Sam Touzel has won his first Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship event after a scorching performance in his Smart Scaffolding Ford Fiesta Rally2 on the Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally (20/21 June).
Co-driven by Max Freeman, the Jersey driver recorded a clean sweep of seven fastest times on Friday night’s opening leg to go into the overnight halt with a 24 second lead. He set a further six fastest and three second fastest times on Saturday’s nine stages to dominate the event in his PB Engineering-prepared car to beat his nearest BTRDA championship rivals by 1min 26secs at the end of the 16 stage / 67.57 stage mile event.
“We’ve finally done it and I’m over the moon,” said Sam.
“It been such a hard rally. You kind of need a different set-up for each stage, so you just have to have your good bits and settled bits to do well here.
“It’s been a massive effort from everybody, like people at home, family, friends, the team, Max [Freeman] and myself. Callum Black and Matt Edwards have also given me a lot of help. I can’t thank them enough, because they don’t have to give up their time to do this, but as you can see it’s definitely working. Our pace is definitely starting to come forward. I’m starting to feel a lot more confident in this car and have a lot more positivity and trust.”
Hugh Brunton was second for much of Friday, before dropping time on the first run over the Oyster Catcher stage (SS7) and dropping to sixth. Co-driven by Richard Wardle, he pushed hard in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 on Saturday and got back into the Protyre Asphalt runners-up spot with three stages to go.
Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke made a cautious start and were faster on Saturday thanks to some overnight set-up changes to their North Road Garage/Guttercrest Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Only 10 seconds separated them from second-place points at the finish, although the three-time Protyre Asphalt champions maintain their overall lead in the series – albeit just one point ahead of Touzel.
Brad Cole brought a few upgrades to his Trick Motorsport-prepared and East Budleigh Garage-run Hydroline Solutions Fiesta Rally2 and used them to good effect. Co-driven by Jamie Vaughan, the Somerset driver had a few issues with the car going into limp mode and having to turn everything off and on to get going again, but an otherwise great run was rewarded with his best finish in the new car, taking home fourth-place points. The result rockets Brad up from ninth to fourth in the drivers’ points table.
John Stone lost time on Friday night with a bonnet pin failure and bent steering after a heavy landing. He and co-driver Keir Beaton fought back brilliantly on Saturday to clinch fifth-place points in their Legend Performance Engineering Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. The result moves John up from 11th to fifth in the drivers’ standings.
Huw James/Lewis Sim were once again the top 2WD finishers, scoring sixth-place overall points in their A&D Tyres Escort Mk2 – despite nursing a gearbox problem for most of the event. The result increases their lead in both Class C and the Escort Challenge.
Roger Henderson enjoyed a great run in his DKMS We Delete Blood Cancer Fiesta Rally2 to take home seventh-place points. With two wins and a second, Tommi Henderson already has one hand on the Junior co-driver’s title.
Michael Harbour/Cameron Dunn were next in their Hamilton Haulage/VS Pro Fiesta R5 – the former Escort class B11 champions gaining in speed and confidence with every stage mile in their new car.
Nathan Evans/Rhys Edwards were on sensational form in their 911 Sport/JD Tyres/The Kitchen Installers Renault Clio 3 RS, finishing second Protyre Asphalt 2WD and taking home maximum Class E points and ninth-place points overall.
It was an equally impressive run by Luke Constantine, who strengthened his challenge for both the Class F and Protyre Asphalt Junior driver titles when he and co-driver Ifan Devine won their class and took home a magnificent Protyre Asphalt overall top 10 result in their Constantine Motorsport Opel Adam. Their run included a 13th fastest overall time on SS15 as they picked up a Protyre Asphalt 2WD podium result.
Max Murray/Matty Owen had been flying in their BVS Vehicles Citroën DS3 R3T and missed out on an overall top 10 Protyre Asphalt finish by just one second. They did come home a stunning second Protyre Asphalt 2WD and maintain their challenge for the Class C title.
Bryn and Brian Jones’ fabulous W Jones & Son Escort Mk2 won the Dynamic Fluids Best Presented Car Award, as selected and presented by championship scruntineer Geoff Doe. They enjoyed a great run and picked up second-place Class E points which moves them up to second in the points table.
Chris Thompson/Mark Mason enjoyed a good run to score their first Class C podium of the season in their Motoscope Escort Mk2.
Tommy Graham/Mark Pickering scored their best result of the season in their R/S Motors Leyburn Escort Mk1, coming home second in Class F. They remain third in the standings and are now just five points off the lead.
Andy Scott/Ian Robertson clipped a chicane on Saturday, with the large bale of hay attempting to chase their Escort Mk2 down the road. They continued apace to finish fourth in Class C.
Anthony Jevons/Margaret Kelly remain in the lead of Class F after another strong and consistent performance in their Fiesta Rally2. Their lead is down to one point, with Luke breathing down their necks.
Andrew O’Hanlon/Kevin Hogan won Class G in their Mini Cooper S.
Darrell Taylor/Cat Lund lost turbo boost on their Dom Buckley Motorsport-prepared Fiesta Rally2 on SS5 and missed the last two stages on Friday night – picking up 55 minutes of time penalties as a result. They restarted on Saturday and after a good run were the final placed Protyre Asphalt crew home, gaining valuable points in the process.
Mark Holmes/Bonnie Papper landed heavily after a jump on SS3 and damaged their ND Civils/Mark Holmes Auto Engineering Fiesta R5’s radiator. They nursed the car through the next stage, pulling over to let the engine temperature cool down, and having taken them four hours to limp the car back to service they decided not to risk incurring more potential damage by restarting on Saturday.
Nathan Bolton/Phil Kenny didn’t survive Leg 1 either, putting their Monza Installs/Legend Performance Fiesta Rally2 off the road on Friday night.
Alternator failure in their Team Pit Stop Escort Mk2 forced Neil Jones/Alan Thomas out on Friday night, while gearbox issues with their Escort Mk2 ended Jake Smith/Dave Tortoishell’s event on Saturday.
With a number of upgrades, including a new sequential gearbox, Jack Edwards/Adam Burkill were looking forward to a good run in their rapid Mold Tyres/Porthmadog Holiday Let Vauxhall Nova. Unfortunately, too much damage put them out of the event.
Shane Gamble/Julie Perry retired their historic-spec Mini with engine problems.
Action from the Argyll Rally, which was broadcast live, is available to view for free on the Special Stage TV Facebook and YouTube channels, plus specialstage.tv.
Round 5 of the 2025 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship is the R Kings Down Rally on Saturday 19 July.
Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally – top 10 registered 2025 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship finishers:
1. Sam Touzel/Max Freeman (Ford Fiesta Rally2)….56mins 58secs
2. Hugh Brunton/Richard Wardle (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)….58mins 24secs
3. Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)….58mins 34secs
4. Brad Cole/Jamie Vaughan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)….1hr 02mins 24secs
5. John Stone/Keir Beaton (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)….1hr 03mins 25secs
6. Huw James/Lewis Sim (Ford Escort Mk2)….1hr 03mins 45secs
7. Roger Henderson/Tommi Henderson (Ford Fiesta Rally2)….1hr 04mins 21secs
8. Michael Harbour/Cameron Dunn (Ford Fiesta R5)….1hr 05mins 19secs
9. Nathan Evans/Rhys Edwards (Renault Clio 3 RS)….1hr 05mins 23secs
10. Luke Constantine/Ifan Devine (Opel Adam R2)….1hr 07mins 28secs
2025 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship – top 6 drivers’ overall after Round 4:
1. Jason Pritchard….110pts
2. Sam Touzel….109pts
3. Neil Roskell….80pts
4. Brad Cole….69pts
5. John Stone….63pts
6. Stephen Simpson….62pts
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