DAVIES’ TAKE THE WIN & THE TITLE.

It was due to be a duel for the title, as Tony and Martin Davies’ Darrian T9 went head to head with Andrew Turner/Ross Ford Escort to be crowned 2025 Heart of England Rally Champions. Davies was straight into five second lead over Turner on the wet opening stage, with Joe Piggott/John Fellowes’ Citroen Saxo, Lucy Wilding sharing Chris Woodhouse’s Peugeot 208, George Clarke/Adam Burkill’s Mini Cooper S and Harry Pinchin/Colin Jenkins’ Citroen C2 the initial top six.

Davies was quickest again on SS2, but there was a new second placed crew as Woodhouse/Wilding moved up, with Turner out with a broken halfshaft, and Piggott limping to the finish with a broken driveshaft too.

“We had an off into a field on stage one, but the second was good for us,” said Davies, who had sealed the Championship following Turner’s demise.

“My first stage was OK, but then the shaft went just before the tunnel, so we crawled to the end of the stage,” Piggott added.

Pinchin was up to third, but just two second up of Stephen Moyses, co-driving Craig Stevens’ Escort. “We had just gone steady, no drama,” said Pinchin.

While Clarke’s Mini was still in fifth, Piggott’s breakage had left him in sixth, 11 seconds up on Matt/Ade Walk’s Fiesta.

Davies and Woodhouse both managed to consolidate their places on the third stage, as the morning rain had almost stopped. Stevens/Moyses were up to third though, with Piggott closing in on Pinchin’s fourth place too, as Clarke lost a place.

By the end of stage four Davies’ lead was up to 48 seconds, but Stevens/Moyses had begun to close on Woodhouse’s second place. With Piggott flying again, he not only regained fourth from Pinchin, but was matching third placed Stevens too.

Davies completed the final pair of stage troublefree to secure another win with 1m05s to spare, taking maximum points in Class C.

Although Stevens had continued to close on second place, Woodhouse/Wilding still had six seconds hand to secure second overall and a win in Class B, with Moyses picking up second in Class C in Stevens’ Escort.

Piggott had to settle for fourth from Class B rival Pinchin, as they joined Woodhouse on the Class podium, while Clarke took Class T and sixth overall.

“We lost some time by going onto slicks too early. We changed back to wets for the next stage and stayed on them,” said Clarke.

From seventh overall Walk dominated Class A. “We cured some early vibration and almost had an overshoot on SS4,” Matt admitted.

Massie Piggott/Julan Monkley’s Escort G3 had been seeded directly ahead of Massie’s son Joe, “I let him by on the second lap of Stage one and didn’t even attempt to stay with him,” said Massie.

But eighth place and fourth in Class C was ample reward for Piggott senior.

Thomas/Paul Alderton’s MG ZR was next home, taking second in Class A, while completing the top 10 from stage two, was Owain/Glyn Thomas’ Peugeot 106 Rallye despite running wide and hitting a tyre stack on stage four, after earlier nudging the bales on SS2 with an overshoot.

Thomas still held on to third in Class A, with Class rivals James/David Palmer-Smith’s Corsa and Kay Thompson/Reece Brookes’ Micra completing the finishers, after they both had problems.

“A gearbox mount came loose on stage one and we were struggling to get gears, but we managed to make it a bit better for the second stage,” said Palmer-Smith, who was also penalised for taking to the grass to avoid contact with a chicane.

Thompson had to limp to the finish after a misfire on stage two, and also had a grassy moment on the opening stage. But her crew changed the distributor for stage thee and all was well.

So it’s all over for 2024, but keep a look out for 2025 dates coming soon, and you do it all over again.

Published by Peter Scherer for the Heart of England Rally Championship