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Sweet Lamb Stages 2002

Ecurie Royal Oak Motor Club

15th September 2002



Clerk of the Course: Martin Rowe & Bryan Wheeler

Stages: 11 (52 Stage Miles)

Venue: Sweet Lamb, Myherin & Tarenig

Starters: 109

Winners: Simon Redhead/Alan Thomas (Subaru Impreza)




Simon Redhead/Alan Thomas won a closely fought Sweet Lamb Stages. They emerged as leaders after the retirement of early front runners Leon Pesticcio/Tim Sturla, they retained the top position to finish five seconds ahead of Don Whitehurst/Terry Atherton.

Sweet Lamb Stages 2002

The Ecurie Royal Oak MC organised event provided eleven stages in Sweet Lamb, Tarrenig and Myherin, a total of just over fifty competitive miles. The weather was dry and sunny and this led to a great many complaints from crews of being caught in the dust of preceding cars.

After Graham Middleton withdrew his entry, the pre-event favourite became Leon Pesticcio, who was testing his Lancer Evo7. Pesticcio duly fulfilled this role by taking fastest time on all of the first four stages and building up a lead of 32 seconds by the time crews arrived at the first service halt. However on SS5 disaster struck as the Lancer caught the bank on a slow hairpin and toppled onto its roof. The resultant damage was too severe for the crew to continue.

Redhead/Thomas were the left with a narrow lead which they maintained, despite a deranged steering rack, to take the victory at the Finish. The battle for the runner up spot lasted until the final stage. The winners of the event in 1999 and 2000, Phil Squires/Michael Squires, fought bravely but their two wheel drive Escort RS was no match for the four wheel drive Impreza of Don Whitehurst/Terry Atherton. The advantage being particularly evident on the stages that included the uphill climbs in Sweet Lamb.

A large number of crews came to grief on the same tricky corner in Tarrenig, the adverse camber pushing them off into a peat bog. Mick Gilman/Nigel Bayley were the first to visit the quagmire, they recovered but then put themselves out of the event by going off the road on the first run over the Sweet Lamb tarmac section.

Geraint Mills/Johnny 'Tad' Evans had a short event, going out in Sweet Lamb with engine problems on their Manta 400.

Kevin Stevens/Howard Davies lost over four minutes when the went off on the second run through Tarrenig, a mishap which spoilt what was otherwise a very promising performance. Other crews to loose time in the peat bog included Sebastian Ling/Carl Williamson, Andy Kenny/Gary Kenny, David Short/Richard Crooman and Jim Swift/Dave Mitterham.

The event was the penultimate round of the Welsh Clubman’s Championship. A storming drive by Dorian Rees took him and co-driver Gareth Hall into sixth place and secured them the Clubman’s title. Their success was aided by the problems which afflicted his rival for title, Ieaun Rowlands.

Rowlands had damaged ligaments in his hand on the recent Woodpecker Stages. He drove the Sweet Lamb Stages in great pain throughout; this, coupled with carburettor problem on his Escort, meant that he wasn’t able to put in a performance which would keep the title chase alive until the final round.

Gareth Jones/Ryland James were denied a top five finish when their Proton broke a drive shaft at the start of the last stage. Richard Hill/Daniel Stone finished fifth but might have challenged for the lead had they not lost forty seconds when the car in front of them went off in Tarrenig 1.


PEUGEOT 205 CHALLENGE

The Sweet Lamb Stages was Round Five of the Peugeot 205 Challenge. This Championship wasn't decided on points accumulated, but rather on the number of fastest stages times taken by the competitors. Prior to the Ecurie Royal Oak event Matt Barker led with seven stage wins from the previous four rounds, with David Crossen on six and Elliot Retallick on five.

The event was not a happy one for Crossen, an electrical short halted his car on the run out to SS1. Unable to trace the cause of the fault he was out of the event before action had commenced.

Barker and Retallick then went on to share all of the fastest times during the day between the two of them. After eight stages they had taken four each, but a charge through the final loop of three stages saw Barker take all the remaining wins. With two rounds remaining Barker had fourteen wins in total to Retallick’s nine.

Their pace took the Peugeot pair to top twenty positions in the overall event, humbling many more powerful machines in the process.

Ian Winstanley was unlucky not to take a fastest stage time during the rally, missing out by just one second on two occasions.

There were also experience based classes within the challenge. Positions in these were determined by points accumulated on events. At Sweet Lamb Winstanley and Barker both extended their leads in the Expert and Novice classes respectively. While Glen Farley took maximum points in the Beginners class, however due to another consistent performance, Richard Cook maintained his lead in the class.



OVERALL RESULTS

Pos Driver Navigator Car Penalty
1 Simon Redhead Alan Thomas Subaru Impreza 54m 41s
2 Don Whitehurst Terry Atherton Subaru Impreza 54m 46s
3 Phil Squires Michael Squires Ford Escort RS 54m 56s
4 Richard Fishliegh Sean Dale Subaru Legacy 55m 03s
5 Richard Hill Daniel Stone Ford Sierra 55m 15s
6 Dorian Rees Gareth Hall Peugeot 106 55m 48s
7 David Howells Andy Hilder Subaru Impreza 55m 53s
8 Will Onions Steve Quine Ford Escort Maxi 56m 33s
9 Paul Jackson Patrick Walsh Ford Escort RS 56m 54s
10 Miles Jude Phil Clarke Subaru Impreza 57m 11s
11 Neil Andrews Mark Spavin Ford Sierra 4x4 57m 30s
12 Scott Hughes Andy Bull Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6 57m 48s
13 Peter Gwynne Sarah Watson Subaru Impreza 57m 56s
14 Jon Adams James Wardle Ford Escort 58m 10s
15 Richard Hopkins Eryl Evans Subaru Impreza STi 58m 25s
16 Gareth Jones Ryland James Proton Satria 58m 37s
17 Sebastian Ling Carl Williamson Peugeot 206 GTi 58m 40s
18 Kevin Stevens Howard Davies Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7 58m 42s
19 Matt Barker Steve Worton Peugeot 205 58m 53s
20 Elliot Retallick Rob Smith Peugeot 205 58m 59s
21 Stuart Thomas Mark Kehrein Ford Sierra Sapphire 59m 07s
22 Chris Greenhall Barry Young Subaru Impreza 59m 10s
23 Lynsey Hansford Graham Roberts Ford Escort 59m 29s
24 Mark Williams James Phillips Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7 59m 50s
25 Simon Cole Andrew Morris Subaru Impreza 59m 50s
26 Keith Parry Gary Matthews Vauxhall Nova 59m 57s
27 Ieuan Rowlands Keith Davies Ford Escort RS 60m 06s
28 Kevin Meacham Collette Le Page Ford Escort 60m 07s
29 Rob Yates Andy Yates Ford Escort Cosworth 60m 19s
30 Darren Kelter Dan Knight Fordc Escort 60m 22s
31 Paul McMullan Jane Cowling Proton Satria 60m 26s
32 Martin Kenny Dave Stocking Ford Escort RS 60m 57s
33 David Short Richard Crooman Ford Escort Cosworth 61m 03s
34 Peter Rayner Richard Bonner Ford Escort 61m 17s
35 Ian Winstanley Neil Bye Peugeot 205 61m 29s
36 Duncan Goldsmith Bryan Hull Ford Escort 61m 50s
37 Chris Gittins Stuart Humphreys Ford Escort 62m 23s
38 Michael Chinchen Andy Juniper Vauxhall Nova 62m 47s
39 Senan O'Connor Dommacha O'Connor Peugeot 205 63m 35s
40 Richard McLachlan Matt McLachlan Peugeot 205 63m 53s
41 Howard Forrester Martin Massey Ford Escort 64m 33s
42 Steve Green Paul Green Peugeot 205 64m 44s
43 Tim Taylor-Duxbury Steve Baxter Vauxhall Corsa 64m 58s
44 Des Penny Gary Marriott Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5 64m 59s
45 Glen Farley Guy Rowley Peugeot 205 65m 23s
46 Jim Swift Dave Mitterham Ford Escort 65m 33s
47 Geoff Wilson Jason Austin Ford Escort 65m 33s
48 Chris Bayliss Steve Hartup Peugeot 205 66m 03s
49 Jonathan Hobbs Mark Coleman Peugeot 205 66m 08s
50 Ben Colly Bob Duck Peugeot 205 66m 11s
51 Graham Gaskell Shane Shepton Vauxhall Nova SR 66m 14s
52 Stephen Darlington Nigel Gilbride Peugeot 205 66m 33s
53 Ian Tippett Liam O'Kane Peugeot 205 67m 35s
54 Pete Johnston Oliver Gardiner Peugeot 205 67m 40s
55 Chris Paulson Andrew Dove Peugeot 205 68m 01s
56 Kit Leigh Tim Leigh Peugeot 205 69m 29s
57 Lawrence Jones Ryan Price Opel Manta 70m 14s
58 Julian Brine Carlo Degregorio Peugeot 205 70m 23s
59 Richard Cook Edith Hunter Peugeot 205 70m 49s
60 Julius Deane Charlie Chatburn Peugeot 205 70m 50s
61 Neil Davies Julian Davies Mini 71m 40s
62 Lawrence Hodge Paul Aram Peugeot 205 71m 44s
63 Pete Hamer Niki Griffiths Talbot Sunbeam 73m 16s
64 Geoff Nash Stuart Bethell Peugeot 205 73m 28s
65 Emma Bennison Stephan Arnot Peugeot 205 74m 24s
66 Mark Whitlock Kevin Snowdon Peugeot 205 74m 42s
67 Ben Williams Pernilla Bengtsson Peugeot 205 75m 39s