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About Time Too Road Rally 2001

Telford Auto Club

29th/30th September 2001



Clerk of the Course: Maurice Leach

Route: 100 Miles

Maps: 126 & 127

Starters: 60

Winners: Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford (Toyota Corolla)




After a seven month foot and mouth induced lay off, road rallying returned to Wales and the Borders with Telford AC's About Time Too Road Rally. Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford demonstrated that the break from competition hadn't affected them as they took a comfortable win.

About Time Too Road Rally 2001
Winners: Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford (Toyota Corolla)
Photograph: M&H Photography

The closed to club event attracted a capacity entry of 60 cars, although surprisingly this had been slow to fill and entries were still available on the day before the rally. The 100 mile route was based in East Shropshire, taking a long anti-clockwise loop around the organising club's hometown.

Jones/Pitchford had to contend with failing brakes on their Toyota Corolla for the second half of the rally, but they were still two minutes clear of the field at the end.

Howard Price/Gareth Price took the runners spot, after a slow start they matched the winners’ pace over the latter stages of the rally. Grant Parker/Owen Dodd finished in third to make it a Toyota Corolla 1-2-3.

Nick Bloxham/Mark Freeman (Peugeot 205 GTi) had an untroubled run to take fourth place. Jerry Jones/Ian Cooke took fifth place and the Under 1400cc Award in their Mini.

The leading Semi-Experts, Mike Hart/’Polly’ (Ford Escort RS2000), were in sixth, with the class runners up, Russell Carson-Brown/Dean George (Ford Escort), two places further back. There was a notable success for the top Novice Class crew as Paul Bunch/David Clayton brought their RS2000 into ninth place overall, this was despite being concerned about low oil pressure for most of the second half.

Steve Wynn/Chris Wynn completed the top ten in an Escort that they had only completed building just a few hours before thbe rally started.

Phil Turner/Nigel Roberts (VW Golf) had had to cut their pace as their Golf started suffering from overheating problems. They would still have finished third, but picked up a fail for a missed signature; they were eventually classified nineteenth.

Richard Roe/Chris Ware (Talbot Sunbeam) were off the pace after the driver damaged his wrist as the car caught a rock on the first section.

Wayne Elliott/Paul Edwards (Toyota Celica GT4) may have taken a top place but an error over the timing meant that they lost over ten minutes waiting needlessly outside controls in the opening test. Martin Cooke/Martyn Allen (Vauxhall Astra SRi), on the driver's first ever rally, finished seventeenth after losing a large amount of time having become stuck on a muddy white.

Top seeds Kevin Ikin/Martin Saunders (Ford Escort) lost time on the first section after being baulked by a member of the public. They were still in contention when, just before the petrol halt, they became stuck after they wrong slotted on to a not as map track. They were over the time limit before they could be rescued.

Dennis Quinn/Nick Darkin (Ford Escort) had built up a twenty second lead by the end of the third section when they realised that they had been given the wrong time at a previous control. They returned to the offending control to get the error resolved but then went OTL attempting to regain the correct route.

Wayne Morris/Paul Middleton (Ford Escort) were one of the earliest retirees of the night after their newly built engine broke shortly after the start.

Two Semi-Expert crews lost out on possible class awards and top ten finishes when problems stuck on the final section. Simon Rigby/Richard Edwards (Peugeot 309 GTi) picked up a fail for missing the very last passage control, while Claire Evans/Allen Hart (VauxhalL Astra) suffered a puncture on their Astra and then had the jack break. It took them forty-five minutes to complete the four minute section.



OVERALL POSITIONS

Pos Driver Navigator Car Penalty
1 Gary Jones Dave Pitchford Toyota Corolla 4m 57s
2 Howard Price Gareth Price Toyota Corolla 6m 54s
3 Grant Parker Owen Dodd Toyota Corolla 7m 59s
4 Nick Bloxham Mark Freeman Peugeot 205 GTi 8m 34s
5 Jerry Jones Ian Cooke Austin Mini 9m 07s
6 Mike Hart Polly Ford Escort RS2000 9m 58s
7 Adrian Higman Cyril Jones VW Golf 11m 33s
8 Russell Carson-Brown Dean George Ford Escort 12m 40s
9 Paul Bunch David Clayton Ford Escort 12m 40s
10 Steve Wynn Chris Wynn Ford Escort 13m 24s
11 Brynli Thomas Roger Evans Ford Escort 14m 41s
12 Rick Cipolat Neil Payne Ford Escort 14m 44s
13 Wayne Elliott Paul Edwards Toyota Celica GT4 15m 44s
14 Robert Thomson Simon Greenway Peugeot 309 GTi 15m 52s
15 Richie Roe Chris Ware Talbot Sunbeam 18m 48s
16 Stephen Davies Chris Jones Ford Fiesta 26m 59s
17 Martin Cooke Martyn Allen Vauxhall Astra SRi 35m 04s
18 Tony Watkins Medwyn Evans Vauxhall Nova 37m 58s
19 Phil Turner Nigel Roberts VW Golf GTi 1F 7m 51s
20 Simon Rigby Richard Edwards Peugeot 309 GTi 1F 13m 10s
21 Dave Edwards Jeff Edwards Ford Fiesta XR2 1F 22m 07s
22 Martin Preece Jeffrey Cottle Vauxhall Astra 1F 28m 42s
23 Gareth Davies Chris Ransley Opel Manta 1F 32m 23s
24 Ian Jones Peter Tomlinson VW Golf GTi 2F 23m 34s
25 Rick Traves Jon Pritchard Vauxhall Nova GTE 3F 29m 02s
26 Bob Ward Andy Thompson Ford Escort 5F 46m 58s
27 John Jones Alan Thompson Renault 11 Turbo 6F 32m 00s
28 Garry Furber Erik West Vauxhall Nova 9F 18m 32s
29 Richard Jordan Robert Bernard Ford Escort 12F 31m 50s
30 Andy Groom Carl Darby Ford Fiesta XR2 13F 45m 29s
31 Tony Gush Brynmor Pierce Ford Escort 14F 41m 07s