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Battle Resumes In The Valleys |
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Friday, 14 July 2006 |
The battle for the 2006 MSA National Gravel Rally Championship enters a crucial stage this forthcoming weekend (July 22nd) when round five of the series will be played out on the Swansea Bay Rally.
And it simply couldn’t be closer at the head of the table with Towcester driver Roger Duckworth in his Subaru WRC sharing the lead on 64 points with the Group N Mitsubishi Lancer of Dorchester driver Anthony Willmington after the previous round in mid Wales.
Winner of the rally in 2003, Duckworth and co driver Mark Broomfield start as one of the favourites for overall victory on the Port Talbot Motor Club event – whose plans have been thrown into turmoil by the arrival of some rare
nesting birds in the huge Resolven Forest complex meaning some of the
originally planned tracks cannot be used - but ‘Wilmo’ along with his
map-man Andy White cannot be discounted especially as they look to
increase their advantage at the head of the Mitsubishi Ralliart
Evolution Cup.
Neither crew has taken a win to date and they will be looking to put
that statistic right, especially as there are two scores to drop this
season and the same can be said for the battle for third between
Londoner Richard Gower (Hyundai Accent WRC) and Subaru Group N Trophy
leader Wyn Humphries from Aberdyfi who are tied on 54 points.
Mixing pain and pleasure in equal proportions this season has been the
Hyundai Accent WRC driver Craig Middleton whereby the Llandrindod Wells
hotshot has taken victory on Rallye Sunseeker and also last time out on
the Severn Valley Stages but retirements on the Border Counties and
Manx events has meant that he needs to score strongly in all remaining
rounds.
Also non-finishing in two of the four events means that former champion
and two time event winner Marcus Dodd (Hyundai Accent WRC) and last
year’s series runner up Barry Johnson (Subaru WRC) – who missed out on
overall victory on last year’s event by just two seconds - also can ill
afford another non finish and both have a good track record in the
South Wales forests which will be used later in the year on Rally GB.
Scotsman Alistair Tough and Durham’s Tony Thompson make the long trip
south to challenge for honours once again in the Subaru and Mitsubishi
Championships respectively and with the absence once more of 2005
champion Paul Bird who is busy working with his British Superbike team
at Oulton Park the same weekend, it will be down to champion of 2004
Steve Perez to challenge for honours having also non-scored in two
events in his Ford Focus WRC.
Harrogate’s Miles Johnston hopes to increase his lead in the TMS
Peugeot 206 Super Cup while Willmington heads the Innovation
Motorsports Challenge Cup and in the ANCRO Clubman’s Championship,
Maidstone’s Nick Kelly (Ford Escort) enjoys a six point advantage over
the Peugeot 206 of Newport Pagnell driver Mike Winfield with Ulsterman
Martin Laverty third in his Peugeot.
Comprising qualifying rounds for no less than seventeen championships,
including the Fiesta Sporting Trophy, Eurorallye Cup and the Hankook
BMW Rear Wheel Drive Challenge amongst others, the first of the ANCRO
National competitors leaves the ceremonial start at 08.30 and after
around 70 miles in the classic Welsh forests, return to the finish
around 17.30.
More details on the event and a seeded entry list can be found at www.swanseabayrally.com and information on the MSA Gravel Rally Championship is listed at www.gravelrally.co.uk. Results can be found at www.ancro.info and pictures courtesy of www.cmwi.net are available upon request.
ANCRO Championship Standings (after four rounds)
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1 |
Roger Duckworth |
64 |
| - |
Anthony Willmington |
64 |
| 3 |
Richard Gower |
54 |
| - |
Wyn Humphreys |
54 |
| 5 |
Craig Middleton |
50 |
| 6 |
Alistair Tough |
49 |
| 7 |
Marcus Dodd |
44 |
| - |
Tony Thompson |
44 |
| 9 |
Steve Perez |
41 |
| - |
Barry Johnson |
41 |
ANCRO Clubmans Championship Standings (after two rounds)
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1 |
Nick Kelly |
36 |
| 2 |
Mike Winfield |
30 |
| 3 |
Martin Laverty |
29 |
| 4 |
Chris Moore |
25 |
| 5 |
Chris Peart |
22 |
| - |
George Thomas |
22 |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 January 2007 )
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