Sportway Tyres Endurance Road Rally Championship 2014
Jamie Turner and Matt Fowle won last weekend’s The Bournemouth Rally, just over four minutes clear of Eamonn Byrne and Anthony Preston.
A rally of this name last ran in 1979, the title resurrected for this new event that forms part of the 2014 Sportway Tyres Endurance Road Rally Championship. Run by an experienced team, the rally was the best supported of the series so far this year, with 42 entries.
The action kicked off at noon on Saturday with the opening section at Clay Pigeon Raceway, the remaining tests at Bovington Camp.
Jamie Jukes and Ross Whittock topped the time sheets as the competitors left the karting track and set off to tackle a jogularity style regularity road route, Mike Saywell and Nick Clarke the best crew in this section, accruing just four seconds of penalties.
The remainder of the rally consisted of a series of section through Bovington Camp, Turner/Fowle scooping the first of six fastest times on the first of these, this moving them into a lead they never surrendered, despite some tough competition from behind. David Lobb and Lizzie Pope took the first of three fastest section times on the next test, before Paul Sharp and Gruff Parry got in on the act, being fastest on the fourth section. Sadly, Sharp/Parry retired later with a burst brake pipe, one of the rally’s eight retirements.
In Class 7, the novice class, the top crew after the first loop of tests was Oliver Keates and Gavin James Bull, sitting 11th overall.
At the end of the 15th section, the top five positions stabilised and were unchanged until the end of the 21st and final section, Turner/Fowle winning from Byrne/Preston, John Davies and Mark Appleton third. Conrad Bos and Oliver Bos won the novice class.
Results:
1 Jamie Turner/Matt Fowle (MG ZR), 08:41:55
2 Eamonn Byrne/Anthony Preston (Toyota Starlet), 08:45:56
3 John Davies/Mark Appleton (Daihatsu Sirion Rally 2), 08:55:13
4 Owen Turner/Bob Blows (MG ZR), 08:55:56
5 David Lobb/Lizzie Pope (Vauxhall Corsa), 09:11:03
6 David Harris/Worth Birkill (Vauxhall Corsa SRi), 09:23:53
7 Rob Kitchen/James Savage (Rover 200), 09:24:14
8 Paul Freeth/Chris Head (Rover 214), 09:38:16
9 Ed Clark/Georgina Clark (MG ZR), 09:43:10
10 Conrad Bos/Oliver Bos (MG ZR), 09:43:53
Class 1: Owen Turner/Bob Blows (MG ZR), 08:55:56
Class 2: Keith Lane/Richard Baker (Ford Ka), 09:43:54
Class 4: Rob Kitchen/James Savage (Rover 200), 09:24:14
Class 5: Jon Isaac/Andrew Lowe (Daihatsu Sirion Rally 2), 09:44:33
Class 7: Conrad Bos/Oliver Bos (MG ZR), 09:43:53
