Seven of the top 10 cars retire as Nicky Grist Stages takes its toll

The largest entry of the year to date turned out in Builth Wells last weekend to take part in the Nicky Grist Stages, the sixth round of the Morris Lubricants BTRDA 1400 Championship.

The event started from the Royal Welsh Showground for the 44-mile event covering eight tests around the Crychan and Epynt gravel stages, which have a reputation for their high speed but also hard, abrasive and challenging stages which test cars and crews to the limit.

That analysis proved very accurate as the event became a matter of survival for the 53 competitors in the 1400cc field, as seven of the top 10 cars retired during the day. First to go were Dave Bennett and Alastair McNeil from York who had won the second round up in Cumbria in their

Vauxhall Corsa.

However, they didn’t even make the first stage when a crank sensor bracket snapped on the run out to the stages. They managed to effect some repairs but by the time it was fixed they had run out of time. They did carry on for four stages for testing and would have been leading the event but for their misfortune.

First car away and needing to score some points, after retiring on the previous round, were Mat Smith and Giles Dykes in their amazing Ford KA. They set off doing just that and by stage three had built a 19 second lead. But disappointment was awaiting them as the clutch expired on stage four and the event win and potentially their title hopes were left with them sitting on the side of the road.

Tom Walster had taken the surprise 1400 win on the previous round, the Dukeries Rally, and seeded at number three was expected to figure up at the front again. He had fought his way up to second place with just one stage remaining when he became another casualty of the tough stages and retired with mechanical failure.

Taking over at the front were experienced crew Justin Lawson and Paul Hargreaves in their Vauxhall Nova. They have returned to the championship after a year off and, although they have achieved top three finishes during this year, have never managed to get onto the top

step.

The Warrington pairing had been hanging onto the tail of Smith since the first stage and were there ready to grab the win when he retired, sealing an excellent first championship win with three fastest times over the remaining stages to take a 54 second victory.

Coming home second were Dan Gray and Matt Rogers in their Peugeot 106. Having had a slow start to the season, the Gloucestershire crew they picked up the pace on the Dukeries where they were also second and swapped positions with Walster during the day. The 28 points gained now moves them into fifth place in the title race and a podium spot is still

possible.

The drive of the day, however, came from Mick Smith and Tom Jordan from York in their Nissan Micra. To put it politely, Mick is far from being the youngest 1400 competitor out there and his Micra has significantly less power than the cars of Lawson and Gray in front of him and many others behind him.

He started the event seeded some 22 places lower than top runner Mat Smith. By the second stage he was in fifth place and continued to plug away, gradually picking up places as others fell away to come home in third place, which left him unusually lost for words at the finish as he tried to explain his excellent result.

In the championship tables it’s 18-year-old Ryan Weston from Aberdeen who takes over at the top with a 19 point lead over the former leader Marcel Freling who sat out the event. Finishing in fourth place last weekend, following a third place on the previous event and driving a Proton Satria, Ryan is in his first full year of competition, but is already demonstrating the skills from his father David, a former Scottish Rally champion.

It turned out to be a very good weekend for the Weston family as elder brother, David Jnr, finished second in the event for over 1400cc cars driving his Subaru Impreza. In third place and showing many men the way to drive is lady driver Jayne Auden from Cheadle in her MG

ZR who is co-driven by her father David.

There is, however, plenty of time for these positions to change as competitors count their best six scores from the nine events to decide the eventual winner. With three rounds remaining, some of the competitors have now scored on all six rounds run to date so will need to beat those scores in order to progress higher, whereas others who don’t yet have six scores will continue to count all points gained.

The Morris Lubricants Championship competitors now take a well deserved seven-week break until they return for the seventh round, the EventSigns Woodpecker Stages, which will be based at Ludlow Racecourse, Shropshire on August 29 and 30.

Further details can be found on the championship website www.btrdarally.com