REPORT / ME RALLYSPORT SHOWGROUND STAGES

30/01/2025 Off By Andrew Scott

WORDS BY ANDREW SCOTT | PHOTOGRAPY BY ANDREW SCOTT

Running for the second consecutive year, after a five-year hiatus, Saturday, the eighteenth of January saw Rallying return to Wales for the ME rally sport Showground Stages.

Taking place on the mixed-surface roads of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society showground in Builth Wells, the showground’s topography, with its undulating exhibition spaces spread over several tiers, made it the perfect venue to blow away those post-Christmas rally cobwebs and provide some single-venue rallying in Wales, especially in light of the recent NRW news.

The format of the single venue event comprised 10 passes of the showground in 5 different configurations, each configuration ran twice consecutively with cars slotting back in for their second pass.

Cross Karts?

Or should that read angry fans?

Alongside the single venue stage rally was an entry of 8 Cross Karts which ran first on the road through each alternating odd-numbered stage proving 5 passes throughout the day.

The appearance of these single-seater machines at a stage rally has generated much debate, but for anyone that wants to see committed sideways action with a lot of suspension travel, they certainly added an extra dimension to the day and something we certainly looked forward to at the start of every stage.

PHOTO: Jack NEWMAN | BY ANDREW SCOTT

The Impressive Jack Newman would take the first three fastest stage times to lead Richard Rees by over 12 seconds going into the final 2 stages. However, Rees was to give Newman a small wake-up call on SS4. He took his first stage win by 2.6 seconds reducing the gap to a still comfortable 9.6 seconds going into the final stage. However, a mistake-free run would guarantee the win for Newman in his Mygale XC04 and he would take the win by 9.2 seconds from Rees. Rounding out the top three was James Morgan 34 seconds off the ultimate pace in his similar machine.

Stage Rally – SS1 to SS6

Starting with several switchbacks using the tarmac avenues on the large flat expanse at the front of the showground, the stages then headed uphill onto the loose utilising the parallel tiers to the north and east of the showground.

At the end of the first pair of stages, Lee Edwards and Robbie Pugh led Jack Thorne and Andrew Richards by only 0.1s with Chris Powell and Jim Lewis 6.2 seconds off the lead in third. A 3-way battle that would continue throughout the day.

SS1 started with Favourites Edwards/ Pugh taking a stage win in their Ford Escort G3 by the slender margin of 0.2 seconds over the Thorne/ Richards pair, however, Powell and Lewis were a bit slower out the blocks only managing the seventh fastest time 7.4 seconds off the time set by Edwards. A gentle start that would be more than made up for as they went on to take the most fastest stage times throughout the event.

Fourth on SS1 and lying fifth overall after the first pair of stages was perhaps the star car of the day: Sean Jones and our own Jack Morris in their Vauxhall Viva GT, a car that always seemed sideways and spectacular and something we are certainly not used to seeing chucked around in such an aggressive manner!

PHOTOS: LEE EDWARDS/ ROBBIE PUGH, JACK THORNE/ ANDREW RICHARDS, CHRIS POWELL/ JIM LEWIS BY ANDREW SCOTT

Onto SS3 and 4 where the stage configuration was altered to include a Jump at J28, the stage now bypassing the parallel run across the tiered section of the Showground. Edwards/ Pugh increased their lead to a mere 1 second over Thorne/ Richards as they again headed the times in SS3. SS4 however saw the Powell / Lewis Escort mk2 take their second stage win of the day by a full 1.7 seconds, now running third 5.8 seconds off first. The impressive Viva lay fourth with Jones/ Morris overhauling Dan Evans and Jack Bowen in their Citroen C2 to end the loop 12 seconds off the lead.

PHOTOS: SEAN JONES/ JACK MORRIS, DAN EVANS/ JACK BOWEN, LEE EDWARDS/ ROBBIE PUGH BY ANDREW SCOTT

Stages 5 and 6 were a repeat of 3/4 with the addition of a small slippery loop as the crews transitioned from the lower flatter tarmac portion of the showground to the tiered levels which formed the latter part of the stage.

It was here that Thorne would cease the advantage and take the lead of the rally. He gained 6.2 seconds on Edwards over the loop of 2 stages, 4.8 seconds in SS6 alone as Edwards suffered a deflating tyre. Powell and Lewis also compounded Edwards’ problems by taking their second stage win of the day. The win left them only 1.3 seconds behind Edwards and Pugh in third.

“We knocked the front right wheel/tyre in a rut coming back onto the road on stage 6 which took the air out of the front right tyre. We had a couple of small moments after that one being over the jump it tried to pull us into the rocks on the landing.”
Lee Edwards

PHOTOS: JACK THORNE/ ANDREW RICHARDS, CHRIS POWELL/ JIM LEWIS BY ANDREW SCOTT

The battle for fourth was also intensifying with Jones in the Viva and Evans in the C2 trading places on numerous occasions throughout the day. Split by only 1.7 seconds, although both were over 25 seconds off the leader Thorne with 4 stages to go.

PHOTOS: DAN EVANS/ JACK BOWEN, SEAN JONES/ JACK MORRIS BY ANDREW SCOTT

AFTER STAGE 6

POS	LEADERBOARD	TIME
1	#5 J.THORNE / A.RICHARDS	00:25:04.7
2	#1 L.EDWARDS / R.PUGH	+5.2s
3	#9 C.POWEL / J.LEWIS	+6.5s
4	#19 S.JONES / J.MORRIS	+26.0s
5	#19 S.JONES / J.MORRIS	+27.7s

SS7 to SS10

By the end of stage 8, the order of the top three was again shuffled, Thorne/ Richards still leading but with the Escort G3 of Edwards/ Pugh falling seven seconds off the lead. Chris Powell now sat second.

PHOTOS: LEE EDWARDS/ ROBBIE PUGH, JACK THORNE/ ANDREW RICHARDS BY ANDREW SCOTT

The Majority of Edwards and Pugh’s time loss came on SS7 as he finished 3.8 seconds behind Thorne who set his second fastest time of the day – consistently fast being his modus operandi for our leader, or so it seemed. In the battle for fourth Evans and Bowen had passed Jones/ Morris after gaining five seconds on SS8 alone. They now sat 3.9 seconds ahead of the Viva pair.

PHOTOS: SEAN JONES/ JACK MORRIS, DAN EVANS/ JACK BOWEN, BY ANDREW SCOTT

To round out a great day’s rallying Edwards and Thorne would take a stage win each on SS9 and 10. Edwards trying Hoosier tyres for the last 2:

“The other guys were on a mission! I ran a mix of turbo speeds and extreme tyres for most of the day and to prove a point to myself, I put a set of Hoosiers on for the last pair of stages and the times were back on top with the other guys”

Lee Edwards

PHOTO: LEE EDWARDS/ ROBBIE PUGH BY ANDREW SCOTT

However, our second-place pair of Chris Powell and Jim Lewis would only manage the 37th fastest time on SS10 after suffering some steering issues resulting in an overshoot at J25 the slipping right-hander where the surface changed from tarmac to gravel.

“We were having some steering issues on the last stage, so we’re taking it easy which caused the small off…luckily got away with it”

Chris Powell

As a result, the pair lost a huge 38 seconds to the leaders, however, despite the issues they still managed to hang onto Third overall just six seconds ahead of fourth-placed Dan Evans and Jack Bowen who managed to hold on to fourth only 2.5 seconds ahead of the Viva.

“Fantastic day at ME Rallysport Showground Stages with Jim Lewis in the Tsalta Motorsport Escort! 4 fastest stage times, massive smiles, our usual bale damage, and a mega battle for the win scuppered by a small issue on the final stage! We were just 4 seconds behind heading into the last loop. Still managed to limp home to happy 3rd!”

Chris Powell, Facebook

PHOTO: CHRIS POWELL/ JIM LEWIS BY ANDREW SCOTT

Therefore in the final reckoning, Jack Thorne and Andrew Richards would improve on their 2024 result of fifth place to take their first win on the ME Rallysport Showground Stages by seven and a half seconds from Lee Edwards and Robbie Pugh, the time loss on stages 6 and 7 proving crucial to the final result. The impressive Chris Powell and Jim Lewis rounded out the top three with the most fastest stage times (4) and despite their problems on SS10.

“Had a great day, a well-run event with a great team of volunteers. Really enjoyed the day. Always knew it would be a tricky event after seeing the entry list and having been there last year we knew the conditions would be slippy and tyre choice would be crucial, but it seemed everything went our way very pleased to get the result we did.”

Jack Thorne