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Classic Lanes Rally 1999

Sponsored by Owens of Oswestry

Welsh Border Car Club

11th/12th September 1999



Clerk of the Course: Nigel Roberts

Route: 110 Miles

Maps: 117 125 & 126

Starters: 52

Winners: Paul Holmberg/Dave Pitchford (Ford Escort)




Paul Holmberg/Dave Pitchford virtually assured themselves of the West Midlands Road Rally Championship by taking victory on Welsh Border CC's Classic Lanes Rally. The result left the pairing requiring just a single top three finish in one of the remaining four rounds to secure the title.

The Classic Lanes used a 110 mile route in the border lanes to the west of Oswestry. A large number of farm and forestry tracks were used, a few of these were far from smooth, this probably contributed to the fact that only half of the 52 starters made it back to the Finish.

Top seeds Paul Hughes/Owen Dodd were in trouble after only three miles, ripping a front strut out of their Astra on a rock hidden in a grassy triangle - they were the first retirement of the night. They were quickly followed by leading North Western Championship contenders Tudor Morris/Gerallt Davies, who went off the road and out of the event after a rear brake failure. Kev Parry/Gareth Price also withdrew after ripping a brake pipe off their Corolla, while Paul Edwards/Huw Lewis managed to roll their Escort out of the rally.

At the halfway halt it appeared that Andy Sheppard/Mike Hart were in a comfortable lead, having dropped just 10 seconds. Unfortunately it emerged that they had booked into a control a minute early and picked up a fail. They continued but after a slight off decided to call it a night.

This left Adrian Higman/Cyril Jones leading in their Maestro, the duo however lost the chance of their first win after picking up a puncture in the second half - they came in second, 40 seconds behind Holmberg/Pitchford. Michael Pedley/David Pedley were third four minutes further back, with Richard Roe/Chris Ware fourth.

Mike Monaghan/Daniel Stone were fifth, putting Monaghan in a strong position in the North Western Championship. Their main challengers Kevin Ikin/Rob Jones came in ninth after a problematic night which included picking up two punctures on the same section. However the overall win gave Holmberg an outside chance of denying both of them and retaining the title he'd won for the previous four years.

Martin Bardley/Gordon Bradley (Ford Escort) only managed to finish in 18th place after suffering two punctures.

The Semi-Expert Class was won by Peugeot 205 of Richard Suff/Craig Parry who were seventh overall, just one place in front of their nearest class rivals, Glyn Price/Huw Jones. Top novices were Ian Furniss/Russell Roberts who were nineteenth overall in their Peugeot 205.



OVERALL RESULTS

Pos Driver Navigator Car Penalty
1 Paul Holmberg Dave Pitchford Ford Escort 7m 33s
2 Adrian Higman Cyril Jones MG Maestro 8m 11s
3 Michael Pedley David Pedley Ford Escort G4 12m 09s
4 Richard Roe Chris Ware Talbot Sunbeam 13m 59s
5 Mick Monaghan Daniel Stone Ford Escort 16m 37s
6 Paul Webb Justin Brooks Vauxhall Astra GTE 19m 42s
7 Richard Suff Craig Parry Peugeot 205 20m 33s
8 Glyn Price Huw Jones Ford Escort 22m 01s
9 Kev Ikin Rob Jones Ford Escort 22m 18s
10 Keith Parry Carl Williamson Opel Manta 25m 54s
11 James Kendrick Roger Evans Toyota Corolla 28m 27s
12 Nick Broadway Andy Oakes Ford Sierra 29m 13s
13 Polly Duncan Pinnegar Peugeot 205 30m 38s
14 Wayne Morris Ben Innes Ford Escort 31m 16s
15 Baz Green Paul Edwards Peugeot 205 36m 36s
16 Derwyn Evans John Furniss Vauxhall Astra 1F 21m 35s
17 Rupert Lomax David Alcock Ford Sierra 1F 32m 25s
18 Martin Bardley Gordon Bradley Ford Escort 1F 47m 20s
19 Ian Furniss Russell Roberts Peugeot 205 2F 45m 17s
20 Neil Arden Giles Corbett Ford Ecort 3F 16m 09s
21 Brandon Smith Steve Herbert Peugeot 309 3F 49m 56s
22 Paul Edwards Martin Booth Vauxhall Astra GTE 4F 35m 04s
23 Tony Watkin Medwyn Evans Vauxhall Nova 5F 52m 11s
24 Martin Perris Dean Davies Ford Fiesta XR2 9F 28m 06s
25 Lee Williams Scott Rastall Peugeot 205 11F 23m 04s
26 Dave Hughes Graham Caley Talbot Sunbeam 12F 53m 09s
27 Justin Sharples Brian Stubbs Toyota Corolla 13F 39m 34s