The Fuchs Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship once again delivered an impressive weekend of action as round two of the series took crews to the iconic stages of Aberhirnant and Dyfnant for the Get Jerky Rally North Wales [28 March].

The Welshpool-based event saw the protagonists from the opening round joined by a selection of contenders from the past, providing a fascinating battle for honours across the categories. Coming into the weekend tied at the top of the championship, it would be Ben and Steven Smith who left Wales as leaders, courtesy of their Category 2 victory.

Category 4 [Cars Registered 1982 – 1990]

It was a largely dominant display from Category 4 newcomers Marty McCormack and Barney Mitchell, who pleased the fans with a popular win on their return to the BHRC. Usually found in an Escort, Rally North Wales was their maiden BHRC outing in the raucous BMW E30 M3, and the duo were fresh from an impressive performance in the machine on November’s Roger Albert Clark Rally.

However, it was Riponian victors George Lepley/Dafydd Evans who took the lead on stage one with a five-second advantage – despite the lack of brakes in their Mitsubishi Galant VR4. Sadly, driveshaft failure on the next test forced an earth bath, leaving McCormack to storm to the win in the BMW.

2025 BHRC champions Baz Jordan and Arwel Jenkins tackled their first event of the year in their Galant VR4, finishing second in the category, albeit over three minutes down. Paul Clayton and Rebecca Lee were forced to retire their Peugeot 205 GTi, due to electrical failure before the second test.

Category 3 [Cars Registered 1975 – 1981]

The top of the Category 3 leaderboard was dominated by the Irish during the day, but throughout the top ten, there was a feverish battle for the podium positions.

Showing immense promise on the opening round before technical issues curtailed their challenge, Damian Tourish and Kevin Duggan wasted no time in seeking redemption by going almost three seconds faster than the returning Paul Barrett with Rory McCann on the notes on the opening test. Tourish extended that lead to almost five seconds on the second, before a cruel puncture in Dyfnant South derailed his charge, retiring for good in the very next test.

That left Barrett to set the fastest time over each of the final three tests, ensuring the 2018 British Historic Rally champion’s winning margin was over a minute.

Second, was looking like it was going to BHRC debutant Tom Cave, who was impressing on his maiden outing in his Ford Escort MKII. Regularly setting top three times, Cave was holding a strong second before a puncture dropped him down the order to seventh.

Nick Elliott and Dave Price [FIAT 131] picked up second after a solid day whilst Ben Friend and Osian Owen banished their recent demons to round out the podium spots with third in their Escort MKII.

Joint BHRC leaders coming into this round, Richard Hill/Patrick Cooper were forced to retire on the penultimate test with gearbox issues. A puncture on stage four had already dropped them well down the order.

Category 2 [Cars Registered 1968 – 1975]

Arguably the ‘drive of the rally’, Ben and Steven Smith showed their ever-increasing pace is now coming to fruition, hurling their Porsche 911 to not only a dominant Category 2 win, but in doing so, set several top-three overall times on the way.

Adding to their category win in Yorkshire, they now lead the BHRC standings outright with two wins from two starts. It was second place for Mark Holmes and Craig Simkiss in their Ford Escort MK1, whilst Ian Beveridge and David Fox’s Toyota Corolla TE27 took the final podium spot.

The series remains in Wales for the Severn Valley Stages in just two weeks on 11 April.

Provisional Category leaders after round 2 – Get Jerky Rally North Wales

Category 5 James Lepley/Tom Jordan 1 point

Category 4 Marty McCormack/Barney Mitchell 31 points

Category 3 Paul Thompson/Josh Davison 48 points

Category 2 Ben Smith / Steven Smith 64 points

For more information on any of the Championships promoted by the RACMRC, please visit:

www.racrmc.org

Image: McCormack/Mitchell - Category 4 Winners