Kick Energy sponsored rally driver Steve Perez took a sensational victory on Port Talbot Motor Clubs Pro Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally on July 18th, but despite an heroic drive, he failed to keep his hopes of landing the 2009 Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship intact.
The series victory went to Marcus Dodd and Andrew Bargery in their Flitewise Hyundai Accent WRC, their second place enough to make them uncatchable in the championship. The Hyundai had been slowed over the first special stage of the day in forest, losing around half a minute, though things were evened out to an extent as Perez collected a twenty second penalty later in the day, after work on his Ford Focus WRC to repair the suspension took longer than expected, making the Ford men late at a main control.
Along with Welsh co-driver Paul Spooner, the Ford Focus WRC driver had to overcome his fair share of problems on round six of the ANCRO series but emerged victorious by less than nine seconds over chief rival Marcus Dodd, Steve happy to take his first maximum points haul of the season.The Chesterfield ace picked up a twenty second penalty after being two minutes out of the first Service Halt in Walters Arena above Glyn-Neath, fixing suspension problems which dropped them to third place, but by third Service they were up to second place.
Trailing Dodd by just 1.9 seconds going into the final stage, Perez pushed hard and by the end of the second, 8.4 mile Rhondda stage which comprised the final test, the 2004 ANCRO champion had done enough to secure his first national championship victory since last September's Trackrod Rally Yorkshire. Sadly for Steve, it wasn't enough to keep his championship bid in tact but was still pleased with the result, saying "We really pushed in the last four stages, it was the drive of my life, we went hard and fast. It's fantastic to win at Swansea as it's rallying territory that Marcus Dodd and Roger Duckworth know a lot better than me, so I was an outsider ! It feels great to take the win , I'm really pleased."
Marcus Dodd and Andrew Bargery wrapped-up this year's Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship title as they finished second overall, the Swansea Bay National Rally the final piece in the plan to take the honours for the fifth time.
Dodd, who has now won the championship three years in a row, said at the finish "It has been great and brilliant to win the championship. It is just a shame we didn't win the event but it's good to win the championship here. We backed off a bit and took it steady because we knew we only needed second place. We have won three events this year and finished second in two, it's nearly been perfect."
There was an exchange from the top spot throughout the event. Perez took the lead from the start and held it until stage three when the penalty slipped him down the order to third as Roger Duckworth and Mark Broomfield took over in the lead with their Subaru Impreza WRC, only for a gearbox problem for Duckworth on stage four to mean that Dodd then headed the leaderboard. He held onto it until stage eight with just 1.9 seconds separating him from Perez but a final push by the former champion saw him finish with the victory.
Duckworth and co-driver Mark Broomfield were third in their Subaru Impreza WRC whilst Irishmen Daniel Barry and Martin Brady took third in the Pirelli MSA Gravel Championship and with their fourth position the overall honours in the Production Cup and the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge in their Mitsubishi Evo.
Icelandic driver Daniel Sigurdarson and co-driver Andrew Sankey took fifth overall in their Mitsubishi Evo X and 18 points in the series followed by the Ford Focus WRC of John Lloyd and Pauline Gullick. Wug Utting and Bob Stokoe were seventh after a trouble-free run in their Subaru Impreza followed by Harry Dodd and Welsh co-driver Alan Cook and Peter Egerton and Jamie Edwards. Trevor Martin and Ray Cleghorn rounded-up the top ten and took sixth in the championship in their Subaru Impreza. The Mintex Two-Wheel Drive Challenge was won by Trevor Baynham and Anthony Bailey in their Mk2 Ford Escort followed by Nathan O'Connor and Jessica Rogan in their Citroen C2 R2.
Local crews had success and failure alike, Huw Jefferies and Avarina Connor taking their Subaru Impreza to a class win and the mixed crew award, also finishing fourth overall in the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Clubman event, with Neath men John Evans and Neil Featherstone an unlucky thirteen seconds away from a win in their class, but still driving courageously to finish second in their Ford Escort. Swansea driver Phil Morgan – always a Swansea Bay Rally supporter – also drove his Ford Escort to a second place, teamed with co-driver Paul Griffiths. Tony MacWhirter and Steve Green retired their Mitsubishi Evo on the final stage of the day, and Nik Elsmore broke his Mitsubishi’s gearbox at the end of the second special stage in the National contest,
The Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship returns for round seven on the Woodpecker Rally on Saturday 4 September, further information on the championship available at www.gravelrally.co.uk.
