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Hatsford Targa Road Rally

Ross & District Motor Sports Club

4th August 2024


Hatsford Targa Road Rally 2024
Winners: Trevor Disney/Aaron Toms (Ford Fiesta ST150)
Photograph: © M&H Photography

Organiser: Ross & District Motor Sports Club

Date: 4th August 2024

Clerk of the Course: James Griffiths

Route: 6 Tests (32 Test Miles)

Starters: 59


The annual Hatsford Targa Rally received an oversubscribed entry; the 60 starting places were filled within ten minutes of the entry being opened. One late withdrawal meant that 59 cars took the start.

The competitors faced 32 miles of tests, all confined within nine fields of the Hatsford Farm. There were four 'shorter' tests, four miles long, in the morning, and two eight mile tests in the afternoon. The latter two used two circuits of the fields, with a split at the farmyard.

The fields were in good conditions; damp with dew for the first test, they had become dusty by the end of the day.

Lewis Ayris/Kim Bannister (MG ZR), who had lost out on a win in 2023 due to a mechanical failure, took fastest time on the first test, seven seconds quicker than Ethan Davies/Aled Jones (MG ZR). Will Jefferis/Toby Sweetland (Nissan Micra) were third, one second ahead of top seeds and 2023 winners, Trevor Disney/Aaron Toms (Ford Fiesta ST150).

The first casualties of the day were Thomas Baron/Owen Thomas Haymonds, whose Peugeot 106 broke a driveshaft halfway through the test.

With the dew gone and clear tracks to follow, the times for the second test were generally a minute faster for most crews. Ayris/Bannister were penalised 10 seconds for a cone fault, this still left them fastest, equal with Paul Bevan/Adrian Gwynne (Peugeot 106). This put the MG ZR crew 12 seconds ahead of Davies/Jones. In turn, Bevan/Gwynne moved up from tenth to fifth, taking the lead of the Club Rally.

Disney/Toms had recorded the quickest time, but were penalised for two cone faults; this left them in fourth, now three seconds behind Jefferis/Sweetland.

Fifth after Test 1, Shane Parry/Louise Wren, hit a ditch and broke a wheel leaving them stranded. They were recovered and, having missed two tests, rejoined the fight on Test 4.

Slight modifications were made for the next two tests. Ayris/Bannister were fastest over Test 3, extending their lead to 34 seconds. Disney/Toms were second quickest and moved up to second place. Davies/Jones went off during the test, and also gained a cone fault, this dropped them to fourth place, behind Jefferis/Sweetland.

Test 4 was to have a dramatic affect on the battle for the win; midway through the leaders, Ayris/Bannister stopped, their MG ZR having suffered a broken drive shaft. They were towed out after the remaining crew had completed the test. This gave them a test maximum and they fell to 30th position. They replaced the failed unit during the lunch break and completed the two afternoon tests. During these they maintained their earlier pace and recovered to 12th place at the Finish.

On time penalties Disney/Toms should have taken the lead, however they had picked no fewer than four cone faults during the test, this put them nine seconds behind Davies/Jones, who assumed the lead at the mid-event break. At this point Bevan/Gwynne held a lead of exactly one minute over Jeff Sharp/Sam Kelter (Peugeot 205) in the Club Rally.

The MG ZR of Matt Endean/Dave Leadbetter suffered a catastrophic engine failure on Test 4; some lubricant was sprayed on to the exhaust, causing a small fire that was quickly dealt with by marshals. At the same point, a puncture slowed Ollie Jackson/Harriet Bevan (Peugeot 206), costing them over three minutes.

The final two tests of the day made up half of the competitive motoring, taking in two laps of the earlier tests, although generally in the opposite direction.

Before the test Jefferis/Sweetland had been in third place on the leader board, while Bevan/Gwynne had been in fourth and leading the Club Rally. Both hit problems on Test 5. The Micra of Jefferis/Sweetland started to overheat and they had to stop on the second lap to allow it to cool sufficiently for them to continue. This cost them over five minutes and they fell to 27th. Meanwhile, Bevan/Gwynne suffered a puncture almost at the start of the test; they had to stop and change it, losing four minutes and over 20 places.

Making sure that they hit no more cones, Disney/Toms took fastest time by 30 seconds on the test, this put them into the lead, 21 seconds ahead of Davies/Jones. With the demise of their nearest rivals, Woolley/Wooley were now in third place.

In the Club Rally, Alan Morgan/Carol Morgan (Suzuki Swift) had overtaken Sharp/Kelter, who had been given a 30 seconds penalty for taking the wrong route through a series of cones.

Up to this point the story of the event had been the leader hitting problems, but on the final test Disney/Toms sailed through without any problems, taking fastest time and securing their second Hatsford Targa victory in succession.

It was the chasers who had problems on the test. Evans/Jones suffered a puncture, on which they ran for most of the final loop. However, they survived to take the runner up spot as Woolley/Woolley had the exhaust come loose on their BMW, as a result they fell behind Robert Milligan/David Middleditch (Austin Mini), who took the final podium placing.

In the Club Rally Sharp/Kelter managed to pass Morgan/Morgan to secure the event win; the two crews were separated by three seconds at the end.


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