MARTYN ’Chucker’ Jones was in unfamiliar pose on the Chris Kelly Rally having switched from his trusty Vauxhall Nova to a MkII Ford Escort, reports Chris Boyde.

Despite having what he described as a ‘lot to learn’, he finished as the top local driver in seventh place with Welsh co-driver Llion ‘Tractor’ Williams.

The pair suffered a big spin on SS16 on Saturday, but otherwise drove superbly, sitting as high as fifth overall after Friday’s leg.

In another MkII Escort, Andrew Dudgeon/Joe Dooley struggled with a misting screen on Friday evening in the pouring rain, but moved up from 13th overnight to finish eighth after a trouble-free run on the second day.

Chris Kelly Rally
Andrew Dudgeon and Joe Dooley on the Druidale stage in the MkII Escort. They were the best local crew in eighth place overall (Photo: Mark Corlett) ( (Photo: Mark Corlett))

Sadly Gary Leece/Sarah Coole (Skoda Fabia) didn’t even get to start the first stage, when the alternator failed whilst in the queue at the start of the stage. To compound the disappointment, they managed to fix the car just minutes too late to start Saturday’s leg.

Ben Hardy/David Radcliffe (MkII Escort) were another crew to suffer a misting screen, and then went off in the same place as Declan Boyle on SS3, Corlea, but moved up from 22nd overnight to finish 10th, including breaking into the far more advanced Rally 2 cars, with the third fastest time on SS10.

Close behind them were Steve Ormond-Smith and Phil Sandham (Mitsubishi Evo IX), delayed by a puncture on SS5, while fellow Mitsubishi crew Sean Kelly/Danni Matthews were left crawling through SS6 after a double puncture, but ultimately finished 14th.

That was one place behind Peter Harrison/Nigel Morris (Peugeot 306) who were inside the top 10 with the drive of the opening night, despite bending a steering arm and breaking the exhaust. Electrical issues on Saturday saw them finish 13th.

Rounding out the top 15 were David Hughes/Barrie Ford (Escort).

Chris Kelly Rally
Sean Kelly and Danni Matthews salvaged 14th place in the Mitsubishi despite a double puncture on Friday night (Photo: Mark Corlett) ( (Photo: Mark Corlett))

There was late disappointment for Kyle Casement/Martin Burns (Citroen C2) who crashed out on SS14, while Max Murray/Matthew Owen rolled their Citroen DS3 at the end of Druidale on SS16, having been as high as fourth overall on Friday night despite the brakes going to the floor on both Corlea tests.

Harry Fox/Kayleigh Cannell (Ford Fiesta) suffered a double retirement, a loose wire halting them on Friday, before a blown motor ended their Saturday run.

Former winners John Cope and Rob Fagg finished 17th after finding some rhythm on Saturday’s improved conditions on a first run in a Skodaru, while Tristan Kewley/Chloe Convery were inside the top 20 despite losing the brakes and having a front-end run up a bank at Brandywell Cottage.

Jack Corlett and Ealish Baxter (BMW 318) followed up a finish on the previous weekend’s Trackrod Rally in Yorkshire with 20th place in the same car.

Other local results: 22, Jake Clague and Gavin Clague (Vauxhall Corsa) total stage time 1hr 27min 25sec; 24, Peter Duke/Kirsty Duke (Peugeot 205 GTi) 1:30:09; 25, David Craine/Finn Collister (Escort) 1:30:24; 26, David Mylchreest/James Mylchreest (MGB) 1:33:30; 29, Terry Phillips/Alfie Swales (VW Golf) 1:37:23; 30, Chris Bridson/Phill Swales (Mini Cooper S) 1:38:00; 32, Luke Collins/Jack Collins (Honda Civic) 1:53:01; 33, Michael Taylor/Andrew Holmes (Subaru Impreza WRX STI) 2:02:54. There were 35 finishers.