Rally Archive
Moonbeam Rally
Telford Auto Club
13th/14th March 2010
Clerk of the Course: Neil Myatt
Route: 140 Miles
Maps: 126, 127 & 137
Starters: 74
Winners: Richard Jerman/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort)
Richard Jerman/Iwan Jones emerged from a close contest to take a clear win on the Moonbeam Rally. For more than half the rally the pair were tied in a battle for the lead with Mark ‘GT’ Roberts/Steve Price.
The two crews were the only competitors who cleaned the section to TC2. At TC4 Roberts/Price were four seconds up on Jerman/Jones. By Petrol the positions had been reversed and the Escort was five seconds ahead of the Golf. The lead changed again soon afterward with ‘GT’ opening up a gap of over a minute. However disaster struck for Roberts/Price as they picked up a puncture. They dropped five minutes and the fight was over. Jerman/Jones romped home to win by over two minutes.
Peak Revs winners Nic Morris/Martin Phasey improved from fourth at Petrol to take the runner up spot, while Kevin Hesketh/Shaun O’Gorman shadowed them, moving from fifth to third and giving their Astra its first finish in their hands.
Keith Ashley/Danny Middle had been the leading Semi-Expert crew at the halfway point, but fell to third in class at the end. Andrew Owen/Graham Thomas, who had been one place behind at Petrol, took the class win, finishing just nine second ahead of second placed Gavin Lewis/Jon Bird.
The Moonbeam, as ever, was very well received by the competitors but it proved a tough test for the less experienced crews. While all of the top fifteen seeds finished the rally, only 12 out of the 24 Novices were classified.
RESULTS