Marshall & Hicks Print Ltd Tour of Caerwent 2nd April 2023
WILLETT WORKS FOR CAERWENT WIN
The Marshall & Hicks Print Ltd Tour of Caerwent took place over six special stages on Sunday the 2nd of April, organised by Forresters Car Club.
Using the event as a shakedown for a trip to the Manx National rally in May, top seeds Dave Willett/John Davies would set a rapid time through SS1. The flying Ford Escort Mk2 went through 24 seconds clear of the Thomas Cooper/Paul Williams Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 in second and 28 seconds up on Malcolm and Rhys Jones' Darrian T90 GTR in third. That margin was much diminished after SS2, the gap slashed to 5 seconds from the Jones Darrian after Willett/Davies had shed and retrieved their fuel filler cap mid-stage! The battle in the top three would lose the Cooper/Williams Evo 9 with their retirement after SS2. Willett appeared to be battling his car as much as the Darrian that was giving chase when the paddleshift actuator failed during SS3, meaning the gearstick would be well used by the end of the day. Undeterred, he added 6 seconds to his lead and carried an 11-second advantage into SS4 but the Jones Darrian hit back in the stage and brought the gap back down to 5 seconds. Willett/Davies reclaimed 2 seconds in SS5 to head into SS6 7 seconds ahead, the last stage of the day. The Darrian was only able to grab 2 seconds from the Escort in the stage so Willett/Davies took the rally win by 5 seconds, despite their starter motor giving up before the last stage. The Chris Simmons/Lucie Gutteridge Darrian T90 GTR was elevated into third with Cooper/Williams' demise after SS2 and held the place for the rest of the day, 1 minute 22 seconds down. Sean & Colin Quigley did likewise in fourth from Oliver Davies/Ben Innes in fifth. The Mk2 Escort had hounded the Fiesta R5 to the end, having climbed from ninth after SS1 to sixth after SS3. Darrell Taylor/Dylan Thomas' Ford Fiesta Rally2 went out with a puncture during SS4 to promote the 2500cc Mk2 into fifth, before finishing 18 seconds adrift of the Quigleys. There was a big fight in the second half of the top ten, with sixth to tenth places being covered by just 21 seconds going into the last stage. Seventh to tenth were split by a slender 8 seconds with two tied on time, the group only 13 seconds behind Neil Weaver/Fiona Crump’s Vauxhall Corsa S1600 in sixth. Weaver/Crump would hang to their sixth place but the big mover would be the Richard Merriman/Kath Curzon Darrian. Setting the fourth fastest time through the stage enabled the T90 to leapfrog both the Jim Munden/Dale Lovegrove Escort Mk2 and the Phil Turner/Simon Anthony Skoda Fabia into seventh, just four seconds down from Weaver/Crump’s sixth place. Turner/Anthony also got ahead of Munden/Lovegrove’s Mk2 for eighth and pipped the Ford by 4 seconds. In tenth was the Kev Carr/Chris Pippen Escort Mk2, the former event winners suffering a costly overshoot in SS5 which put them to the back of the bunch. A mere 16 seconds covered the group at the finish.
There was also an F1000 Junior rally and the spoils were taken by the Nissan Micra of Jack Birch/Mike Jode, who finished 28 seconds up the road from the Charlie Mathewson/Ian Bass Peugeot 107. Rhys Jones/Alan Gilbert took third in their Citroen C1 just over a minute further back.
Provisionally the next stage rally in the Caerwent Training Area will be the Patriot Stages on Sunday the 24th of September.
Report written for EDP Photo News. To view official pics from the event, visit: www.edpphoto.com/rallies
The Marshall & Hicks Print Ltd Tour of Caerwent took place over six special stages on Sunday the 2nd of April, organised by Forresters Car Club.
Using the event as a shakedown for a trip to the Manx National rally in May, top seeds Dave Willett/John Davies would set a rapid time through SS1. The flying Ford Escort Mk2 went through 24 seconds clear of the Thomas Cooper/Paul Williams Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 in second and 28 seconds up on Malcolm and Rhys Jones' Darrian T90 GTR in third. That margin was much diminished after SS2, the gap slashed to 5 seconds from the Jones Darrian after Willett/Davies had shed and retrieved their fuel filler cap mid-stage! The battle in the top three would lose the Cooper/Williams Evo 9 with their retirement after SS2. Willett appeared to be battling his car as much as the Darrian that was giving chase when the paddleshift actuator failed during SS3, meaning the gearstick would be well used by the end of the day. Undeterred, he added 6 seconds to his lead and carried an 11-second advantage into SS4 but the Jones Darrian hit back in the stage and brought the gap back down to 5 seconds. Willett/Davies reclaimed 2 seconds in SS5 to head into SS6 7 seconds ahead, the last stage of the day. The Darrian was only able to grab 2 seconds from the Escort in the stage so Willett/Davies took the rally win by 5 seconds, despite their starter motor giving up before the last stage. The Chris Simmons/Lucie Gutteridge Darrian T90 GTR was elevated into third with Cooper/Williams' demise after SS2 and held the place for the rest of the day, 1 minute 22 seconds down. Sean & Colin Quigley did likewise in fourth from Oliver Davies/Ben Innes in fifth. The Mk2 Escort had hounded the Fiesta R5 to the end, having climbed from ninth after SS1 to sixth after SS3. Darrell Taylor/Dylan Thomas' Ford Fiesta Rally2 went out with a puncture during SS4 to promote the 2500cc Mk2 into fifth, before finishing 18 seconds adrift of the Quigleys. There was a big fight in the second half of the top ten, with sixth to tenth places being covered by just 21 seconds going into the last stage. Seventh to tenth were split by a slender 8 seconds with two tied on time, the group only 13 seconds behind Neil Weaver/Fiona Crump’s Vauxhall Corsa S1600 in sixth. Weaver/Crump would hang to their sixth place but the big mover would be the Richard Merriman/Kath Curzon Darrian. Setting the fourth fastest time through the stage enabled the T90 to leapfrog both the Jim Munden/Dale Lovegrove Escort Mk2 and the Phil Turner/Simon Anthony Skoda Fabia into seventh, just four seconds down from Weaver/Crump’s sixth place. Turner/Anthony also got ahead of Munden/Lovegrove’s Mk2 for eighth and pipped the Ford by 4 seconds. In tenth was the Kev Carr/Chris Pippen Escort Mk2, the former event winners suffering a costly overshoot in SS5 which put them to the back of the bunch. A mere 16 seconds covered the group at the finish.
There was also an F1000 Junior rally and the spoils were taken by the Nissan Micra of Jack Birch/Mike Jode, who finished 28 seconds up the road from the Charlie Mathewson/Ian Bass Peugeot 107. Rhys Jones/Alan Gilbert took third in their Citroen C1 just over a minute further back.
Provisionally the next stage rally in the Caerwent Training Area will be the Patriot Stages on Sunday the 24th of September.
Report written for EDP Photo News. To view official pics from the event, visit: www.edpphoto.com/rallies