Battling Jones Brothers Triumph At Brawdy

By Simon Gronow

Brothers Wayne and Malcolm Jones battled for top honours at Pembrokeshire Motor Club’s Brawdy Stages – and while the former won the event outright, the latter finished second and took home maximum J D Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Championship points.

The fast roads on MOD land suited the Darrians and winners of the previous Rali Menai round Malcolm Jones/Rhys Jones proved to be the Welsh Tarmacadam Championship pacesetters once again.

It was Wayne, driving a similar Darrian T90 GTR, that won – finishing a mere eight seconds ahead of his brother, who set fastest time on the final two stages in a big effort to reverse the result.

But with Wayne not registered for the Welsh Tarmacadam Championship, it was Malcolm who scored maximum series points for the second event running.

Jason and Lee Wilson finished third, albeit two and a half minutes behind the top two, in their Darrian T90 GTR.

Paul and Mathias Fowden had been challenging the leaders, but were forced to retire their Subaru Impreza WRC S11 from a podium position with an electrical fault on the final stages.

Despite losing time with two punctures, Chris Simmons finished fourth overall in his Darrian, picking up second placed Welsh Tarmacadam points.

Simmons finished 12 seconds ahead of Damian Cole in a Citroën C3 Rally 2, the Get Connected Team driver losing time with two spins during the day.

Competing with Cole for the first time was Lucie Gutteridge, who continues to lead the Welsh Tarmacadam co-drivers’ section.

Not only did Darrian crews take the first four positions, but they also took the up to two litre class honours, with

Richard Merriman, navigated by Emma Todd, finished sixth overall and first in the two litre class in his Darrian T90.

Finishing second in class was Ian Godney, who ended the day in ninth position in his Suzuki Swift, whilst Russell Davies finished third with Richard Suter alongside in another Darrian T90, despite suffering with a slipping clutch.

Not making it to the finish though was Carl Fricker, who retired his Darrian with mechanical issues.

After retiring on Rali Menai, things went better on this occasion for Marc Mayes, who set some quick times over the opening stages before losing time with the throttle sticking open on his Vauxhall Nova.

Once the problem had been rectified, Mayes went on to win the 1600cc class, finishing a fine 11th overall.

Rivals Christian Howells/Dan Evans lost time after spinning their similar car, whilst Kevin Davies was the third of the class contenders to finish despite oil cooler issues with their Peugeot 207.

Having a day long battle for class honours were Leighton Smith/Karen Phelps in their Peugeot 205 GTi and Mathew Curzon/Fiona Crump in a Ford Escort Mk2.

After pushing too hard on cold tyres on the first stage, Smith spun his Peugeot before suffering day long gear selection issues due to a broken gearbox mounting. Following repairs, he and Phelps were forced to push hard over the final stages but managed to hold on and secure the class win.

Curzon/Crump had to be content with second in class on this occasion, finishing one place ahead of Chris Gifford who took his first championship finish of the year in his Peugeot 205 GTi.

Keith Daniels overcame a misfire in his Vauxhall Corsa and two spins during the day before leading the up to 1400cc crews’ home, whilst Mydrian Harries sadly retired his Vauxhall Nova after just five miles of the event with wheel stud failure.

Others who failed to finish included Thomas Cooper whose Mitsubishi Lancer cut out and he lost too much time restarting it, and Phil Turner/Simon Anthony whose Škoda Fabia suffered from braking issues and loss of water.