Matthew Hirst won the Get Jerky Rally North Wales (Saturday 16 March) for a fourth time in a row, when he dominated the opening round of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship in his Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5.
Co-driven by Declan Dear, the Doncaster ace set the fastest time through the morning’s loop of four stages through Gartheiniog, Dyfi, Dyfnant West and Dyfnant East forests to reach mid-day service 1min 34sec ahead of his nearest rival.
He continued to push hard in the afternoon, and whilst heavy rain meant that he was slower over the repeat run of stages, the reigning champion was still considerably faster than everyone else – increasing his advantage to a magnificent 3min 05sec winning margin.
It was their biggest win on the event, setting the defending champions on course for what they hope will be a record-breaking fourth Pirelli Welsh title.
James Giddings was Matthew’s nearest rival for much of the event. Co-driven by Aled Davies, the Carmarthen driver set a very impressive time on his first ever visit to Dyfi forest, but he was less keen on the place in the afternoon after a high-speed, flat-out, fifth gear spin!
James’ Fordpad/Enva/Sar Metals Mitsubishi Evo 9 stopped facing the way he’d come, and over 20 seconds were lost turning around – which turned out to be the difference between finishing third and not second.
That spin was to benefit former Welsh Junior frontrunner Dan O’Brien, who was making a return to the Pirelli Welsh Championship in his O’Brien Group Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
He and co-driver Mark Glennerster were enjoying a very close podium battle, with only a handful of seconds between him and James during the day – although they were eventually able to take second by 19secs.
Peter Baylis had worked hard over the winter to fix the overheating problems that had dogged him in 2023 – and was going well, despite whacking the rear end of his Artificial Lawn Company-backed Mitsubishi Evo 9 on SS4. Fortunately, mid-day service at the Welshpool Livestock Market followed and he and co-driver Paul Godden had a very good afternoon to start the season with fifth-placed Pirelli Welsh points.
One of the drivers of the day came from Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver. Despite not being able to get enough brake bias to the rear of the car, and with the front wheels locking up approaching tight corners, they finished a magnificent fourth in the overall Pirelli Welsh Championship standings and won the highly competitive Historic W9 class in their Woolacombe Bay Holiday Parks Escort RS18000 Mk2.
Eddie Lewis, one of the leading challengers for the OnThePaceNote / Restruct Welsh Junior drivers’ title, and co-driver Sion Cunniff retired their Mechanical Solutions Escort Mk2 on the opening stage.
Class W5 champions Julian Birley/Emyr Hall got their title defence off to a great start with victory in their Talbot Sunbeam.
2024 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Overall drivers’ points after Round 1:
1. Matthew Hirst….30pts
2. Dan O’Brien….27pts
3. James Giddings….25pts
4. Rudi Lancaster….24pts
5. Peter Baylis….23pts
