JONES AND PARRY LEAD WAY THROUGH THE BAY
Stuart Jones and Craig Parry emerged victorious on round six of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge 2005, the Swansea Bay National Rally on Saturday 23rd July. The victory giving Jones his second win in the series, having taken the honours on the opening round in Bournemouth.
The South Wales event got underway with the opening five mile test through Tyle, with the all Welsh team setting eleventh fastest time, but more importantly second quickest among the Challenge competitors. On the second stage of the day, eleven miles in Resolven, the pair were again second quickest among the Evo guys and set seventh quickest overall.
The short blast around Walters Arena resulted in some time loss caused by the dry conditions of the day. The organisers decided to extend the gap between competing cars to two minutes intervals after this stage.
"It was like driving in fog, the dust was very thick and didn't seem to clear much for us. We just couldn't see where to go through it, which slowed us a lot." commented the Welshpool driver on reaching first service after the opening batch of stages.
The pair then returned to service after completing stage four having felt their pace through the fourteen mile stage was good enough to maintain their second spot in the Production class.
Stage five saw Jones and his Oswestry co-driver set their first fastest time of the rally in the class and finish the stage inheriting the lead of the Production pack with a fourteen second gap from their nearest rivals. However, the team felt their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII was lacking power through the uphill sections, making their sixth overall fastest time even more impressive.
At the final service of the day and two stages remaining with a competitive distance of fifteen miles, the Welsh team made a precautionary replacement to a damaged intercooler.
Over the final two stages Jones drove to victory despite a half spin at a hairpin on the final stage. The result putting Jones in second place in the championship, just six points behind series leader, Ryan Champion.
"Job Done, considering the problem with lack of power throughout the day. It has been an exciting day and at times stressful, when you can't find extra speed when you need it, you have to rely on others to make some mistakes and we have been lucky today. Apart from a wrong tyre choice this morning, the Silverstone tyres and the car have worked brilliant all day. We will have to look at the problem with the engine and see what the cause is and get it sorted before the next round."
The series now takes the Welsh duo to Scotland for the Park Systems Stages on Saturday 10th September. Just two rounds remain in the series and while Jones lies second, he is well aware of the task ahead.
"We know what is required of us to keep our championship hopes alive, it depends on Ryan (Champion) either failing to finish one of the rallies or finishing outside the top four in the series."
Stuart and Craig are supported in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge 2005 by VK Vodka Kick, Silverstone Tyres, J.T. Hughes Group Mitsubishi, Rallytech, Mick Jones Timber, R&D Transmissions, Broadoak, Toora, Anglo American Fuels and Scotprint.
Swansea Bay National Rally – Results
1 Julian Reynolds/Paul Spooner Ford Focus WRC 1:07:05.9
2 Barry Johnson/Stewart Merry Subaru Impreza WRC 1:07:08.2
3 Roger Duckworth/Aled Davies Subaru Impreza WRC 1:07:11.4
4 Steve Perez/Neil Dashfield Ford Focus WRC 1:07:50.4
5 Paul Bird/Ian Windress Ford Focus WRC 1:07:59.1
6 Stuart Jones/Craig Parry Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 1:09:04.3
7 Phillip Morrow/Shelley Rogerson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 1:09:09.3
8 Kevin Stevens/Marc Jones Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 1:09:40.1
9 Conrad Rautenbach/Ieuan Thomas Subaru Impreza 1:09:59.4
10 Nigel Griffiths/Andrew Owens Subaru Impreza 1:10:00.8
