle for the overall Protyre MSUK Asphalt Rally Championship title on the Isle of Man

Steve Wood, John Stone and Mark Kelly will head to the final round of the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship, the Chris Kelly Memorial Manx Stages (30 September/1 October), aiming to become the overall 2022 driver’s champion – and clinch the Protyre Trophy and prestigious BTRDA Gold Star award.

It will be an intriguing battle, as all three drivers have varying degrees of experience on the Isle of Man.

Wood becomes fourth Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship event winner this year after Down Rally triumph

Steve Wood has become the fourth different winner in as many rounds of the 2022 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship after scoring maximum points on the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally (Saturday 23 July).

Co-driven by Kenny Hull, the Welshman used all his experience of Irish closed road stage rallying to master the fantastic Bucks Head, Lough Erne, Drumaknocken and Hamilton’s Folly stages – particularly in the morning loop which was damp and incredibly slippery, causing an overshoot on SS2 – to finish 34.5 seconds clear of his nearest sealed-surface series rival. The result moves him up to third in the drivers’ standings.

Henderson takes Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship honours in Argyll as Stone snatches series lead

David Henderson scored maximum Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship points the first time out in his new Michelin-shod Keco/PAR Petroleum-backed Ford Fiesta Rally2 after a magnificent run on the Dunoon presents Argyll Rally – while third has given John Stone the lead in the drivers’ standings.

Brands Hatch Stages

The regular start to our season was down at Brands Hatch, for the circuit rally championship, where Frank Bird & Jack Morton (Fiesta Rally2) dominated from start to finish. They went fastest on all 8 stages to take victory by over a minute from John Stone & Tom Woodburn (Polo R5). They had a battle on their hands as Neil Roskell & Andrew Roughead (Fiesta R5) were only 5s behind and fighting to the end, to try and make up for lost time on the morning stages. In the 2WD battle Joshua & Tamsyn Davey (Darrian T90) ended up 6th overall and just 11s ahead of Jeremy Straker & Simon May (Darrian T90 GTR+).

Pritchard wins big on the PokerStars to put him back in contention for the 2021 Protyre MSUK Asphalt Rally Championship title

Jason Pritchard won big on the PokerStars Rally, taking maximum Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship points on both Legs 1 and 2, setting fastest time on every stage and winning the double-header round of the series by 5mins 20.9secs.

Having won the Manx National a record-equalling five times and the IOM Historic Rally twice, his invincible record on the Isle of Man continues as he and Phil Clarke dominated the event from start to finish in their North Road Garage Ford Focus WRC05.

The Isle of Man weather threw everything at competitors, but Jason sailed off into the distance on Friday night to open up a 2mins 51.7secs gap after Leg 1. He wasn’t even that happy with his driving, with ‘untidy’ being the self-assessment of what appeared from outside the car at least to be something of a Manx masterclass – whilst carnage raged in his wake.

Stone relights his Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship title fire with maximum points in Northern Ireland

John Stone has re-ignited his Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship title challenge by scoring maximum points on the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally in his Legend Fires-backed Ford Fiesta WRC.

Co-driven by Jack Morton, the Blackburn driver was fastest out of the blocks on a very wet and slippery opening stage to open up an immediate advantage – which was the start of a titanic battle between Stone and arch rival Damian Cole, who immediately set about fighting back after an over-cautious start. As Cole began his fight back, Stone lost a slight bit of momentum on SS2 when a software issue with the new boost pack on his ex-Mikko Hirvonen car made it feel down on power, but he’d retained his lead at the end of a tricky opening loop of three stages.

Down Rally

Over 120 crews took the startline at the Eikon Centre for the Down Rally, in a small window of good weather which surrounded the event. Jonny Greer & Kirsty Riddick (Fiesta R5) were defending their 2018 victory and came out the blocks faster than the opposition to take almost 10 seconds out of the next fastest crew Meirion Evans & Jonathan Jackson (Fabia R5), through the opening stage. By the time the crews had got to the first service Greer was first with just 1s chipped off his advantage but stage 4 would see Evans fall away as he dropped 7 minutes with a puncture. Jon Armstrong & Noel O’Sullivan (Mini WRC) had climbed up to 3rd overall after a fastest time on stage 2 but a puncture cost them 50 seconds on stage 4 so the top 3 was shook up. Daniel Harper & Chris Campbell (Mini WRC) were up to 2nd place with Stephen Wright & Liam Moynihan (Fiesta R5) up to 3rd place.

Cole capitalises on Pritchard’s misfortune to move into Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship lead following Rally van Wervik

After completing 12 special stages in mixed conditions, Damian Cole / Dale Bowen emerged as leading Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship contenders as they finished eighth overall on the Rally van Wervik, moving into the Championship lead as a result.