Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Clerk of the Course: Kevin Hutchings
Stages: 10 (54 Stage Miles)
Venue: Sweet Lamb & Hafren
Starters: 51
Winners: Jari-Matti Latvala/Carl Williamson (Toyota Corolla WRC)
Jari-Matti Latvala/Carl Williamson were in a class of their own on the Telford Auto Club Winter Stages, they came home three minutes clear of the field after 54 stage miles in Sweet Lamb and Hafren.
The young Finn was gaining further experience of WRC cars and, with his BRC Focus still not finished, a Corolla WRC was hired for the rally. He set fastest time on all but one of the event’s ten stages; two half spins being the only blots on his copy book.
The drive of the day however came once again from Dorian Rees. Partnered by Patrick Walsh, and using a Promax Lancer Evo, he started slowly. Lying in sixth after two stages, he built up his speed through the day as he became more accustomed to the car. He pulled his way through to second place at the Finish, even sharing the fastest time on the last stage with Latvala.
Late entrants Nigel Griffiths/Andrew Owens finished in third place and once again took the Group N award. Don Whitehurst/Terry Atherton started well, leading the fight for second place and taking the fastest stage time on SS3, however an electrical problem, which caused a severe misfire on the last three stages, saw the pairing fall back to fourth at the Finish.
Graham Middleton/John Morgan led the challenge to Latvala initially, but engine problems put them out on SS3. Andrew Kenny/Gary Kenny put their Lancer Evo7 into a ditch on the same test.
Ieaun Rowlands, partnered for the first time by Andrew Davies, put in another impressive performance, taking his 1600cc Escort into sixth place overall and a class win. Tim Jones/Don James won the up to two litre class in their Escort and this result puts them at the head of the Miller Oils Welsh Clubmans Championship after two rounds.
Three crews failed to make it to the end of SS1. These were Paul Jones/Steve Smallbone, who suffered a broken wishbone on their Peugeot 206 XSi. Electrical problems halted the Talbot Samba of Barry Hamblin/Rob Barton, while Paul Price/Vicki Price rolled their Peugeot 106 GTi out of the event.
Colin Minton/Robin Formstone only got a short distance into SS2 when a drive shaft broke on their Impreza. Stuart Jones/Richard Edwards (Peugeot 206 XSi) were in seventh place overall after SS5 and battling for the Class 2 lead, when they put the car off the road on SS6 in Hafren.
A seventh place finish looked to be on the cards for David Short/Richard Crossman (Ford Sierra Sapphire), however they were excluded for traversing a stage in the wrong direction.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Carl Williamson | Toyota Corolla WRC | 1h 01m 14s | |
2 | Dorian Rees | Patrick Walsh | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo | 1h 03m 14s | |
3 | Nigel Griffiths | Andrew Owens | Subaru Impreza | 1h 03m 34s | |
4 | Don Whitehurst | Terry Atherton | Subaru Impreza | 1h 03m 46s | |
5 | Roland Llewellin | Eurig Evans | Mitsubishi Lancer E6 | 1h 05m 21s | |
6 | Ieuan Rowlands | Andrew Davies | Ford Escort | 1h 07m 55s | |
7 | Chris Moore | Simon Coates | Peugeot 206 XSi | 1h 08m 51s | |
8 | Martin Kenny | Dave Stocking | Ford Escort | 1h 10m 28s | |
9 | Tim Jones | Don James | Ford Escort | 1h 11m 05s | |
10 | Kevin Shepherd | Nigel Jones | Talbot Sunbeam | 1h 11m 09s | |
11 | John Rowlands | Darren Garrod | Ford Escort RS | 1h 11m 20s | |
12 | Graham Davies | Gary Powell | Talbot Sunbeam | 1h 11m 50s | |
13 | Lynsey Hansford | Graham Roberts | Ford Escort | 1h 11m 55s | |
14 | Arthur Orme | David Heap | Subaru Impreza | 1h 12m 51s | |
15 | Paul Pritchard | Vernon Brown | Ford Sierra 4x4 | 1h 12m 56s | |
16 | Duncan Goldsmith | Bryan Hull | Ford Escort | 1h 13m 59s | |
17 | Alan Desbois | Denise Desbois | Peugeot 306 RWD | 1h 14m 04s | |
18 | Chris Gittins | Stuart Humphreys | Ford Escort | 1h 14m 04s | |
19 | Simon Millington | Ian Capewell | Ford Escort | 1h 14m 04s | |
20 | Chris Metcalfe | Peter Swan | Ford Escort | 1h 15m 19s | |
21 | Scott Bennett | James Bennett | Mitsubishi Lancer E6 | 1h 15m 37s | |
22 | Paul Tod | Iestyn ap Dafydd | Peugeot 205 | 1h 17m 33s | |
23 | Nik Blackhurst | Richard Brunning | Peugeot 205 | 1h 17m 45s | |
24 | Islyn Griffiths | Glen Statham | Vauxhall Nova | 1h 18m 57s | |
25 | Alan Walker | Peter White | Ford Escort | 1h 20m 16s | |
26 | Andrew Grant | Tom Ward | Mitsubishi Lancer E6 | 1h 20m 34s | |
27 | Phil Stocking | Derek Tracey | BL Mini | 1h 21m 35s | |
28 | Pete Hamer | Niki Griffiths | Talbot Sunbeam | 1h 23m 45s | |
29 | Tristram Pearce | Dave Cox | Peugeot 205 GTi | 1h 25m 41s | |
30 | Arwel Parry | Peter James | Citroen Saxo | 1h 26m 44s | |
31 | Roger Fletcher | Amy Burton | Vauxhall Nova | 1h 26m 50s | |
32 | James Graham | Ian Graham | Saab 96 | 1h 36m 29s |