Davies takes the spoils in Ulster
Tomas Davies drifts his Mk2 to victory in Ulster
Tomas Davies took an emphatic maiden victory in the BHRC at the Todds Leap Ulster Rally when he guided his Historic specification Ford Escort Mk2 to the top spot against some fierce competition from several fellow competitors.
A miserable Saturday in South Wales would get Augusts rallying underway when the Walters Arena complex near Glyn Neath played host to the Neath Valley Stages. After finishing second overall in 2010, Dylan Davies and Dale Furniss were hoping to go one better this time in their Subaru Impreza. They weren't going to have it their own way however as some tough competition was amongst the entry, not least, ex-works driver and motorsport preperation specialist Geoff Jones at car one. Eryl Evans would be hoping to keep his WAMC clubmans campaign on track co-driving for Keith Parry whilst Damien Thomas and Rhodri Morgan were also competing his a Peugeot 205 as well as Anthony Litchfield co-driving for Christian South in a C2 R2 Max. The rally would prove to be very tricky for the entire field with the wet conditions providing some very slippery conditions. Davies/Furniss would once again come away from the event with second overall. The pairing lay fourth after SS2 within touching distance of the three crews ahead. However, two of his fellow competitors fell foul to the conditions when they retired from the event due to accidents which fortunatly saw both crews unharmed. Davies/Furniss were almost caught out themselves on the final stage when they slid off into a ditch fortunatly escaping without serious damage. Eryl Evans, co-driving for Keith Parry finished fifth overall and maintained his championship lead with two rounds remaining. However, a best score of five out of the seven rounds may change the standings but the pairing already have five strong scores on the board. Parry and Evans will be looking to push on the remaining two rounds to try and improve on some of their previous results to gain some more valuable points knowing their rivals not only have to be quick, but consistent to get the extra points required. Damien Thomas and Rhodri Morgan's rally was to end very early on into SS1 when they broke a driveshaft. Anthony Ltichfields rally wouldn't fair much better when he and driver Christian South collided head on with a boulder on the side of the forest road at an unseen crest.
The Todds Leap Ulster rally would see Tomas Davies be the clubs only representative on the event. A round of the BHRC, the rally would be contested over two days and twelve stages. Six stages were tackled over the opening day of the event starting on Friday afternoon, taking the crews through the evening and tackling some of the stages in the dark. Tomas Davies and co-driver Eurig Davies' rally almost came to an early end within a mile of the opening stage when a big moment almost caught the crew out in what potentially could have been a big accident. Luck was to be on their side and they fortunatly came away unscathed setting one fastest stage time and consistent top three times over the six stages ending the opening day with a slender lead over Rob Smith and Connor Corkill. Two fastest stage times on six of the Saturday stages and consistent top five times on the other stages would see Tomas and Eurig extend their lead by the end of the day to just over thrity seconds and with that, the overall BHRC victory on the event.
Dale Furniss made the long journey to Trier in Germany where he made his WRC debut at Rally Germany co-driving for Jason Pritchard in a privatly entered Group N Subaru Impreza. 359km of competative mileage lay ahead of the crew taking in stages through the vineyards of the famous Mosel Region and the notorious Baumholder military training area. A long week lay ahead of the pairing with crews having to make their own pacenotes for the event followed by three long days of flat out competition. Two punctures, a couple of spins and overshoots would hamper the crew slightly but they still managed to recover and finish a very respectable 28th O/a and third in their class.
Just two LDMC members competed on the Mewla Rally over the Epynt ranges on the Bank Holiday weekend. Iwan Griffiths would finish the highest placed LDMC member co-driving for William John. The crew would finish an excellent 29th O/a and 2nd in class in their 1400cc Vauxhall Nova against some far more powerful machinery. Phil Evans would bring his Kevin Davies RallySport hired Ford Escort Mk2 home in 36th overall taking a narrow win in the class for Road Rally specification cars. Evans, along with co-driver Eifion Thomas led the class from the opening stage and held a lead of more than three and a half minutes after SS5. However, problems struck on SS7 when they hit a tyre off the rim forcing them to change the wheel on stage losing them valuable time. Slight problems with the clutch on the final stage saw them nurse the car to the finish but still win their class by sixteen seconds.