Sam Touzel has taken the lead of the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship after scoring maximum points on the R Kings Down Rally (Saturday 19 July).
Driving a brand-new M-Sport-built Smart Scaffolding/Trade Centre UK-supported Ford Fiesta Rally2, the Jersey driver led the BTRDA series category from start to finish – and set the fastest overall time on SS7 as he came home third overall.
After a fast and faultless performance, he and co-driver Max Freeman finished the event 8.1 seconds ahead of their nearest Protyre Asphalt rival. Having also scored maximum points on the previous Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally, Sam leads the drivers’ standings by four points, even after dropping his lowest score.
Mark Kelly celebrated his birthday by taking home second-place Protyre Asphalt points after a precise and controlled drive in his Kelmore Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Neil Roskell had been in a close three-way battle for maximum points for half of the event in his ND Civils/Burdens/Witham Motorsport Fiesta Rally2, but lost time when a toe link bolt on the rear suspension snapped on SS5 and, with the car intent on going sideways, he had to back off.
Co-driven by Rob Fagg, the car then cut out on the eighth and final stage after a big jump, leaving the Blackpool driver well behind (41.6 seconds) and well in front (44.8 seconds) of his nearest championship rivals.
Elsewhere Lee Edwards won a thrilling 2WD battle in his 3-litre Escort G3. Lee and co-driver Sam Spencer led the 2WD section by 3.1 seconds at the end of SS6 and having been super brave in the early fog they pushed extra hard on the final two stages to win the 2WD class by 20.6 seconds. That also gave the Oswestry ace a top 10 overall result and fifth-place Protyre Asphalt overall driver points.
