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Moonbeam Rally 1999
Sponsored by Telford Motor Auctions
Telford Auto Club
6th/7th March 1999
Clerk of the Course: Maurice Leach
Route: 146 Miles
Maps: 126 127 & 137
Starters: 75
Winners: Adrian Hodgson/Sean Caddick (Ford Escort)
Adrian Hodgson gave navigator Sean Caddick the perfect birthday present by winning the Moonbeam Rally. The pairing had a problem free run to bring Hodgson his second win on the Telford AC event - he'd previously won the rally in 1991. The Moonbeam was a round of both the West Midlands and North Western Championships and as ever attracted a full entry of 75 cars.
The rally used the usual Moonbeam format - utilising the tight and twisty lanes to the south and east of Shrewsbury, with a generous use of farmyards and tracks. The latter were to cause problems for a number of competitors, the deeply rutted Charlton Hill white trapping a number of victims. Graham Evans/Ian Mills were the first to become stuck and dropped so much time before being freed that they withdrew. While Peter Zjalic/Phil Pugh and Sarah Harmer/Cath Woodman were delayed so long that they were effectively out of contention for any honours before the end of the first section.
On the 1998 Moonbeam Alan Walker/Nick Darkin seemed to have the win in the bag when they crashed out with just a few miles to go. In 1999 they repeated the feat; with a narrow advanatge over Hodgson/Caddick and only five miles left they put their Escort into a bank.
Wayne Morris/Paul Middleton were lying in the top three at Petrol but retired their Escort with clutch failure in the second half. Kevin Ikin/Martin Saunders had a frightening moment when their Escort filled with smoke caused by an electrical short. They were delayed by eleven minutes but survived to finished sixth - eleven minutes off the lead.
Behind Hodgson/Caddick Michael Monaghan/Iain Tullie finished second, putting their success partly down to the choice of M&S tyres. The position gave them top scores in the North Western Championship title, however Paul Holmberg/Dave Pitchford were just behind them in third to maintain their series lead. Holmberg/Pitchford also took the West Midlands Championship lead as most of their rivals concentrated on the Welsh series by competing on the Gremlin, which clashed with the Moonbeam.
Martin Bradley/Gordon Bradley won the Semi-Expert Class and finished seventh overall. This was despite losing all the lights on their Escort at one point, the incident cost them three minutes. Oliver Davies/Chris Jones were two places further back to claim second in class. Pre-event class favourites Nick Bloxham/Martyn Allen were another victim of the whites as they lost the exhaust on their Peugeot 205.
With the winners dropping time at thirteen controls it was obviously going to be a tough event for novice crews. Only four of the twenty five novice starters made it to the Finish, with Simon Gibson/Iain Scott taking the class win, but picking up six fails on the way.
OVERALL RESULTS
| Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
| 1 | Adrian Hodgson | Sean Caddick | Ford Escort | 16m 48s | |
| 2 | Michael Monaghan | Iain Tullie | Ford Escort | 18m 07s | |
| 3 | Paul Holmberg | Dave Pitchford | Ford Escort | 21m 23s | |
| 4 | Tudor Morris | Gerallt Davies | Ford Escort | 23m 11s | |
| 5 | Baron Glaze | Pete Davies | Ford Escort | 26m 40s | |
| 6 | Kevin Ikin | Martin Saunders | Ford Escort | 27m 40s | |
| 7 | Martin Bradley | Gordon Bradley | Ford Escort | 30m 39s | |
| 8 | Jason Hardy | Alan Jôs | VW Golf GTi | 31m 07s | |
| 9 | Oliver Davies | Chris Jones | Ford Escort | 31m 38s | |
| 10 | Andrew Powell | Jane Powell | Ford Escort | 33m 45s | |
| 11 | Peter Zjalic | Phil Pugh | Toyota Corolla | 34m 36s | |
| 12 | Brian Harrison | Cliff Washbrook | Ford Escort | 37m 59s | |
| 13 | Alan Ridge | Simon Ridge | Ford Escort RS | 42m 36s | |
| 14 | Adrian Higman | Gareth Price | Talbot Sunbeam | 45m 41s | |
| 15 | Brynmor Pierce | Roger Evans | Daihatsu Charade GTTi | 47m 29s | |
| 16 | Trevor Pritchard | Paul Hughes | Vauxhall Carlton | 53m 56s | |
| 17 | Nick Abbott | Mark Andrew | Ford Escort RS2000 | 66m 54s | |
| 18 | Ian Roberts | Doug Lomax | Talbot Sunbeam | 1F 24m 56s | |
| 19 | Paul Webb | Justin Brooks | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 1F 29m 59s | |
| 20 | Michael Bradley | Gareth Hall | Peugeot 309 | 1F 55m 31s | |
| 21 | Kevin Hesketh | Andy Moss | Ford Escort | 3F 33m 47s | |
| 22 | Mal Acott | John Youd | Ford Escort | 3F 34m 31s | |
| 23 | Chris Painter | Jon Painter | Vauxhall Nova | 3F 51m 16s | |
| 24 | Paul Beckett | Marcus Watmough | Vauxhall Cavalier SRi | 4F 40m 27s | |
| 25 | Mike Hart | Duncan Pinnegar | Peugeot 205 | 5F 54m 18s | |
| 26 | Stephen Coombes | Paul Coombes | Vauxhall Cavalier | 5F 69m 03s | |
| 27 | David Marston | Baz Green | Ford Escort | 6F 28m 16s | |
| 28 | Gary Davies | Eryl Evans | Ford Escort | 6F 35m 28s | |
| 29 | Simon Cottrell | Steve Wood | Toyota Corolla | 6F 49m 49s | |
| 30 | Simon Gibson | Iain Scott | Ford Escort | 6F 67m 52s | |
| 31 | Sarah Harmer | Cath Woodman | MG Maestro | 7F 52m 03s | |
| 32 | Paul Jones | Paul Edwards | Vauxhall Nova | 8F 52m 13s | |
| 33 | Dave Painter | Peter Lewis | Opel Manta | 9F 81m 33s | |
| 34 | Gerallt Davies | Michael Evans | Toyota Corolla | 10F 36m 16s | |
| 35 | Derek Tracey | Chris Hughes | Ford Escort | 10F 47m 23s | |
| 36 | Christian Claxton | Geoff Jones | Ford Fiesta | 10F 50m 24s | |
| 37 | Andrew Millington | Colin Cresswell | Ford Escort | 13F 40m 05s | |
| 38 | Ken Whittal | Mal Jones | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 13F 40m 47s | |
| 39 | Rick Cipolat | Neil Payne | Vauxhall Astra GTE | 17F 45m 09s | |
| 40 | David Rennocks | Dave Hyden | Vauxhall Nova | 17F 45m 14s | |
| 41 | Justin Sharples | Brian Stubbs | Toyota Corolla | 20F 39m 27s | |
| 42 | Jonathan Pritchard | Adrian Killip | Ford Fiesta | 22F 29m 07s | |
| 43 | Paul Roberts | Michael Griffiths | Ford Escort | 24F 28m 34s |