Gallery: Elliott and Price take BHRC Opener
Click on the Gallery tab for images from the stages courtesy Paul Lawrence.
Nick Elliott and Dave Price opened their bid for the 2017 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship in the best possible style on the opening round, today’s Red Kite Stages (Sunday 19th of February).
The Cheltenham Ford Escort Mk2 crew finished the day with a winning margin of 35-seconds over defending champions Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke after 45-miles of classic Welsh stages on the Llandovery-based event.
As the BHRC started its third season under the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, a top quality entry delivered a tremendous spectacle over six stages, five on the gravel roads in the Epynt region and one in Caeo forest.
Elliott/Price won Category 3 while Pritchard/Clarke headed Category K at the start of what is likely to a fierce championship battle. Joe Price/Chris Brooks should have made it a three-way lead contest, but were forced out by diff failure in the second stage. Other Category 3 class winners were Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons (Ford Escort Mk2) in D3 and David Hopkins/Tony Vart (Sunbeam Talbot) in D2.
Stanley Orr/Stephen McAuley set the early pace in the Capital Construction Category 2 as Orr stepped up to BDA power in his Escort Mk1, but rear suspension problems that had dogged their progress finally put them out in Crychan. Instead, the category was a battle of the Hillman Avengers as Elliot Retallick/Tim Tugwell headed Andrew Stokes/Adrian McNally after a day-long contest. Simon Pickering and Paul Barbet (Ford Escort Mk1) were third and claimed class C3.
In the Vintage Car Radiator Company Category 1, the Mini Cooper of Phil Harris/Richard Suter saw off the Ford Cortina GT of Mike Barratt/Emily Retallick. Like most of the crews, Harris reported excellent stages on an event that was extremely well organised by the team from Amman and District Motor Club.
Leading positions:
Category 1
1 Phil Harris/Richard Suter (Mini Cooper)
2 Mike Barratt/Emily Retallick (Ford Cortina GT)
Category 2
1 Eliot Retallick/Tim Tugwell (Hillman Avenger)
2 Andrew Stokes/Adrian McNally (Hillman Avenger)
3 Simon Pickering/Paul Barbet (Ford Escort Mk1)
4 Aziz Tejpar/Steve Davey (Ford Escort Mk1)
5 Ian Beveridge/Paul Price (Toyota Corolla)
Category K and Category 3
1 Nick Elliott/Dave Price (Ford Escort Mk2)
2 Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2)
3 Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk2)
4 Simon Webster/Jez Rogers (Ford Escort Mk2)
5 Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class winners:
Harris/Suter (B2); Barratt/Retallick (B3); Retallick/Tugwell (C2); Pickering/Barbet (C3); David Hopkins/Tony Vart (Sunbeam Talbot - D2); Friend/Simmons (D3); Elliott/Price (D5); Pritchard/Clarke (K2).
Stage winners:
Elliott (SS1, SS2, SS3 and SS4)
Pritchard (SS4 and SS6)
The Red Kite Stages was organised by the Amman and District Motor Club.
