Elfyn Evans and Craig Parry secured their third win of the 2016 British Rally Championship season in Wales.
Evans mastered the mixed conditions in his DMACK British Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 after an early scare on the opening stage with a spin, as well as on the second stage where he had a valve problem.
Nonetheless, these issues did not affect Evans on his ‘second’ home rally as he dominated the mixed gravel and tarmac stages to win twelve of the fifteen stages, securing the win by over a minute and eleven seconds. Evans extends his lead in the British Rally Championship to twenty-nine points, ahead of his fellow countryman Tom Cave.
Cave drew first blood in the opening stage in his Ford Fiesta R5, leading the rally until the third stage. The Aberdyfi driver could not live with the pace of his fellow Welshman, securing second place and a third podium finish of the year. Northern Ireland’s Desi Henry in his SKODA Fabia R5 secured the final podium position in third.
British Rally Championship Media Office
Scotland’s David Bogie in the other SKODA Fabia R5 put his run of bad lack from the previous two rallies to finish fourth after suffering turbo issues on the final day. Josh Moffett was fifth, while Jonathan Greer, Rhys Yates, Jamie Anderson, Ollie Mellors and Thomas Preston rounded out the top ten finishers in the Nicky Grist Stages.
Nicky Grist Stages winner Evans said “We are happy with how the event went and it wasn’t easy as the conditions were very challenging. We had a spin on the first stage and from there we had to bring it together. When we got the lead, and when things were difficult, I had spare capacity to keep it calm.”
Tom Cave was pleased to finish second, ahead of his fellow Welshman Evans, saying “I am very pleased with second as it is good for the team and for the championship. Things have progressed even more this weekend, more than we had hoped. Our pace on both surfaces was encouraging especially on Tarmac on the second day.
“We knew it would be difficult to beat Elfyn this weekend but I have learnt a lot from chasing him and want to be even closer on the Ulster next time out. Second in the championship is good but we will keep working hard and keep making progress forward.”
Henry added “This isn’t a bad a bad habit to have. We may have to quit the day job and do rallying full-time! We are trying to make improvements every rally and we are getting closer to the guys in front, in this very competitive championship. We are really looking forward to the Ulster, it’s a great rally and very close to home and we want to move up a few steps on the podium.”
BRC 2016 Nicky Grist Stages – Final Result
1. Elfyn Evans/Craig Parry Ford Fiesta R5
2. Tom Cave/James Morgan Ford Fiesta R5 +1:11.4
3. Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan Skoda Fabia R5 +2:01.8
4. David Bogie/James O’Reilly Skoda Fabia R5 +2:48.5
5. Josh Moffett/John Rowan Ford Fiesta R5 +3:05.9
6. Jonathan Greer/Kirsty Riddick Citroen DS3 R5 +3:08.0
7. Rhys Yates/Tom Woodburn Ford Fiesta R5 +3:30.0
8. Jamie Anderson/Ross Whittock Ford Fiesta R5 +5:38.2
9. Ollie Mellors/Ian Windress Proton Satria S2000 +5:48.7
10. Thomas Preston/Jack Morton Skoda Fabia R5 +5:58.7
