Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear topped the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship on round three of the championship, the Nicky Grist Stages on Saturday, July 12.
The Nicky Grist Stages, which ran on classic special stages in the Epynt region of mid Wales from a base at Builth Wells, was the mid-point of this year’s Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship as it marked round three of six. The event ran in scorching weather which put a premium on car reliability and tyre choice.
Hirst and Dear (Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5) were in stunning form right from the start and took a commanding victory with a performance that took them very close to the pair of Toyota Yaris Rally2s of William Creighton and Meirion Evans, who used the event as a shakedown for the next round of the British Rally Championship.
Sadly out of luck were Liam Clark and Emily Easton-Page (Ford Fiesta Rally2) who stopped with a water-related engine problem in the first stage of the afternoon loop.
However, the Mitsubishi Lancer E9 of Russ Thompson/Stephen Link (GPM/PD Extinguishers) hit fuel pump drama even before the first stage of the rally.
Into a fine second in the PWRC ranks came James Giddings/Aled Davies (Fordpad/Tandom/MetDem) in their Lancer E9 but only after a major drama in the final stage of the morning loop when an overhanging branch smashed their screen. They managed to effect a repair and completed the event eighth overall and second in the PWRC points.
Nik Elsmore and Ifan Devine in their CDS Taxis/Calico Interiors Lancer Evo 9 had a strong run to be next PWRC contenders in the class ahead of the Subaru Impreza of Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Utting Estates/Geoff Jones (Wales) Motorsport) and the Lancer E9 of Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Artificial Lawn Company).
