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.

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.

Roskell rules the Manx Rally

The Manx Rally made a dramatic return to the British rallying calendar last weekend [13/14 May] as Neil Roskell and Andrew Roughead secured a dominant victory behind the wheel of their Ford Fiesta R5.

The world-class Isle of Man roads would play host to 14 stages and over 100 competitive miles of flat-out rallying action and it would be Roskell that ruled the top of the leader board for all but one stage of the rally, securing a winning margin of a staggering 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

Manx Rally

Rebranded as the Manx Rally, 68 crews were entered for the return to rallying, in May, on the Isle of Man. There was drama before the rally started as five time winners Jason Pritchard & Phil Clarke (Focus WRC) retired on shakedown. So it Neil Roskell & Andrew Roughead (Fiesta R5) who were first on the road but that was SS2, as SS1 was cancelled due to a road accident before the stage started, meaning the police needed to divert normal road traffic via stage route.

Alan Healy Memorial Stages

After a two year absence the Alan Healy was back on and it was the climax of the circuit rally championship. Neil Roskell & Andrew Roughead (Fiesta R5) started as car no.1 and as the favourites to win the title. 2nd fastest on the opener and joint fastest on the 2nd stage was a good start but fastest over those two tests were title rivals Barry Morris & Tom Hutchings (Darrian T90 GTR+). The battle continued over the following stages with fastest times being shared and Morris held a 7s at the lunchbreak. John Griffiths & Nigel Wetton (Fiesta R5) were in the battle too as they took a stage win too and were just 2s behind Roskell in 3rd.

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+).

Mark Kelly, Neil Roskell and Jason Pritchard head to Otterburn for exciting 2021 Protyre MSUK Asphalt Rally Championship title showdown

Three drivers go into the final round of the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship aiming to become the 2021 drivers’ champion – with Mark Kelly, Neil Roskell and Jason Pritchard battling for the title on the Ford Parts Cheviot Stages Rally (Sunday 24 October) over the Otterburn military range in Northumberland.