Autosport of 28th October

Kumho Tyres National Rally Championship

Perrott's rebuilt engine does the business

Bulldog Rally October 23

DESPITE having to rebuild his Ford Escort WRC’s engine after breaking a cambelt on Friday, Mark Perrott proved to be the master of the mid Wales forests on Saturday, winning his second consecutive Bulldog Rally after nine rain-soaked stages in Hafren and Dyfnant. A decisive late charge through Gartheiniog sealed his victory by over a minute from Steve Perez’s Ford Focus WRC, with Roger Duckworth’s Subaru Impreza in third position.
The main national championship title had already been decided at the previous round, but this didn’t detract from the season’s traditional finale, which promised to be an enthralling battle, with both the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge and the Peugeot 206 Super Cup titles still at stake. Perrott immediately proved his trip to the engine builders’ was worthwhile, pushing his ageing Escort hard through the opening stage, Hafren South, to open out a 14-second lead from Perez’s ex- works Focus. Duckworth was third, in a hired Impreza, ahead of a hard-charging Brendan Crealey, the Irishman narrowly leading Group N in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, but being pressed furiously by Rory Galligan’s identical car. Perrott increased his lead over Perez through Hafren North and Sweet Lamb, claiming to be “dodging around the standing water on the stages”, but in contrast Duckworth’s unfamiliarity with the Impreza’s sequential gearbox forced him to slow. This promoted Marcus Dodd (Hyundai Accent WRC) to third as the Dorset man’s committed driving, especially through the mud of Hafren North, paid dividends.
Unfortunately Dodd’s day came to an end with mechanical problems on stage five. Further back, Crealey and Galligan continued to dispute Group N and Paul Wedgebury (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII) was now challenging them. Wedgebury’s Evo Challenge title hopes took an early knock when he suffered a puncture three miles into stage one, but he fought back with a vengeance. “The puncture put the tracking out, but we fixed it,” he said.

Perrott maintained his relentless pace through Taliesin and Pantperthog, but his perfect score of fastest stage times was spoilt on stage six, Dyfi Main, when Perez closed the gap by three seconds.
Any ideas Perez had of regaining time were comprehensively dashed on the following stage, Gartheiniog, as Perrott thundered through a stage he knows and likes, stopping the clocks 25sec faster than anyone else. This effectively settled the issue and Perrott kept his nerve through Bwlch Main and Dyfnant to secure the spoils.
Geoff Jones, usually a Group N front runner, showed he is just as rapid in a Group A car by setting consistent times in the top five. He ended up finishing behind Perez and Duckworth but overtook Crealey on the final stage after the Irishman lost a wheel and was forced to retire. Galligan finished in sixth place and secured the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge championship ahead of Wedgebury. In the Peugeot 206s Stuart Jones led all day, winning both the class and the championship.

Ian Harden