Wyedean Forest Rally - (Sat) 9 Feb 13

Posted: February 1, 2014 7:33 PM - 4237 Hits

Round 1 - 2013 BTRDA Rally Series

Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship Opening round report

Posted: February 1, 2014 7:33 PM

A hard fought Wyedean Rally saw late mechanical problems rob Ruthin’s Hugh Hunter of victory on the opening round of the Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship and allow Conor McCloskey and Francis Regan to become the first crew from Northern Ireland to win the event.

Although the snow and ice of 2012 were absent this year, muddy stages still made for treacherously slippery conditions with many crews reporting offs or near misses, 88 of the 144 starters finishing the event.

The fight for the overall lead was effectively a four way battle between the Northern Irish duo in their Subaru Impreza S9, the Ford Focus World Rally cars of Scotsman Euan Thorburn with Paul Beaton and Welshman Hunter partnered by Andy Marchbank and, for England, Lancaster’s David Wright, sharing his Mitsubishi Evo 9 with Michael Wilkinson.

All four cars led the event at some point but as they entered the final stage, Speech House, it was Hunter who headed the field by three seconds from Thorburn a further two second back and McCloskey an additional six seconds begin.

Sadly for Thorburn, that’s where his challenge ended, the Focus WRC refusing to fire up to tackle the final stage. Hunter’s similar car then developed a gearbox problem part way through the stage allowing McCloskey to charge through and snatch victory.

The Runner Up spot was claimed by Wright but with the Mitsubishi driver not registered for the Championship, second place points in the championship went to Hunter while third place points were claimed by reigning champion Matt Edwards, the 28 year old from Llandudno having rushed back from Sweden to take part in the event. He and co-driver Will Rogers were delighted with a strong start to the title defence.

In fourth place and winning the closely contested showroom specification Group N category was Rhuddlan’s Luke Francis with co-driver John H Roberts from Colwyn Bay while fifth place points went to the highest placed two wheel drive car, the Mark 2 Ford Escort of Will Onions from Pontesbury in Shropshire with co-driver Dave Williams of Mold.