BTRDA / RD2 / SEVERN VALLEY STAGES 2024
03/05/2024WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY COOK, ANDREW SCOTT & NIGEL PRATT
Around a month had passed since the Malcolm Wilson Rally in the Lake District had raised the curtains on the 2024 Protyres BTRDA Rally Championship in March. This time around the series would travel to Mid-Wales for the second round of the Championship, the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages Rally, where world-class gravel stages would await the crews.
Organised by the Midland Manner Motor Club, the event would celebrate its 50th anniversary this year in style, offering up an extended 62 miles of competition compared to a typical 45-mile one-day BTRDA round. Previously known as Alcan, Mutiny and Kerridge Rally, the Seven Valley Stages first played host to the BTRDA back in 1984 using stages in Tarrenig, Hafren and Ceri Forest. Whizz forward to the present both Tarrenig and Hafren would return to the Rallynuts sponsored event in a challenging 7-stage schedule.
Last time out on the Malcolm Wilson Rally, two times GoldStar champ Elliot Payne would open up his BTRDA campaign the right way, beating Irishman Vivian Hamel for the overall rally win. Andy Davison secured the SilverStar honours in the Sunbeam VXR, getting the better of BTRDA newcomer Ben Jemison in the Vauxhall Chevette; whilst last-minute stand-in driver Callum Black took the BronzeStar award gaining the edge in his dad’s Suzuki Swift over reigning BronzeStar champ Nigel Jenkins in the Vauxhall Nova.
GOLDSTAR
LEG 1 (SS1 – SS4)
Elliot Payne would waste no time in getting up to speed on the opening short but sharp 4-mile test in Coed Sarnau, setting the initial pace in his Amigos Tequila Beer-sponsored Ford Fiesta Rally2. Despite believing that he was too cautious and braking too early in places, Payne and Co-Driver Patrick Walsh would lay down the fastest time of the BTRDA crews having stopped the clocks just 1.1 seconds quicker than Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear in the Delta-Salvage Ford Fiesta R5.
Photo: Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh | By Andrew Scott
Hirst who has been going through a bit of a rough patch of late having had a handful of DNFs at the backend of last season, also began his BTRDA assault at the Malcolm Wilson with a few technical gremlins casuing him to only managed a 10th-place finish. However, things were hopefully on the up, having secured the Welsh National win on the recent Rally North Wales he was hoping to carry on some of that positivity into the Severn Valley.
Photos: Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear | Russ Thompson & Stephen Link | By Andrew Scott
Rounding out the top three of the GoldStar on the first stage of the day was the B13 Mitsubishi Evo 9 driven by Russ Thompson. With Stephen Link beside him calling the notes, the pair recorded a time that was 4.6 down on Hirst. The morning start would not go well for our Round 2 runner-up Vivian Hammel, who would unfortunately roll his VW Polo GTi R5 car on this opening test of the rally and would therefore be catching an earlier ferry back home to Ireland.
Heading north and to the outskirts of Llangurig, the shortest blast of the event through Tarrenig would see the crews greeted with a thick blanket of fog. At just 3.74 miles in length, this section of Tarennig hadn’t seen action for a good few years and Hirst who had last driven the stretch of road on Wales Rally GB back in 2018 would secure his first GoldStar stage win here.
It was clear that confidence in the pace notes was vital in the foggy conditions, with drivers having to 100% rely on the notes and the delivery of them as they navigated those challenging conditions. Payne would have a bit of a bad run in Tarennig losing time and only recording the 8th fastest time; some ten seconds were lost here which effectively resulted in a change in the lead to the GoldStar with Hirst taking over the helm.
Photo: Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
The crews were able to settle a bit more in the third stage of the morning. A longer 9.85-mile stage through Myherin would immediately follow the Tarennig test, climbing up through the wind farms and into the classic Welsh forest rally stage to the West. Hirst and Dear would continue that pace on and into this one, pulling out an even bigger margin of 21 seconds over Payne & Walsh to really bolster their GoldStar lead with just one stage of the morning loop remaining.
“The fog descended in Myherin and both Dec and I really had to work for it. I’m glad we spent a lot of time together on the notes and I put a lot of trust into what he was saying. I think that was reflected in the time given we hadn’t done a Reece. Myherin is tricky at the best of times never mind in low viability.”
Matthew Hirst
The longest test thus far would complete the morning loop, with a meaty 11.22 miles through Hafren Forest which ended up in the ever-popular fan favourite Sweet Lamb Bowl. Despite a distracting error message that kept flashing up on the dash of the Fiesta, Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear would complete the morning loop with their third GoldStar stage win, edging Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh by a further 7 seconds to lead by a decent margin of 39 seconds at halftime.
Photos: Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh – By Andrew Scott | Russ Thompson & Stephen Link – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Best of the rest and leading the B13 class were Russ Thompson & Stephen Link in the Mitsubishi Evo. After laying down some consistent top five times, their morning’s efforts had edged them over Daníel Sigurðarson & Ásta Sigurðardóttir, with a gap of 22 seconds. Having had a bit of an up-and-down morning, Sigurðarson put in a storming time through SS4 Hafren which bumped him up the leaderboard and into fourth place having dropped a bit of time previously in Myherin. Rounding out the top five was another Swedish pairing of Gunnar Karl Johannesson & Isak Gudjonsson, who were just 10 seconds short of their fellow countrymen.
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #7 M.HIRST / D.DEAR | 23:03.09 |
| 2 | #6 E.PAYNE / P.WALSH | +39.2 |
| 3 | #20 R.THOMPSON / S.LINK | +1:06.0 |
| 4 | #21 D.SIGURDSSON / A.SIGURDARDOTTI | +1:28.2 |
| 5 | #29 K G.JOHANNESSON. / I.GUDJONSSON | +1:38.7 |
LEG 2 (SS5 – SS7)
The afternoon leg would feature three tests with some slight re-jigging of the morning stages. With a lead to protect and a potential win on the cards, the repeated run through the identical Coed Sarnau test would see Hirst and Dears run broken by Payne, who repeated his GoldStar stage win from the morning, clawing back 7 seconds to leader Hirst.
Photo: Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh | By Andrew Scott
Payne’s resurgence was, however, to be limited to the Coed Sarnau forest and it was normal service resumed in the very next stage where in the words of the ninety’s girl band, The Spice Girls, “Two Become One”. The morning tests of Tarennig & Myherin would be joined together to form the longest stage of the event at a shade under 16 miles in length. Hirst and Dear would take back those 7 seconds that Payne just recovered and added a further three to it, heading into the final stage of the rally with a lead of 42 seconds.
Photo: Matthew Hirst & Declan Dear | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
Matthew Hirst and Declan would sign off their event with the final stage win, adding to their tally and making it five stage wins to secure the top spot on the GoldStar podium. Bringing their Delta-Salvage Ford Fiesta R5 car home a full minute ahead of their Championship rivals, the pair would leave the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages with their first Protyres BTRDA win since the Kielder Forest Rally in June last year.
“Given that the Malcolm Wilson hadn’t gone to plan, we knew that we needed to bag some points on the RallyNuts to keep our BTRDA Championship alive.” “In the afternoon we were blighted by a severe misfire which really slowed us down and caused quite a lot of stress in between stages trying to diagnose. I felt nothing but relief more than anything after returning to the metropole, which was a shame because we should have been proud of our times, especially in the morning.”
Matthew Hirst
Photos: Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media) | Russ Thompson & Stephen Link – By Andrew Scott
Although Elliot Payne & Patrick Walsh couldn’t get close enough to Hirst & Dear on the day, they would be able to comfortably keep ahead of the B13 Class winners of Russ Thompson & Stephen Link who would round out the GoldStar podium in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.
Behind Thompson, there was a big skirmish for fourth between Scott Beattie and Daníel Sigurðarson. Scott Beattie and Peredur Davies would be the ones to come out on top of that R5 Fiesta battle, nipping the position by a Nat’s whisker of just 0.1 seconds, thanks to his final stage efforts in Hafren.
Photos: Scott Beattie & Peredur Davies – By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media) | Daníel Sigurðarson & Ásta Sigurðardóttir – By Andrew Scott
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #7 M.HIRST / D.DEAR | 1:02:33.1 |
| 2 | #6 E.PAYNE / P.WALSH | +1:00.4 |
| 3 | #20 R.THOMPSON / S.LINK | +2:16.8 |
| 4 | #16 S.BEATTIE / P.DAVIES | +2:47.3 |
| 5 | #21 D.SIGURDSSON / A.SIGUDARDOTTIR | +2:47.4 |
SILVERSTAR
In the SilverStar award, the Welsh stages would take its toll on one of our Championship hopefuls in what was described as “a kick in the rally nuts”.
LEG 1 (SS1 – SS4)
Arriving in Builth Wells on a high from their opening round victory at the Malcolm Wilson Rally, Andy Davison and Tom Murphy were looking for a cut and paste of that result this time out at Round 2. The pair were on it from the get-go, blasting their Sunbeam VRX (B12) off the start line and into the opening Sarnau test, but they were met with a challenger already. This came in the form of a young Max Utting, who peddled his Fiesta ST (B11) through that opening 4.17-mile test just 0.1 seconds slower than Davison.
Photo: Andy Davison & Tom Murphy | By Andrew Scott
Wanting to put his opening round woes behind him, Lewis Hooper would be back out in the R2 Ford Fiesta (minus those technical gremlins) and looking to bring home a result this time out in Wales. With Co-Driver Rhys Edwards beside him, the pair were the third quickest SilverStar crew out of the starting blocks, stopping the clocks a further 4 seconds down on Utting and Davision up front.
Photos: Matt Utting & Robbie Durant – By Andrew Scott | Lewis Hooper & Rhys Edwards – By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
Having opted not to contest the opening round, Jonathan Brace would get his BTDRA season underway on the familiar grounds of Mid-Wales in his Braces Bread MK1 Ford Escort. Scoring towards both the SilverStar award and the Historic Cup, he and Co-Driver Paul Spooner would begin their day just a single second behind Hooper in fourth. Rounding out the top five of the SilverStar crews on the opening test was another crew not to have contested the Malcolm Wilson Rally, Nick Dobson & Jonathan Turnbull in their MKII Ford Escort.
Photos: Jonathan Brace & Paul Spooner | Nick Dobson & Jonathan Turnbull – By Andrew Scott
Once again Davison was quickest in the next stage (SS2 Tarennig), with Brace in the MK1 Escort just three seconds off the pace and Utting a further 0.4 of a second off him. With just two stages down, the SilverStar was already showing its potential to be a great three-way fight.
It wasn’t just the top three showing their intent for a scrap, behind them Dobson & Turnbull were being met with a challenge from Rob Dennis & Andrew Boswell and although Hooper was clinging on to that fourth place, he wasn’t able to match the pace of either Dennis or Dobson in Tarrenig which allowed them both to gain to some time on him.
Photo: Rob Dennis & Andrew Boswell | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
There was no time for tentative driving in the thick fog of both Tarrenig and Myherin, Davison and Murphy had a pack of wolves hunting them down, Utting was at the front of that pack in his Fiesta ST and throwing caution to the wind in the hope that Davison would stumble.
Alas, Davison & Murphy remained steadfast out on the stages, taking another 9 seconds in Myherin the pair would lead Utting and Co-Driver Robbie Durant by a tad over 12 seconds heading into the final stage of the morning loop.
Brace & Spooner in third were in danger of losing their reach to Utting ahead of them, the pair dropped around 13 seconds to them in Myherin which allowed the likes of Dennis & Boswell to gain ground.
Photos: Andy Davison & Tom Murphy | Max Utting & Robbie Durant | Jonathan Brace & Paul Spooner | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
Dennis & Boswell had not only managed to overhaul Dobson & Turnbull in Myherin but had also gained some breathing space on them, the gap between them in fourth and fifth place was slowly increasing. But Dennis wasn’t the only one to have passed Dobson, Agnar Ingi Sigurdsson was also on a little charge having recorded the third fastest SilverStar time in SS3 Myherin. However, if it weren’t for being handed a 1-minute time penalty, having checked into the time control on that stage too early, Sigurdsson would have been knocking on the door of Dennis.
Davison & Murphy would complete the morning leg with a full house of SilverStar stage wins, boosting their overall lead with another 11 seconds in the Hafren Stage. The pair would arrive in Builth Wells for the mid-day service halt with a healthy 35.9 seconds lead but that would not be over Max Utting & Robbie Durant.
Photo: Andy Davison & Tom Murphy | By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Having put in a stellar performance in their Ford Fiesta ST over the morning stages, Utting & Durant would run into trouble in the final stage of the loop. They would drop a chunk of time which would see them slide down the timing sheets to 9th. One man’s loss was another’s gain, Jonathan Brace in his MK1 Ford Escort would be the one to benefit, taking up P2 behind the Sunbeam VRX of Davison at halftime.
Just six and a bit behind Brace & Spooner and rounding out the top three SilverStar crews would be the RS1800 MKII Escort of Rob Dennis & Andrew Boswell. After their morning charge, Dennis & Boswell had progressed well over the morning loop, overtaking both Nick Dobson & Jonathan Turnbull (4th), along with Lewis Hooper & Rhys Edwards (5th) along the way.
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #63 A.DAVISON / T.MURPHY | 33:40.7 |
| 2 | #77 J.BRACE / P.SPOONER | +35.9 |
| 3 | #76 R.DENNIS / A.BOSWELL | +42.4 |
| 4 | #88 N.DOBSON / J.TURNBULL | +1:09.6 |
| 5 | #106 L.HOOPER / R.EDWARDS | +1:34.2 |
LEG 2 (SS5 – SS7)
Back out for the afternoon leg, Davison & Murphy chose to maintain their comfortable lead, the Sunbeam VXR had benefited from a fresh engine build since the Wilson and the pressure that Utting had initially applied over the morning stages was no longer present, it was therefore a case of taking no risks for the afternoon loop.
Photos: Max Utting & Robbie Durant – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media) | Rob Dennis & Andrew Boswell – By Andrew Scott
Max Utting would pick up his first SilverStar stage win in the repeated pass of Coed Sanau, but Davison although was having a few little niggles with the clutch on his Sunbeam, would return to the top of timesheets in Myherin, getting the better of Dennis by a single second here.
Photo: Andy Davison & Tom Murphy | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
Davison & Murphy would enter the final test of the rally with a whopping 53.6 seconds lead over Dennis & Boswell; however, the final 13.34 miles in Hafren Forest would see all that hard work go to waste.
Division explains “I spotted a bump in the road and straightened the car in order to not put too much load on the axle, on the next corner we still lost drive and it became apparent when we hit the brakes that the stub axle had snapped.” Unbelievably Davison and Murphy were forced to retire from the rally on the final stage of the event, from staring almost certain victory and another maximum points haul in the face, to be walking away with diddlysquat, Davision said that “this one was a kick in the rally nuts” for him and Co-Driver Tom Murphy.
“The event had been going reasonably well having just had the engine rebuilt we were not going too crazy but did have a few little issues with the clutch. With Max Utting hitting issues, we had a comfortable lead in the SilverStar, so had decided to just make sure we got around with no risks.”, “It’s always disappointing, but we are well on with the repairs and looking forward to having a blast on the Borders next month”.
Andy Davison
Photo: Rob Dennis & Andrew Boswell | By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
With the demise of Davison & Murphy, Rob Dennis with Andrew Boswell on the notes would be handed a last-minute SilverStar victory, proving that age-old saying “in order to win, you must first finish” absolutely does ring true here. Dennis & Boswell also had a strong event in their MKII Ford Escort RS1800, progressing throughout the day had given them a 15-second lead and taking them to the top step of the SilverStar podium ahead of Jonathan Brace & Paul Spooner and also earning them the overall Historic Cup honours.
Photo: Jonathan Brace & Paul Spooner | By Andrew Scott
Brace & Spooner also had a good day in the office, setting top five times on all stages in their MK1 Ford Escort RS1600 and moving into the podium place from only the second stage of the day. The afternoon would see them locked in a two-and-throw battle with eventual rally winners Dennis & Boswell. Brace & Spooner would not only secure second in the SilverStar but would also top the H1/2 class and second overall Historic Cup crew.
Photo: Nick Dobson & Jonathan Turnball | By Andrew Scott
Taking that final SilverStar podium place was Nick Dobson & Jonathan Turnbull in their MKII Ford Escort. Although the gap between them and second place at the finish was a little bigger, at almost one and a half minutes, their stage times were consistently in or around the top five. Dobson was able to hold off a recovering Max Utting & Robbie Durant who salvaged a 4th SilverStar finish in their Fiesta ST having put in a strong morning performance.
Photos: Matt Utting & Robbie Durant – By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media) | Lewis Hooper & Rhys Edwards – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
Rounding out the top five and happy to get a score on the board were, Lewis Hooper and Rhys Edwards (+R2 Cup Honors). After their DNF at the opening round, it was good to get their first decent result in the bag in the R2 Ford Fiesta, having stepped up from the Nissan Micra and the BronzeStar from last season.
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #76 R.DENNIS / A.BOSWELL | 1:13.41.3 |
| 2 | #77 J.BRACE / P.SPOONER | +15.0 |
| 3 | #88 N.DOBSON / J.TURNBULL | +1:42.0 |
| 4 | #66 M.UTTING / R.DURANT | +2:20.8 |
| 5 | #106 L.HOOPER / R.EDWARDS | +2:50.0 |
BRONZESTAR
Although Nigel & Karen Jenkins would leave the opening round with a second, they were in real terms leading the BronzeStar, as Callum Black & Jack Morton were not likely to set foot back in the category. Blacks father Stephen would, however, be back in the silly seat and looking to pick a fight on the Welsh stages. The drama would not only be confined to the SilverStar, but the BronzeStar would also deliver some last-minute heartache for one of the crews.
LEG 1 (SS1-SS4)
Photo: Nigel & Karen Jenkins | By Andrew Scott
It would be the Jenkins pairing to set the benchmark on the opening test of the day in Coed Sarnau, pushing the Vauxhall Nova around just one second quicker than Black and his Co-Driver James Aldridge. Dylan Fowler-Bishop & Dan Evans was third quickest in their Nissan Micra and were just five seconds in front of the same spec Micra driven by Asley Francis-Adams & Mark Ammonds. The Alfasud TI of Dale Glover & David Smalley rounded out the top five of the BronzeStar crews.
Photo: Stephen Black & James Aldridge | Dylan Fowler-Bishop & Dan Evans | By Andrew Scott
Black would retaliate in the very next stage, the shortest run-through Tarennig would see him snatch back that second lost to Jenkins in SS1 and add another two to take the lead of the BronzeStar. Black was a second quicker than Fowler-Bishop in Tarennig and two faster than Jenkins. But short stages only meant for small margins, it wasn’t until the third stage through the west side of Myherin where milage would increase to offer a decent run.
Jenkins would be back on top in SS3 with his second stage; win with a margin of 2 seconds over Fowler-Bishop he was back leading the charge with a small 6-second advantage over Black heading into the final stage of the morning loop.
Photo: Stephen Black & James Aldridge | By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
The fourth stage would see the crews tackle the 11 miles of Hafren Forest, Black again returned fire picking up his second stage win here, which effectively more than halved the gap between him and Jenkins at halftime. Nigel & Karen Jenkins would return to the Builth Wells for the mid-day service halt with a slender lead of 1.4 seconds over Stephen Black & James Aldridge having fort it out over the morning loops of stages.
Photo: Nigel & Karen Jenkins | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
“Stage 1 we enjoyed, 2-3 were just a bit foggy and at times we couldn’t see anything in front of us! that’s where the trust with each other kicks in big time. Stage 4 was a good stage and not too bad fog-wise, but the little green machine was lacking some power and Nige wasn’t happy with the car.”
Kaz Jenkins
Behind that battle for the lead, Dylan Fowler-Bishop was doing a good job of keeping the similar Nissan Micra of Ashley Francis-Adams behind him. Although fourteen seconds off the rally leaders, Bishop and Co-Driver Dan Evans were holding a firm final podium spot with a buffer of 21.5 seconds to fourth place Adams and Mark Ammonds. Dale Glover & David Smalley continued to hold P5 of the BronzeStar in their Alfasud TI, building up a significant gap over half a minute to the Vauxhall Nova of Will Banks & Matthew Baddeley at the midpoint in the rally.
Photos: Dylan Fowler-Bishop & Dan Evans | Ashley Francis-Adams & Mark Ammonds – By Andrew Scott | Dale Glover & David Smalley – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountains Media)
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #201 N.JENKINS / K. JENKINS | 34:05.7 |
| 2 | #203 S.BLACK / J.ALDRIDGE | +1.4 |
| 3 | #202 D.FOWLER-BISHOP / D.EVANS | +14.0 |
| 4 | #230 A.FRANCIS-ADAMS / M.AMMONDS | +35.5 |
| 5 | #204 D.GLOVER / D.SMALLEY | +56.2 |
LEG 2 (SS5-SS7)
Back out after service Black set about chasing down Jenkins and was on a charge taking 5 seconds out of him in the repeated blast through Coed Sarnau. This was a big stage win for Black on such as short stage, which catapulted him into the lead of the BronzeStar.
Photo: Stephen Black & James Aldridge | By Andrew Scott
Black was a repeat offender in SS6, the longer Myherin stage, taking an even bigger margin of 11.7 seconds over Jenkins here. But there was trouble in the Jenkins camp, one of the fuel pumps failed and the Nova was cutting out. With those two stages, Black and Aldridge had turned the BronzeStar lead right around to a now hold a defendable lead of nearly 16 seconds heading into the final stage.
With 13.34 miles of Hafren in front of them, the battle for the rally win would be over in the final stage of the event for Nigel and Karen Jenkins. Their plucky little Nova suffered a broken ignition coil wire and they were forced to stop in the stage; a temporary fix was applied and they eventually got going again to record a stage maximum. The pair were also still able to make it home to take the chequered flag, but their podium place was long gone, but hey a score on the board is better than a DNF.
Photo: Nigel & Karen Jenkins | By Nigel Pratt Black Mountains Media)
“Highs and lows this weekend for us, not the result we would have liked but that’s rallying, and we managed to still have a smile at the finish and get a few Championship points.”
Kaz Jenkins
Without knowing that the pressure was off, Stephen Black & James Aldridge pushed on in their charge for the victory. Pedalling their Suzuki Swift screamer through the final stage of the rally to win the BronzeStar honours. Crossing the finish line with a whopping lead of well over a minute to runners-up Ashley Francis-Adams & Mark Ammond in the Nissan Micra.
Photo: Stephen Black & James Aldridge | By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media)
“The morning went quite well with no problems, James and I clicked quickly. We were the second fastest 1400 by 1 second to Nigel Jenkins on the first stage. The second stage was quite tricky in the fog, given there were a lot of don’t cuts due to large rocks and tree stumps; we were just happy to get through and with the quickest time by 2 seconds. SS3 had some steep uphill sections which are a bit tedious for a 1400 car. SS4 was clear of fog so we had a decent run with the fastest time by 5 to close the gap down to 1.5.
Service was carried out with new tyres fitted and in SS5 we set off with a determined effort and set the fastest time by 6 seconds. We were the quickest in SS6 by 11 and went into the lead by 15.5. In the last stage, we nearly caught the car in front, down the hill into Sweet Lamb but it was a nice stage and we when finished we had won the Bronze Star category.”
Stephen Black
Up until the eleventh hour, Ashley Francis-Adam & Mark Ammond weren’t even going to be starting the rally as they were on the reserve list, but having got the call relatively late the night before the off, they had got a run by the skin of their teeth. Having gone out in the morning loop starting relatively slow, after service the pair decided to pick up the pace and push a little harder. They were locked in a battle with Dylan Fowler-Bishop up until the penultimate stage of the rally where Bishop ran into trouble in Myherin. This eased the pressure on Adams and Ammond allowing them to cruise through the final stage ahead of the Alfasud of Dales Glover & David Smalley who would round out the BronzeStar podium.
Photos: Ashley Francis-Adams & Mark Ammond – By Nigel Pratt (Black Mountians Media) | Dale Glover & David Smallery – By Andrew Scott
“Where do I start, at 7 pm on the Friday evening we were still 1st reserve and it was looking likely we wouldn’t get a run, my navigator received a call at 7.10 saying we were in, so I had to rush around getting everything ready that night. Despite several issues from fellow competitors, we were happy to come away with 2nd in the BronzeStar, which I felt was well deserved, given the dramatic lead-up to the event. The stages were amazing, great milage and the event was very well organised.”
Ashley Francis-Adams
A pair of Vauxhall Nova’s piloted by Will Banks & Matthew Baddeley who scopped fourth and Chris & James Greenall would round out the top five BronzeStar leaderboard.
Photos: William Banks & Matthew Baddeley – By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media) | Chris & James Greenall – By Andrew Scott
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #203 S.BLACK / J.ALDRIDGE | 1:12:30.7 |
| 2 | #230 A.FRANCIS-ADAMS / M.AMMONDS | +1:09.2 |
| 3 | #204 D.GLOVER / D.SMALLEY | +2:20.1 |
| 4 | #217 W.BANKS / M.BADDELEY | +2:42.4 |
| 5 | #211 C.GREENALL / J.GREENALL | +5:35.5 |
STANDINGS / ROUND 2
GOLDSTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ELLIOT PAYNE | 58 |
| 2 | RUSS THOMPSON | 57 |
| 3 | MATTHEW HIRST | 54 |
| 4 | SCOTT BEATTIE | 53 |
| 5 | DANIAL SIGURDSSON | 50 |
SILVERSTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STEPHEN WARD | 48 |
| 2 | AGNAR SIGURDSSON | 44 |
| 3 | MICHAEL JENKINS | 39 |
| 4 | ANDY DAVISON | 31 |
| 5 | ROB DENNIS | 30 |
BRONZESTAR DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WILL BANKS | 53 |
| 2 | ASHLEY FRANCIS-ADAMS | 52 |
| 3 | CHRIS GREENALL | 51 |
| 4 | NIGEL JENKINS | 48 |
| 5 | MATTHEW EVANS | 48 |
HISTORIC CUP DRIVERS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STEPHEN WARD | 33 |
| 2= | JONATHAN BRACE | 20 |
| 2= | ROB DENNIS | 20 |
| 2= | BEN JEMISON | 20 |
| 5 | WILL GRAHAM | 19 |
NEXT TIME
The Protyres BTRDA Rally Series will relocatE north to Jedburgh in the Scottish borders for the Brick & Steel Border Counties Rally on 11th May for classic tests in and around the Tweed Valley Forest.
