Pirelli runners dominated last weekend’s Red Kite Stages rally in Wales, round one of the Historic Rally Championship, winning in both the modern and historic sections of the gravel event.

Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke headed a top 10 filled almost exclusively with Pirelli runners in the historic class, which they won by just 0.04 seconds in a Ford Escort RS. Hot on their heels was the similar Escort of 2014 winner Richard Hill and Iwan Jones, with another Ford piloted by Terry Brown and Den Golding in third.

In the modern section of the Carmathenshire-based event Pirelli enjoyed more success in the wintry conditions with the top three runners all using the Italian tyres. Melvyn Evans and Mark Glennerster took their Subaru Impreza S11 WRC to a 16-second win over the Ford Fiesta WRC of Charlie Payne and Carl Williamson, with Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy third in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.

Snow had made the early running difficult, with stage two cancelled and fastest times awarded on the next test. In the afternoon conditions improved and Pritchard claimed his win after moving from fourth to first on the sixth and final stage.