William Creighton - Motorsport Ireland / Billy Coleman Award - Coverage

BILLY COLEMAN AWARD

COVERAGE

DIGITAL & PRINT COVERAGE 20 MAY 3 2017 motorsport-news.co.uk

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BRC PIRELLI RALLY

AHLINAGAIN ButPryceandCavebothsufferedbadluckinvictorybids.ByJackBenyon

Top three: podium in Brampton

Eriksen (l): Saturday birthday

C

hallengers continue to push, but even on what could be generously described as an off day, Swede Fredrik Ahlin took another victory in the British Rally Championship as the series took in its second round, the Pirelli International Rally.

As the cars gathered at the Pirelli factory on Saturday morning, however, Ahlin’s victory on this event last year – his only win of 2016 – was forgotten as the pre-event hype surrounded the championship debut of Hyundai’s i20 R5 in the hands of Tom Cave. So close was the Welshman to Ahlin on the opening round, the Border Counties, that the pre-event predictions had put Cave ahead, despite the i20’s lack of running on gravel.

No such lack of miles showed though,

Cave’s i20 suspension broke on SS3

Ahlin won despite being out of form and Cave’s billing was justified as he shot into an early lead. It’s important for the stars to align and everything to be in the right place for Cave to perform to his best, and he’d hit the sweet spot on Saturday morning with the DMACKshod i20. Two fastest times opened the day and, as the cars gathered in the small town of Bellingham near Kielder, there was an air of predictability. Elfyn Evans was dominating on DMACKs in Carlos Paz, and Cave on the same covers in Carlisle. Some would say DMACK managing director Dick Cormack had the short straw as he was in Carlisle!

But the stage was set for a phenomenal battle, as it was in Carlos Paz. But, just as Cave began to appear untouchable, his Hyundai’s suspension gave way, and in stage three Cave’s train well and truly came off the track. The hard work to put the deal together to debut the Hyundai in the championship would go unjustly unrewarded.

And the unpredictability continued.

Ahlin went quickest on the last stage of the day, a fitting birthday present for co-driver Torstein Eriksen, and ended the day 21 seconds ahead of secondplace man Osian Pryce. There’s no doubt Eriksen has played a huge part in providing a calming influence on Ahlin in 2017, as the Swede seems less temperamental and more relaxed.

Pryce, in the Spencer Sport Ford Fiesta, had an R5 resembling a bit of a dog rather than a fully fledged rally machine. Ballooning tyres – possibly caused by moisture in the air inside the tyre – and an alignment issue meant the Fiesta’s rear end was twitchy. Ahlin had a similar problem with oversteer, although his was related to set up. But the Swede reckoned he was safe at the front. “Twenty-one seconds is a lot to make up on the brakes,” he said.

Kielder lacks technical and twisty sections. It’s all about being last of the late brakers, and Ahlin reckoned he wasn’t 21 seconds worse on the brakes than Pryce over four stages.

But Sunday morning didn’t follow the script, much like Saturday.

Mistakes. Ahlin doesn’t make them often. But mucking up one of the tricky and tight chicanes forced him to reverse twice. Another poor stage followed where he had struggled the previous day, nothing tangible, just a combination of the Swede’s driving and the set up of the car producing a sub-par time.

There comes a time on every event where the fiery Swede needs geeing up or calming down, and this came at the mid-point service from his CA1 team boss Martin Wilkinson.

“Martin gave me a bit of a slap on the

head and said ‘wake the ‘f’ up!”

But had the motivation come too late?

On the early stages of the morning, Pryce had found his sweet spot. The Welshman becomes more and more impressive with each outing in his R5, and with the car sorted for the Sunday, he was on it. He was coming for Ahlin.

On the two stages of the morning he scythed into the deficit with ease, from 21.8s to 13.8s, from 13.8 to 4.6s at service.

Not only was the car sorted, but the Welshman had pulled a tyre masterstroke. The BRC regulations permit 10 tyres to be used by each crew, but once a season you can play a joker that affords you two more. While others in the field were tearing their tyres to shreds, Pryce had a new set bedded in nicely. No ‘slap on the head’ needed at service with just 4.6s to find.

But once again, the event refused to follow the script. It seemed every time someone built up momentum, they were struck down.

Of all the rallies on the calendar, this may be the most important for the handbrake to navigate the tight chicanes, and on SS7, Pryce’s left him.

It had cried enough.

That was the end of his victory challenge and he had to cede defeat.

“I really think first was there for the taking today,” he said at stage end,

searching for positives but feeling a raw wound in a win lost. And Ahlin knew it.

At the end of the Borders, the Swede had looked invincible. Despite the Carlisle win and a championship lead, there are still worries.

“Right now we’re a little bit lost with the set-up. I know Martin maybe thinks it’s in my head, but we will see!” he said.

In truth, Ahlin may have the set up sorted in the pre-event test and there may not be an issue in the future, that’s hypothetical. If anything can be said for Ahlin’s performance on the Pirelli, it was Ogier-esque. He found a way to win even when he wasn’t on top form. His rivals will need to do a better job of taking advantage if they’re going to remove the favourite tag from him.

As will be the case in the Scottish, anyone could have finished in third, or in the top seven for that matter, such is the level of competition right now.

In the end, the position went to Marty McCormack, who continues to impress in his new Skoda Fabia R5, relishing the extra grunt over the S2000 car he drove last year. Despite whacking a rock and getting a puncture on SS4, he and David Moynihan remained level-headed.

While others began to drop away, he never got over excited and brought the car home at a steady pace to give Kumho its best result of the year.

Photos: Jakob Ebrey

RESULTS British Rally Championship, round 2/7, Carlisle, April 29/30

Creighton/Regan stole the lead on the last stage of the event

Meirion Evans (l) and Callum Devine (r) took junior podium

Last-gasp Junior victory for Creighton About a step. After 99.18 miles of action in England’s fastest forest, that’s all that separated first and second in the Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship.

After leading most of the event, Callum Devine got the cruellest lesson courtesy of Kielder, that it’s very important to look after your tyres. His MH Motorsport car arrived at the Brampton finish with the webbing almost peeling off the front left, there was nothing remaining of his Kumho covers.

Instead, the ever-impressive William Creighton stole in to take victory on the last stage. Co-driven by Liam Regan, Creighton continues to transcend his experience and is already rated highly by many in the rallying fraternity, and it’s easy to see why.

While other older and more experienced juniors had offs left, right and centre, the Belfast driver had an overshoot and a puncture. That was as eventful as his event was. Until the last stage of course. He continues to go

Creighton continues to impress

In truth, third spot was Keith Cronin’s to lose. Finally, the Irishman looks to be back on top form, although he was derailed initially on Saturday morning with a steering issue.

The three-time champion’s pace has been puzzling at times, but a lack of running on gravel in the last three seasons means he can be afforded some time to adapt. He was third until the first stage of Sunday morning where he went off the road in a high-speed fifth-gear spin. The car was OK, as were he and co-driver Mikie Galvin, and they’ll be a threat for top honours in Scotland if all goes his way.

Garry Pearson had made his return to the BRC event, his first in his Fiesta R5 since October last year. He impressed many with his top-four pace, but also went off on SS5 at a chicane. He’s done his chances of showing he belongs in the BRC no harm though, relishing the pace up front and matching it immediately.

The man to follow McCormack in the end was David Bogie.

Is there an unluckier driver in the BRC? He seems to win every national rally you can throw at him but as soon as the BRC stickers go on the side of the car he runs out of luck.

On SS1 he had brake problems and tumbled down the order. Despite that,

about things in a modest manner, and there’s no doubt that he is a star of the future. He was as low as fourth on day one, but chipped away and got to the front when it counted.

Devine/Keith Moriarty held on for second ahead of Meirion Evans, who had a breakthrough in Carlisle. A costly spin stripped him of 20 seconds, and at the end he trailed by 12.9s.

Cruel, but nonetheless a first JBRC podium after a torrid campaign last year was exactly what the crew had hoped for pre-weekend.

Oscar Solberg and Patrik Barth, winners on the Border Counties, had more brake trouble. Solberg’s sideways style meant he picked up rocks and debris on the rears, and lost the brakes continuously on Saturday.

After a change of brakes and style on Sunday, he stormed back to take fourth and gather valuable points.

Marty Gallagher rounded out the top five as he continues to adapt to gravel, the Donegal driver still fairly new to the surface. The three punctures on Sunday didn’t help his cause.

A whisker away from not starting the event with car trouble in the buildup, Cameron Davies/Caron Tomlinson had led the category but were swallowed up by an infamous Kielder chicane on Saturday afternoon. It’s fair to say Davies is doing the BRC on a shoestring and the demonstration of pace will be an encouraging tonic after a difficult opening round and lead up to the event.

Also missing was Josh McErlean, who, had he held his position, would in the midst of rapid pace as Ahlin and Pryce duelled for victory, he went quickest on all four of Sunday’s stages in a display of dominance not seen since Elfyn Evans graced the championship last year. The Dumfries man was spectacular in his recovery to fourth place and surely will get a turn of luck soon.

Rounding out the top five was Matt Edwards, who wasn’t on the frontrunning pace, but gave the stillnew Hankook tyres a best result and did so while suffering from the flu, as was co-driver Darren Garrod. A heroic effort considering.

Among those falling out of the running was headline act Eyvind Brynildsen. The Norwegian Rally Championship leader and WRC regular was representing Pirelli and warming up for the next NRC round.

He brought a welcome bounce to the BRC service park, despite retiring on SS1 with a handbrake problem. He returned on Sunday to set top-five times before a brake caliper broke and he was out on the penultimate stage.

With the RSAC Scottish Rally approaching and signs of chinks in the Ahlin armour, there’s five or six drivers who have a realistic chance of taking the honours. A cracking fight on the two-day event awaits.

have certainly been star of the rally.

Despite driving an outdated Citroen C2 R2, he held fourth for the majority of the rally after Davies retired. An off on SS6 put he and Damien Duffin out, but the pace remains encouraging from another promising prospect.

Josh Cornwell/Richard Bliss topped the Cadet Class in their Ford Fiesta R2 after Fergus Barlow/Max Freeman challenged early. However, the latter crew fell off the road on Sunday morning leaving Cornwell to take a second dominant victory in a row. His pre-season favourite tag is being lived up to, and the prize of his 2018 entry fees being paid for looks to be all but decided in his favour.

John Morrison/Peter Carstairs continued their impressive adaption to a new Mitsubishi Lancer E9 to take the National Rally Cup honours, as erstwhile leader Donnie MacDonald retired in his similar car. Max Utting scored second on his BRC debut in his Ford Fiesta ST with Mike Ainsworth on the pacenotes.

In a class of one, Spencer Wilkinson and Glyn Thomas brought home their Subaru Impreza despite numerous issues on Sunday to win the Production Cup. A broken rear joint, a puncture and failing power steering were just a few of the issues the crew fixed, although neither stopped smiling at any point, in typical fashion.

The event suffered from a poor entry for the BRC classes, with five entrants outside of the BRC 1 and Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship.

POS DRIVER/NAVIGATOR CAR TIME 1 Fredrik Ahlin/Torstein Eriksen Skoda Fabia R5 1h29m28s 2 Osian Pryce/Dale Furniss Ford Fiesta R5 +39.4s 3 Marty McCormack/David Moynihan Skoda Fabia R5 +49.5s 4 David Bogie/Kevin Rae Skoda Fabia R5 +1m6.8s 5 Matt Edwards/Darren Garrod Ford Fiesta R5 +1m50.6s 6 Rhys Yates /Carl Williamson Ford Fiesta R5 +2m19.8s 7 Peter Stephenson/Ian Windress* Ford Focus WRC +6m15.8s 8 Tom Preston/Andrew Roughead Skoda Fabia R5 +6m30.5s 9 Jamie Anderson/Ross Whittock Ford Fiesta R5 +7m35.4s 10 Alex Laffey/Stuart Loudon Ford Fiesta R5 +8m42.3s 11 William Creighton/Liam Regan (Peugeot 208 R2); 12 Callum Devine/Keith Moriarty (Fiesta R2T); 13 Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson (208 R2); 14 John Wink/John Forrest* (Mitsubishi Lancer E9); 15 John Morrison/Peter Carstairs (Lancer E9); 16 Oscar Solberg/Patrik Barth (Fiesta R2T); 17 Max Utting/Mike Ainsworth (Fiesta ST); 18 Marty Gallagher/Dean O’Sullivan (208 R2); 19 James Williams/Dave Williams (Fiesta R2T); 20 Matthew Hirst/ Declan Dear* (Lancer E9). *crew not BRC registered Points 1 Ahlin 55*; 2 Pryce 33; 3 Tom Cave 22*; =4 Yates 18; =4 Edwards 18; 6 McCormack 15. *played joker card. Five points for a win, four for second, three for third, two for fourth, one for fifth.

Cornwell topped a slender Cadet Class

John Morrison/Peter Carstairs won National Rally Cup in E9

STAGE WINNERS SS1Whitesike 1 (10.47 miles) Tom Cave/James Morgan (Hyundai i20 R5) 9m14.9s

SS2 Black Fell 1 (15.34 miles) Cave/Morgan 13m23.5s

SS3 Clintburn 1 (14.69 miles) Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Ford Fiesta R5) 13m36s

A broken handbrake ruined any chance of victory for Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss’s Fiesta

SS4 Claver Hill (9.09 miles) Fredrik Ahlin/Torstein Eriksen (Fiesta R5) 8m25.7s

SS5Whitesike 2 (10.47 miles) David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Fabia R5) 9m06.3s

SS6 Black Fell 2 (15.34 miles) Bogie/Rae 13m13.6s

SS7 Clintburn 2 (14.69 miles) Bogie/Rae 13m23.6s

SS8 Claver Hill 2 (9.09 miles) Bogie/Rae 8m19.6s

Marty McCormack and David Moynihan gave Kumho its best result of the season with podium

18 AUGUST 23 2017 motorsport-news.co.uk

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BRC: ULSTER RALLY

EPICCRONIN

Photos: Jakob Ebrey

RESULTS British Rally Championship, round 6/8, Ulster Rally, August 18/19 POS DRIVER/NAVIGATOR CAR TIME 1 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin Ford Fiesta R5 2h06m3.8s 2 Fredrik Ahlin/Torstein Eriksen Skoda Fabia R5 +55.4s 3 Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick Citroen DS 3 R5 +2m08s 4 Marty McCormack/David Moynihan Skoda Fabia R5 +2m25.5s 5 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan Skoda Fabia R5 +2m55.2s 6 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson Ford Fiesta R5 +3m32.7s 7 Joseph McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney Skoda Fabia R5 +5m46.7s 8 Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans Ford Fiesta R5 +7m37.8s 9 Alex Laffey/Patrick Walsh Ford Fiesta R5 +8m17.9s 10 William Creighton/Liam Regan Peugeot 208 R2 +12m35.3s Prestone Motorsport News Junior BRC: Creighton/Regan. BRC 4: David White/Matthew White (Fiesta R2). BRC Cadet: Josh Cornwell/Tom Woodburn (Fiesta R2). BRC National Rally Cup: John Morrison/Peter Carstairs (Mitsubishi Lancer E9). BRC 1 points: 1 Ahlin 106; 2 Cronin 74; 3 Osian Pryce (Fiesta R5) 66; 4 McCormack 57; 5 Matt Edwards (Fiesta R5) 54; 6 Rhys Yates 46 (Fiesta R5). Prestone Motorsport News Junior BRC points: 1 Creighton 113; 2 Callum Devine (Opel Adam R2) 88; 3 Meirion Evans (208 R2) 68; 4 Oscar Solberg (Fiesta R2T) 65; 5 Marty Gallagher (208 R2) 53; 6 James Williams (Fiesta R2T) 46.

Cork driver closes the gap to Ahlin while Pryce suffers. By Jack Benyon Creighton has scored on every BRC round and won again

Cornwell has bagged 2018 entry fees with Cadet Cup win

Creighton keeps it together for Junior win

Galvin (l) and Cronin were

A ding-dong battle in the Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship ended in drama, as Callum Devine’s less than perfect weekend finished with alternator failure on Saturday afternoon.

The Opel Adam R2 driver has won the last two rounds, and although he seemed to have the measure of title rival William Creighton – with whom he was tied on points entering the event – myriad issues including a puncture kept pushing him towards his title rival before the terminal issue.

Another consistent run from Peugeot 208 R2 driver Creighton

untouchable... just

Pryce crash came before retirement

T

he pre-event favourites billing missed this crew, but there was no doubt who the top asphalt runner in the British Rally Championship was after Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin judged another perfect rally to lead every single stage of the 133-mile 2017 Ulster Rally.

With the Cork driver already winning in Ypres, there’s no doubt of his asphalt pace, especially not as a three-time BRC champion. But the pre-event focus was deflected from him to instead centre on tyres and the BRC title battle between Fredrik Ahlin and Osian Pryce.

The first debate was over cutting.

Despite the FIA regional rally regulations being changed to allow wet

Ahlin survived on wet Tar in second

Cronin caused a splash in title race tyres to be used this year, the Ulster organisers still felt it necessary to allow tyre cutting, but the BRC upheld the regulations and made its runners use homologated tyres only.

The focus was also on Pryce, who after receiving two prize drives in a WRC2 car this year courtesy of cover supplier DMACK, jumped ship and switched to Pirellis just before the start.

A shaky start for Pryce began with a spin in the first and third stages of the loop respectively, with Cronin and Ahlin first and second and seemingly ready to run away with the thing. But what followed was one of the brilliant charges of the season.

After those three nightmare stages, a service followed and Pryce switched to a wet. Cronin and Ahlin, still on DMACKs, stuck to the supersoft ‘semi-slick’ and it didn’t work. The

stages around Strabane delivered weather a Mediterranean island would be proud of. One minute; showers. The next; dry as a bone. There wasn’t really such thing as a ‘correct’ tyre choice, more getting to the end of the stage and hoping you haven’t lost minutes.

Anyway, back to Pryce’s charge.

It was brilliant. On SS4, he took 12s out of Cronin. On the next, another 6.5s. After the sixth and final stage of Friday’s opening day, he and co-driver Dale Furniss were 1.1s behind Cronin.

“That’s more like it,” said Furniss.

Pryce added: “We’re happy where we are. At other times this year, I’ve pushed, had a moment and then lost my nerve and throttled back. In that loop, we were just on it. No throttling back. It felt nice.”

It was hard to bet against the Welshman taking the lead the next day as the crews packed away on Friday night. The packing away was almost symbolic of the rest giving up at such a strong showing.

But, not taking anything away from Pryce, with the conditions in Ulster misbehaving – albeit true to history – it could turn around quickly with a similar correct tyre choice as Pryce had made on Friday.

As it happened, tyre choice was irrelevant on Saturday morning. It was

a wall. A big, white, stone one. And a Fiesta that went backwards into it.

And it was Pryce.

With 17.4s to the bad, it was “time for something radical” for him.

By that, he meant tyres, and some sort of hybrid crossover.

Hope was not lost.

The following stage, the “something radical” wasn’t Pryce’s tyres, it was Cronin’s. His M-Sport Fiesta had picked up a puncture.

The gap? Four seconds. Now we’ve got a rally, right? Wrong.

Pryce’s radical choice was wrong.

He knew it immediately after the first stage and he lost 13 and 16 seconds on the next two tests respectively.

And then the fuel was taken out of his bid completely.

The same issue which robbed Pryce of a first win on the Nicky Grist Stages last time out, robbed him of the chance to take good points in Londonderry as his Fiesta ground to a halt on SS11.

On the side of the road, watching his rival run around the car looking for a fix, Ahlin backed off.

The Skoda Fabia driver was everimpressive. He’d quietly gone about his business, building on his asphalt pace, which is now arguably close to Cronin, if not on par. He admitted to keeping a bit in reserve to aid finishing and

keeping his championship lead.

You’d never have guessed on SS8 though, Saturday’s second stage, as he went quickest.

Any hope of him challenging Cronin, if he’d have wanted to, ended on SS10 Rousky, a stage responsible for claiming some of British and Irish rallying’s finest. He went off twice, but neither of them were terminal on the stage he crashed out on last year. Ahlin escaped unscathed to run a minute behind Cronin, but a minute clear in second when Pryce went out. The Swede forced himself into submission to nurse the car home.

With all this drama, Cronin almost went unnoticed. But as incredible as his performance was last year, when a gearbox issue robbed him of a chance of challenging Elfyn Evans for the win, he was just as impressive here. The puncture didn’t faze him as Pryce closed in. Nothing did. And that’s why the title fight on the Manx will be an exciting one as Cronin trails Ahlin by 32 points with 55 on offer.

We’re in for a bumpy ride.

Third in the event was Jonny Greer, who made the most of a tight and twisty event where his Citroen DS 3 – usually sub-par compared to the Skoda and Ford – can come into its own with a brilliant chassis. Greer equally was up

Devine retired his Opel Adam to the challenge of the narrow roads and had no issues taking the podium and an Irish Tarmac Rally Championship win (see page 24).

As Greer had used an unhomologated tyre and forfeited the chance to score BRC points, third went to Marty McCormack. It was his first event back in a Fabia R5 after his huge Ypres crash, easily the biggest of his career as he and David Moynihan rolled end over end.

It was a machine of a different kind causing McCormack a headache, with his family drilling concern losing a machine to mechanical failure.

That almost forced McCormack to non-start, but the issue was handled and he delivered a just result.

By the end of the event, he was on it again after a tentative start thanks to the crash. A fastest time through the tricky second run of Barnes Gap proved as much.

It’s the BRC’s loss that the likeable Northern Irishman won’t be competing on the Isle of Man despite moving into fourth in the points.

Desi Henry was just behind in fifth overall, and his difficult season continued where he and Liam Moynihan just didn’t have the pace they needed to challenge at the front. A puncture added to their worries, and

gave him another strong finish and a second win. An overshoot was his only real problem all weekend as he once again produced a reliable drive well beyond his 18 years.

Creighton leads the series by 13 points on dropped scores with 50 on offer on the Isle of Man. The Juniors differ from the other classes as they count five of eight scores, not six of eight.

The rest of the field was decimated, with Border Counties winner Oscar Solberg taking second as the only other finisher.

With a new ’shell on his MH Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2, he produced a much-needed clean drive to score points for the championship.

James Williams (Ford Fiesta R2T) was another driver to non-finish despite quick early times; he ended the event on his side and out of the running. Meirion Evans took out a telegraph pole and finished in a ditch, while gearbox failure halted the similar 208 of Marty Gallagher.

The inaugural Cadet Cup was finally decided after Josh Cornwell came breathtakingly close to after missing the Nicky Grist, he lies a fair way adrift in the BRC points.

Among the non-finishers was the ever-impressive Matt Edwards, who had expected a good run with a combination of doing an event in his Ford Fiesta R5 for the second year in a row for the first time, after the Ulster had been his debut in the car the previous year. Hankook had also brought a strong wet, which was expected to work well in the conditions.

Car permitting, he was on it. But a throttle-related issue, which was intermittent, destroyed his challenge.

An engine issue ended his charge completely on Saturday morning and third in the championship was lost. The Manx awaits.

Also retiring was Rhys Yates, fresh off his best BRC finish in third on the Nicky Grist. His rally ended in the slowest-speed crash imaginable, but the car wasn’t coming out of the ditch.

With the conditions so changeable, the crew decided to head back to Chesterfield to prepare for the very different Manx.

There’s no doubt the ball is in Ahlin’s court heading to the Isle of Man. But Cronin’s asphalt pace means no one will be forgetting him before the season closer. Pryce will be there too, the BRC is on for a cracking finale.

sealing the series on the last event, the Nicky Grist. The Fiesta R2 driver has been unstoppable all year, winning every event he’s finished and he really should have been competing in the full junior class had budget allowed. The prize of his entry fees paid up for the Junior BRC in 2018 will help his budget for next year.

In BRC 4 the title was settled, with David and son Matthew White taking the honours, succeeding last year’s champions Tony Simpson and Ian Bevan. Fiesta R2 driver White is rarely not wearing a smile, and the Barnsley driver has capped off a brilliant first year in R2 machinery. The class was thin, with Gee Atherton the only other entry of the year on the opener at Border Counties.

John Morrison topped a similarly thin National Rally Cup class aboard his Mitsubishi Lancer E9, also taking the championship in the process. There were four entries in the class during the year with Donnie Macdonald taking second in the championship for the second year in a row.

David White survived gear issues to take BRC4 championship

John Morrison steered his Mitsubishi Lancer to National Rally Cup

STAGE WINNERS SS1 Holly Hill (11.58 miles) KeithCronin/Mikie Galvin(FordFiestaR5)11m02.4s

SS2 Mary Gray (8.36 miles) OsianPryce/Dale

Furniss(FordFiestaR5)9m06.4s

SS3 Butterlope (4.7 miles) Cronin/Galvin4m27.1s

Cronin/Galvin8m39.2s

SS10 Rousky (15.88 miles) Cronin/Galvin14m23.1s

SS11 Slievekirk 2 (8.57 miles)

SS5 Mary Gray 2 (8.36 miles)

SS12 Drumnahoe 2 (8.91 miles)

Pryce/Furniss8m52.3s

SS6 Butterlope 2 (4.7 miles) Pryce/Furniss, Cronin/Galvin4m25.6s

SS7 Slievekirk (8.57 miles) Cronin/Galvin6m05.4s SS8 Drumnahoe (8.91 miles)

Edwards’ Swift Rally Team Ford Fiesta was ill-performing Matt Edwards’Swift

SS9 Barnes Gap (8.91 miles)

SS4 Holly Hill 2 (11.58 miles) Pryce/ Furniss10m59.3s

McCormack bounced back from troublesomeYpres crash

FredrikAhlin/TorsteinEriksen (SkodaFabiaR5)8m43.4s

Cronin/Galvin6m04s

DesiHenry/LiamMoynihan (SkodaFabiaR5)8m35.5s

SS13 Barnes Gap 2 (8.95 miles)

MartyMcCormack/DavidMoynihan (FabiaR5)8m59.7s

SS14 Rousky 2 (15.88 miles)

Henry/LMoynihan14m31.2s Henry/L Moynihan 14m31.2s

stages Desi Henry struggled but won two

motorsport-news.co.uk NOVEMBER 29 2017 19

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‘Bell and Radford win in Lincolnshire’

GROUP NATIONAL EDITOR

JACK

Rally reports, p27

NEW PRIZE STRUCTURE FOR BENYON MSA ASPHALT CHAMPIONSHIP “The mood is

Photo: Chicane Media, chasingthecars.com

largely positive moving forward”

Cheviot Stages has a date change The returning MSA Asphalt Championship has outlined its prize structure for the 2018 season.

After taking a sabbatical in 2017, the championship isback next year with trips to Ireland, Belgium and the Isle of Man, as well as Otterburn and Epynt.

For drivers purchasing tyres from Protyre, the overall highest MSA Asphalt finisher will win four free tyres, while second and third place finishers will win two

tyres respectively. For the Historic class, the winner will receive two tyres and second place, one. The 1400 class offers four free tyres to the winner and two for second place.

Also in the 1400cc class, former World Rally Championship co-driver Nicky Grist will offer the winning co-driver and driver a £100 voucher each, but probably of more value will be his and a yetto-be decided “top-level” driver

to give tuition before one of this year’s rounds.

While the schedule does feature three rounds where travel by ferry is required, the championship has secured discounts with various ferry companies and added prizes for those using certain ferry firms to travel.

Jane Evans, Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship co-ordinator, said: “We are humbled by the number of top

motorsport companies who have come forward to offer incentives and rewards to the revamped championship, and we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to these generous overall and class awards.” ● The Cheviot Stages over the Otterburn Military Training Area in Northumberland has moved one week later than its original intended 2018 date, now set for October 26/27.

Grizedale gets epic R2 battle and strong entry up front

Barlow is one of the Fiesta R2 drivers

This weekend’s 30th anniversary Grizedale Stages Rally will feature a huge battle in the R2 class, with Tommi Meadows and Finlay Retson joining the fray.

Meadows, who is a finalist of the John Easson and MSA Young Driver of the Year Award, will enter having been given the chance by Swift Caravans boss Peter Smith.

Smith supports Matt Edwards in the BRC and Meadows will drive Edwards’ for-hire Ford Fiesta R2.

“I was expecting to go to watch after everything that happened this year,” said Meadows, whose Ford Ka is

Hill gambles on Fiesta R5 for Rockingham William Hill will step up to an R5 car on this weekend’s Rockingham Stages Rally.

Hill finished third in the B10 class in the BTRDA and won his category in the British Rally Championship on the Nicky Grist Stages in his first full year of gravel rallying in his Ford Fiesta R2.

Now Hill – joined by co-driver Richard Crozier – will drive the Ford Fiesta used by Elfyn

Pryce has driven Hill’s car

Evans, Tom Cave and Osian Pryce in the BRC on the December 2/3 event.

“It’s a bit of an interesting way to end the year and very exciting for ourselves,” said Hill. “It’ll be the first time competing in an R5 car and we have a short test before it to get used to it.”

Of his plans for 2018, Hill added: “There’s nothing confirmed. We’re hoping for a year in the Junior BRC we’re looking to see if we can make it feasible.

“A few longer events and recces would be nice. It would be nice to have a couple of seasons at it. We’re just trying to get everything together.”

The Rockingham Stages has attracted a strong entry, despite not forming a round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship for the first time.

being rebuilt. “He [Smith] wants to help out young English drivers and I have to thank him. It’s just a oneoff then we’ll see. The problem is when I drive it I’ll want to go and get one…”

Meadows joins 2016 Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge winner Retson, who has impressed in the BTRDA ST Trophy this year.

“We’re doing Grizedale and we’re hoping to do a few SRC rounds. It will be nice to get back out in the car,” said Retson, who tested the car last month. “It took some getting used to but I think I adapted to it fairly quickly.”

Retson and Meadows join Charlie Barlow (MN, November 22) and Peter Bennett (MN, November 15) in the class.

The front of the field is one of the most competitive the event has ever had, with BTRDA Gold Star champion Stephen Petch leading the way. He’s followed by Paul Bird, the new Proton Iriz R5 of Ollie Mellors and Rally GB National winner Tom Preston. Connor McCloskey and Alan Carmichael are travelling from Northern Ireland to compete.

The Lake District event takes place on December 2.

Photo: Jakob Ebrey

Junior British Rally Championship runners-up William Creighton (l) and Liam Regan (r) were given a special prize for sportsmanship at the BRC awards dinner last weekend in Manchester.At Rally GB, Creighton was giving a prize winner a passenger ride on the shakedown stage when an FIA scrutineer noticed the passenger didn’t have FIA-homologated underwear and boots.Regan stripped off and gave his to the passenger.The BRC Awards Dinner was well attended and featured interviews with AriVatanen, MalcolmWilson (c) and Nicky Grist among others.

P

ositivity and the Fatal Accident Inquiry, certainly haven’t gone hand-in-hand since the inquest has been ongoing. At best, rallying was getting a slap on the wrist. At worst it would be deemed too dangerous to continue.

Luckily it was the former, and on first reading, it looks like rallying can finally put this dark chapter to bed. Lives have been lost and that must never be forgotten. But, as is always the case when lives are lost in such a tragic fashion, the events must become a lesson on how it must never happen again. That’s what the FAI was there for.

Not to apportion blame. To find out how the deaths happened and if the loss of life could have been prevented.

I had two major thoughts after the release of the FAI. At a time when rallying is often misunderstood by the masses, or the people in the ‘general’ media who bring it to them, it was very refreshing to read the words of Sheriff Maciver, who has clearly immersed himself in rallying totally. It’s clear from reading his recommendations that he understands the facets of a rally; how they are run, and how each one can differ through alternative organisational formats. Rallying is lucky someone so understanding – or at least willing to educate himself on the topic – was assigned to this FAI. The same can’t be said of the general media reaction to the findings of the FAI, which were poor and often one-sided to the negative, in general, to say the least.

The other major thought is a broader rallying worry, despite the overriding mood from the FAI being positive for the sport moving forward.

The fact that things are being implemented to improve safety is fantastic and something we should all want to see. My worry is who is looking out for the organisers?

A 45-mile stage rally can take a year to organise, and the people doing it – in general at least – are volunteers who have day jobs. Piling on the paper work and adding more and more to an organiser’s plate simply isn’t going to work, especially at a time when the sport is facing a volunteer organiser and marshalling crisis.

If the best rally to spectate on in the UK – the R.A.C. Rally – has trouble with marshals, what’s the hope for the rest?

Trust in organising rallies also needs to return.

Many may fear helping on events because of the high-profile nature of the investigations into the Snowman and Jim Clark events, and that members of the organising team were called into courts because of it.

It’s time for volunteers and organisers to come forward and suggest what can be done to help them speak up. We need more volunteers.

Doubling their workload in the past two-three years isn’t helping with that.

While striving for safety is a necessity, so is organising events, or there will be no one left to run the new super-safe events. Take heed.

Something needs to be done.

Perhaps MN and I can do something to help…

Stay tuned.

AGREE/DISAGREE? letters@motorsport-news.co.uk

14 AUGUST 23 2017 motorsport-news.co.uk

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RALLY NEWS

CRONIN PLAYS DOWN MANX BRC HOPES Ulster winner scotches talk of a title challenge as Ahlin leads

Cronin is 24 points behind Ahlin after Ulster

By Jack Benyon M-Sport driver Keith Cronin has played down his chances of taking a fourth British Rally title on the Isle of Man next month, despite winning the Ulster Rally.

The Ford Fiesta R5 driver is 24 points behind CA1 Sport Skoda Fabia R5 driver Fredrik Ahlin on dropped scores entering the double header, with a joker still to play.

The joker adds five bonus points for a win, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth.

If Ahlin can finish second and fourth over the two legs, he’ll win the title irrelevant of what Cronin does.

“The championship realistically isn’t going to happen for us this year, too many things went against us at the start of the year,” said Cronin. “Fredrik can drive around in the Isle of Man,

he’d need to not finish a day for us to have any chance of winning the championship. I suppose anything can happen in rallying, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Ahlin is in the best position, and is confident after a strong run on the event last year, before he retired with an engine failure.

“We were quick in the Isle of Man last year, so hopefully we can go there and be quick again,” he said. “I would

rather lead by 24 than be 24 behind. It’s a big lead and he [Cronin] needs to win both rounds with the joker and I need to more or less not finish one of the days. Let the best man win.

“We have the same tyres.

It’s going to be interesting.”

Osian Pryce is still in with a chance of winning, but needs both Ahlin and Cronin to hit trouble. The Spencer Sport Ford Fiesta R5 man isn’t certain he’ll contest the

Matt Edwards still hopeful of Manx entry Matt Edwards is “hopeful” of finishing the British Rally Championship season on Rally Isle of Man, despite engine problems in his Ford Fiesta R5.

Edwards – co-driven by Darren Garrod – suffered a sensor issue throughout the Ulster weekend, and retired on Sunday morning.

It was Edwards’ second non-score of the year after a rock broke his suspension on the RSAC Scottish Rally in May. “It was a continuation of the sensor issue we were suffering from all weekend,” said Edwards.

“The engine is coming out today [Monday] and going up to M-Sport, I don’t know any more than that at the moment.

“I’m hopeful we’ll make the Manx. M-Sport have been great.

We’ve given them the data and everything they’ve asked for.”

Edwards can still finish as high as second in the championship in his first full season in the BRC 1 class for R5 cars, in his Swift Rally Team Ford Fiesta. He will, however, need Fredrik Ahlin, Keith Cronin and Osian Pryce to non-score on the two-day event.

September 14-16 event. “I’ve had a quick look at the points and it’s still possible,” he said.

“There’s so many scenarios and obviously the joker is being played [by Cronin]. It’s a bit of a minefield. I’ll set aside a night and work out the numbers, there’s a few ifs and buts.”

Pryce can beat Cronin by winning both legs of the rally, but Ahlin would need poor scores from one or both legs to give Pryce a title shot.

Creighton: title favourite

Junior series set for closest battle The Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship is in for an even closer showdown on Rally Isle of Man. Five of eight scores are counted, with 50 points on offer at the event. William Creighton leads the series by 13 points over Callum Devine.

Devine retired from the Ulster with alternator failure, helping Peugeot 208 driver Creighton to maximum points.

“The Ulster kept things alive,” said Creighton. “If he’d [Devine] have won, it would have made things very tricky. We did Isle of Man last year, it’s really fast and we were lucky last year as it was dry. I’m not sure it will be this year as they said that was the first Isle of Man to stay dry for three days.”

Oscar Solberg – who finished second on the Ulster – is still in with a chance of the championship if he wins both legs, but he needs Devine to score less than 14 over the two legs, and for Creighton to not score at all.

Solberg: BRC hopes alive

BRC stands by its call to ban cut-tyres on the Manx

M-Sport is checking Edwards’Fiesta

British Rally Championship manager Iain Campbell has confirmed that no plan is in place for the Prestone Motorsport News Junior BRC drivers to cut tyres if the Rally Isle of Man is wet enough for the organiser to consider it.

On the Ulster last weekend, there was confusion as the organiser of the Ulster Rally, in conjunction with the FIA, allowed drivers on the event to cut tyres, which isn’t normally allowed in the FIA’s Regional Rally Regulations.

The BRC upheld that cutting wasn’t allowed as adequate wet tyres were available to R5 crews. However, a full-wet

FORMER RALLY MAN JAMES GRINT BACK TO EUROPEAN RALLYCROSS

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tyre specifically for R2 cars wasn’t available and therefore the BRC issued a bulletin allowing R2 machines to use cut tyres.

“The R5 cars all have access to wet tyres, nobody makes a real wet for the R2s,” said Campbell. “What is classed as a wet for the R2 is the same tread as the dry weather tyres, just softer. The Ulster has a unique type of mud on the road, from a safety perspective it was easier to let the guys cut the tyres.

“It was made for the Ulster. We’ll discuss with the organisers [of the Rally Isle of Man] if it needs to be done again.”

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‘Higgins seals first British Rallycross title’ Silverstone BRX, p29

Photos: William Neill, Lightning House, Martin Walsh

Prestone Motorsport News Junior British Rally Championship frontrunner William Creighton has confirmed he has no plans to switch classes after making his R5 debut on the Tyrone Stages Rally earlier this month.

Creighton was given the opportunity to drive a Citroen DS3 R5 on the sealed surface event after coming to an agreement with the car’s owners – David Greer Motorsport – and Race and Rally.

The former UK Young Rally Driver of the Year recorded a string of top three stage times in the dry to finish second overall, despite having had limited seat time in the French car beforehand.

“I got asked if I would like to drive the car, I said yes, and DGM and Race and Rally put the whole thing together for me,” he told Motorsport News. “At the minute it is purely a one-off for me. What I found interesting was the similarities that exist between the Peugeot R2 I drive and the R5 car. The main differences are obviously the speed, the grip and power. It’s a beast!

“The chance to compete in an R5 and get some experience of what they are like was a good one but it was a bit for fun at the end of a hard season in the British Championship.”

Creighton confirmed that he will return to the Junior British Rally Championship in 2019. This year he was a distant fourth to eventual winner Steve Rokland, with his Ypres crash not helping. He had moved into the lead of the R2 field before going into a ditch with the finish line in sight.

“The plan is to do another season in an R2 car in the JBRC,” he said. “After what we achieved in 2017, this year wasn’t great. The cancellation of two rounds didn’t do much for our cause this year, either. Once we get the budget together, we will try and win it.”

CREIGHTON STICKS WITH R2

Creighton quick in R5

Charity co-driving for rally ace Chris Evans at Oulton

Brynmor Pierce (l) auctioned a

rally seat to Chris Evans (r)

Hamilton nominated for Billy Coleman Award Michael Hamilton has earned a nomination for Young Rally Driver of the Year for the months of September to October.

The 23-year-old Honda Civic driver has earned a place in the final of the Billy Coleman Award which hands €50,000 to the winner, decided by a special panel.

Hamilton impressed with class wins on the Sligo Rally and the Clare Stages, finishing 12th and 15th on those events respectively.

Hamilton joins Opel Adam driver Jordan Hone, National junior champion Jason Black and Vauxhall Nova driver Derek Mackarel in being nominated for the award.

A wildcard entry can also be selected to compete alongside the finalists.

The Billy Coleman Award has helped to launch the careers of the likes of Craig Breen, Keith Cronin and Rob Duggan.

Rally fan, volunteer and competitor Chris Evans made a return to rally competition after 16 years out after winning a charity auction to join Brynmor Pierce in his Ford Fiesta ST on the Neil Howard Stages.

Evans, 47, is a paramedic, but has been working in rally control on various events for 15 years.

He is also a talented photographer, known for his company Chimera Photographic.

He bid £300 for the seat with Pierce, who auctioned

the seat for the Welsh Air Ambulance through the Rally Forum at Wales Rally GB, which he organises.

The pair joined for the Oulton Park event last Saturday, finishing 57th overall.

“The day was fantastic and it was an absolute pleasure to be sat with Brynmor on his first outing in his newly acquired ST,” said Evans.

“We used SS1 to get to know each other and the car, then pushed from SS2

onwards. On SS6 the inevitable motion sickness kicked in...but got back to service and cleaned myself and car up and headed out for SS7, 8 and 9.

“Obviously the main aim of the day was to finish, which we did, and to raise money for the Wales Air Ambulance.

The Just Giving page will remain live until the end of November. Donations are still welcome.”

You can donate to Evans’ page here: justgiving.com/ fundraising/summit6.

Austin MacHale back in a Ford Escort after 37 years for Carrick Rally Sprint Five-time Irish Tarmac Rally champion Austin MacHale was back behind the wheel of a Ford Escort Mk2 last weekend for the first time in 37 years.

Driving the same car that Donagh Kelly drove in the

Carrick on Suir Winter Rally Sprint, MacHale won Class 3.

The event, which attracted over 80 entries, was a fundraiser for Our Lady’s Children Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin.

MacHale’s sons, Gareth

and Aaron, were also competing – double driving Aaron’s Citroen DS3 R5 – but a broken driveshaft on the penultimate run ended their bid.

Cashel’s Pat O’Connell, in a recently acquired

Motorsport Ireland clamps down on WR cars in Class 20 Motorsport Ireland has acted to clamp down on drivers modifying homologated cars with a change to its Class 20 regulations.

Homologated WRC and R5 cars are supposed to sit in Class 7 and 5 respectively, but drivers have been increasing the size of restrictors, for example, and running them in Class 20. MI has stated that is not what

Class 20 was intended for.

A Motorsport Ireland statement read: “At a recent meeting of the Motorsport Commission, the following changes were approved for Class 20. The changes will come into effect for cars competing in Class 20 on all MI events for 2019.

“Competitors that, up to now, competed in Class 20 with the following cars; currently homologated

WRCs, RRCs, S2000 Rally 1.6T and R5s and modified versions of these cars will no longer be eligible to enter Class 20 from January 1.”

The 2019 changes follow last month’s meeting of the Motorsport Ireland Commission where some 84 rule changes were passed and will be incorporated in next year’s rules and regulations.

Mitsubishi Lancer E10, took a start-to-finish victory.

He was 11.7 seconds in front of the Lancer E9 of Waterford’s Keith Power.

James Bradley (Honda Civic) was 3.9 seconds further behind in third.

WRCs move to Class 7

Kirkistown Rally axed due low entry Mid Antrim Motor Club abandoned plans to hold the Kirkistown Stages Rally last weekend following a poor response from competitors.

At a cost of £185, 13 crews put their names down for the single venue event which would have consisted of six stages totalling 20 competitive miles.

Those who entered included Kilrea’s Brian McCloskey in a Ford Fiesta R5+, Gareth Sayers in a S8-specification Subaru Impreza World Rally Car, and Dominic McNeill in a Ford Fiesta World Rally Car. In a short statement, Mid Antrim Motor Club said: “Unfortunately, we had to the take the decision to cancel the rally due to a severe lack of entries.

“Thanks to everyone who made the effort to put their entry in, and thanks to the army of volunteers who gave their time to organise the rally, and who committed their time to help us set-up and run the rally on the day.”

With 2018 being Mid Antrim Motor Club’s opt-out year from the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, a single-venue event was thought to represent better value to teams and cost the club less financially. However, the entry level did not support that theory.

Consultation soon for closed roads The Motor Sports Association and Scottish Motor Sports have confirmed that a public consultation for developing closed-road legislation has taken a step closer.

Motorsport events cannot currently be held in Scotland due to the fact that any such event would suffer insurance difficulties under the 1990 closed road act. Therefore a new act needs to be drafted, but before the wording of the act can be created, a 12-week consultation period must take place first.

Both the MSA and SMS attended a recent meeting of the Motorsport on Public Roads Advisory Group in Scotland.

England and Wales passed legislation last year which enabled the MSA to grant closed road permits to events, with the approval of the relevant local highway authority.

MSA chairman David Richards said: “This is a further step towards reinstating some iconic motorsport events in Scotland, that have brought so much to their local communities, while providing the potential for new events to join the motorsport calendar in the future.”

18 SEPTEMBER 18 2019 motorsport-news.co.uk

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BRC: GALLOWAY HILLS RALLY Photos: Jakob Ebrey

Galloway Hills victory went to Cave/Bowen

CAVE TAKES RALLYVICTORY AS EDWARDS WINS TITLE

Champions:Edwards(r)withWalsh

Back-to-back BRC crowns for Ford Fiesta R5 driver after playing it safe. By John Fife

T

his year’s British Rally Championship title was decided on the sixth and final round of the season, on the so-called ‘Run to the Hills’ between two young men – one with a very steep hill to climb, and the other already pretty much at the summit.

Matt Edwards and Patrick Walsh, leaders heading into the event, took the canny approach in Scotland and their third place finish on the Galloway Hills Rally ensured back-to-back British titles.

Tom Cave and Dale Bowen did what they had to do, knowing full well that they were dependent on Edwards striking trouble but victory for them still wasn’t enough.

“Bridesmaid again,” said Cave. “Seems to be the story of my life these days.”

Not that Edwards had it easy. Concern was showing on his face at the end of the first two very slippery, overgrown, green and technical tests in Dalbeattie Forest, last used for rallying six years ago.

When pressed, all he would admit to was a small steering issue with his Ford Fiesta R5, but it cost him nearly a minute to the determined Cave in his Hyundai i20 R5.

Over the next six stages, Cave continued

to set the pace – finishing the day with a clean sweep of all eight fastest stage times. Jonny Greer and Dai Roberts were equally convincing in their Fiesta R5.

“There’s no pressure on me today, I’m just here to enjoy the rally,” said Greer, as he set seven second fastest stage times.

A pretty emphatic runner-up position was the result, but behind him there was no desire from Edwards to take on the Northern Irishman. Outwardly as calm as a Welsh choir, Edwards admitted to nerves before the rally and on the road sections, but: “Once I get into the stages, the concentration takes over – these stages are not straightforward.” Edwards finished over two minutes behind Greer but in a secure and risk-freethird place.

Job done. Championship won.

There were no heroics behind him either. Their first time in the Fiesta R5, James Wilson and Arthur Kierans were delighted with fourth place. “This was new territory for me and a new car,” said Wilson.

“I had a test on Thursday and just took it very steady today, I ran my own rally.

I’m still new to 4WD and this is only my third outing in an R5 car and my first run out in the Fiesta.”

Not so fortunate were Alex Laffey and Stuart Loudon after their Fiesta R5 exited

the second stage on threewheels. “I hit a rock in the long grass and the impact sheared off a wheel and brake disc,” said Laffey. “We replaced the wheel OK but ran for the rest of the day with braking only on threewheels.” Ian Bainbridge also fell foul of the slippery conditions in Dalbeattie, retiring his Skoda Fabia R5 with radiator damage after sliding off the road.

That meant two Junior crews finished fifth and sixth, with William Creighton in his Peugeot 208 finishing ahead of Marty Gallagher in his Fiesta R2T. Northern Ireland’s Alan Carmichael scored seventh in his i20 R5 just ahead of the top NRC competitor, local driver Richard Dickson in his Subaru Impreza.

Finlay Retson in his Fiesta R2T and the i20 R5 of Enda McCormack rounded off the top 10.

This may have been Cave’s rally, but it was Edwards’s title. “This means as much to me as it did last year,” said Edwards. “I still had to drive quite hard, you have to, to make these cars work and it was loaded up with spares!

“Thanks to M-Sport and Patrick [Walsh], this was a real team effort.”

Cave surmised Edwards’s and his own season-long performances: “First and second in the British Championship – not bad for two Welsh boys.”

RESULTS Galloway Hills, British Rally Championship, round 6/6, September 14 POS CREW CAR TIME 1 Tom Cave/Dale Bowen Hyundai i20 R5 1h02m09.7s 2 Jonathan Greer/Dai Roberts Ford Fiesta R5 +54.9s 3 Matt Edwards/Patrick Walsh Ford Fiesta R5 +2m16.1s 4 James Wilson/Arthur Kierans Ford Fiesta R5 +3m39.4s 5 William Creighton/Liam Regan Peugeot 208 +6m16.3s 6 Marty Gallagher/Dean O’Sullivan Ford Fiesta R2T +6m22.1s 7 Alan Carmichael/Claire Williams Hyundai i20 R5 +7m48.9s 8 Richard Dickson/Roger Alcorn Subaru Impreza +8m03.2s 9 Finlay Retson/Richard Crozier Ford Fiesta R2T +8m58.8s 10 Enda McCormack/Colin Fitzgerald Hyundai i20 R5 +9m02.6s Class winners: BRC: Cave/Bowen; BRC Junior: Creighton/Regan; National Rally Cup: Carmichael/Williams

Edwards andWalsh finished third,more than two minutes off the top spot

First Junior win in two years for Creighton and Regan after final stage surge

Despite suffering a puncture Creighton still came through to take victory

If the ‘main’ event lacked the excitement and drama expected of a championship showdown, then the Junior BRC contenders added their own brand of sparkle with less than six seconds separating the top two at the close of play.

Northern Ireland’s William Creighton and Liam Regan scored their first Junior BRC win since the Ulster Rally two years ago after a fierce fight with Marty Gallagher and Dean O’Sullivan.

Creighton was fastest through the first stage in his Peugeot 208, but a puncture on the second test cost him the lead as he dropped nearly 50 seconds to his rivals.

Benefitting from his misfortune, Jordan Hone and Keaton Williams got off to a good start too and were having quite a scrap with James Williams and Tom Woodburn.

Hone took up the lead in his Opel Adam but after four stages he only had a 1.7second buffer over Williams’s Fiesta R2T. Disaster was just around the corner

though, as on the sixth test the Opel smacked a banking on the outside of a slippery right-hander and one stage later Williams was also heartbreakingly out of the running when a hub sheared.

That pitched Gallagher into the category lead but Creighton was on a charge and at the start of the final stage the Peugeot was barely threeseconds behind Gallagher’s Fiesta R2T. A blistering run through the 10-mile Black Loch test resulted in a time some seven seconds quicker for Creighton, allowing him to pip Gallagher by 5.8 seconds.

Out of the championship running, Finlay Retson and Richard Crozier were third in their Fiesta R2T, content to get a good finish under their belt after their Ypres and Ulster tumbles.

Meanwhile, Ruairi Bell and Darren Garrod were enduring their own nailbiting quest, much like Matt Edwards.

Prior to the event, they were tied on points with Williams for the M-Sport and Pirelli

Ford Fiesta R2 Trophy. When Williams struck trouble, all they had to do was finish.

With relief etched on his face, Bell pulled into the finish in fourth place knowing that he had clinched the M-Sport/Pirelli award worth €60,000 towards his venture into the Junior World Rally Championship next year.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “We set ourselves a target at the start of the year and we’ve achieved it. Now we’ve got Wales Rally GB next month.”

Creighton was delighted too, and not just with the £2,500 cheque from Peugeot UK and Total: “I missed out on the Junior title but at least Liam Regan got the co-drivers’ championship.

“I am just so happy to get the win after an eventful year. When we got the puncture, we thought ‘our luck hasn’t changed’. The fightback showed we could do it. This is for Liam and the rest of the team.”

GET IN TOUCH WILLIAM CREIGHTON T: +44 (0) 7841 867069 E: william@creightons.co.uk /WilliamCreightonRallying Wcreighton @WCreighton1