BTRDA | RD4 | KIELDER FOREST RALLY
10/07/2024WORDS BY ANDREW SCOTT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN KNIGHT AND ANDREW SCOTT
As the British summer dawned (not unusually) cold and wet, the BTRDA Rally Series headed north for the second of two consecutive rounds to be held on the Scottish/English border, for the Kielder Forest Rally.
Located in perhaps one of the more ‘undiscovered’ areas of the UK with Hadrian’s wall and the rolling hills between Carlisle in the west and Newcastle in the east providing a perfect setting for a weekends rallying.
Based out of the auction mart in Hexham, the former Pirelli (international) Rally, previously a classic staple of the British Rally Championship calendar during the glory years of British rallying. The event can count a plethora of famous winners as diverse as Ari Vattinen or Russell Brookes to Richard Burns, Dai Llewellyn and Mark Higgins… As well as the full complement of McRaes (Alistair, Jimmy and Colin).
All set for a great days rallying across the three main Protyre BTRDA Gravel Championships, the Kielder Forest Rally would utilise 42 miles of prime gravel stages in the 155,000-acre Kielder forest complex, one of Europe’s largest man-made forests.
Spread over 6 stages around the villages of Falstone, Yarrow, and Stannersburn and this year reverting to its previous format using stages in Bower, and Shepherdshield as well as a revised route through Falstone.
The event was to throw all types of weather at the crews throughout the day (except for the sun I might add) cloud and mass humidity being replaced by the 2024 Norm of biblical rain for the second loop of stages. But at least said rain gave rest bite from the plague of midges which gave the author triple figure bites across both arms and an inability to shave for 3 weeks!
GOLDSTAR
Since 2022, the Kielder Forest Rally has formed part of the BTRDA and the 2024 edition forms the fourth round of the Protyre BTRDA Gravel series and sees the 2 previous winners, Matthew Hirst and Elliot Payne find themselves vying for top honours in the BTRDA Gold Star Award this season.
The Previous round saw Elliot Payne heading the title chase by 4 points from the ever-impressive B13 Pair of Russ Thompson and Steven Link, after his (Payne’s) victory just a few miles further north on the Border Counties Rally the pervious month. Rival in chief Hirst having suffered yet more mechanical heartache with the Engine of his Ford Fiesta, had to dial in a replacement car last minute; but despite this, he kept his title hopes alive by taking second place ahead of Liam Clark, leaving him 6 points behind Payne and Thompson in the title race. The Kielder would see Hirst back in his normal ride, but this time with a borrowed engine as he seeks a solution to the ongoing reliability issues.
LEG 1 / MORNING LOOP (SS1 – SS3)
SS1 was Falstone and running in a significantly different configuration to prior years which saw the crews tackle a revised layout using roads not seen for several years and using a different section of forest to both the Roger Albert Clark in November and the Kielder Forest Rally last year.
SS1 would to delivery the first drama of the day as Elliot Payne was conspicuous with his absence from the top 3, setting only sixth quickest time, a total of twenty-four seconds slower than arch BTRDA rival Hirst. Hirst was able to steal a march and set the fastest time on a six minutes thirty-one, four seconds faster than the impressive Icelandic pair of Daniel Sigurdsson and Ásta Sigurðardottir in their newly liveried Ford Fiesta Rally 2. A further six seconds down were Vivian Hammill & Lorcan Moore who looking to score some good points after two tough non-scoring rounds on Rallynuts and Border Counties. Our second-place championship contenders Thompson and Link came in fourth and Liam Clark fifth before Payne’s run rounded out the top six. As it transpired Elliot was suffering a misfire and the problem would rear its ugly head at several points throughout the day.
PHOTO: MATTHEW HIRST & DECLAN DEAR | BY DAN KNIGHT
SS2 was a quick run through the 8.89 miles of The Bower, ran as Yarrowmoor in 2023, this year it included an additional loop between J7 and 11 as ran on “the big one” in the 2023 Roger Albert Clark Rally.
Hirst and Dear were to set the fastest time again, with a seven fifty-four as Payne’s problems continued, a full fifty-six seconds slower back in sixth place whilst his Ford Fiesta Rally2 continued to misbehave. Also Misbehaving on SS2 were Sigurdsson/ Sigurðardottir as their rally came to a premature end after a small off, a great shame after the promise shown on the opening stage of the day.
“By a small impact, the front TCA broke. I am still very very frustrated! Was a very unfair DNF. Would have been happier in a ditch!”
Daniel Sigurdsson
PHOTO: DANIEL SIGURDSSON & ÁSTA SIGURÐARDOTTIR | LIAM CLARK & EMILY EASTON-PAGE| ELLIOT PAYNE & PATRICK WALSH | BY DAN KNIGHT
That left Border Counties Stars Liam Clark and Emily Easton-Page to rocket up the leader board by setting second fastest time, seven seconds slower than Hirst & Dear but crucially six seconds faster than Thomson & Link and fifteen faster than the Hammill & Moore combination.
Going into the final stage of the morning loop, the leader board made pleasant reading for Hirst in his Ford Fiesta R5 as he took a 17-second lead (over Clark’s Fiesta Rally2) into Shepherdshield. Third and going about their business in the usual efficient but spectacular style was the Thompson and Link in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, a further 6 seconds back. Meanwhile, championship leader Payne was languishing back in sixth, a full one minute twenty seconds behind leader Hirst.
PHOTO: MATTHEW HIRST & DECLAN DEAR | RUSS THOMPSON & STEPHEN LINK | VIVIAN HAMILL & LORCAN MOORE | BY ANDREW SCOTT
Fortunes were, however, not about to improve for Payne as he did his best to make it back to service without losing too much time, setting the fifth fastest time through the slightly shorter (than 2023) test. Luckily this time, only twenty seconds off Hirst, who made it three out of three stage wins. Only a second quicker than Hammill, who was, however, settling into the KFR after (so far) an up and down few events. Third through was Clark in only his first season outing., driving a Rally2 Fiesta.
Therefore as the cars headed back to Hexham for service, Matthew and Declan’s Fiesta R5 was holding a sizable twenty-two-second lead over Liam Clark and Emily Easton-Page’s Rally2 equivalent, while the VW Polo GTI R5 of Vivian Hammill and Lorcan Moore stole a March on Russ Thompson and Steven Link (fourth) in third, after their impressive time in stage 3. Meanwhile, Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh languished down in 6th a full one minute and forty seconds behind his main championship rival.
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #1 MATTHEW HIRST / DECLAN DEAR | 18:53:00 |
| 2 | #9 LIAM CLARK / EMILY EASTON-PAGE | 19:15:00 |
| 3 | #3 VIVIAN HAMILL / LORCAN MOORE | 19:22:00 |
| 4 | #4 RUSS THOMPSON / STEPHEN LINK | 19:48:00 |
| 5 | #11 PATRICK NAYLOR / IAN LAWRENCE | 19:57:00 |
LEG 2 / AFTERNOON LOOP (SS4 – SS6)
Leg 2 and the crews headed back in to Falstone with Payne & Walsh’s issues hopefully fixed, and they were straight back on the pace here, setting a fastest time of six minutes twenty-four seconds, a time seven seconds quicker than Hirst and Dear had recorded on the morning loop, and signalling their intentions to at least try and salvage as many points as they could from what had proved to be a difficult event. Predictably, second was the Hirst & Dear pair at three seconds slower but now with nothing to gain by pushing ten-tenths given their sizable lead. Third for the second stage in a row were Hammill and Moore, from Liam Clark and Russ Thompson rounding out the top five. With nine seconds covering third to fifth it was all to play for on the remaining two stages.
PHOTO: ELLIOT PAYNE & PATRICK WALSH | BY ANDREW SCOTT
By the time the crews had reached Bower a short and sharp deluge had turned the dry and dusty stages to wet and slippy, although given the running order the sun was back out by the time our leader Hirst tacked SS5, the second run through Bower. Hirst was again on top form, taking the stage win by five seconds from the increasingly consistent pair of Hammill & Moore, with Clark & Easton-Page a further six seconds behind. Payne (and Thompson) were conspicuous by their absence, as Payne’s misfire woes continued with a time over a minute down on Hirst. “It held up for 1 stage. The rest were terrible” -Elliot Payne
Thompson & Link’s event also ended as they retired on SS5 after running slightly wide and going off the road.
“Kielder Forest Rally we don’t have the best relationship, do we? three years and two DNF’s. I’m starting to think you don’t like us. We show you nothing but love and respect and all you give us back is heartbreak and disappointment“
“The day started well, stages suiting the big old Blue Evo Rally bus. But a puncture in stage 3 put an end to a good result. Then the afternoon came and so did the rain. Running slightly wide on stage 5 resulted in an off and us going no further.”
Steven Link
PHOTO: MATTHEW HIRST & DECLAN DEAR | VIVIAN HAMILL & LORCAN MOORE | LIAM CLARK & EMILY EASTON-PAGE | BY ANDREW SCOTT
The final stage of the day was SS6 Shepherdshield, and the Hirst & Dear combo were to cement a repeat of their 2023 win, cruising through to second fastest stage time with Hammil and Moore taking their first stage win of the day by the slender margin of 2 seconds.
Having recorded the third fastest stage time here, Payne did however, managed to salvage his event and ended up equal fourth overall with Patrick Naylor and Ian Lawrence who benefited from the demise of Thompson & Link on the penultimate stage, sandwiching Clark and Easton-Page who finished third for the second event in a row.
“Absolutely fantastic to score maximum points for the BTRDA Rally with quite a big swing in the championship with both Elliot and Russ, unfortunately, having issues.
Notwithstanding that me and Declan are still chuffed to have come out on top in a race against some well-rated fast lads, I think we can be pretty happy with that.”
Matthew Hirst
Matthew Hirst’s win brings him within one point of Elliot Payne’s lead in the Protyre BTRDA GoldStar Award – up from third position after the Border Counties – and taking advantage of the unfortunate retirements of both Thompson and Sigurdsson who drop to fifth and seventh respectively as a result of their non-finishes this time out.
A further ten and eleven points back in third and fourth are Naylor and Clark, Patrick’s (Naylor) consistency in scoring highly on each round sees him flying under the radar, whereas flying very much above is Clark after securing a second consecutive Protyre BTRDA Gold Star podium.
“Made up with the result! Slightly annoying to hold 2nd until the last stage but fair play to Viv for a big push in the last stage to just take 2nd step from us! Just a case of gently improving on pace for the rest of the season now and see where we end up” Like I’ve said before we go to each and every event to just do as best as we can and it seems to be working at the moment! All attention on the Grist now next weekend and hope to have another big push there!”
Liam Clark
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #1 MATTHEW HIRST / DECLAN DEAR | 37:56:00 |
| 2 | #3 VIVIAN HAMILL / LORCAN MOORE | 38:33:00 |
| 3 | #9 LIAM CLARK / EMILY EASTON-PAGE | 38:41:00 |
| 4 | #2 ELLIOT PAYNE / PATRICK WALSH | 40:44:00 |
| 4= | #11 PATRICK NAYLOR / IAN LAWRENCE | 40:44:00 |
SILVERSTAR
The SilverStar title race remains wide open too, Andy Davison finding himself eleven points down despite two wins in three, as he chases down the consistent Steve Ward, and Michael Jenkins after his “kick in the rallynuts” on the Severn Valley Earlier in the season. Ward and Jenkins would have the opportunity to grow that lead even further with Davison missing from the Kielder Forest Rally field.
LEG 1 / MORNING LOOP (SS1 – SS3)
Stage 1 Falstone, saw championship leaders Steve Ward and Phil Sandham set the pace with a Seven-minute thirty-eight second stage time, a full second quicker than the rapid Ford Fiesta ST driver Lewis Hooper. Hooper making the step up to SilverStar this year and having some impressive performances after his first-round DNF. Equal third were Nick Dobson & Steve Pugh and Baz Jordan & Arwel Jenkins in their respective Ford Escort Mk2s. Fourth was the Chevette driver, Ben Jemison hoping for an increase in fortunes after wto non-finishes in the first 2 rounds of the season. Four seconds separated the top six with Will Graham sitting a second further behind Jemison.
Into SS2, The Bower and Jemison was to make his mark in fine style, taking the first of what was to be five consecutive fastest SilverStar stage wins. Second through was Lewis Hooper, a further three seconds back, and the pattern was set for the day.
PHOTO: STEVE KORKY WARD & PHIL SANDHAM | BEN JEMISON & DAVE JACKSON | LEWIS HOOPER & RHYS EDWARDS | BY ANDREW SCOTT
To contrast this with the fortunes of Nick Dobson and Steve Pugh who played to cameras live on Special Stage TV by coming into a right-hander and managing to roll their Escort into one of the infamous killer Kielder ditches. Luckily they rolled straight over and carried straight on as if nothing happened, with essence of Colin McRae style! Despite this, they managed to carry on despite the car looking very second-hand!
“2 wings, spoiler, new door skin or two, maybe 3 arches, awkward repair on my side windscreen pillar, big repair on O/s rear quarter, roof not bad…”
Steve Pugh
Steve Ward and Will Graham Set equal third fastest through Bower, eight seconds slower than the rapid Chevette, which meant going into SS3 Shepherdshield both Hooper & Edwards and Jemison & Jackson leapfrogged the Escort driver, pushing Ward down to third, four seconds ahead of Will Graham and Robin Kellard who sat fourth with Dobson dropping to sixth after his McRae moment.
PHOTO: WILL GRAHAM & ROBIN KELLARD | NICK DOBSON & STEVE PUGH | BY ANDREW SCOTT
SS3 saw a similar pattern with Jemison taking the win from Hooper by a single second, followed by Graham and Ward in third and fourth.
Therefore as we headed back to service, Ben Jemison and Dave Jackson would hold a slender two-second lead into the afternoons loop, from Hooper & Edwards. Steve Ward & Phil Sandham and Will Graham &Robin Kellard were ten and eleven seconds off the lead respectively.
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #37 BEN JEMISON / DAVE JACKSON | 22:12:00 |
| 2 | #41 LEWIS HOOPER / RHYS EDWARDS | 22:14:00 |
| 3 | #44 STEVE KORKY WARD / PHIL SANDHAM | 22:22:00 |
| 4 | #40 WILL GRAHAM / ROBIN KELLARD | 22:23:00 |
| 5 | #53 SAM MASON / JAMES SEYMOUR | 22:42:00 |
LEG 2 / AFTERNOON LOOP (SS3 – SS6)
Into the afternoon and despite the weather changing, little was to change at the top of our Protyre BTRDA SilverStar leaderboard. Ben Jemison set the fastest time again on SS4 Falstone, two seconds quicker than Lewis Hooper, whilst Baz Jordan took his first top 3 time of the day, three seconds off the fastest time.
This left Jemison four seconds ahead going into the penultimate stage, SS5 with Will Graham Leap frogging Steve Ward who had only managed to set the seventh fastest time on SS4. His stage time was sixteen seconds slower than Graham, and enough to drop him from third to fourth overall.
“Drove like a fairy in second half. No excuses!”
Steve Ward
PHOTO: STEVE KORKY WARD & PHIL SANDHAM | BY DAN KNIGHT
However, despite his magical driving, the drop was only temporary as SS5 saw the retirement of Will Graham and Robin Kellard which promoted the Escort driver back up to third behind the perennial top 2 of Jemison and Hooper, who were to set the same time on SS5, at nine minutes nineteen seconds. This left the pair over fifty seconds clear of the third-place man (Ward) and only 4 seconds separating the pair, with Jemison in the lead and Hooper in second going into a grandstand final stage finish.
PHOTO: LEWIS HOOPER & RHYS EDWARDS | NICK DOBSON & STEVE PUGH | BY ANDREW SCOTT
As it transpired, SS6 was to be as close as the rest, Jemison was to take it by a further second from Hooper, so in the final reckoning Jemison would to take his first BTRDA SilverStar Award win by five seconds from Lewis Hooper in second position and Steve Ward in third. Despite their McRae moment, Dobson and Pugh completed the event for an eventful fourth place.
“An epic day out in the Chevette after the disappointment of a retirement on the border counties rally a few weeks back. We’ve worked incredibly hard to get the engine and other things rebuilt so a massive thanks to everyone who has helped.”
Ben Jemison
PHOTO: BEN JEMISON | BY ANDREW SCOTT
The Kielder would deliver another consistent result for the Ward & Sandham pair, which means that Steve Ward now leads the Protyre BTRDA SilverStar Championship standings going into the next round in Wales, eighteen points ahead of Michael Jenkins who could only manage a ninth place on the KFR after a rather eventful day.
“Kielder Forest Rally summary, didn’t think we’d make it to the end of this one…
SS1: Puncture near the start, stuck behind Jag, visited a ditch, SS2: Stuck behind Jag, SS3: Puncture & cracked caliper, rear right jammed, SS4: Puncture & rear brakes binding, SS5 Rear brakes binding, steamed up windscreen, SS6: Brakes binding, smoke in the car, oil leak, boiled brakes. That is all”
Michael Jenkins
Third in the race a further point behind is Nick Dobson, despite his obvious self-imposed ventilation issues on the Kielder Forest rally.
PHOTO: MICHAEL JENKINS & JORDAN JOINES | BY ANDREW SCOTT
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #37 BEN JEMISON / DAVE JACKSON | 44:11:00 |
| 2 | #41 LEWIS HOOPER / RHYS EDWARDS | 44:16:00 |
| 3 | #44 STEVE KORKY WARD / PHIL SANDHAM | 45:26:00 |
| 4 | #35 NICK DOBSON / STEVE PUGH | 45:35:00 |
| 5 | #73 JAMES GRATTON-SMITH / TOM JORDAN | 48:04:00 |
BRONZESTAR
If you thought it was close in the above 2 classes, Bronze Star proves the tightest of the lot, as Nigel and Kaz Jenkins lead the similar car of Chris Greenall by just one point heading to Kielder after taking their first Win on Rallynuts, and with Greenall absent in Northumbria, they would see this as a perfect opportunity to cement another title charge.
LEG 1 / MORNING LOOP (SS1-SS3)
With second-place man, Chris Greenall missing, it was all set for Will Banks and 2023 Champions Kaz and Nigel Jenkins to take full advantage, and on the opening stage of the day, SS1 Falstone the Jenkins pair set the bar high by setting the fastest time by twenty seconds, ahead of the Micras of Ashley Francis-Adams and Dylan Fowler-Bishop. Our third-place championship man Will Banks finished thirty seconds back in fifth place, with Alfie Hammond splitting Banks and the Micra pair in fourth.
SS2 Saw the Jenkins Nova extend their lead by a further 6 seconds over Ashley Francis-Adams & Dan Petrie, as they again set the fastest time this time equal with Dylan Fowler-Bishop & Dan Evans in their Micra. Fourth was Alfie Hammond & Phil Boyle, ahead of Dale Glover & David Smalley in their Alfa Sud with Will Banks fifth Twenty-two seconds slower than Nigel and Kaz Jenkins also in the Nova.
PHOTO: ALFIE HAMMOND & PHIL BOYLE | DALE GLOVER & DAVID SMALLEY |BY ANDREW SCOTT
Going into the final stage of the loop, this left the Mirca pair of Fowler-Bishop and Francis-Adams joint second, twenty-six seconds behind. Fourth was Hammond thirty-nine seconds down after some consistent stage times and Banks making up the top five fifty-two seconds off the lead.
In SS3 things were to all change as the dominant Leaders suffered reliability issues with their engine.
“(it) Was going well and then the engine dropped a valve and it was game over. Luckily this hasn’t damaged our points too much for the championship and its still all to play for with other crews at the top end of the points too. Time was against us sorting out the car but luckily Nige has managed to sort another engine and we are back out on Nicky Grist. Been a lot of work but he’s done it.”
Kaz Jenkins
PHOTO: NIGEL JENKINS & KAREN JENKINS | BY ANDREW SCOTT
It was Fowler-Bishop who took the advantage in that battle of the Micras, which had now gained importance being for the lead in BronzeStar. Fowler-Bishop stopped the clock on Five minutes twenty-four seconds to take a five-second lead over Francis-Adams. Hammond and Boyle set third fastest time a further second back to cement third place, twenty-one seconds behind the leader as the crews returned to Hexham for service.
PHOTO: DYLAN FOWLER-BISHOP & DAN EVANS | ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS & DAN PETRIE | BY ANDREW SCOTT
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #60 DYLAN FOWLER-BISHOP / DAN EVANS | 22:43:00 |
| 2 | #61 ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS / DAN PETRIE | 22:48:00 |
| 3 | #56 ALFIE HAMMOND / PHIL BOYLE | 23:04:00 |
| 4 | #57 WILL BANKS / MATTHEW BADDELEY | 23:23:00 |
| 5 | #67 DALE GLOVER / DAVID SMALLEY | 23:24:00 |
LEG 2 / AFTERNOON LOOP (SS3-SS6)
There was all to play for on the afternoon loop of stages, with Jenkins out and Greenall not present, the Protyre BTRDA BronzeStar Award championship could see a significant swing towards the Micra pair, especially with Banks down in fourth place.
For Banks, however, his rally was to end on SS5 following a high-speed crash where the car stepped out of line over a compression.
“We were going really well, after swapping and changing times with Dale Glover all day, we went for a push on SS5 to get some time back, as we were approaching the start the heavens opened and added another element of water to a what was very hard and dry stage. On a very fast section of the stage, we went over a flat crest at top speed, unfortunately, the car landed a little staggered putting us into a high-speed tank slapper, after a couple of rotations the car went backwards into a tree stump, and landed into a soft ditch. It’s both unlucky and lucky at the same time as if the car flipped we would be telling a very different story…. The worst of it all was standing awaiting rescue being eaten alive by midges“
Will Banks
PHOTO: WILL BANKS & MATTHEW BADDELEY | BY ANDREW SCOTT
Therefore SS5 and 6 would see the Micra’s benefit. Coming into SS5 Fowler-Bishop led Francis-Adams by seven seconds and was to extend that lead to fifteen by the end of the run through The Bower stage, with Dale Glover now sitting third, fifty-one seconds off the pace.
Despite a spirited run through the final 5.4 miles of Shepherdshield, where Francis-Adams would take the stage win (by five seconds), the fifteen-second advantage would prove too much to close down and the top three were to finish as per SS5; with Fowler-Bishop taking the win from Francis Adams and Dale Glover in third. Glover had stolen a march on Hammond in the afternoon, starting twenty seconds behind going into SS4, Glover then set the equal fastest time on SS4 to reduce the gap down to eleven seconds, managing to overhaul Hammond and Boyle on the following stage (SS5) which would see Glover eventually finish twenty six seconds ahead in third.
As a result of the misfortune suffered by both Jenkins and Banks, three points separates our top 4 in the BronzeStar championship standings after Kielder. Ashley Francis-Adams jumps to the head of the BronzeStar leaderboard on eighty points, one point ahead of Nigel Jenkins despite his retirement. Paddy Homan’s sixth-place finish brings him level on points with the absent Chris Greenall on seventy-seven points for equal third going into the Nicky Grist Stages Rally. With Greenall, Horman, and Banks all not competing at the next round, it will be a perfect opportunity for Nigel Jenkins and Ashley Francis-Adams to steal a march in the championship race.
PHOTO: DYLAN FOWLER-BISHOP & DAN EVANS | ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS & DAN PETRIE | BY ANDREW SCOTT
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #60 DYLAN FOWLER-BISHOP / DAN EVANS | 45:18:00 |
| 2 | #61 ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS / DAN PETRIE | 45:28:00 |
| 3 | #67 DALE GLOVER / DAVID SMALLEY | 46:12:00 |
| 4 | #56 ALFIE HAMMOND / PHIL BOYLE | 46:38:00 |
| 5 | #64 CHRIS BUSH / ROBERT BRYN JONES | 47:43:00 |
HISTORIC CUP
In the BTRDA Historic Cup, Ben Jemison’s dominance of SilverStar at the Kielder Stages translated into a full one-minute fifteen-second win from Steve Ward in second place. As in SilverStar, Ward had initially taken the lead on SS1 before Ben took a clean sweep of the remaining stages. Baz Jordan and Will Graham were to alternate second positions across the remaining stages, Will taking second on SS2 and SS3 before his subsequent retirement on SS4 which left it all clear for Baz to take the remaining second places between SS4 and SS6. However, it was Ernie and Patricia Lee who took third as a result of Jordan and Jenkins taking a stage maximum on SS2.
PHOTO: ERNIE LEE & PATRICIA LEE | BAZ JORDAN & ARWEL JENKINS | BY ANDREW SCOTT
STANDINGS | ROUND 4
GOLDSTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ELLIOT PAYNE | 113 |
| 2 | MATTHEW HIRST | 112 |
| 3 | PATRICK NAYLOR | 102 |
| 4 | LIAM CLARK | 101 |
| 5 | RUSS THOMPSON | 86 |
SILVERSTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STEVE KORKY WARD | 99 |
| 2 | MICHAEL JENKINS | 81 |
| 3 | NICK DOBSON | 80 |
BRONZESTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS | 80 |
| 2 | NIGEL JENKINS | 79 |
| 3 | PADDY HOMAN | 77 |
HISTORIC CUP DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STEVE KORKY WARD | 68 |
| 2 | BEN JEMISON | 41 |
| 4 | WILL GRAHAM | 40 |
NEXT TIME
For the fifth round of the Protyre BTRDA Rally series, we head back south to the familiar territory of Builth Wells in Mid Wales as the crews embark on the Nicky Grist Stages Rally for forty-five miles of Welsh gravel. Stages such as Crychan, Monument, and Halfway await the crews at the beginning of July – with it all still to play for across the board and a strong entry, it looks like we are all set for a cracking event.
[…] You can read a full round-up of the BTRDA Rally Championship action by clicking the image above or visiting XLERATE.NET. […]