Craig Jones is aiming to clinch the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship class B14 title, despite crashing out of the PokerStars Rally.
The Brecon driver led the class going into the double header round of the series, but hit a bank on a section of road between two cattlegrids on the famous Druidale stage (SS3) and damaged his RHL and Jay Jays backed Mitsubishi Evo 9.
Co-driven by Shaun Layland, Craig is now fourth in B14 but is only seven points behind class leader Adrian Spencer.
Craig had been fourth in the overall drivers’ standings arriving on the Isle of Man but has slipped to 14th having missed the opportunity to score points on both Rounds 3 and 4. He is however only 10 points shy of an overall top 10 position and 23 points away from a place in the top five.
And he’ll aim to put the disappointment of the PokerStars behind him by ending the 2021 series on a high on the Ford Parts Cheviot Stages Rally on Sunday 24 October.
“We were devastated to retire from the PokerStars on the Friday night,” admitted Craig.
“With Melvyn Evans and Damian Cole already off the road and out of the event, it should have been a case of easy points for us, and we weren’t pushing that hard.
“We’d only done one stage, because stage two had been cancelled. Then on Druidale we were caught out on an eight left and hit the bank with the rear of the car. The impact snapped a hub, driveshaft and suspension leg, effectively leaving us on three wheels. There was too much damage to repair in service so that was our event over.”