James Williams has taken the early lead in the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship after taking maximum points in his Orange Amplifiers Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the opening round of the series, the East Riding Stages.
He and co-driver Ross Whittock put in a masterclass performance over the slippery Yorkshire closed roads to finish third overall and top Protyre Asphalt crew in their Pirelli-shod car.
Regining Champion Callum Black put up an interesting fight to Williams but in the end he just couldn’t find an extra gear to close Williams as he claimed second in the event, 15 seconds behind the winner.
Multiple championship runner up Neil Roskell claimed a distant third in his Fiesta with multiple British Historic champion Jason Pritchard getting to grip in his new Toyota Yaris had to settle for fourth and Sam Touzel rounding up the top five positions.
Phillip Rogers was the highest placed 2WD car, finishing 14th overall in his MK2 Escort with Adrian Spencer taking the national class in his Subaru Impreza.
Next up on the calendar is the Manx National Rally on 11/12 April. Organised by Manx Auto Sport, the event will be based at the TT Grandstand in Douglas and will feature some of the very best and classic Isle of Man closed road stages.
