By Simon Gronow
Chris Simmons/Fraser Moss won the fifth round of the J D Tyres Welsh Tarmacadam Championship, the Merlin Stages, which was held at the Welsh Motorsport Centre at Pembrey and organised by Carmarthen Motor Club.
Having moved from its usual date of October to July, the crews were contemplating nice dry stages, but following heavy rain on the eve of the event, it would be a very slippery first stage that greeted the full entry.
Making the most of the conditions were number one seeds Phil Turner/Simon Anthony, whose four wheel-drive Škoda Fabia R5 was fastest on the first stage, opening up a 12 second lead.
They continued to lead the event until the fifth and penultimate stages when they nosed into some tyres marking the route and lost time before they could reverse out.
A turbo issue compounded their time loss and the pair dropped back to 13th place before a good run on the final stage moved them up to 10th position at the end.
@CarmarthenMC Fairfield Merlin Stages @PembreyCircuit Pictures from Sunday rally. Feel free to use and copy these pics. https://t.co/pyOUzVwO5n pic.twitter.com/ImsKNafxvy
— Byron J Williams (@byronjwilliams) July 24, 2023
Making the most of Turners’ misfortunes were Chris Simmons/Fraser Moss, who had lost time on the first stage with an incorrect tyre choice.
With the roads drying out and some more appropriate tyres fitted, the pair flew over the remaining stages in their Darrian T90 GTR.
Despite puncturing a tyre on SS4, the pair set a number of fastest stage times and went on to take a well-deserved first ever outright win in the process.
Former Welsh Tarmacadam champions Richard Merriman/Kath Curzon got their day off to a good start and overtook Simmons to hold second position after two stages in their less powerful Darrian T90.
Unfortunately, things went wrong on the following test when they spun their Darrian on a couple of occasions and dropped down the order.
They were quickly back on the pace, setting the third quickest time on the next stage before finishing the event with another class win, finishing fifth overall.
Ending the day just two positions behind Merriman were Marc Mayes/Ben Duke who had a great run taking a class win in their 1600cc Vauxhall Nova despite excessive tyre wear, beating many more powerful cars in the process.
Just two seconds behind was Ian Godney who didn’t think he would make the start following problems with the clutch slave cylinder on his Suzuki Swift F2000 the day before the event.
An incorrect tyre choice on SS1 didn’t help his cause and despite bending the Suzuki’s steering near the end, he took second in class behind Merriman.
Fiona Crump was co-driving for David Chislett for the first time in his Porsche SC 3.0 and the pair had a good run, despite losing time when catching cars on some of the stages, and with the points score she remains in second place in the championship.
After retiring from the last two rounds, Mydrian Harries would have been happy just to finish the event – and following a trouble-free run, he and Geraint Evans were delighted to finish the day as winners of the 1400cc class in their Vauxhall Nova.
Class rivals Keith Daniels/Rhys Williams spent the early part of the day making alterations to the suspension of their Vauxhall Corsa and their times improved as the day wore on, but they would be second behind Harries on this occasion.
Andrew Owen/Lucie Gutteridge managed to go straight on at the same junction on consecutive stages, but from then on everything was fine, with the pair finishing second in class in their Vauxhall Nova as Gutteridge continues to lead the co-drivers’ section of the championship.
Finishing just four seconds behind Owen were Mathew Curzon/Dafydd Davies who despite spinning their Ford Escort on a couple of occasions finished second in class.
Rivals Christopher and Cieran Gifford had to be content with third in class on this occasion, losing time when their Peugeot 205 got held up by a slower car.
Wayne Jones Takes Welsh Tarmacadam Lead After Red Dragon Victory
Jonathan Davies/Owen Ratcliffe bent the steering of their Peugeot 206 when they hit some tyres on SS3, but things went better on the later stages as they went on to take a class win.
Next Welsh Tarmacadam Championship crew to finish were Jonathan and Dylan Davies in another Peugeot 206 whose tyre choice got better as the day wore on, and they completed the event two places ahead of Ian Hoffman who had a good run in his new BMW 1 Series.
One place behind were Kevin Davies/Sion Rowlands who had to stop and replace the bonnet of their Peugeot 207 when it blew open on SS5, costing them some time.
Competing in the Junior 1000 section, Dylan Thomas took maximum points in the up to 1400cc co-drivers’ class.
Having swopped his usual Mitsubishi Lancer for a Citroën C2 R2 for the day, things ended prematurely for Thomas Cooper when the brakes caught fire.
He was joined on the retirement list by Trevor Keeble who failed to complete the event in his Ford Escort.
Stage three would be the final one of the day for three Welsh Tarmacadam Championship crews who all retired within sight of each other.
Christian Howells/Dan Evans hit a tyre wall and damaged the oil cooler and suspension of their Vauxhall Nova, Leighton Smith/Karen Phelps retired their Peugeot 205 GTi with suspected engine failure and Russell Davies/Richard Suter went out when their Darrian T90 lost drive.