Wyedean Rally

It was great to be back in the Forest of Dean and it was Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear (Fiesta R5) who dominated the event. They took 6 out of the 7 fastest stage times to take victory by 47s. Robert Wilson & Martin Haggett (Evo VII) were 2nd overall and took the only other fastest stage time. Nik Elsmore & Rob Fagg (Evo IX) took the final podium place. Michael McDaid & Declan Casey (Escort MkII) were 6th overall and the 1st 2WD crew. Tim Freeman & Cliff Simmons (Escort MkII) were 10th overall and over a minute further back. Ben & Steve Smith (Escort MkI) were 3rd 2WD crew, 12th overall and the first Historic crew home.

Wyedean Stages Rally

It was great to see the Wyedean running again and it was Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear (Evo IX) who took victory on the slick stages. Heavy rain in the lead up and on the day meant treacherous conditions for the 85 starters with a 10 crews going out on the opening stage. Nick Elliott & Dave Price (Escort MkII) were fastest by a second from Hirst, but Hirst hit back on stage 2 to take the lead by 1s. Elliott slipped back on stage 3 with Alex Allingham & Ross Weir (Escort MkII) moving up in to 2nd place at the service interval.

Wyedean Stages Rally

Back to the old time of the year for the Wyedean and a fantastic entry did battle on the damp stages of the Forest of Dean. Callum Black & Elliott Edmondson (Fiesta R5) were fastest through Serridge by 8 seconds but saw their lead halved on stage 2 as Josh Moffett & Jack Walby (Fiesta R5) got to grips with the conditions. They then blitzed Mailscot to lead by 13 seconds. There was no going back as Moffett went fastest on the repeat runs of all 3 stages to take victory by 46 seconds, with Black comfortable in 2nd place.

Wyedean Forest Rally

The 40th Wyedean started in murky conditions on the Blaize Bailey stage for the 1400 crews but by the time the main field arrived conditions had improved. Charlie Payne & Carl Williamson (Fiesta) set the early pace on the short opener before Paul Bird & Aled Davies (Focus WRC) got into their stride of the remaining 3 morning stages with a series of fastest times. Going in to service Bird held a 21 second lead over David Weston & Kirsty Riddick (Impreza WRC) with Payne 3rd. Bird and Weston then swapped times over the next two stages before Weston lost time compared to Bird through the Serridge stage. Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Impreza WRC) were fastest as they climbed to 3rd overall. The final stage saw Bird seal victory with Weston over half a minute back in 2nd and Hunter a solid 3rd on his return to the gravel stages.

Wyedean Forest Rally

After a wet Winter and windy week which saw many trees fall in the Forest of Dean, it was a minor miracle that the event ran all 7 stages as planned. One thing was for certain, with no previous winners of the rally starting the event there would be a new name on the winners list. With a dominant 7 fastest stage times from a possible 7, David Bogie & Kevin Rae (Focus WRC) won by just over a minute from Paul Bird & Aled Davies (Focus WRC). Making a fine start in the B13 class and taking 3rd overall were Luke Francis & John Roberts (Evo IX) two a half minutes behind Bogie.

Wyedean Forest Rally

Well there was no ice to contend with this year on the Wyedean, instead we got mud and lot’s of it for our 30th time on this event. Going into the final stage the top 4, (a Welshman, Scotsman, Englishman and Irishman), were separated by just 11 seconds going into the final stage. Sadly Euan Thorburn & Paul Beaton (Focus WRC) were first to fall. They did not make it through stage 7 and dropped from 2nd place overall. Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Focus WRC) were leading going into the final stage but came out of it 10 seconds behind the eventual winners, some ten seconds down. This left David Wright & Michael Wilkinson (Evo IX), who was 3rd, battling for the lead with Connor McCloskey & Francis Regan (Impreza WRC).

Wyedean Forest Rally

The 2012 BTRDA season kicked off in Chepstow with the Wyedean Forest Rally. The threat of snow hung over the event and in the end there was very little but the overnight low temperatures turned all the stages into sheets of ice, with running early on the road a distinct advantage.  In the main field Steve Perez & Paul Spooner (Focus WRC) had an early excursion and ultimately retired due to running out of spare tyres. This issue decided the fate of the event for Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Focus WRC) as they had been leading going into the penultimate stage but a total of 3 punctures and only 2 spares saw them retire from the event.

Wyedean Media Day

Another year and another trip down to Chepstow racecourse for the Wyedean Media Day. With the stage now not being used in the Wyedean Forest Rally we got the rare experience of doing the stage in the normal direction. This made the transition from the tarmac to the gravel section much more spectacular, entertaining the guests and us.

Wyedean Forest Rally

The last Wyedean for the Peugeot Cosworth of Andy Burton & Robin Kellard and it duly proved to be a fairy tale ending as the crew took an emotional victory. The event had started out with Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Focus WRC) taking an early lead over the first stage before Burton took the lead on stage 3 with 2nd fastest time. Meanwhile Paul Bird & Kirsty Riddick (Focus WRC) went fastest on stage 3 to be tied 2nd place overall with Hunter. Stage 5 saw Burton go fastest to take a lead which held until the end of the rally, whilst Hunter had a minor off which enabled Bird to take 2nd overall with Hunter completing the podium.

Wyedean Media Day

Our first rally outing of the year as we visited Chepstow Racecourse for the 2011 Wyedean Forest Rally Media Day. With 20 cars out to entertain the sponsors it proved to be another excellent day. Unfortunately we lost two cars early on as Colin Webb rolled his BMW on the first run and Tim Freeman’s Escort MkII stopped with mechanical issues, (better on a day like this than an actual event though).