ARC / RD6 / TOUR OF EPYNT 2024

WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY COOK

The Protyre Motorsport UK would relocate from Argyll, Scotland to Llandovery, Wales for the sixth round of its 2024 Championship. A staple in the series, the Nigel Ferguson Tour Of Epynt Rally, Organised by the Port Talbot Motor Club would once again see the Asphalt protagonists go wheel to wheel on the infamous smooth roads of the military ranges over a two-day affair (20 / 21 July).

Covering some 80 stages miles across eight stages, the Tour Of Epynt would once again deliver ample drama, as well as the wet stuff on the opening leg of the rally.

Last time out on the closed roads of Argyll, Callum Black & Jack Morton got their title defence back on track with a convincing win over Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts but it would be the two-wheel drive MKII Ford Escort pilot of Darren Atkinson who would leave Scotland leading the overall standings. However, Atkinson was nowhere to be seen in Wales, along with other protagonists such as James Williams and Steve Wood, Epynt would therefore offer up a window of opportunity for the likes of second-place man Roskell, Black (P3) and Simon Bowen (P4) to even things up a bit.

LEG 1 (SS1 – SS4)

The opening leg of the rally would cover four stages and 25 miles and it would be Mark Kelly & Will Atkins who would begin the proceedings with the first stage win of the event in their Skoda Fabia R5. The pair edged the Rally2 Ford Fiesta of Black and Morton by a slender single second over the short 2.18-mile opening blast.

Photos: Mark Kelly & Will Atkins | Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Black would, however, once again attract some drama before the rally had even turned a competitive wheel, reporting that the turbo boost pipe on his Fiesta had come loose a couple of times on the road section to the first stage.

Kelly would follow up his stage opener in the very next test, the longer 10.64-mile stage running from the Westside to the East of the military ranges, but this test proved to be a tricky one. As typical for Epynt, which has its own little micro-climate, the beginning of the stage was wet but the second half was bone dry, so tyre choice was a bit of a lottery.

Photos: Mark Kelly & Will Atkins | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Kelly & Atkins would increase their lead here by a further two seconds over Black & Morton, who reported being held up on stage. Heading into the first service halt of the event Kelly would hold a lead of just three seconds over Black with Kevin & Owain Davies rounding out the top three in their VW Polo GTi R5 car, who were a further five seconds off the pace of Black.

Back out after service, Kelly and Black would match each other’s times on the SS3, both stopping the clocks on identical times, however, neither would be taking the stage win here. Instead, that would be the MKII Ford Escort of Huw James with Lewis Sim calling the notes who recorded the fasted time by two seconds.

Photos: Mark Kelly & Will Atkins | Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Again on the final stage of the opening leg of the rally, Kelly & Black were both tied on times, leaving nothing between them in the repeat of the longer ten-miler test. Mark Kelly & Will Atkins would, however, be the ones leading the charge at the overnight halt, with a slim margin of just three seconds over Callum Black and Jack Morton.

Photos: Kevin & Owain Davies | Stephen Simpson & Mark Glennerster | Wayne Jones & Dafydd Evans | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Best of the rest, Kevin & Owain Davies would hold P3 overnight, ten seconds off the pace but would enjoy a decent gap to Stephen Simpson & Mark Glennerster (Ford Fiesta Rally2) in P4 who themselves were just about on top of a battle with Wayne Jones & Dafydd Evans in the Darrian T90 GTR who rounded out the top five, with just a single second separating them after 25-miles of action.

POS	LEADERBOARD	TIME
1	#1 M.KELLY / W.ATKINS	21:20
2	#2 C.BLACK / J.MORTON	+3
3	#9 K.DAVIES / O.DAVIES	+10
4	#12 S.SIMPSON / M.GLENNERSTER	+39
5	#14 W.JONES / D.EVANS	+2

LEG 2 (SS5 – SS8)

The next morning, the crews would awake to some sunshine and would be faced with a further 54 miles over four stages to enjoy. The ding-dong battle for the rally lead would continue very much where it left off the night before, Kelly & Atkins were back on it and taking the opening stage win of the morning. Just a single second would take SS5 win from Black & Morton this time, it was nip’n’tuck and game on as the pair would tussle for the stage wins.

Photos: Mark Kelly & Will Atkins | Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Stage five would see Championship hopeful, Neil Roskell lose over a minute on an overshoot into a ditch, this took him out of the running and would see him drop from his overnight P6 position; this has done his title hopes no favours whatsoever.

Photos: Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts | Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Black would finally be able to take the advantage from Kelly in the sixth stage of the event, following a time loss of around 17 seconds after Kelly lost the backend of the Skoda Fabia and spun after a jump, this mishap would lose him the lead of the rally in one swoop.

Stage six would see Steve Simpson & Mark Glennerster give up their overnight fourth spot after they put their Ford Fiesta Rally2 car in the same ditch as Roskell did on the previous stage, this lost them a chunk of time dropping them down a few places to seventh.

Photos: Steve Simpson & Mark Glennerster | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

The new rally leaders, Black & Morton would now find themselves heading into the penultimate stage of the event with a lead of 13 seconds to protect against a resurging Kelly & Atkins; who came back fighting to stop the clocks on the same time as both Black and Davies on SS7.

Photo: Callum Black & Jack Morton | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Alas, 13 seconds was perhaps going to be a bit of a tall order for Kelly to make up in the final stage of the event, and despite having to turn the anti-lag down on his Ford Fiesta Rally2 car, Callum Black would sign off his Tour Of Epynt with the final stage win. He and Co-Driver Jack Morton would cross the finish line with a final margin of 17 seconds to secure their first Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship victory of the year and the pair would also leave Wales leading the standings.

Unfortunately, the bridesmaids on this occasion, Mark Kelly & Will Atkins would be denied their first win, having led the rally from the opening stage the pair would lose it out on just one jump. Despite that misdemeanor, the pair would score some decent points for second and were some 24-seconds clear of Kevin & Owain Davies who would take the final podium place in their VW Polo GTi R5.

Photos: Mark Kelly & Will Atkins | Kevin & Owain Davies | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Wayne Jones & Dafydd Evans would come out on top of the battle with Simon Bowen and Craig Simkiss to finish fourth in the Darrian T90 GTR. Some 59 seconds was the gap that the pair had built up over the eight stages ahead of the Fiesta S2000 turbo of Bowen who rounded out the top five.

Photos: Wayne Jones & Dafydd Evans | Simon Bowen & Craig Simkiss | Neil Roskell & Dai Roberts | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)

Elsewhere, following his hick-up on stage five, Championship contender Neil Roskell would only manage a ninth-place finish; whilst his rival Black would walk away from Wales with a maximum points haul, this result would leave a small dent in Roskell’s title bid with just two rounds remaining.

POS	FINAL LEADERBOARD	TIME
1	#2 C.BLACK / J.MORTON	1:05:01
2	#1 M.KELLY / W.ATKINS	+17
3	#9 K.DAVIES / O.DAVIES	+41
4	#14 W.JONES / D.EVANS	+52
5	#11 S.BOWEN / C.SIMKISS	+59

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

POS	DRIVERS TABLE	POINTS
1	CALLUM BLACK	137
2	NEIL ROSKELL	130
3	SIMON BOWEN	126
4	DARREN ATKINSON	114
5	WILLIAM HILL	110

NEXT TIME

The Protyre Motorsport UK, Asphalt Rally Championship would remain in Wales for Round 7 and would rendezvous in Aberystwyth for the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion on 30th Aug – 1st September for a 3-day closed road spectacle on Asphalt.