Somerset Success
The dry and dusty stages in the beautiful Exmoor National Park were the scene of another close battle between Darren Pinchin / Karen Watts (Proton Satria) and Matt Edwards / Paul Williams (MG ZR) in Class E2 at the head of the MSA English Rally Championship but for much of the event they were only separated by a few seconds from their main Class E2 rivals Brian McGuiness / Ian Harden, Clive Anstey / Pam Hilton and Martyn Lewis / Richard Lewis.
However Darren, who was the first car through the stages, gradually extended his lead to finish just 17 seconds ahead of Matt followed by Clive and Brian; Martyn having retired after SS9 with a broken driveshaft. Matt Griffin / Joe Cruttenden (VW Lupo) were leading Class E1 until SS9, the second Croydon stage, where they hit a hole resulting in a big slide ending up in the undergrowth. This broke the bottom ball joint and pulled out the drive shaft so they could go no further. With their demise the lead was taken by Joe Evett / Matt Fowle (Vauxhall Nova) who went on to win the class followed by Mick Smith / Paul Osmond who were the quickest of the 1 litre Micras. Last year’s MSA English Rally Champion driver Jon Ballinger (Opel Manta) did not have a good day. He had to replace the clutch pressure plate overnight before the event but retired after SS6 when the temporary repair cried enough. Andy Burnell (Skoda Felicia Kit) and Pete Elkins (Ford Escort) had a event long battle to be the highest placed 2 wheel drive car on their home event and they eventually finished just 6 seconds apart in 14th and 15th places, scoring maximum Championship points in classes E3 and E5 respectively. So after the Somerset Stages Darren Pinchin leads the MSA English Rally Championship just 2 points ahead Matt Edwards, whilst Karen Watts leads the Co-drivers championship. Click on Champ Points to see the full list of championship points after the Somerset. The next round of the MSA English Rally Championship is the Dukeries Rally on Saturday 12th June
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