Maximum points for Yorkshire crew on the Plains Rally

Mat Smith and Giles Dykes scored their second set of maximum points in the Morris Lubricants BTRDA 1400 Championship on last weekend’s Plains Rally based in Welshpool.

The Yorkshire pairing had won the first round at the Wyedean Rally in February but a retirement on the second round and a non-appearance at the recent Somerset Stages meant that a good result was vital if they were to keep the title hopes alive.

Even more so when the current championship leaders Justin Lawson and Paul Hargreaves had decided to sit out the event.

However, from the first stage they made their intentions clear as they were fastest over the nine mile Hafren stage, pulling out a 21 second advantage over their nearest challenger in their Ford KA.

They continued in the same vein, taking fastest times on all the remaining seven dry and dusty gravel stages of the rally, with their only problem being difficulty in starting the car and so having to leave it running for most of the event.

With Smith/Dykes way up front it was then a case of who could hold on to second and third places. Roger Priestnall and Jamie Forrest from Doncaster were in second place in their Proton Satria but retired after three stages with an incurable misfire.

Dan Gray / Matt Rogers then took up the chase in their Peugeot 106 but were driving conservatively after only just getting the car back out after a roll on the second round had badly damaged the car.

They weren’t having it easy, though, as Scotland’s David Martin and Richard Simmonds were chasing them hard in their Vauxhall Astra and, over the remaining stages, closed the gap to just three seconds at the finish. Nevertheless they were still able to pick up 28 valuable points for the Peugeot pair and 27 points were going to Scotland.

Aylesbury’s Joe Evett had been the star of the Somerset Stages, coming in a remarkablesecond in his newly built car and similar results were expected on the Plains. Unfortunately his day soon came to a sudden halt on the first stage when the car crashed into a tree, badly damaging the MG ZR.

With the absence of the championship leader, Justin Lawson, it was open to a number of crews to try and take the lead. Dave Brick from Ludlow had been putting up some remarkable performances in his lower powered Vauxhall Nova, which is a far cry from the more powerful Ford Escorts he has been used to driving for many years.

Unfortunately his rally and the chance to lead the championship came to a quick stop when he and Craven Arms co-driver Rob Woodhouse lost a wheel on stage three.

So it was left to fourth placed finishers Marcel Freling and Karen Robinson to gain the points

required to move into the championship lead. They were frustrated to have got caught

in the dust of another competitor early on in the event, losing a minute in time and dropping

down to 12th position, which on events when a few seconds can separate two or three cars is a lifetime to try and get back.

However, they pressed on and a final 26 points gives them the championship lead by 10 points from Ryan Weston of Aberdeen on 83 points, with Lawson now dropping down to third place on 81 points.

In what seems like no time at all since the championship started in February, we now move

into the second half of the calendar with a trip to the Sherwood Forests in the East Midlands

for the Rainworth Skoda Dukeries Rally on June 7. The rally is based at the Racecourse

in the lovely Minster town of Southwell.

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