Dukeries Motor Club hosted the third round of the 24/25 Protyre Circuit Rally Championship last weekend, the TEGIWA Donington Rally, with victory going to Dukeries own John Griffiths and Emma Morrison in their Skoda Fabia R5.
It was a wet start to the day but reigning Champions Michael Igoe / Will Atkins managed to open up a two second gap over Griffiths in their Citroen C3 Rally2 on the opening run, with Chris West / Keith Hounslow’s Peugeot 306 Maxi a further 14 seconds back in third.
But on stage two Griffiths had reduced the lead gap to just one second over Igoe, “it was just too stiff on the first stage and I didn’t really have a feel for the car,” but we softened it up and went full wet for stage two,” said Griffiths. Igoe had opted for a fairly cautions start too, “we didn’t run it in full stage mode for the first two stages,” he added.
While Championship leaders John & Alex Stone’s VW Polo R5 had consolidated third, Josh Payton / Jamie Vaughan’s Escort was up to fourth, “we steamed up on stage one when the heated screen failed,” said Payton.
Third after stage one but West’s rally was over, when he was disqualified for wrong slotting at a split, allowing Sean & Colin Quigley’s Fiesta Rally2 to leap up to fifth. “We had gone wrong, but pulled back onto the correct line but we were deemed to have gone the wrong way and were disqualified, “said co-driver Hounslow.
Mark Jasper / Don Whyatt’s Metro 6R4 completed the early top six, after Dukeries Alasdair Stables / Neil Jones’ Chevette HSR collected a maximum too.
“We had spun on stage one and went off, so it took us a while to get back on,” Quigley explained. While up into seventh were Josh & Tamsyn Davey’s Darrian. “We had an excursion on stage one, went through the gravel but managed to get back on OK, said Josh.
Tony Robinson / Paul Spooner’s Skoda Fabia R5 was next up, after a “cautious” start, followed by Tom Stockdale / Neil Chambers’ BMW, with Tony & Martin Davies’ Darrian the rest of the top 10.
Although Igoe had started stage three with a one second lead, he finished it 23 seconds down, after picking up a 30 second penalty. “I had gone into full stage mode, but came into a chicane too fast. I didn’t hit it but if I hadn’t taken to the grass I would have,” he said. With Stone still a clear third, Payton had a couple of overshoots too, which cost him dearly, as Quigley, Jasper and Josh/Tamsyn Davey’s Darrian all moved ahead, despite Davey’s Darrian picking up a misfire.
Igoe took three seconds off Griffiths on stage four, but with two stages left, it was a tall order to get back on terms., with the gap still at 20 seconds.
With Stone and Quigley settled in third and fourth, Jasper lost a couple of places to Tony Robinson/Paul Spooner’s Skoda Fabia R5 and Tom Stockdale/Neil Chambers’ BMW Compact 3V6, while behind seventh placed Jasper, were Tony & Martin Davies’ Darrian, David Jenkins / Phil Hopkins’ Mitsubishi E6 and Alfie Threlfall / Patrick Cross’s Honda Civic, having all moved up after Payton broke a driveshaft.
Griffiths put his second consecutive victory in the Championship virtually beyond doubt with a stage to go, increasing the advantage to 27 seconds. “It didn’t feel like the tyres were biting as it still felt so slippery,” said Igoe as his hopes of victory were all but gone. Fortunately the rain had stopped during the afternoon but the track still left grip at a premium. “I just took it so steady, keeping away from chicanes, braking early and just playing it safe,” said Griffiths, which despite losing 10 seconds to Igoe on the final run, was still the victor with 17 seconds to spare.
While Griffiths completed the day with the cautionary run, Igoe had more drama on the final stage, “the water pump failure light showed on the instruments and the temperature was soaring. I just hoped for the best and kept going,” he said as he managed to retain second. 41 seconds further back in third was enough for Stone to retain the Championship lead over the winter break. “Apart from traffic, we had a great day,” he said.
Quigley ran trouble free for the rest of the rally too to retain fourth, with Jasper having retaken Robinson for fifth on the last stage, as they both rounded off the top six. Stockdale’s hopes of retaining a top 10 finish ended when his BMW had a belt failure on stage five and so Jenkins moved to take seventh. “I had a double off on stage four, it was a bit of a wild ride,” he said.
Davies’ Darrian was eighth and also secured the overall Heart of England title, with Chris Woodhouse/Lucy Wilding’s Peugeot 208 R2 and Mick/Ben Jowes’ Escort completing the top 10, have tied on time.
Class A was the fight for overall honours, so it was Griffiths, from Igoe, Stone, Quigley and Robinson, while Jasper/Whyatt’s 6R4 topped Class B all day, with Jenkins/Hopkins Evo 6 retaining second throughout. Ian Ross/John Petrie’s Impreza were third until stage four, when they were usurped by Rally sponsor Luke Sedzikowski/ Andrew Ford’s Evo 9.
With a stage to go Stephen Johansen/Colin Stephens’ Impreza was third, only for Sedzikwoski to claim in back on the final run.
Ross would have been third in Class, but picked up a 30 second chicane penalty, which dropped him to seventh, behind the Impreza of Nigel/Louise Wetton and Nigel Beaumont/Dylan Thomas’ Mitsubishi E8.
Payton/Vaughan’s Escort and Stockdale/Chambers BMW had been in charge of Class C from the start. But Payton broke a driveshaft on stage four and Stockdale was out with a stage to go.
Simon Belcher/Kerry Pullen’s BMW had been second but it was Martin Stockdale/Ross Hammond’s BMW that finally sealed the win, with Belcher second and George Clarke/Adam Burkill’s Mini Cooper S third. Stables recovered from his earlier penalty to take fourth, with Martin Hodgson/Matt Wood’s Escort and James Garner/Jordan Joines’ Darrian the rest of the class top six.
In Class D it was West/Hounslow’s Peugeot from the Davies’ Darrian after the opening stage. But with West disqualified, the Darrian’s of the Davey’s and the Davies’ swapped and it the former taking charge. But stage four claimed Davey with an oil cooler problem, leaving Davies with a comfortable win. Alfie Threlfall/Patrick Cross’s Honda was briefly in second, before it became a duel between the Escort’s of Stephen/Chris Grundy and Mick/Ben Jowers. Grundy started the final stage two second up, but Jowers sealed it on the last run with just one second to spare.
Chris Stevens/Stephen Moyses’ Escort was fourth, only five seconds off Grundy, leaving Threlfall’s Honda and the Lotus Elise of Joseph/Daniel Duffy to round off the top six.
Woodhouse/Wilding’s Peugeot led Class E all day, but Joe Piggott/John Fellowes had to fight hard to regain second in their Citroen Saxo, after breaking a driveshaft on stage two. They managed to retake Harry Pinchin/Colin Jenkins’ Citroen C2 on stage four. Tom Hutchings/Nick Artley’s VW Polo, Ben Bloor/Harriet Worth’s Fiesta R2 and Jon Hunt/Tom Eckett’s Honda Civic were the rest of the Class top six.
Matt/Ade Walk’s Fiesta was never headed in Class F, with Adam Bickley/Richard Mills’ MGZR a daylong second. Chris Worrall/Jonathan Hudson’s Micra clinched third, and also sealed the East Midlands Championship. Thomas/Paul Alderton’s MG ZR came home fourth, followed by Owain/Glyn Thomas’ Peugeot 106 Rallye and James/David Palmer-Smith’s Vauxhall Corsa.
David Fox/Paul Price’s MG ZR won Class G, from Bill Douglas/Andy O’Hanlon’s Volvo 244.
There’s now a break until January 18th when the Protyre Circuit Rally Championship recommences with the Brands Hatch Rally.
