BARCLAY TAKES THE SPOILS
In the penultimate round of this years Heart of England of Rally Championship, 15 crews journeyed to Bovington for the Challenger Stages.
The wet conditions played straight into the hands of Ian Barclay/Richard Farrell’s Class E Mitsubishi Evo 9 from the start, taking 11 seconds off Tony Davies/Ellie Williams’ DarrianT9 on the opening stage.
“I just didn’t have traction in the wet as 300 bhp rear wheel drive was not ideal, but good fun. We aquaplaned three times at 100mph, so after that we just went for points,” Davies explained.
Matt/Ade Walk’s Fiesta was third quickest, followed by Harry Pinchin /Colin Jenkins’ Citroen C2, with Ryan Wilding/William Carlyle’s Nova in fifth and Andy Brinkley/Helena Mayall’s BMW M3 and Thomas/Paul Alderton’s MG ZR tied for sixth.
Barclay and Davies continued to consolidate their positions, with the lead up to 41 seconds by half distance.
Pinchin had been third after SS2, but both he and Walk lost out to Joe Piggott/John Fellowes’ Citroen Saxo on the next stage.
“We had spun on the first stage at the first chicane, I just didn’t see it. Then I spun again later, as it was very wet, which I normally like,” Piggott explained.
Barclay continued to dominate the second half and took victory by 1m11secs.
But second place was still enough for Davies’ Class C to be in contention for the overall title in the final round at Donington.
“We have beaten Tony before, but our car was so good and the conditions helped. It was pouring the morning, but we had an intermittent gear selection problem in the final stages so slowed up a bit,” Barclay explained.
Piggott managed to consolidate third too and top Class B, with 35 seconds to spare over Pinchin.
But Jason/Ceri Evans’ Club Classic Peugeot 205 Gti had been in fourth from SS4, only to overshoot on the final stage and lose out to Pinchin.
It was fairly eventful day for Pinchin though, “on stage three I got a bit cocky as it had started to dry. Into a corner I just couldn’t stop and hit a bale head on. It bent the steering which was well off as we managed to finish the stage. Then on SS4 we pushed on more, but it was John’s fault he made me go too fast. We went sideways as I tried to hold and then had to reverse to get back on,” he explained after finishing second in Class B.
After starting well Wilding was in fifth after stage four. “We had struggled for gears on stage two, but then the clutch started to go and finally gave in after stage five,” said the Nova driver.
Walk therefore took sixth behind Evans and topped Class A, despite breaking his Fiesta’s exhaust on the final stage, after demolishing a chicane on stage two.
Class D winner Brinkley shared seventh with a subdued Chris Woodhouse/Lucy Wilding’s Class B Peugeot 208 R2.
Woodhouse had a huge moment on the opening stage in the wet, while Brinkley found his BMW a handful all day.
Rounding off the top 10 were the Alderton’s, taking second in class A and Massie Piggott/Julian Monkley’s Class C Escort G3.
Piggott had started the day on the wrong tyres, while Alderton lost his lights with a blown fuse and then managed to smash a side window on the final stage.
Scott/Ryan Stuchbury’s Class C Clio had to play catch after a puncture on SS4, only to overshoot on the final test.
David Segal/Alfie Element’s Class C Escort and James Palmer-Smith/Kelan Watkins’ Class A Corsa completed the finishers.
“We had a new engine but the throttle stop wasn’t set right and we only had half throttle at the start. Then we spun on stage three when the rear brakes locked, but had our biggest spin ever on the fourth, 90mph then backwards,” said Palmer-Smith.
Apart from Wilding, the only retirement was John and Sharon Mills’ Class T Mini, with similar clutch issues.