Bentham’s David Wright had a successful Plains rally last Saturday (16th May) when he took third place overall and moved into second place in the BTRDA rally championship.Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson contested the rally in a GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9 backed by Grove Hill Garage and Kumho Tyres and they got their event off to a quick start with fourth place on the opening stage, a short blast around a woodyard near Welshpool.
The rally then moved to the gravel roads in the forests of Dyfi and Gartheiniog for three stages prior to a service halt. Wright took a third fastest time and two fourths to hold fourth place overall at service behind the Peugeot Cosworth of Andrew Burton and the World Rally cars of Will Nicholls and Hugh Hunter.
“We only got the engine fitted back in the car on the Thursday before the rally so we didn’t push too hard early on and we were surprised to see that we were up with the leading crews,” said Wright.
“The stages were very slippery but we had a good set up and no problems with the car.”
Wright maintained his pace on the following four forest stages and with Burton retiring on stage eight he moved up to third overall. Another run of the woodyard stage ended the rally and Wright successful completed the stage to arrive at the finish in Welshpool in third.
“We had a big moment at the finish of the seventh stage when we slid into a bank but fortunately it was as we crossed the line so it didn’t affect our time.”
“Other than that we had a problem free run and we enjoyed the slightly dryer conditions in the afternoon stages. I'm delighted with the result.”
“I’d like to thank Giles at GPM for preparing the car and getting the engine fitted in time and also Kumho Tyres and Grove Hill Garage for their support.”
The result moves Wright up to second place in the BTRDA championship standings with the next round to be held in June at the Dukeries rally in Nottinghamshire.
