Mason takes WWRS R.A.C. victory in Yorkshire, full report

Tim Mason and Graham Wild were the first West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship contenders home on the final round, the Trackrod Historic Cup (25/26 September). However, it was incredibly close as the Porsche 911 ended the rally just four-tenths of a second ahead of the Open Category Ford Escort Mk2 of Phil Burton and Mal Capstick. Mason will not score championship points as he did not run championship livery on his car on this event.An error over re-start times for Saturday morning cost Burton a one-minute road penalty. To add to Burton’s woes, a probable 30s time error on the final stage had a big impact on his final total, but he still had a fine event to wrap up his title-winning season. “It was a fantastic event; fast and furious,” said Burton.Mason and Wild topped Category 2 in terms of the WWRS championship contenders, while a fighting drive from Aziz Tejpar and Alister Crook netted second despite losing the brakes on their Ford Escort Mk1 on the final stage. “We lost a lot of time on the last stage, but the other times were good,” said Tejpar.Stuart and Linda Cariss were the first 1600cc crew home in their Escort Mk1 as they won class C2 with a spirited drive. Making the trip from Mid Wales to finish second in C2 were Malcolm Bayliss and Siobhan Pugh (Escort Mk1). They had a major drama even getting to the rally after the hire company let them down over a van and then Pugh was feeling decidedly unwell, but they got round on a rare foray to the Yorkshire forests.James Potter and Bob Duck took their Ford Escort Mk2 to maximum points in Category 3 and were pleased to finish without any dramas after a high-speed roll on the 2014 event.Burton/Capstick, confirmed as champions before the rally, won the Open Category by 39s from Barry Stevenson-Wheeler/John Pickavance (Escort Mk2). “We had a bit of a steady start on the slippery stages on Friday night, but were trading times with James Potter on Saturday,” said Stevenson-Wheeler.Category winners were:Category 2: Tim Mason and Graham Wild (Porsche 911)Category 3: James Potter/Bob Duck (Ford Escort Mk2)Category O: Phil Burton/Mal Capstick (Ford Escort Mk2)The Trackrod Historic Cup was organised by Trackrod Motor Club.


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