Seventeen registered Ford Fiesta ST crews took to the start of the Swansea Bay Clubmans' Rally last weekend on the fourth round of the Global Brands supported VK Ford Fiesta SportingTrophy UK. The rally based around the new look Swansea SA1 Waterfront complex took in 44 competitive stage miles in the classic Wales Rally GB stages in the South Wales valleys. At the end of a very compact event with just four stages to test the crews, the winner was current FST championship leader, Elfyn Evans (19) from Machynelleth and his co-driver Gareth Roberts.
This was an event that will be remembered by FST series regulars as the event where the winner changed between the end of the final stage and the prize giving - as intervention by the event organisers in deciding the allocated times for a disrupted stage changed the composition of the top three.
Competitors setting off from the SA1 Waterfront start venue early on Saturday morning faced cool but dry conditions as the overnight rain cleared. These conditions particularly suited the Pirelli K6 compound tyre, developed by series partners Pirelli to provide consistent performance and superb levels of grip in these rapidly changing road conditions. As this event is unique in offering just four long stages for the competitors, it was imperative that crews where quick 'out of the blocks'.
SS1, the 6.6 miles of the Walters stage saw Appleby driver, Kris Hall (18) and his new co-driver, the experienced Shaun O'Gorman, stop the clock with the fastest time - just 0.9s faster than Severn Valley runner up, Max Utting (22) and his local co-driver Huw Mathias. One second slower than Utting was Elfyn Evans - making a strong start to defend his championship lead. In trouble on the first stage was Kyle Orr (19) from Dromore, Northern Ireland, who slid wide on a corner and bent the rear suspension on the car, damaging the radiator system in the same incident which in turn caused the car to overheat.
Crews then had the chance to service at the renowned Walters Arena venue, which allowed the hard working support crews the rare opportunity to watch their drivers compete. For Kyle Orr's support team it was a particularly tough test as they fought to repair the car and get Orr back out on the stages, gaining just 40s of time penalties in the process.
SS2 was the 8.4 miles of the Rhondda stage. Fastest on the stage was once again Kris Hall with Elfyn Evans again second fastest - just two seconds slower. Third fastest on the stage, making a cautious start by his own high standards, was Alastair Fisher (19) from Trillick, Northern Ireland and his co-driver Paul Morris. Fisher was keen to make certain of finishing the event after retiring from the third round of the series, the Severn Valley stages after becoming stuck in a ditch. In trouble was FST UK series newcomer, Stephen Wright (18) from Co. Monaghan, Northern Ireland. Stephen is a series regular in the FST Ireland series but this was his first event in the UK gravel series and his promising start was brought to a halt with driveshaft failure.
SS3, Resolven at 15.3 miles, the longest stage of the rally was to see a dramatic change in the leaderboard of the event. Fastest on the stage, an impressive 12s faster than the next FST driver was again Kris Hall. Second fastest was Elfyn Evans' team-mate - the rapidly improving Meilyr Evans (18) from Machynelleth and his co-driver, Andrew Edwards.
However, a problem was identified with the layout of the special stage and with only six FST crews having completed the stage, the organisers took the decision to cancel the stage. In trouble was Elfyn Evans who was caught out by a deceptive corner and rolled - heavily damaging both the front and rear of the car but fortunately landing on the wheels - pointing in the right direction and with very little mechanical damage. Elfyn quickly regained his composure and finished the stage losing just under 30s to the leader, Hall.
Crews could once again benefit from the attention of the hard-working technicians with a second chance to service at the Walters Arena venue. Here it was the team of Elfyn Evans that had to pull out all the stops to repair the car on time. With former British Rally Champion and team principal, Gwyndaf Evans assisting the mechanics - Elfyn's car was checked, repaired and able to leave service with no time lost.
The final stage of the day for the competitors in the Clubmans' rally was the 13.2 miles of SS4, Margam. To prove that the previous stage accident had not dampened his spirits, Elfyn Evans stopped the clocks with the fastest time - a fantastic achievement. Second fastest, just half a second slower than Evans was Alastair Fisher. Third fastest on the final test was Tom Walster (21) from Nottingham and his new co-driver for this event, Welshman Andy Morgan, with the final stage effort from Fisher being enough to take him past Walster in the overall classification. Happy with his day's dominant performance, Kris Hall was content to finish the last stage equal fourth fastest with Meilyr Evans - 8s slower than Elfyn Evans.
When crews arrived back at the finish in Swansea, the result of the event was in question as stewards met to discuss the allocation of times for the interrupted third stage. After deliberation, the organisers agreed to scrub all times for the stage, which, in turn, meant that Elfyn Evans and Gareth Roberts would win by virtue of their faster time on the final stage.
The revised times relegated Kris Hall and Shaun O'Gorman to a disappointed second but they where happy to have demonstrated a confident and mature performance that resulted in them winning the Castrol Hard Charger Award for their efforts.
Third in the overall results were Alastair Fisher and Paul Morris, happy to have had a trouble-free event after three non-finishes in recent weeks.
Fourth, losing out on a podium position on the final stage was Tom Walster and Andy Morgan; Walster missed the first two rounds of the FST UK series but quickly again confirmed himself as a championship front runner.
Fifth of the FST runners was Meilyr Evans and Andrew Roberts, doing just enough on the final stage to hold off Max Utting and Huw Mathias into sixth. Utting was happy to jump to second in the overall championship standings with just two rounds to go. James Everard (20) from Hull and co-driver Sam Collis survived a last minute scare, sustaining suspension damage after the finish of the last stage but surviving to finish seventh, although slipping one place in the overall championship standings to third. Eight was the rapidly improving John Lloyd from Penrith and his experienced co-driver Steve Egglestone.
Winner of the MIS Insurance Most Improved Driver of the Day was Luke Francis (18) from Denbigh and his new co-driver for the event - Jon Madoc-Jones.
Winner Elfyn Evans (18) from Machynelleth said:
"The first two stages were fine but on the third stage we were too quick into a corner and we rolled. We didn't lose too much time on the stage; we got to service, fixed the bodywork, and then had a good run on the last stage and assumed we had finished second. We were very surprised to hear that the organisers had cancelled the third stage. It was a lucky win for us but a good result for the team nonetheless."
Final results
1 Elfyn Evans / Gareth Roberts 31:51.4 30 £750
2 Kris Hall / Shaun O'Gorman 31:55.5 25 £600
3 Alastair Fisher / Paul Morris 32:04.2 22 £450
4 Tom Walster / Andy Morgan 32:07.6 20 £375
5 Meilyr Evans / Andrew Edwards 32:11.7 18 £300
6 Max Utting / Huw Mathias 32:20.0 16 £225
7 James Everard / Sam Collis 32:29.9 14 £150
8 John Lloyd / Steve Egglestone 32:52.7 13 £75
Overall standings table after round 4 of 6
Position Driver Points
1 Elfyn Evans / Gareth Roberts 98
2 Max Utting / Huw Mathias 72
3 James Everard / Sam Collis 71
4 Meilyr Evans / Andrew Edwards 64
5 Liam Regan / Francis Regan 56
6 Kris Hall / Shaun O'Gorman 53
7 Alastair Fisher / Paul Morris 52
8 Stevie Brown / Ian Morrison 50
9 John Lloyd / Steve Egglestone 46
10 Tom Walster / Andy Morgan 42
11 Richard Archer / Nick Starkey 41
12 Kyle Orr / Tony McDaid 40
13 Alick Kerr / Drew Sturrock 39
14 Barry Greer / Anthony O'Connail 31
15 Luke Francis / Jon Madoc-Jones 27
16 Nick Edwards / Mark Ammonds 11
17 Philip Liddle / Alex Procter 10
18 Clive Hilton / Dylan Jenkins 9
19 Richard Parry-Jones / Sara Price 9
20 Andrew Wheatley / Glenn Patterson -
21 Dez Rowland / Martin Abbott -
22 Stephen Wright / Paul McGee -
For further information on the Fiesta SportingTrophy UK, please contact UK series co-ordinator Richard Millener on 01900 828 888 or rmillener@m-sport.co.uk
www.fiestasportingtrophy.co.uk
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