WELSH BORDER CAR CLUB

2003 Rally Reports

PACEMAKER RALLY

Report Kindly Donated By IAN MILLS

Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford emerged as clear winners after an eventful Pacemaker Road Rally on Saturday night. The Knighton MC event attracted 57 starters to tackle a 120 mile route in the Shropshire-Welsh border area.

Jones/Pitchford had been over a minute off the lead at the halfway point but a storming second half performance coupled with problems for other contenders meant that they finished almost four minutes clear of the field. Adrian Hodgson/Chris Lightburn took second despite hitting a bank avoiding queued traffic at one point.

Gareth Jones/Iwan Jones broke the rear suspension on their Astra just before the petrol halt but managed to nurse the car home to third place. Mark Price/Owen Dodd might have challenged for second place but lost two minutes when they became stuck in a farmyard, they finished fourth.

Mal Acott/Steve Herbert had a healthy lead at Petrol but a fuel leak and a broken leaf spring in the second half meant that they struggled to twelfth at the Finish. ‘Deggy’/Phil Clarke had been in second behind Acott/Herbert but crashed out soon after the restart.

Andy Sheppard/Justin Brookes were an early retirement when the exhaust broke on their Astra and Paul Hughes/Paul Middleton withdrew with brake problems on their Citroen. Top seeds Anthony Gluyas/Richard Preece finished well down the order after struggling with fuel vapourisation problems on their Peugeot 205.

The leading Semi-Expert crew were Islwyn Watkins/Martin Jones, who brought their Astra into sixteenth place overall, while Martin Ridge/Simon Ridge took the Novice class award.

1 Gary Jones/Dave Pitchford (Toyota Corolla) 3.03; 2 Adrian Hodgson/Chris Lightburn (Renault 18) 6.50; 3 Gareth Jones/Iwan Jones (Vauxhall Astra) 7.45; 4 Mark Price/Owen Dodd (Ford Escort) 7.52; 5 Ian Roberts/Andy Moss (VW Golf) 8.31; 6 Trevor Pritchard/Martyn Allen (MG Maestro) 9.36; 7 Howard Price/Roger Evans (Ford Escort) 14.34; 8 Baron Glaze/Pete Davies (Ford Escort) 15.05; 9 Glyn Price/Huw Jones (Ford Escort) 15.05; 10 Simon Rigby/Maurice Leach (Ford Escort) 15.09.