THRILLING CLIMAX TO WELSH FOREST RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Posted: January 31, 2014 12:25 PM
When competitors on the Cambrian Rally crossed the finish line in Llandudno on Saturday evening, Connor McCloskey became the first driver from Northern Ireland to win the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship.
Although he and co-driver Francis Regan finished second overall on the day in their Pirelli shod Subaru Impreza World Rally Car, victory on the event went to Scotland’s Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton in their Ford Focus World Rally Car, it was enough to pip the less powerful Impreza of Alex Allingham from Winsford and co-driver Chris Williams at the end of a year long battle.
At the finish, Connor said of his title win,
“It’s been a great year for us and something to build on for the future.” Looking ahead, he commented, “If the Irish Sea wasn’t between us we would love to do it every year. The stages are great and the organisers are great.” Meanwhile Francis praised the Welsh stages, saying. “The Welsh forests are probably the best forests in Europe.
Third place overall, however, clinched Production Car honours in the championship for Allingham and his partner as well as securing the Junior Co-Driver title for 23 year old Chris Williams, from Daventry in Northamptonshire. There was little time for Chris to rest on his laurels. On Sunday, he flew to Mexico to take part in a seven day long classic rally. Before heading off, Chris summed up the feelings of the crew, saying, “It’s a relief to say that we have got some titles under our belts after two long hard years without anything.”
Despite retiring on the penultimate stage of the event with a broken oil cooler on their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, Rhuddlan’s Luke Francis and John H Roberts from Colwyn Bay took third place in the Championship, Luke having already clinched the Junior Driver title.
Fourth place in the championship and the Class 8 title went to Keith Parry from Llangefni, co-driven by Eryl Evans from Llanon. They took their Impreza to fifth overall on Saturday’s event, Keith commenting afterwards, “The first stages we did in the morning were very slippery but we gradually got a bit faster in the afternoon.”
Championship two wheel drive honours were claimed by Lancastrian Rob Dennis and Andy Boswell from Swindon in their Mark 2 Escort. Rob was full of praise for the series as it reached its conclusion, saying, “The rallies are fantastic, the organisers, the guys we are competing against, just everything.”
The man Dennis edged out of the two wheel drive honours was David Lloyd Roberts from Bala but he and co-driver Dei Jones from Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant had the consolation of winning Class 5 in their Mark 2 Escort. David described their season as, “a good year, we’ve only had one non finish all year.”
Among the other class winners, Cameron Davies, from Llandovery and his co-driver, Lampeter’s Michael Gilbey, took Class N3 honours in their Ford Fiesta, Cameron commenting, “I didn’t expect to win it at the start of the season so it’s really good to get that.”
Simon and Tristan Rogers from Hope in Cheshire won Class 2 in their Peugeot 106, prompting Simon to say, “The class win proves that I can push now and push a bit harder maybe.” Meanwhile James Watkins from Welshpool and Richard Suter from Chepstow won their class, Class 3, both on the Cambrian and in the Championship in their Nissan Micra with James saying of their season, “It started off very low and at the moment it’s very high so it’s going to be a big party tonight by the looks of it.”
Graham Thatcher, from Penperlleni in Monmouthshire and co-driver Rob James took their venerable Hillman Avenger to a Class 4 win in the championship with Graham keen to share the glory, saying, “We couldn’t have done any of it without a fantastic service crew.”
Class 7, meanwhile, had already been clinched by Colin Webb from Cinderford and Matt Rogers from Lydney in their BMW 325.
Seeded Entry List
Posted: October 14, 2013 2:29 PM
STAKES ARE RAISED FOR WELSH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS
Posted: October 3, 2013 11:05 AM
The stakes have just risen in the battle for the 2013 Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship as crews prepare for the final round of the Championship, the Llandudno based Cambrian Rally on October 19th.
If the drivers needed further incentive for success beyond being crowned champions, the organisers of Wales Rally GB have just announced that, as part of their Road to Wales initiative, they will offer a free of charge Wales Rally GB National Two Day entry to the winner.
The prize offers the successful crew the opportunity to measure themselves against the world’s leading rally drivers as they tackle stages that also form part of the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Fittingly, this includes some of the territory being used on the Cambrian Rally, including Clocaenog forest and the iconic Great Orme stage.
The event is the culmination of a hard fought championship run over a compact programme including eight rallies many of which have seen competitors tackling classic Welsh forest stages that have featured in the World Rally Championship round in recent years.
With the Championship organisers priding themselves in, among other things, a friendly atmosphere and their programme of support for up and coming drivers, the series has enjoyed growing support from competitors in recent seasons.
Welcoming the news of the valuable new prize, championship co-ordinator David Evison said,
“We have introduced a number of initiatives in our Championship to help young competitors develop their rallying careers and it’s great that our Championship has now received this recognition as a pathway to bigger things. The Championship race is going down to the wire and this news means that there is now even more at stake on the Cambrian Rally. It would be great if the crew who cross the winner’s ramp in Llandudno as Welsh champions on October 19th could do so again as rally winners in November.”
Entries Received
Posted: August 28, 2013 11:54 AM
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Posted: August 28, 2013 11:53 AM
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