HUNTER GATHERS MOMENTUM!…
Somerset Stages Rally 2011 Review By Andrew Haill
After a thrilling climax, the 2011 Somerset Stages Rally has been won by North Wales crew Hugh Hunter and Andy Marchbank. With nine of the eleven stages on Exmoor completed, their Ford Focus WRC was on equal penalties with both the Subaru Impreza WRC of Roger Chilman/Andrew Sankey and Andrew Burton/Robin Kellard in their Peugeot Cosworth. Hunter then moved into overdrive, five seconds quicker than Chilman on the penultimate stage and one more on the last to win by claim the win by six seconds.
In turn, Chilman, who was driving the car that won the 2009 Somerset Stages in the hands of Will Nicholls, arrived back at the finish in Minehead eleven seconds in front of Andy Burton who claimed the final podium place. The Kington driver was hoping for what would have been his tenth win on the event, but it was not to be.
Former MSA Gravel Champion Paul Bird, on his first visit to the rally, was 4th overall in his Ford Focus WRC but, further emphasising the closeness of the competition, he and Daniel Barritt were only half a minute behind the leaders. Two more Ford Focus WRCs rounded off the Top Six in the hands of Mike O’Brien/Paul Spooner and Charlie Payne/Craig Thorley.
The battle for two-wheel drive honours was even closer with Bristol’s Jim Munden/John Leigh (Ford Escort) finishing just inside the Top Twenty and beating the Opel Kadett of Yorkshiremen Allan McDowall/Gavin Heseltine by just one second! Defending BTRDA Silver Star Champion Jon Ballinger’s return was not without its problems – his Opel Manta suffered broken steering during the afternoon which resulted in immediate retirement.
Running at the front of the field, the first car to return to the finish was the Vauxhall Nova of Taunton driver Julian Wilkes who recorded his third consecutive win in the 1400cc category on the event. Partnered by Will Rutherford, Wilkes’ winning margin over the Vauxhall Corsa of Shaun and Andrew Bolt was more than a minute. The Proton Satria of Darren Pinchin/Kaz Watts was third but, as neither Wilkes or Bolt are registered for the Millers Oils 1400 Championship of which Somerset was the third round, Pinchin took his third maximum points score of the season.The rally took place on a dry, sunny day on which approximately a quarter of the 128 starters failed to make the finish. Somerset regulars Theo Bengry/Les Forsbrook were the highest seeded crew on the retirement list – the Leominster residents were lying in 9th place when their Focus’ engine expired during the final loop of stages.
