
After a hard-fought day on the military ranges, third-seeds Steve Simpson and Patrick Walsh in their Subaru Impreza WRC won the Melvyn Evans Motorsport Tour of Epynt last Sunday, reports Roger Gale.
The opening round of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship offered a mouth-watering promise of performances to come.
In spite of being unable to take part in the event recce on the Saturday, due to contesting the Malcolm Wilson Rally the previous day, Simpson and Walsh were immediately on the pace and moved into the lead on the second of the seven special stages over the superfast ribbons of tarmacadam that snake over the military roads above Sennybridge, near Brecon.
In unusually fine weather and despite an under-bonnet fire on the penultimate stage, they went on to finish half a minute ahead of defending MSA Asphalt Champion Simon Mauger and co-driver Jon Hawkins who started at number one after last years win, and in turn, held a similar margin over Damian Cole/Paul Morris in the new Ford Fiesta WRC machine.
Results | Provisional championship standings | |
1 Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Subaru Impreza WRC) 59m55s | 1 Steve Simpson – 30 points | |
2 Simon Mauger/Jon Hawkins (Metro 4M4) 1h00m24s | 2 Simon Mauger – 28 | |
3 Damian Cole/Paul Morris (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h00m51s | 3 Damian Cole – 27 |
Imprezive: Bob Fowden and Paul Wakely (above) were the highest placed locals this year on the Tour of Epynt, sixth overall and class second in their Subaru Impreza WRC. © vgpics