MaidenSilverStarwinforDavisonandMurphy
A goodrunthroughthemorning’s
stagespavedthewayfora firstSilver
StarwinforAndyDavison/Tom
MurphyintheirVauxhall-engined
TalbotSunbeam.
Aftersharingquickestclasstime
withJasonPritchardonthefirsttest,
theywerefastestonSS3andequal
fastestwithTommiMeadowsonthe
fourthstagetotakea seven-second
advantageintotheafternoon.
AnotherfastesttimeonSS5
increasedtheirleadandthepair
pushedhardonthelaterstages,
despiterunningonworntyres,to
winby 18 seconds.
AftertheirgoodstartPritchard/
SteveMcPheealsosufferedtyre
issues,causinga halfspinonSS2
beforegoingoffbackwardsonthefinalbendofstagefour.Inthe
afternoonthingswentbetter,and
despitesuspensionissuesontheir
EscortRS 1800 Mk2thepairwere
fastestonthefinalthreestagesto
overhaulGeorgeLepley/Tom
Woodburnforsecond.
Lepleywasthinkingofthebigger
pictureandlookingtosecurethe
SilverStarChampionship,whichhe
dulyachieved(seerallynews,p18).
A latepuncturecostBenFriend/
CliffySimmonssometimeintheir
fourth-placedEscortMk2.Theywere
followedbyleadingR2runners
MeadowsandPerryGardener,
withOwenMcMackin/LeeTaylor
finishingseventhandasclassB12
winnersintheirEscortMk2despite
beingunhappywiththeirpace.Duo secure victory by just over a minute on Nicky Grist Stages and with it the BTRDA title. By Simon Gronow
GOLD STAR TITLE GOES TO THORBURN
AND BEATON AFTER ANOTHER WIN
BTRDA: NICKY GRIST
24 JULY 172019 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110
Photos: Chicane MediaPritchard and McPhee had to settle for second after suffering tyre issues
E
uan Thorburn
and Paul Beaton
maintained their
unbeaten run on
BTRDA events this
year by winning the
Nicky Grist Stages
in their Ford Focus WRC05. After
setting the fastest time on the first
test, they were never headed and
won by over a minute to claim the
Gold Star.
Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson
secured another second place in their
Ford Fiesta RS WRC, while young Sam
Bilham’s progress continues to impress
as he finished in a career-best third place
with Patrick Walsh in their Fiesta R5.
The first stage, almost nine miles
through Crychan, would prove a tough
opening test. Not surprisingly it was
Thorburn/Beaton who set the fastest
time. The driver said: “the first mile
opened our eyes,” as it was looser than
he had expected. Nonetheless, he
had opened up a useful five-second lead
as he headed into SS2. Things didn’t go so
well there as his Focus WRC05 suffered
handbrake issues, which also had an
impact on gear changing, and there
was a loss of launch control. Despite
that, they still managed to set second
fastest time, though their lead was
down to just two seconds.
With some temporary repairs
completed, normal service was resumed
on the five-and-a-half-mile Monument
stage. Thorburn added another 14 seconds
to his lead before returning to service at
Builth Wells with a 21-second advantage,
after completing the rarely used short
Llyn Login stage.Once again it, was Petch/Wilkinson who
were Thorburn’s nearest challengers.
The Fiesta RS WRC driver said: “It’s
been alright, we’ve had a couple of
alright times.”
Stage two had certainly been alright,
with Petch setting the fastest time, though
he wasn’t so happy on the next test.
“I thought it was disappointing, I
couldn’t see through the dust on the
long straights. We’re in no man’s land,”
he added, making reference to the
28-second advantage over third place.
Holding that third place were Irish
visitors Brendan Cumiskey/Liam
Moynihan, using a Fiesta RS WRC for
the first time. Cumiskey’s only issue was
that his seat was too low and needed to be
raised as he was having trouble seeing
through the windscreen. “The stages
are good: plenty of room and the car’s
perfect,” was his summary of the
morning, though a change to harder
tyres would be made for the later stages.
Tying with Cumiskey were leading
Production Cup runners Pat Naylor/
Ian Lawrence, who found that their
Mitsubishi Lancer E9 was working well
on some harder tyres that they were using
for the first time. “It’s been very good so
far, we have to be on it, flat out. I’m really
happy with that, it’s been dusty but not
too bad,” said a content Naylor, as he
sought to keep ahead of his rivals and
boost his championship cause.
Close behind were Matthew Hirst/
Declan Dear, who opted to make a steady
start on the longer first stage in order to
avoid a puncture on their Lancer E9. A
push through the following three tests
paid dividends, as they moved up from
ninth to fifth place.Just one second behind Hirst were
Bilham/Walsh, who had a mixed
morning. After setting third fastest time
on the opening stage, they spun on the
second, before setting equal second fastest
time through SS3. Unfortunately, they
were one of many to overshoot the final
junction of stage four despite Bilham
“braking early”. Walsh predicted that by
driving a bit tidier they would make it on
to the podium at the end of the day.
Also having a mixed start were Russ
Thompson/Andy Murphy, who set a
couple of top five times before a rear brake
calliper started leaking on their Lancer
E9. As a result, Thompson decided to
exercise some caution. “I’ve got it in my
mind that brakes are quite important, the
annoying thing is I could see it coming,”
he said, as he lost some time overshooting
a junction in stage four.
Production Cup leaders prior to the
event, Scott Faulkner/Gareth Parry
had been quickest of the NR4 runners on
stage one, just one second ahead of Naylor,
before losing time when the throttle pedal
snapped on their Lancer E9 on stage
two. With repairs affected he pushed on
through the third and fourth tests and was
back up to eighth place. Unfortunately,
differential problems curtailed his day
on stage six.
Ian Joel/Shaun Hughes dropped time
after going into the undergrowth on
stage one, while Ian Bainbridge/Jamie
Edwards retired their Subaru Impreza
with propshaft failure on the same test.
With the rod between the gearbox and
handbrake disconnected, Thorburn
quickly got back into the groove on the
afternoon stages, setting a time 16 seconds
quicker than anybody else on the secondSliding the Ford
Focus WRC05SS1Crychan1 (8.72miles)
Euan Thorburn/Paul Beaton
(Ford Focus WRC05) 9m31s
SS2 Halfway 1 (3.68 miles)
Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson
(Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 4m06s
SS3 Monument 1 (5.56 miles)
Thorburn/Beaton 5m31s
SS4 Llyn Login1 (3.32miles)
Thorburn/Beaton 3m11s
SS5 Crychan 2 (8.72 miles)
Thorburn/Beaton 9m07s
SS6 Halfway 2 (3.68 miles)
Thorburn/Beaton 3m56s
SS7 Monument 2 (5.56 miles)
Thorburn/Beaton 5m29s
SS8 Llyn Login 2 (3.32 miles)
Sam Bilham/Patrick Walsh
(Ford Fiesta R5) 3m13sSTAGE WINNERS