MINI RALLY CHALLENGE 2023 ROUND 1: NORTH WALES RALLY

Mick Smith and Jacob Neal emerged from four treacherously slippery stages to win their respective classes as the Mini Rally Challenge 2023 got under way at the Rally North Wales.

Mick and co-driver Paul Stringer used all their years’ experience to go overall fastest by 43 seconds; their CS Developments-prepared R53 machine ran faultlessly as they set four consecutive fastest times to beat Gordon Davies / Jack Morris’s similar machine, with Tim Green / Jordan Joines only nine seconds behind , also in an R53.

Gordon and new-for 2023 co-driver Jack had no mechanical problems as they contested the full eight-stage RNW interclub event, using the extra mileage to gain experience as a pairing. Right on their coat tails, Tim and Jordan sported beaming smiles throughout the day, in their first rally together and their first time driving the CS Developments R53 machine. They set equal time with Gordon through SS1, Dyfnant, and were never more than four seconds slower through Gartheiniog, Big Ray and Dyfi Main. At the finish, Tim happily explained “Jordan and I have met, taken the car off the trailer and gone 5-4-3-2-1. We’ve had a superb day!”

Drive of the round came from Jacob Neal and co-driver Russell Thompson. In their first-ever forest rally, the youngsters put in a mature, mechanically trouble-free drive to finish fourth overall and win the R50 class. “We knew (the stages) would be slippery but there was more grip than we expected, particularly in SS2 and SS3” said Jacob. “We stuck to understanding what the car would do and making sure we didn’t break it. It’s a great start to the year!”

33 seconds behind, fifth-placed Guy Butler was full of praise for co-driving daughter, Florence. “This is Florence’s first-ever time on route notes; she’s been amazing all day; great timing and delivery.” The pair came close to running out of fuel on the final road section: “The R53 eats a lot more fuel, and we need to keep an eye on that in future rounds” said Guy.

Sixth-placed Keith Bounds / Kevin Watkins contested last year’s RNW in an R50 Mini. Stepping up to a supercharged R53 they enjoyed their day, joking that they had been bounced around in a rutted area of SS3, Big Ray, where logging had recently taken place. “The car handled (the ruts) really well, and there’s noticeably more power” said Keith.

John Clayton and driver-turned-co-driver Christian Brown felt slightly fortunate to take seventh and second place in the R50s. The first time pairing missed a Passage Control on the final road section, and were initially excluded. However, they questioned the decision and were reinstated.

John and Christian's good fortune dropped another first time partnership, Wesley Gilford and Julia Perry, to third R50. Their favourite stages were Dyfnant and Dyfi Main, with Wesley admitting to backing off through Gartheiniog and Big Ray to “avoid binning it.”

The challenging conditions claimed several victims. First to be bitten was father and son pairing, Gary and Matthew Jones. Their R50 entered a corner in Dyfnant too fast and they slid into a ditch. Spectators pulled them out but their radiator was damaged. They made it through SS2 and SS3 but retired in SS4, officially OTL after SS1.

Phil Sawyer and late replacement co-driver Peter Littlefield suffered power loss problems and retired their R50 in SS3, while James Larminie / Rich Jones’s plan to contest the longer Interclub event went awry after SS2, Gartheiniog, due to loss of drive.

The championship moves on to asphalt for the next round, the SMC Stages at Trac Mon in Anglesey on 15th April.

Writer: Ian Harden