By Paul Evans
Matthew Hirst won the Get Jerky Rally North Wales for the fourth time in a row, when he dominated the opening round of the Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship in his Delta Salvage/Witham Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 last weekend.
Co-driven by Declan Dear, the Doncaster ace set the fastest time through the morning’s loop of four stages through Gartheiniog, Dyfi, Dyfnant West and Dyfnant East forests to reach mid-day service 1min 34sec ahead of his nearest rival.
Matthew Hirst won the Get Jerky Rally North Wales (Saturday 16 March) for a fourth time in a row #welshrallying #rallynorthwaleshttps://t.co/D9w14LXo2C
— The Motorsport Hub (@TheMSHub) March 18, 2024
He continued to push hard in the afternoon, and whilst heavy rain meant that he was slower over the repeat run of stages, the reigning champion was still considerably faster than everyone else – increasing his advantage to a magnificent 3 min 05 sec winning margin.
It was their biggest win on the event, setting the defending champions on course for what they hope will be a record-breaking fourth Pirelli Welsh title.
“Maybe from the outside this win might look easy, but it was far from it,” said Hirst.
“We decided right from the word go to push on and challenge ourselves and if we were leading to not back off and manage the gap in the afternoon – which might seem silly, but sometimes when you back off you lose concentration and make mistakes.
“I love rallying in Gartheiniog, Dyfi and Dyfnant as these are classic Welsh forest stages, and the weather made conditions all the trickier. It always seemed to rain harder once we’d left the start line, and in the last stage there were rivers running across the road – I had a bit of a moment when I aquaplaned, so that woke me up!
“Last but not least I’d like to thank the event organisers and the marshals who stood out in some pretty awful weather to make sure the event ran like clockwork.”
Halfway through @RallyNorthWales and three time event winners Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear have a commanding lead in their @pirellisport / @WithamMSport Fiesta R5. Cue subtle branded photo from the service out control! pic.twitter.com/oj4lr5THP1
— Welsh Rally Championship (@WnRC) March 16, 2024
Despite not having rallied for well over a year (since the 2022 Visit Conway Cambrian Rally in fact) James Giddings was Matthew’s nearest rival for much of the event.
Co-driven by Aled Davies, the Carmarthen driver set a very impressive time on his first ever visit to Dyfi forest, but he was less keen on the place in the afternoon after a high-speed, flat-out, fifth gear spin.
Giddings’’ Fordpad/Enva/Sar Metals Mitsubishi Evo 9 stopped facing the way he had come, and over 20 seconds were lost turning around – which turned out to be the difference between finishing third and not second.
That spin was to benefit former Welsh Junior frontrunner Dan O’Brien, who was making a return to the Pirelli Welsh Championship in his O’Brien Group Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
https://twitter.com/RallyingUK/status/1769082489866182963?s=20
He and co-driver Mark Glennerster were enjoying a very close podium battle, with only a handful of seconds between him and Giddings during the day – although they were eventually able to take second by 19 secs.
Peter Baylis had worked hard over the winter to fix the overheating problems that had dogged him in 2023 – and was going well, despite whacking the rear end of his Artificial Lawn Company-backed Mitsubishi Evo 9 on SS4.
Fortunately, mid-day service at the Welshpool Livestock Market followed and he and co-driver Paul Godden had a very good afternoon to start the season with fifth-placed Pirelli Welsh points.
Simon Rogers had a day of irritating issues, starting with a puncture on SS2 and brake problems on SS4 – and that was just the morning loop!
He pressed on to pick up seventh-placed Pirelli Welsh points in his MacWhirter Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 6, which allows Jack Bowen to take the lead in the OnThePaceNote / Restruct Welsh Junior co-drivers’ standings – although it maybe wasn’t a day last year’s drivers’ vice-champion will remember with great fondness.
Further details on the Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship can be found online at: wnrc.wamc.org.uk.
https://twitter.com/RallyingUK/status/1768723092224794867?s=20
2024 Get Jerky Rally North Wales – top 10 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship finishers:
1. Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear (Ford Fiesta R5+)….47mins 05secs
2. Dan O’Brien/Mark Glennerster (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)….50mins 10secs
3. James Giddings/Aled Davies (Mitsubishi Evo 9)….50mins 29secs
4. Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk2)….51mins 23secs
5. Peter Baylis/Paul Godden (Mitsubishi Evo 9)….51mins 41secs
6. Ben Smith/Steven Smith (Ford Escort RS2000 Mk1)….51mins 45secs
7. Simon Rogers/Jack Bowen (Mitsubishi Evo6)….53mins 15secs
8. Wug Utting/Bob Stokoe (Subaru Impreza)….52mins 15secs
9. Chris Richmond Hand/Pete Phennah (Ford Escort Mk2)….53mins 27secs
10. Rob Dennis/Andrew Boswell (Ford Escort Mk2)….53mins 48secs
2024 Motorsport UK Pirelli Welsh Rally Championship
Overall drivers’ points after Round 1:
1. Matthew Hirst….30pts
2. Dan O’Brien….27pts
3. James Giddings….25pts
4. Rudi Lancaster….24pts
5. Peter Baylis….23pts
6. Ben Smith….22pts