2010
Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy UK
(FST UK) Championship leader Elfyn Evans got one step closer to claiming his
third FST title last weekend, on the Isle of Man International Rally. Evans took his fifth consecutive win of the
season around the treacherous island lanes, which also marked the debut victory
for the Fiesta R2 in the FST UK championship.
With two rounds still remaining Evans only needs to score two points to
put the championship crown out of reach of nearest challenger John
Boyd.
With thick
fog and damp roads greeting the crews as they arrived at the famous TT
Grandstand for the start of the event tyre choice would prove critical over the
drying roads with each of the three FST UK crews opting for a different tyre
choice. The event started with a three quarter of a mile sprint starting from
the Grandstand. Evans, 21 from
Machynlleth and co-driver Andrew Edwards took little time adapting to their new
Fiesta R2 setting the fastest time on stage one. 0.8 seconds behind Evans was John MacCrone
21, from the Isle of Mull. MacCrone and
co-driver Stuart Louden were making their debut on the Isle of Man but after an
impressive outing on the Jim Clark, the pair were confident they could challenge
Evans for the win. With regular
co-driver Andy Richardson only just been released from hospital following their
crash on the previous round, 18 year old Peter Taylor from Carlisle had Paul
Hughes calling the notes on the Isle of Man.
Taylor's service crew had had a race against time to rebuild the car due
to the substantial damage sustained in the crash, their efforts were rewarded
however with the Muc-Off Motorsport Cleaning - best presented car award.
With
SS2, Dog Mills, cancelled, Evans increased his advantage over MacCrone on SS3,
Druidale. Evans completed the five mile
stage six seconds quicker than his Scottish rival to hold a slender seven-second
lead at first service with Peter Taylor third.
At first service Evans was happy with the new car but still felt there
was more to come as he fine-tuned the cars set up to suit his style of
driving. MacCrone had enjoyed the
opening loop of stages but was left to rue an over cautious tyre choice. Taylor was happy with his performance over
the opening loop of stages, opting for a cautious approach on the event rather
pushing too hard.
The
changes made to the set up of his Fiesta R2 obviously had the desired effect as
Evans further increased his lead over SS4 and SS5, Slieau Whallian 1 and Corlea
1. Evans posted a time of six minutes 26
seconds on SS4, eight seconds quicker than MacCrone before going on to post a
time 15 seconds ahead of the Scotsman on SS5.
Taylor continued his steady start to the event and rebuild his confidence
in the Fiesta R2. SS6 was also cancelled
due to a crash at the head of the main field, giving all the remaining crews the
stage bogey time.
At the
half way point of day one, Evans led MacCrone by 33 seconds with Taylor a
further minute behind. At second service
Evans reported to be happy with the balance of the Fiesta R2 although felt there
was still more time to come as he got to know the car better. MacCrone was happier with his tyre choice for
the second loop of stages and was starting to get the hang of the demanding Manx
stages which are not dissimilar to his local Tour of Mull event. Taylor was more than happy with freshly
rebuilt R2, reporting the car to be better than ever and felt he was driving
well within himself.
On SS7
and SS8, Staarvey and The Cronk 1, MacCrone and Stuart Loudon started to show
the pace they had had on previous round.
MacCrone was just eight tenths of a second behind Evans on stage seven
and just under two seconds behind on stage eight. Evans was still unbeaten at the head of the
field despite co-driver Andrew Edwards' advice not to push too hard and risk
going off. Evans further increased his
advantage on SS9, Tholt-y-Will to head into the final loop of stages with an
already comfortable lead of 45 seconds over MacCrone.
The
final loop of stages of day one included two runs through the town centre of
Castletown. Evans was once again fastest
on all four stages despite MacCrone's best efforts the young Scotsman could do
nothing to match the pace of Evans and his new Fiesta R2. As well as his battle with MacCrone in the
FST UK event, Evans was also locked in a tight battle at the head of the R2
class field. The top five in 'class' R2
had been trading places all day with little more than 30 seconds covering them
at the end of the day, with Evans third, just a second and a half behind Matti
Rantanen in second. MacCrone was pleased
with his efforts at the end of day one, despite suffering from a cold. Taylor was also pleased to make it to the end
of the day despite missing the centre section from the front bumper of his
Fiesta R2 after pushing a bit harder than intended over one of the island's many
crests.
The
start of day two was every bit as bleak as day one as the crews arrived at the
TT Grandstand to re-start the event.
However early reports were that the morning's stages were graced with
bright sunshine so, despite the low cloud and wet roads at service, all the
crews headed out for the first loop of stages with slicks fitted. Evans quickly re-asserted himself at the head
of the field posting the fastest time on each of the opening three stages. MacCrone, still suffering with a cold, posted
the second fastest time on stages 14 and 15, The Cronk 2 and Glascoe. MacCrone would become unstuck on stage 16,
Tholt-y-Will 2, however suffering two punctures and dropping one minute to
leader Evans.
With a
now sizeable advantage over MacCrone, Evans could afford to relax and cruise to
the end of the event. Evans however was
still in a close battle for overall honours in R2 and was keen to avoid getting
sucked into a battle with the other R2 cars and jeopardise his chances of the
FST UK victory. MacCrone was happy with
pace he had shown in the opening two stages despite losing out on stage 16 with
a puncture. Despite the dry conditions,
Taylor had struggled with the fog on the higher parts of the stages and felt he
could have pushed harder than he had done.
Evans
further extended his lead on SS17, Slieau Whallian 2, to over one minute ten
seconds. MacCrone broke his Isle of Man
duck on SS18, Corlea 2, beating Evans by just under ten seconds to end the
Welshman's run of stage victories on the event.
Evans felt he had been too cautious over the stage allowing MacCrone to
claw back a few seconds. MacCrone
however un-did his good work on the following stage, having missed a roadside
kerb in his notes, MacCrone clipped it sending the car up on two wheels before
landing on the driver's side. He lost
less than a minute in the accident, spectators, including one of his own
sponsors, were quickly on hand to get the car back on its wheels and away again
with only cosmetic damage.
With
just two stages remaining Evans held a lead of over three minutes from MacCrone,
with Taylor holding third a further four minutes behind MacCrone. The final two stages included a second run
over Staarvey and also Baldwin Classic, which finished infront of the TT
Grandstand providing the spectators a chance to get close to the action without
having to venture out to the stages.
Evans won the final two stages, taking his tally for the event to 20
stage wins from a possible 21, netting him his fourth Castrol Hard Charger Award
of the year. Evans won the final stage
by over a minute from MacCrone who chose to take a measured drive to the finish
to avoid a repeat over his earlier off.
Taylor finished the event a comfortable third and achieved his aim of
finishing the rally without any problems.
Each of
the three crews took home a share of the £1850 Kick Energy supported prize fund
while Peter Taylor scooped the Muc-Off Motorsport Cleaning Best Presented Car
Award and Elfyn Evans won the Castrol Hard Charger Award for most stage wins on
the event.
Rally
Isle of Man Final Standings FST UK:
|
Pos |
Driver/Co-Driver |
Time |
Behind First |
|
1 |
E Evans/
A Edwards |
2:30:03.9 |
- |
|
2 |
J
MacCrone/S Loudon |
2:34:50.9 |
4:47.9 |
|
3 |
P
Taylor/P Hughes |
2:44:09.2 |
14:05.3 |
Kick
Energy FST UK Championship Standings after Round 5:
|
Pos |
Driver/Co-Driver |
Points |
|
1 |
E Evans/A
Edwards |
100 |
|
2 |
J
Boyd/C Wallace |
51 |
|
3= |
J
MacCrone/S Loudon |
50 |
|
3= |
P
Taylor/P Hughes |
48 |
|
4 |
M
Cathcart/S Hudspeth |
18 |
|
5 |
T
Watson/P Morris |
16 |
For more
information on the Fiesta SportTrophy UK Championship please contact
series co-ordinator Callum Craw on ccraw@m-sport.co.uk or visit www.fiestasporttrophy.co.uk
