Reigning Pirelli Welsh Junior Rally Champion Matthew Hirst was “over the moon” to claim his first ever outright victory on last weekend’s Rally North Wales, writes Peter Hughes.
In doing so, he and co-driver Declan Dear claimed maximum points on the second round of the 2019 Pirelli MotorsportUK Welsh Forest Rally Championship in their Mitsubishi Evo IX.
Following the event, the young Doncaster driver commented, “it will take a week for what I have achieved to sink in.” Meanwhile, second place went to Ieuan Rowlands from Llan Ffestiniog and Corwen’s Emyr Hall.
The Ford Escort mounted duo put in a late charge to snatch the position from Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss, turning a 7 second deficit at the half way stage of the event into a 2 second advantage at the finish. With Pryce, of Machynlleth and Llanfyllin’s Furniss taking third place points, fourth spot went to Harry Gardner and Elliot Graham who were competing on gravel for the first time in two years. Ffestiniog driver John Rowlands and co-driver Caron Tomlinson took fifth place points despite what they described as a wrong tyre choice in the first half of the rally. Sixth place, however, was enough to secure the overall championship lead for 18-year-old Pembrokeshire driver Tom Llewellin. Llewellin also took the lead in the highly competitive two-wheel drive class. The class is being supported this season by Lightning House and HRX and the prize package on offer is attracting bumper entries. Second place in the category is held by fellow Ford Escort driver Damian Pratts while his Newtown based co-driver Johnny Tad Evans heads the overall, as well as the two-wheel drive co-driver standings, lying just a single point ahead of both Declan Dear and Mark Glennerster in the overall classifications. Wug Utting took Group N honours among the less modified cars despite the Surrey based Subaru Impreza driver and co-driver Bob Stokoe reporting that they had got “a bit too close” to a big drop in the Cwm Celli stage. The championship Group N standings are headed, however, by Machynlleth driver Rhydian Price and co-driver Steven Brown who finished second in the category in their Ford Fiesta ST. Tom Llewellin heads the Junior driver category from Machynlleth’s Gethin Price, driving a Nissan Micra while it’s Rhys Stoneman, from Ystradgynlais who tops the Junior co-driver standings. Tom also leads the drivers in the RAVENOL Welsh Challenge, three points clear of Damian Pratts with Hywel Davies of Machynlleth third. The co-driver category in the Challenge is headed by Johnny Tad Evans from Mold man Simon Jones and Ian Jones of Abergele. | NATIONAL A RESULTS | |
Osian Pryce was in a class of his own on the Rally North Wales National A event, setting fastest time on all eight stages to win his home event by 37 seconds in his RallyXtreme-prepared BDA-engined Ford Escort Mk2. Seeded at number two, Osian started 48th on the road as the 49-car field ran in reverse order. Co-driven by Dale Furniss, the talented 26-year old Machynlleth-born driver made a fantastic start by setting the fastest time through the opening 8.5 mile Dyfi stage and he never looked back. Osian said afterwards, “I’m over the moon to take my second victory on this event! It was just the perfect day to go rallying. Strangely enough, I haven’t done these stages in such dry conditions, but it was an absolute pleasure.”
Rally North Wales National A – top 10 results 1. Osian Pryce/Dale Furniss (Ford Escort)….44mins 11secs 2. Nick Elliott/Dave Price (Ford Escort)….44mins 48secs 3. Joe Price/Chris Brooks (Ford Escort RS)….45mins 12secs 4. Stanley Orr/Grahame Henderson (Ford Escort RS1600)….45mins 42secs 5. Martin McCormack/Phil Clarke (Ford Escort)….46mins 07secs 6. Ben Friend/Cliff Simmons (Ford Escort)….46mins 17secs 7. Rob Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort RS1800)….46mins 28secs 8. Adrian Hetherington/Ronan O’Neill (Ford Escort RS1800)….46mins 28secs 9. Hugh Hunter/Rob Fagg (Ford Escort)….46mins 50secs 10. Steve Bennett/Osian Owen (Ford Escort)….47mins 03secs |
Competitors have only a short break to re-fettle their machinery before they head to Builth Wells for round 3 of the Championship, the Rallynuts Stages Rally on 13 April. More information on that event is available at www.rallynutsrally.co.uk while more on the Pirelli MotorsportUK Welsh Forest Rally Championship can be found at https://wnrc.wamc.org.uk/, on the Championship Facebook page and on Twitter @WnRC.
Reigning Junior Welsh Champion Matthew Hirst, co-driven by Declan Dear, claimed his first outright rally win.
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