Rally Archive
Moonbeam Road Rally
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Telford Auto Club
15th/16th February 2025
Winners: Gareth Jones/Ryan Griffiths (Ford Escort)
Photograph: © Joseph John Gilbertson
Organiser: Telford Auto Club
Date: 15th/16th February 2025
Clerk of the Course: Darren Ikin
Route: 100 Miles (Maps 126 & 137)
Base: Shrewsbury
Starters: 62
The 2025 Moonbeam Rally started and finished at the Shrewsbury Auction Mart. In between competitors faced a 100 mile route, in the slimy, slippery and foggy Shropshire lanes.
There were 62 starters; an expired insurance causing the one withdrawal from the original published entry list.
After a 22 minute run out that took the route to the south-west of Shrewsbury, crews faced a tough opening section. This started with a run along the white from Cruckmeole to Newnham Farm, which included a tour of the farmyard. It was to be a critical sector as 32 cars missed to spot the first route check of the night, which was located in the yard. These included Tim Hodgson/Andrew Lowe (Ford Escort RS2000) and top seeds George Williams/Nick Bloxham (Ford Escort). The error became immaterial for the latter pair as their Escort's dry sump pump belt failed shortly afterwards and they were out.
There was a time control just after Newnham Farm and Joe Jones/Jamie Mills (BMW 318Ti) were quickest here, but they were one of the crews that had missed RC1 and, to complete a miserable night, they didn't get much further before a water hose burst and their car's engine lost all its coolant. They were added to the retirement list.
One second behind the BMW, and therefore the leaders, were Gareth Price/Sam Spencer (BMW 318Ti), but they were only a second ahead of Robi Wood/Matt Rees (Ford Escort) and Chris Farrell/Ashley Isaac (Ford Escort).
The section continued via Farley and another farmyard before finishing at Pontesbury. Unexpectedly a number of cars in the mid-twenties put in the fastest times here and this briefly gave the lead to Chris Way, who was fresh from victory on the previous weekend's John Robson Rally; for the Moonbeam he had Andrew Millington on the maps in his Honda Civic.
After two cleanable controls, time was lost by everyone at TC7 and TC8, which were south of Westcott. The leading crews reasserted themselves at TC7 with Gareth Jones/Rhys Griffiths (Ford Escort) moving to the front of the field; they were now 11 seconds ahead of Price/Spencer and 18 in front of Mark 'GT' Roberts/Steve Price (VW Golf), the latter pair had been fastest up to the control, and were now in third place.
TC8 was on the edge of Picklescott; Jamie Crump/Robbie Pugh (Ford Escort) were quickest here and this moved them up from fifth at TC7 to second at TC8; they were now 17 seconds behind Jones/Griffiths, who retained the lead.
The cleanable TC6 had caught out Farrell/Isaac who had booked in early there; the penalty for any early faults on the Moonbeam was a fail.
The final section of the first half wound its way between Picklescott and Dorrington; all three of the TCs that it contained were timed to the minute and were cleaned by all the leading crews.
Petrol, at roughly the one-third distance, was taken at the Bayston Hill Services, on the southern edge of Shrewsbury. At this point the top six were separated by 41 seconds:
Gareth Jones/Ryan Griffiths (Ford Escort) 3m44s
Jamie Crump/Robbie Pugh (Ford Escort) 4m01s
Mark 'GT' Roberts/Steve Price (VW Golf GTi) 4m09s
Gareth Price/Sam Spencer (BMW 318Ti) 4m20s
Robi Wood/Matt Rees (Ford Escort) 4m22s
Mark Lennox/Ian Beamond (Ford Escort) 4m25s
All these were to make the finish, with exception of Roberts/Price, who suffered an alternator failure on their Golf on the Linley section.
Daniel Isaac/David Lee (Peugeot 205) were the leading Novices at the halt; they were in tenth place overall and went on to take the class win, being the only ones in the category to end the event without incurring a fail. For being the class winners, they received a bag of goodies donated by the Basic Roamer Company.
The leading Semi-Experts at Petrol were Frazer Moss/Aled Jones (Ford Fiesta), however they retired in the second half, leaving Jeremy Maddox/Rhys Morgan (Peugeot 206 GTi) to take the class trophy, despite having been one of the crews to miss RC1.
The route moved into traditional Moonbeam territory after the restart, with the half being split into just three sections. Competition recommenced just to the north of All Stretton, the course passing through Ratlinghope and Bridges, before moving on to The Bog and Linley and finishing at Nind. There were six TCs, three caught everyone for time penalties.
Through the Ratlinghope/Bridges section Lennox/Beamond were quickest, this moved them up to third place. Price/Spencer took the position at The Bog, but Lennox/Beamond were back into third after the run through the Linley Hairpin. Up front, Jones/Griffiths were pulling clear, they now held a lead of 22 seconds over Crump/Pugh, who, in turn, were 15 seconds ahead of Lennox/Beamond.
The conditions had been partially foggy throughout the night, but visibility was almost non-existent on the Long Mynd and the organisers took the decision on safety grounds to cancel the section that climbed up and over the ridge.
Despite this loss, there was still plenty of competition left, with action moving to the Wenlock Edge area for the closing stages. However, there was no change in the top five positions over the remainder of the event, the gaps between the contestants expended and contracted but the leader board remanded unchanged.
This meant that Jones/Griffiths came home to claim their maiden rally win with a victory margin of over a minute ahead of Crump/Pugh. Lennox/Beamond were in third, but were only 11 seconds off the runner up spot. Price/Spencer were a further 17 seconds behind in fourth.
The main focus in the second half was the battle for sixth place. Phillip Luxton/Edward Luxton (Rover 25) held the position until they put their car into a hedge on the final section near Condover; they lost four minutes and ended the rally in ninth position. This incident allowed Matt Barker/Chris Ashley (Peugeot 206 GTi) through to claim the contested position at the Finish.
Forty crews made it to the finish of what had been a tough event, especially for those in the well supported Novice Class; twelve in that category were classified as finishers.
RESULTS
- Overall Positions
- Award Winners
- Class Positions
- Time Penalty Details
- Fail Penalties
- Overall Positions at Petrol
- Non-Finishers
- List of Starters