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- Edwards Edges Towards British Title After Third Rally Win
By Paul Evans
North Wales crew Matt Edwards/Darren Garrod made it three wins out of three to extend their lead in the Prestone MSA British Rally Championship to 39 points, after winning the John Mulholland Motors Ulster Rally.
The Llandudno driver mastered the mixed conditions in his Swift Group M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 to win the 100-stage mile event by 26.6 seconds.
Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes finished second in their Fiesta R5, with David Bogie/John Rowan third in a ŠKODA Fabia R5. Rhys Yates had led the event and was battling for victory when he made a mistake on SS9, and the time lost saw him and Aberdare co-driver James Morgan drop to fourth in their Fabia R5. Alex Laffey, together with Aberystwyth co-driver Patrick Walsh, survived a number of spins to complete the top five in their Fiesta R5.
Norway’s Steve Røkland, co-driven by west Wales’ Dai Roberts, won the Junior British Rally Championship category in his Peugeot 208 R2. James Williams was aiming for another good JBRC result in his Vauxhall Adam R2, but the Newcastle Emlyn youngster, co-driven for the first time by Dale Furniss, missed out on a possible podium finish after going off and damaging the radiator.
“The event unfolded for us and we didn’t go into it, or any individual stage, with any goals,” said Edwards. “We drove to a level which was comfortable and pushed when we could but it was important to drive to the conditions. Darren did another faultless job, he kept reading the notes and I kept driving and we didn’t put any more pressure than we needed on ourselves, despite the championship goal in the back of our minds.
“The Isle of Man is next and it’s an event we really enjoy and it gives us an air of comfort where as the Ulster was going to be a real challenge. We had never done these stages before and this event hasn’t treated me well in the past either. To go to the Isle of Man, where we’ve gone well before, and get another win in the bag would be brilliant and we cannot wait to try and continue this run.”
