Ford Fiesta R5 Evo driver, Elfyn Evans, scored his third win out of five MSA British Rally Championship rounds at the two-day mixed surfaced Nicky Grist Stages Rally in Central Wales.
Evans beat fellow Welsh Festa R5 driver, Tom Cave, and Ulster Skoda driver Desi Henry. Â
His main challenger for victory was Fredrik Ahlin, but he slid off the road early on Day 1 while in third place behind Cave and David Bogie. Â
Evans had spun on the opening stage and then had a problem with the pop-off valve, allowing Cave to take an early lead. By stage three, Evans was ahead and uncatchable. Â
Bogie was slowed by turbo problems and finished fourth. Robert Duggan led the BRC Junior category from start to finish ahead of fellow Opel Adam driver, Mattias Adielsson, while Sindre Furuseth was third in his Renault Twingo. Â
The only finisher in the BRC 2 category for Group N based cars was the Lancer Evo 9 of Matt Edwards. Â
Bad weather made for tricky conditions on the first day, then there were long delays on Day 2 due to the need to re-erect chicanes on the fast military asphalt roads on the Epynt Ranges. Â
Finally the organisation was disrupted on the afternoon of Day 2 due to an accident, and the last three stages were not run.
Final results
1. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Craig Parry (GBR) Ford Fiesta R5
2. Tom Cave (GBR)/James Morgan (GBR) Ford Fiesta R5Â +1m11.4s
3. Desi Henry (IRL)/Liam Moynihan (IRL) Skoda Fabia R5 +2m01.8s
4. David Bogie (GBR)/James O’Reilly (IRL) Skoda Fabia R5 +2m48.5s
5. Josh Moffett (IRL)/John Rowan (IRL) Ford Fiesta R5Â +3m05.9ss
MSA DMACK Junior British Rally Championship
1. Robert Duggan (IRL)/ Ger Conway (IRL) Vauxhall ADAM R2
2. Mattias Adielsson (SWE)/ Andreas Johansson (SWE) Vauxhall ADAM R2
3. Sindre Furuseth (NOR)/ Jim Hjerpe (SWE) Renault Twingo R2
MSA British Rally Championship for Drivers points (after 5 of 7 rounds)
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1: Elfyn Evans 110*
2: Tom Cave 71*
3: Fredrik Ahlin 65*
4: Josh Moffett 42
5: Jonathan Greer 36
6: Desi Henry 29*
7: David Bogie 26*
8: Jamie Anderson 16
9: Matthew Wilson 15
10: Rhys Yates 13*
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* Drivers have played their double points ‘Joker’
- Martin Holmes