Sam
Bilham made it two wins in two events as he finished first of the
DMack ST Trophy crews on the Somerset Stages. Seven crews, looking
resplendent in their new Zenith Racing championship overalls which
were supplied by Vital Equipment.
It
was Richard Wells and Calvin Houldsworth who set the pace early as
they set two fastest times in the first three stages to hold a six
second lead over Bilham and co-driver Cameron Fair, Wells benefiting
from a test session held after he was frustrated to be down on speed
at the Malcolm Wilson rally.
It
all went wrong for Wells on stage four when he lost the brakes and
then the car was stuck in gear, resulting in retirement. Bilham was
promoted into the lead which he maintained to the end of the event.
“I’ve
competed on the event twice before which gave me some very useful
experience,” said Bilham. “Other than tapping a bale we had no
issues and it’s great to get a second victory.”
Alasdair
Currie and Steven Brown had their long journey from the Isle of Mull
rewarded with a second place finish. They had been joint leader going
into first service but Currie’s lack of experience of tarmac stages
saw him lose 20 seconds to Bilham on the two Porlock stage. He set
three fastest times on the gravel stages to finish a strong second.
In
third place were Jon Ambler and Doug Chivers who were pleased to be
quicker than they were on last year’s event despite using very old
tyres.
Mathew
Davies and Mark Crisp were fourth of the Fiesta crews and they were
setting good times all day with only one issue all day, a loose wheel
on one stage. The crew were pleased to have a reliable run and to
gain experience.
After
their dramatic accident on the Malcolm Wilson rally Tom Easson and
Abi Haycock were happy to get some points on the leaderboard with a
fifth place finish in their repaired Fiesta.
Elspeth
Rodgers and Jordan Murphy finished sixth on their first DMack ST
Trophy event and Rodgers’ first gravel rally. Rodgers gained a lot
of experience and started to find a good rhythm with the car which
should stand her in good stead for the rest of the season
Martin
Auskerin and Jon Ross did not finish after an accident on stage
one. Fortunately both crew members were ok.
Next
up for the DMack ST Trophy crews is the Plains rally on 13th
May which promises to be an exciting event as the new crews get used
to their cars and the competition gets tougher.
To
keep up to date with DMack ST Trophy news please visit
www.facebook.com/fiestasttrophy
or www.sttrophy.co.uk.