Nicky Grist Rally stages wales 2018

It was a hot and dusty weekend on the Nicky Grist rally stages.

Matt Edwards and co-driver Darren Garrod won a very closely fought Nicky Grist Stages in their Swift Group Ford Fiesta R5, after turning a two second deficit at halfway into a 58 second winning margin at the finish. Victory on the Quinton MC organised event sees them take the lead of the Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Rally Series.

Difficult conditions in the dust hampered progress somewhat but we dug deep to secure our 5th win this season and now lead both BTRDA and BRC Championships.

We made a steady start but soon got back into the rhythm and took a pair of fastest stage times before being caught up in dust on ss4 after the car in front of us unfortunately spun. That gave us just a 1s lead at service!

Of course the chips were down so we decided to have a go.and see what we could do, and with our Pirelli K4s hanging on well, we able to take some good time on the following stages to take a 12s lead into the final stage. Again dust was causing us some issues throughout but our pace on the clear sections was enough to limit the damage and take the victory!

The stages were fantastic, loose in places but that adds to the challenge, and well done and thanks to the organizers for running a slick event despite the heat! 

 2018 Nicky Grist Stages – top 10 finishers
1. Matt Edwards/Darren Garrod (Ford Fiesta R5)….42mins 09secs
2. Luke Francis/John H Roberts (Ford Fiesta WRC)….+58s
3. Rory Young/Allan Cathers (Ford Fiesta R5)….+1m 39s
4. Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson (Ford Fiesta WRC)….+1m 47s
5. Martyn England/Dawn England (Fiesta R5+)….+1m 59s
6. Charles Payne/Carl Williamson (Ford Fiesta)….+2m 22s
7. Ian Joel/Graeme Wood (Ford Escort Cosworth)….+3m 06s
8. Russ Thompson/Andy Murphy (Mitsubishi Evo 9)….+3m 15s
9. Stephen Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Ford Fiesta)….+3m 22s
10. Keith Parry/Eryl Evans (Subaru Impreza)….+3m 33s

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