Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Round five: Mid Wales Historic Stages
Steven Smith and John Nichols extended their championship lead in round five of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Mid Wales Historic Stages at the weekend (24/25 June).However, their victory only came after a fabulous battle with Mark Solloway/Mark Crisp ended when Solloway's gear lever broke on the penultimate stage.
Once again Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies blitzed to victory in the historic category in their Sunbeam Tiger, while Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates turned in another mighty performance to take second in their Lotus Cortina.Historic (category 1)Watts/Davies made their mark in category 1 in the two stages in Hafren and Sweet Lamb on Saturday afternoon, going 23s clear in the opening 12 miles. "The car's lovely, we're enjoying it," reported Watts after a typically strong start.
Their advantage increased on the opening stage on Sunday morning back in Hafren when Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride uncharacteristically put their Porsche 911 off the road. "We just dropped a wheel off the edge," explained Nutt. The car was largely undamaged, but was stuck in boggy ground and their rally was over.
Instead, it was the Lotus Cortina battle that led the chase of the flying Tiger. Neil Calvert/Michelle Calvert led Atkinson/Coates by 6s overnight, but Atkinson absolutely flew on Sunday morning and even beat Watts' time on two stages to pull clear of the Calverts. "We're going better this morning," said Atkinson with typical understatement. "He's flying! The pace in unreal," added Calvert. By the finish, the gap was out to a minute as Chris and Hilary Green ran a secure fourth in their Lotus Cortina.
Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell had a good result to take fifth in their Lotus Cortina, only half a minute down on the Greens, while a remarkable sixth on their debut rally were Martin Brady/Steve Troman. The former enduro bike riders were driving a Tuthill Porsche 911 and coped extremely well on a tough event to finish second in class to Watts. "Our main aim was to finish," said Brady. "It was very precarious, but we enjoyed it!" Third in class B5 went to the Porsche 911 of Dave Foster/Terry March on their first gravel event in the car."We've finished; that's got to be good," reported John Parker and Robert Harrison after winning class B1 in their Saab 96. After rolling on the previous event, they were pleased to finish unscathed and beat the similar car of Nick Pinkett/Caroline Lodge. Finally, class B2 produced an unexpected but popular victory for the Mini Cooper of Alison Lock/Barbara Alexander. As all the class pacesetters dropped out, Lock/Alexander kept pushing on and even survived a gentle roll in Myherin to get to the finish as class winners. "We got some nice young men with a rope to pull us back on," explained Lock of the inversion.Post-historic (category 2)Right from the start, the post-historic category was set to be a fierce battle between Smith/Nichols (Porsche 911RS) and the Escort of Solloway/Crisp. The pace was stunning and they quickly stretched clear of the rest of the field as David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Jeremy Easson/Den Golding ran next in their Escorts.
Overnight, Solloway led Smith by two seconds, but Smith/Nichols really blitzed the Nant Melen stage to be faster by seven seconds. However, at first service the margin was down to four seconds after 30 stage miles. "We've been struggling with traction and it's really tight," reported Solloway. Smith, meanwhile, was without first and reverse gears, but swift work by the XS Racing crew had the clutch adjusted at service.
Smith extended his lead on the 12-mile Myherin test, but the battle ended on the penultimate stage through Sweet Lamb. The Escort's gear lever broke and Solloway lost eight minutes trying to sort the problem and retired at service. Smith was among the first to commiserate with Solloway. "I'm really gutted for you, it was a tremendous dice," said Smith as they shook hands.
"We were just driving our own event and it went entirely to plan," reported Stokes after heading Easson by 70s in the contest for second place and class C5 victory. "It's been hard work, but a very good event," added Easson.With Solloway out, Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips (Escort Mk1) moved up to fourth from their customary fifth place, while one of the battles of the rally raged for sixth overall and class C2 victory.
In another glorious contest, John Worthing/Bill Robertson and Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes went into the final five-mile stage in Cwmysgawen absolutely level. Both crews pushed to the limit and Worthing/Robertson won the contest by just one second. "Brilliant! It's been a long time coming this season," said Worthing. "It's been a fantastic contest and we've very pleased for them. It was so, so close," said Forster after a wonderfully sporting battle.The battle for second in C4 behind Smith/Nichols lost Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan when their Porsche 911 slid wide and hit some logs, breaking a halfshaft in the process. Meanwhile, Andrew Street/Jez Mason had a strong run in their 911 to fend off Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown for second in class.
Despite running out of decent tyres, Martin Kenny/Dave Stocking won class C3 in their Escort, while Lawrence Green/Andrew Turner claimed third in C2 after a strong run in their Escort.
