Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Clerk of the Course: Wayne Jones
Stages: 6
Venue: Hafren & Sweet Lamb
Starters: 100 + 10 Historic
Winners: Dave Humphreys/Ian Pryce (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5)
There was a day long battle for the lead of the Mid Wales Stages between Dave Humphreys/Ian Pryce (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5) and Gary Smith/Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Cosworth), with the fomer crew taking the win by a margin of four seconds. This gave Humphreys his fifth win on his local event.
The Mid Wales Stages was a round of the Evans Windows Welsh Clubmans Championship and attracted an entry of over 100 cars. Andy Burton, having won the event in 1997, had been scheduled to take the Number One spot on the starters list, but engine problems kept his fearsome Peugeot-Cosworth away.
From the Newtown base, competitors faced six stages in Hafren and Sweet Lamb. There was one service halt, at Sweet Lamb, after three stages.
Stage One was Hafren North, a 9.9 mile test. Humphreys laid down his claim for victory by taking fastest time (10m 32s) from Smith by seven seconds. Richard Davies/David Williams (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5) were 11 seonds behind Smith, but only one second ahead of Dave Wood/Les Waterfall, who were using their newly acquired Subaru Impreza. No other crew beat the 11 minute mark for the stage.
Smith fought back on Stage Two, the 4.7 mile Cwmbiga. The Escort Cosworth driver was fastest on 5m 00s, two seconds faster than Humphreys. Davies and Wood stopped the clock at 5m 07s and 5m 09s respectively. Steve Humphreys/Paul Chislett (Ford Sapphire Cosworth) went out of the event on this stage; they slid into a ditch and were unable to extract themselves.
Stage Three (Sweet Lamb) started near the Hafren entrance and finished, 6.6 miles later, just outside the service area. Smith took a too cautious approach on the tarmac section of this stage and lost eight seconds to Humphreys, who was fastest again (8m 16s). This meant that the Newtown driver held a lead of 13 seconds at the halfway point. Richard Davies consolidated his third place, by being second quickest (8m 21s) on the Stage Three
Positions after SS3: Humphreys 23m 50s; Smith 24m 03s; Davies 24m 18s; Wood 24m 25s.
The battle for fifth place was also the fight for Class 3 (1601-2000cc) dominance. At Service Alun Jones/Gary Moult (Ford Escort) were just one second ahead of Andy Miers/Shaun O'Gorman (Ford Escort), having been two seconds behind after Stage Two. Will Onions/Steve Quine (Opel Manta) were nine seconds behind Miers. David Jenkins/Aled Davies (Talbot Sunbeam) might have been a challenger in this class, but they failed to start after a drive shaft broke.
Geraint Mills/Johnny 'Tad' Evans (Vauxhall Chevette) were leading Class 4 (Over 2000cc) when a rear wheel sheared on the Sweet Lamb stage, this sent the car into a violent roll and out of the event. Richard Newman/Christopher Allsopp (Ford Escort Mk1) should have inherited the lead in the category, but they lost three minutes with an off on Stage Three. Therefore Paul Hall/Mark Swallow (Ford Escort) held the class lead at Service, six seconds ahead of Chris Bown/Roger Bown (Vauxhall Chevette).
Craig Thomas/Richard Wills (Ford Escort) had built up a lead of 55 seconds in Class 2 (1401-1600cc) by Service. On stage times Tim Hookway/Jayson Brown (Peugeot 106) were fastest, but picked up a one minute road penalty at the Stage Three Arrival control. Thomas/Wills went on to win the class, finishing 31 seconds in front of Hookway/Brown.
In Class 1 (under 1400cc) Colin Bound/Phil Pugh (Nissan Micra) were well clear, being 39 seconds ahead of Trevor Godwin/David Wyer (Mini) after Stage Three. Bound/Pugh extended this advantage to over two minutes by the Finish.
The last three stages were an exact repeat of the first three. Dave Humphreys and Gary Smith tied for fastest time (10m 39s) on Hafren North 2, then Smith was quicker (4m 57s) by five seconds than the Mitsubishi driver on Cwm Biga 2. This left Ludlow driver eight seconds off the lead with just the final Sweet Lamb stage remaining.
Smith was fastest again (8m 30s) on the final test, while Humphreys was only fourth quickest (8m 34s), however the lead that he had built up in the morning allowed the Newtown car dealer to finish four seconds ahead. This was his fifth win on his local event.
Richard Davies ended 37 seconds behind Smith to finish in third. Despite a down on power engine throughout the afternoon stages, Dave Wood was just five seconds further back to take fourth place.
Having held a narrow one second category lead at Service, Alun Jones charged through the second half of the rally to win Class 3 by 45 seconds. His nearest challenger, Andy Miers, struggled on unsuitable tyres in the afternoon. These two drivers took fifth and sixth places overall.
Paul Hall maintained his lead in Class 4 until the final stage when a puncture cost him 30 seconds; this allowed Chris Bown through to take the win.
Ten crews tackled the Mid Wales Historic Stages, which ran in front of the main event. Bob Gibbons/Stuart Cardell (Ford Cortina GT) were fastest on every stage and ended up 1m 47s ahead of the field at the Finish.
OVERALL RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Co-Driver | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Dave Humphreys | Ian Pryce | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5 | 48m 05s | |
2 | Gary Smith | Phil Clarke | Ford Escort Cosworth | 48m 09s | |
3 | Richard Davis | Dave Williams | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5 | 48m 46s | |
4 | Dave Wood | Les Waterfall | Subaru Impreza | 48m 51s | |
5 | Alun Jones | Gary Moult | Ford Escort RS | 51m 08s | |
6 | Andy Miers | Shaun O'Gorman | Ford Escort RS2000 | 51m 53s | |
7 | Will Onions | Steve Quine | Opel Manta | 51m 58s | |
8 | Dave Brick | Dave Fowler | Darrian T9 | 52m 16s | |
9 | Natalie Barratt | Dave Taylor | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo | 52m 18s | |
10 | Tim Freeman | Daryl Salvage | Ford Escort | 52m 53s | |
11 | Craig Thomas | Richard Wills | Ford Escort | 53m 10s | |
12 | Chris Bown | Roger Bown | Vauxhall Chevette | 53m 16s | |
13 | Andrew Stock | Russell Benson | Ford Escort | 53m 17s | |
14 | Jeff Wincott | David Jones | Ford Sierra Sapphire | 53m 20s | |
15 | Steve Birbeck | Pat Cooper | Ford Escort | 53m 34s | |
16 | Paul Hall | Mark Swallow | Ford Escort | 53m 40s | |
17 | Tim Hookway | Jayson Brown | Peugeot 106 | 53m 41s | |
18 | Richard Edwards | Di Brookfield | Vauxhall Astra | 54m 03s | |
19 | Wyn Jones | Aled Roberts | Ford Escort | 54m 05s | |
20 | Michael Mutteen | Simon Warner | Subaru Impreza | 54m 16s | |
21 | Ieuan Rowlands | Sion Rhisiart | Ford Escort | 54m 32s | |
22 | Richard Yorke | Trevor Pritchard | Hillman Avenger | 54m 47s | |
23 | Charlie Pye | Dave Tinsley | Ford Sierra Cosworth | 54m 52s | |
24 | Peter Walster | Ian Holiday | Ford Sapphire Cosworth | 55m 05s | |
25 | Jon Adams | Jason Wardle | Ford Escort | 55m 12s | |
26 | Graham Evans | Ian Mills | Ford Escort | 55m 12s | |
27 | Gareth Edwards | Keith Jones | Vauxhall Nova | 55m 29s | |
28 | John van Camp | Alan Brown | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5 | 55m 39s | |
29 | Steve Harkness | Wayne Ball | Ford Escort | 55m 50s | |
30 | Michael Peatfield | Andy Juniper | Ford Escort | 55m 56s | |
31 | Colin Bound | Phil Pugh | Nissan Micra | 56m 00s | |
32 | Martin Kenny | Jim Kenny | Ford Escort | 56m 07s | |
33 | Richard Newman | Christopher Allsopp | Ford Escort | 56m 13s | |
34 | Steve Hetherington | Tom Last | Vauxhall Nova | 56m 21s | |
35 | Neil Edwards | Anton Shaw | Peugeot 106 GTi | 56m 21s | |
36 | Chris Earles | Iain Scott | Ford Escort | 56m 22s | |
37 | Paul Wilson | Paul Taylor | Ford Escort | 56m 41s | |
38 | James Young | Steve Cardell | Vauxhall Astra | 56m 54s | |
39 | Martin Wyles | Sue Mee | Ford Escort | 57m 04s | |
40 | Daniel Kemo | Chris Kemp | Mazda 323 | 57m 07s | |
41 | Kevin Mechem | Collette la Page | Ford Escort | 57m 28s | |
42 | Richard Perry | Clive Townend | Peugeot 205 | 57m 29s | |
43 | Ian Torkington | Ian Harden | Vauxhall Cavalier | 57m 32s | |
44 | Graham White | Martyn Williams | Ford Escort | 57m 35s | |
45 | Michael Woolcock | Andrew Woolcock | Ford Sierra | 58m 16s | |
46 | Trevor Godwin | David Wyer | Mini Cooper | 58m 18s | |
47 | Bill Douglas | Paul Ohren-Bird | Ford Escort | 58m 44s | |
48 | Ian Clarke | Anne Lewis | Vauxhall Nova | 58m 48s | |
49 | Peter Coley | Jamie Cook | Ford Escort | 58m 54s | |
50 | Jim Thomas | Lee Hammond | Ford Escort | 58m 57s | |
51 | Anthony Gluyas | Sarah Gluyas | Ford Escort | 59m 07s | |
52 | Leon Pesticcio | James Phillips | Ford Ka | 59m 21s | |
53 | Toby Gerrard | Peter Slater | Ford Escort | 59m 22s | |
54 | Ian Jones | Carl Jenkins | Ford Escort | 59m 54s | |
55 | Phil Jermyn | David Heath | Ford Escort | 59m 55s | |
56 | Mark Roper | Tom Roper | Ford Escort | 60m 05s | |
57 | Carl Poscha | Ray Hotty | Vauxhall Nova GTE | 60m 22s | |
58 | Mark Weller | Tim Hawkins | Ford Escort | 60m 41s | |
59 | Richard Hinton | Adrian Seabridge | Opel Manta | 61m 21s | |
60 | Anthony Hutchings | Kevin Hutchings | VW Golf GT | 61m 39s | |
61 | Richard Hill | Daniel Stone | Peugeot 205 | 62m 52s | |
62 | Phil Morgan | Martyn Allen | Ford Escort | 63m 09s | |
63 | Julia Taylor | Jim Alcock | Vauxhall Nova | 63m 23s | |
64 | Nigel Holmes | Steve Cole | Peugeot 205 GTi | 63m 51s | |
65 | Paul Slayter | Malcolm Newton | Skoda Favorit | 64m 32s | |
66 | Alan Wheatley | Ian Bevan | Skoda Felicia | 65m 12s | |
67 | Adrian Mayall | Robert Hayden | Alfa Romeo 33 | 65m 21s | |
68 | George Cooke | Aron Brown | Peugeot 309 GTi | 65m 30s | |
69 | Duncan Bennett | Tiffiny Gibbs | Peugeot 205 | 65m 33s | |
70 | Richard Waite | Rob Alderman | Peugeot 205 | 66m 06s | |
71 | Andy Kibble | Martyn Duncan | Vauxhall Astra | 66m 08s | |
72 | Kev Andrews | Chris Clifford | Ford Escort | 66m 49s | |
73 | Neville Jones | Julian Jones | Ford Escort | 67m 48s | |
74 | Nick Wills | Hugh Wills | Ford Escort | 69m 49s | |
75 | Daniel Gell | David Taylor | Vauxhall Nova | 75m 33s | |
76 | Sarah Wood | Gemma Price | Peugeot 205 GTi | 84m 31s |
MID WALES HISTORIC STAGES
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Bob Gibbons | Stuart Cardell | Ford Cortina GT | 45m 07s | |
2 | Paul Merryweather | Sandra Deacon | Ford Cortina | 46m 47s | |
3 | Brian Dennis | Fran Davies | Mini Cooper S | 47m 00s | |
4 | Peter Horsburgh | Mark Appleton | Mini Cooper S | 47m 34s | |
5 | Eric Davies | John Smart | Mini Clubman GT | 48m 41s | |
6 | Mike Cakebread | Steve Fletcher | Ford Cortina GT | 49m 45s | |
7 | Steve Baker | Bill Stevenson | Porsche 911 | 52m 14s | |
8 | Nick Clitheroe | Sarah Clitheroe | Ford Escort | 55m 24s | |
9 | Steve Powell | Michael Fogg | Austin Healey Sprite | 57m 25s |