Wright sails to Plains podium

Bentham’s David Wright continued his run of rally success last weekend when he finished in a brilliant second place on the Plains rally, just one week after winning the Tour of Hamsterley.

The Welshpool-based event was round four of the BTRDA rally championship and after two retirements on the early championship rounds Wright was keen to get a strong result in the mid-Wales forests.

The rally kicked off with a stage in Gartheiniog forest which, at over 10 miles, provided a stern test for the crews. Wright was immediately on the pace in his Kumho Tyres, Drenth, York Brewery, Proflex and Grove Hill Garage-supported GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9, finishing the stage in second place.

Wright went one better in the following Dyfi stage as he was fastest through the twisty forest tracks. Three stages in Hafren and Sweet Lamb were next and Wright kept up his challenge for the win with another fastest time backed up by two third quickests.

A storming run through the second run of Gartheiniog saw Wright lie just three seconds off the lead going into the final Woodyard stage. Despite the stage only being one mile long Wright went flat out for the win but he overshot a corner which lost him time, meaning that he had to settle for second place.

“It was disappointing to have the overshoot as I think we would’ve been very close to taking the win,” said Wright. “I’m extremely happy with the result though, it has been an incredible few days winning in Hamsterley and then finishing second here. It has made all the hard work we’ve done on the car worthwhile. Thank you to all the sponsors and the team that have helped me get such fantastic results on the last two events.”

As well as his rally success Wright received some other good news with an invitation to take part in the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed at the end of June.

“I’m really looking forward to taking part in the festival, it’s an honour to be invited. I’ll be using the car on the rally circuit and I’ll be doing my best to put on a good show for all the spectators!”

Image courtesy Simon Clarke

Images from the Stravaigers Lodge Gravel Sprint

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Monaghan fights back to take second in class

Kev Monghan made an excellent fight back from a stage one disaster to take second in class on last weekend’s Manx National rally, round two of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship.

The rally kicked off on Friday evening with a stage that started in Port Erin town centre before heading up a hill out of the town over a very testing series of bends and crests. Monaghan and co-driver Dave Jones had a good run through the stage but as they crossed the finish line a joint on the driveshaft sheared which meant they had no drive in their Pirtek-backed Vauxhall Corsa Kit Car.

They managed to get back to service where Neil Thompson and Derek Belbin set about repairing the car, determined that it would be ready for Saturday’s action. Thanks to their efforts the car was ready to go again and with nothing to lose Monaghan pushed hard on all of Saturday’s stages.

With no further problems Monaghan was able to climb back up the leaderboard to claim vital championship points with a second in class finish.

“We were lucky that the rally rules meant that we could take a penalty and restart on Saturday,” said Monaghan. “The guys in service did a fantastic job in getting the car fixed and to get points for second in class was a huge unexpected bonus after our disastrous Friday night.”

“Thanks to Pirtek Tyne & Wear, F&R Belbin, GB Lubricants, Playskool Motorsport for their support and to Dave Jones for co-driving.”

Monaghan will continue his championship campaign on the Jim Clark National rally at the start of June.

Image courtesy Jess Quirk

Images from BCCC Epynt

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Wright returns to winning ways in Hamsterley

Rally driver David Wright, from Bentham, put his disappointing start to the 2012 rally season behind him when took victory on the Tour of Hamsterley event last weekend.

After retirements on both the Wyedean and Malcolm Wilson rallies Wright decided to take some time out from competing to make some modifications to his Kumho Tyres, Drenth, York Brewery, Proflex and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9. With the modifications finished last week he entered the Hamsterley forest event as a test ahead of the BTRDA championship Plains rally next weekend.

Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson made a fantastic start to the event, setting fastest times on the first three stages to lead by 34 seconds. However, most of that lead was lost on stage four when a puncture meant that Wright was only 7th fastest.

Wright fought back from the puncture to take another fastest time on the fifth and final stage which meant he won the event by 7 seconds.

“We had a brilliant event, the car is absolutely awesome, and the stages were fantastic – really fast and flowing which suited us,” said Wright. “It was frustrating to lose the time with the puncture but I am delighted to have been fastest on most of the stages. It’s great for Michael to win his local event too.”

“We’ll do the Plains rally next weekend and I’m feeling very confident that we can get a good result. We’ve nothing to lose after retiring on the first two BTRDA rounds so we will be pushing hard to battle with the World Rally class cars.”


Image courtesy Steve Pugh