Sam Touzel/Max Freeman lead the East Riding Stages Rally at tonight’s overnight halt after a tremendous performance over the opening four ultra-fast night-time stages in their brand-new Michelin-shod Smart Scaffolding/Trade Centre UK Fiesta Rally2.
The defending Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Champions said they felt “pretty comfortable” straight away in the new M-Sport-built and PB Engineering-run Ford and head to bed with a 4.8 second advantage over their nearest BTRDA championship rivals after 17.76 stage mile.
As reigning Protyre BTRDA Series and five-time Pirelli Welsh rally champions, Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear are well known for their title-winning runs on gravel yet led the Protyre Asphalt brigade after the second of two Westwood spectator stages. They are Touzel’s closest Protyre Asphalt rivals tonight in their Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5.
Hugh Brunton/Drew Sturrock complete the Protyre Asphalt top three after a clean and fast run in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Contender for star of the night are Lee Edwards/Sam Spencer, who are the top 2WD and fourth Protyre Asphalt crew after an astonishing performance in their V6-engined Blakemore’s Autos/Evans Construction/P&B Tyres/Bailey Performance Escort G3.
A fantastic team and family effort got Brad Cole/Jamie Vaughan to the start following an untimely eve-of-event mechanical drama – and the Trick Motorsport Hydroline Solutions Fiesta Rally2 crew repaid them with a fast and precise start to the event. They head to bed fifth Protyre Asphalt crew.
There was big drama for Neil Roskell/Jack Morton on SS3 when they spun their ND Civils/Witham Oils Fiesta Rally2 backwards into the scenery. They were able to continue, albeit with significant front left panel damage, an ill handling car and dented confidence. They finished the night 42.6 seconds behind the leaders.
David Wright/Jane Nicol had a slight overshoot on SS4 (Great Wold which, at 11.47 miles, is the longest stage of the event), but otherwise enjoyed a good evening in their GPM/DamperTek/Grove Hill Garage Fiesta Rally2
Night-time stages are no friend of John Stone, but he and co-driver Rhys Stoneman got through Leg 1 without any problems in their Legend Performance Volkswagen Polo R5 GTI.
Roger Duckworth/Alun Cook went off the road avoiding another car that stopped without warning in front of them on SS2 and collected a puncture. They then had problems changing the wheel at the end of the stage, meaning their Technia Fiesta R5 was running further down the order than it should have been.
Rob Swann/Tom Woodburn lost time stuck at a tight hairpin on SS1 in their Fiesta WRC but finished the night happy, while Darrell Taylor/Martin Brady hit a bale early on in their Dom Buckley Motorsport Fiesta Rally2 and struggled in the darkness with wayward headlights.
Jack Ives/Louis Baines suffered a big off at the split for SS3 and 4, with spectators having to push their Escort out of a field.
The rally continues tomorrow (Sunday 22 February) with a further 10 stages totalling 54.66 miles. It contains two runs over Seaton (7 miles), Rise (3.37 miles), Ellerby (7.54 miles) and Swine (7.95 miles), plus two runs over Westwood. The first car is due to arrive at the finish in the centre of Beverley at just after 15:00.
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