Asphalt challenge for BHRC contenders

The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship switches to asphalt for round five, the Stephens and George Print Group Harry Flatters Rally (Sunday 26 July).The move to the daunting asphalt of the Epynt military ranges in Wales marks a major turning point in the championship season following four gravel events. After the Harry Flatters, the season concludes with an asphalt double-header on the Isle of Man and then a return to gravel for the Trackrod Historic Cup in late September.Epynt always delivers a big challenge and five long stages await the crews, with all the notorious brows and dips that make Epynt a demanding yet rewarding place to go rallying.Two crews are starting to emerge as the major title contenders and both have good reason to expect strong runs on Epynt. Currently top of the points are David Stokes and Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) and Stokes has been competing over Epynt for more than 40 years. Meanwhile, aiming to scoop major points will be Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke in their Escort Mk2. After a non-finish on the Pirelli Rally in April, Pritchard needs strong finishes on the remaining rounds and is always quick on asphalt. Heading for Epynt, Stokes has a 20-point lead, but may need to drop scores as the final results will be decided on the best six scores from eight rounds.Pritchard and Clarke compete in the Holton Homes Category K for cars running to Appendix K and they face some very strong opposition from Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies, Terry Brown/Den Golding and Neil Williams/Peter James. Davies, in particular, will fly over the ranges, while Brown has decades of experience on these roads.Ranged against the Category K cars will be a host of front-running Escort Mk2s in the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3, topped by title contenders Nick Elliott and Dave Price and Richard Hill/Iwan Jones. Both crews have suffered unfortunate non-finishes this season and will need every point they can get to keep their title hopes open. If Hill scores well on Epynt, his title bid will still be very much alive.The quality of the D5 field is outstanding and includes more rapid crews like Rudi Lancaster/Kenny Owen, Tim Freeman/Paul Williams, Phil Squires/Mick Squires and Mike Tomkinson/Shaun Whitehurst.Ian Jones/Iestyn Williams top Class D3 in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk2 while in class D2, Chris Skill and Captain Thompson will set the mark in their 1600cc Escort Mk2.Another strong entry will contest the Capital Construction Category 2, topped by Stokes and Weaver. However, the opposition in stronger than ever in 2015 and Ernie and Will Graham and John Perrott/Keaton Williams are the main threats to Stokes. Perrott scored a memorable victory over Stokes on the Severn Valley last time out and will now try and repeat that result on asphalt.The class C3 battle is also hotting up nicely as the BMW 2002 of Terry Cree/Richard Shores goes up against the Escorts of Nick Danks/Martin Corbett, Simon Pickering/Colin Jenkins and Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins. Meanwhile, back in class C3 and sure to feature are locals Neal James and Kevin Jones. Class C2 is all about the Escort Mk1 of Robin Shuttleworth and Ronnie Roughead.Heading the entry in the Walker Diecastings Category 1 for pre ’68 cars are the Porsche 911s of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride and Rikki Proffitt/James Whitaker. It will be a very welcome sight to see these crews back in the championship after they understandably elected to miss recent gravel events and they should prove to be very closely matched.  However, the battle for the championship glory in Category 1 is wide open with three crews all bidding for the crown. Phil Harris and Paul Price top the points in their Mini Cooper S after a cracking campaign to date, but the local knowledge of Bob and Dale Gibbons (Ford Cortina Mk2) could prove crucial on Epynt. Meanwhile, local charger Malcolm Rich and co-driver Jonathan Hawkins will be on the attack in their Ford Anglia. Brecon-based Rich is very local to the event, but has not rallied on Epynt for 25 years!The rally will be based on the Epynt ranges. The first car will start at 8.30am and arrive at the finish in Brecon at around 4.30pm. The Stephens and George Print Group Harry Flatters Rally is organised by Brecon Motor Club. For more details about the event please visit www.breconmotorclub.co.uk.


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