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Saw and Weld Novice Road Rally 1999

Sponsored by Saw and Weld Ltd

Telford Auto Club

2nd/3rd October 1999

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Lee Bartlett/Richard Edwards took victory on Telford AC's Saw & Weld Novices Rally.

The event was only open to novices and beginners, but despite this restriction the 50 car entry was over subscribed. Competitors were faced with 100 mile route in the Shropshire lanes to the north of Telford and Shrewsbury.

Although the weather stayed dry for most of the actual event, the previous fortnight of heavy rain made the going difficult for the majority of crews. A muddy track on the first section brought the first major problem of the rally. The Astra of Kevin Price/Geraint Jones became stuck, it took fifteen minutes to get the car going again and clear the way for other crews. Most competitors, although severely delayed, then got through. However for a number of the later runners the track proved impassable - Graham Sturrock/Chris Davies, Joe Woodward/Chris Wallett and Dave O'Reagan/Paul Woods all retired at this point.

Only three miles later competitors were faced with a flooded lane with water over two feet deep. Many cars emerged from this obstacle with severe misfires. The water caused the retirement of Dean Hetherington/Dominic Delaney, as their Corolla's fuel pump wiring was dislodged by the force of the waves.

The field was further depleted when Keith Jones/Gareth Appleby and Gary Thomas/Matt Phipps both crashed out, the latter after the throttle on their Escort stuck open. Graham Holmes/Graham Buckley retired with a broken exhaust on their Fiesta, while Dave Williams/Ian Jones withdrew after dropping a huge amount of time on the whites.

The result was that by the petrol halt there were only 31 crews still running, this was to be reduced further in the second half so that of the 50 starters only 24 were classified as finishers.

Top seeds Bartlett/Edwards made the most of being first on the road and brought their Fiesta home in first place, eight minutes clear of their nearest rival. They hadn't however had a totally clear run as they were held up when the course car became stuck on a second muddy white just prior to Petrol.

Graham Caley/Richard Schofield came home second making it a Fiesta 1-2. They survived the early hold ups and a broken handbrake cable to take the runner up spot. The top beginners award went to Claire Evans/Mark Hill, who were third and the last crew to finish fail free.

Michael Bradley/Dean George were the fastest crew on the night and would on outright speed have been three minutes in front of Bartlett/Edwards, however a missed signature for a route check meant they picked up a fail and finished fourth. A similar mistake meant that Brandon Smith/Steve Herbert were fifth at the end rather than second.

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TOP FIFTEEN RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	Lee Bartlett	Richard Edwards	Ford Fiesta	20m 33s
	2	Graham Caley	Richard Schofield	Ford Fiesta	28m 31s
	3	Claire Evans	Mark Hill	Vauxhall Nova	55m 53s
	4	Michael Bradley	Dean George	Peugeot 309	1F 17m 00s
	5	Brandon Smith	Steve Herbert	Opel Manta	1F 21m 58s
	6	Peter Yapp	Richard Askew	Citroen AX	1F 32m 07s
	7	Bob Ward	Paul Biddle	Ford Sierra	1F 42m 15s
	8	Kevin Hardwick	Andy Howdle	Talbot Sunbeam	1F 55m 13s
	9	Ian Jarman	Dave Lewis	Ford Escort	2F 30m 07s
	10	Ian Furniss	Russell Roberts	Peugeot 205	2F 38m 16s
	11	Simon Bentley	James Franklin	Mini	3F 61m 37s
	12	Peter Gabbatiss	Anthony Sims	Toyota Corolla	4F 31m 38s
	13	Martin Phasey	Gary Gittins	Ford Escort	5F 48m 35s
	14	Mike Cooper	Jonathan Taylor	Ford Escort	5F 61m 28s
	15	Paul Price	Vicki Price	Volvo	6F 24m 02s

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