Welshman Stuart Jones preparations for his World Rally Championship debut on the Wales Rally of Great Britain, could not have been more perfect as he claimed his fourth win in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge 2005 on round seven, the Park Systems Stages National Rally, based in Newton Stewart, South West Scotland. The result keeping the Welshpool driver's title bid alive as the series heads towards a thrilling finale, the Bulldog Rally on Saturday 22nd October.
The long trek to Scotland proved fruitful for Jones and his Oswestry co-driver Craig Parry, as the pairs gameplan would work to their advantage over the Scottish terrain.
Over the opening test Jones set a time just outside the top ten and felt he had driven very conservatively. As the MSA Rally Elite star predicted ahead of the rally, punctures would play an important part in the outcome of the rally and on stage two, while others around the Welsh duo suffered with deflated items, Jones and Parry set fourth fastest time, which also placed them in fourth place in the overall rally.
Another two stages were completed without any problems and another two top ten times was enough to promote the Welsh pair into second place.
"It's a bit of a shock to be running in second place, we came here to keep ahead of our championship rivals in the Challenge and to preserve the car with Wales Rally GB just five days away, so we haven't been pushing at all."
Over the final two stages, Stuart and Craig continued to set another two times inside the top ten. Although the Production Class front runners were relegated to third place in the overall standings at the finish, they were humbled at the fact that the two cars in front were World Rally cars. Jones was quick to praise his Silverstone Tyres shod Mitsubishi as he achieved his best result to date on the MSA National Gravel series.
"The car has worked perfectly all day and the Silverstone tyres were absolutely spot on. We did not over commit on the stages and that allowed us to pick our line through the corners, avoiding any potential problems."
The pair now turn their attention to the British round of the World Rally Championship and the Wales Rally of Great Britain. The rally will be Stuart's introduction onto the World Rally Championship stage. While Parry has contested the rally several times previously, actually finishing the event has eluded him and he is hopeful his chances will improve alongside Stuart.
"I am very excited about the Rally GB as it is Stuart's first World Rally Championship event. It will just be good to do a long event and with nice long stages, something to get our teeth into really. It should also be good to see how we compare against the Production World Rally Championship regulars and another good benchmark will be against the likes of David Higgins (2004 British Rally Champion) and Gwyndaf Evans, who will both be in similar machinery to us. Our outlook on the event will be to enjoy the rally with absolutely no championship pressure and stick to our game plan and hopefully enjoy a trouble free rally."
Following his successful outing in Scotland, Stuart is certainly relishing the task ahead on his World Rally Championship debut.
"This result has certainly given me more confidence, I feel a lot more positive about the rally. We have found a pace we can comfortably run at and without any problems. Our main objectives will be to gain as much experience as possible and that means we go for a good finish result. It will be good to gauge our pace with the rest of the Brit's and other contenders in our class. We can then decide whether we can push harder in the latter part of the rally or be content and competitive at the pace we have set."
The Wales Rally GB starts out of the Welsh Capital on Thursday evening, with stages in West, Mid and South Wales before the finishing at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.
Stuart and Craig are supported in 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.
Park Systems Stages Rally Top Ten Result
1 Paul Bird Ian Windress Ford Focus WRC 0:59:04.5 2 Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus WRC 0:59:35.1 3 Stuart Jones Craig Parry Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 1:00:30.6 4 Roger Duckworth Mark Broomfield Subaru Impreza WRC 1:00:40.8 5 Phillip Morrow Simon Morrow Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 1:00:47.4 6 Ryan Champion Craig Thorley Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1:00:49.8 7 Andy Kelly Doug Redpath Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 1:01:39.2 8 Nik Elsmore Nigel Gardner Mitsubishi Lancer 1:01:43.0 9 Malcolm Proudlock Steven Clark Subaru Impreza 1:02:16.0 10 Tim Pearcey Cliff Simmons Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 1:02:25.2
