IT WAS an impressive return to top class British rallying for Tom Cave when he and co-driver Dale Furniss took an emphatic victory at Saturday’s Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally.
Cave from Aberdyfi was joined by Llanrhaeadr’s Dale Furniss in a Volkswagon Polo Gti R5 in competition for the first time.
They stamped their mark on the event right from the start and pulled away from 2023 British Rally Championship runner-up Garry Pearson to emerge the victor at the ceremonial finish on Llandudno promenade.
Cave said: “I was thrilled to get the win. My pre-rally nerves were sky high but we soon got back into the groove and after stage one we settled into a nice rhythm winning five out of the six stages.”
Pearson secured a Motorsport UK British Rally Championship victory at the weekend by taking second overall in the final round of the 2023 season.
The Llandudno-based event once again offered up some of the best stages in the world, courtesy of the north Wales forests which have seen World Rally Championship title fights played out over the decades.
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The rally also formed a round of the 2023 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship with most titles still up for grabs.
Russ Thompson and Stephen Link won their first Pirelli Welsh win since the 2019 Woodpecker Rally – the year in which they finished runner-up in the championship.
The Clitheroe driver found himself in a big Pirelli Welsh lead after Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear retired their Delta Salvage/Witham Group Ford Fiesta R5 at the end of the morning loop of stages.
Having secured the Welsh Challenge title last time out, Martyn Andrews scored his best Pirelli Welsh overall result of the season with second place, and pick up the special 4WD Witham Group award.
Two punctures in the opening two stages didn’t help Geoff Phelps/Colin Jenkins and now sits level on points with Ricky Crone and Montgomery co-driver Ifan Devine who overshot a junction on SS1 and had to reverse back – but after that he enjoyed another good run in his two-litre Toyota 3SGE engined MS Textiles Ford Escort Mk2.
The Presteigne Tyre Services-supported Fiesta ST Griffiths brothers, Callum and Liam, enjoyed a great battle in the OnThePaceNote-supported Welsh Junior Championship – with absolutely nothing left on the table on a big push through the final stage.
Liam, co-driven by Daniel James, was 4.2 seconds quicker through SS5 despite a visit to a ditch but it was not enough to overturn the result, as Callum, co-driven by William Lewis, took the Welsh Junior victory by a mere 10.4 seconds – despite sliding up a bank on the final stage and picking up a slow puncture.
It was mission accomplished for class W2 leader Dylan Fowler Bishop, co-driven by Dan Evans, who drove for a finish in his Restruct Nissan Micra to keep his Welsh Junior title hopes alive.
He is now tied on points with Machynlleth’s Gethin Price, co-driven by Sion Rowlands, who had an equally good run in his RKP Haulage Nissan Micra – despite coming closed to rolling the car on SS3.
It’s game set and match in class W8 with a third class win of the season securing the title for Andrew Stokes and Newtown’s Jonny Evans in their Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1.
The seventh and final round of the 2023 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship is the 45th Wyedean Stages Rally on Saturday, November 18th.
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