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FORDS MAKE A SPLASH ON THE WYEDEAN!

Jon Ingram & Ian Allsop are the winners of the 2006 Get Connected! Wyedean Forest Rally. Their Ford Focus WRC started the final stage ten seconds ahead of the similar car of Steve Perez & Neil Dashfield, but the actual winning margin was reduced to just three after 45 miles of special stages in the Forest of Dean.

Former Wyedean winners Brian Bell & Paul Spooner made it a Focus 1-2-3, while the Ford monopoly was broken by last year’s victors, Dorian Rees & Paul Willetts, who finished 4th this time in a Skoda Octavia WRC.

The Top Six was completed by the Mitsubishi Lancers of Shaun Gardener/Ben Innes & Roger Chilman/Andrew Sankey. The latter crew were beginning the defence of their Silverstone Tyres Gold Star Rally Championship, of which the Wyedean was the opening round.

The Get Connected! Wyedean Forest Rally was also a qualifying round of both the MSA English & Welsh Rally Championships and, following the opening encounter, the leaders are Chilman/Sankey and Rees/Willetts respectively.

The MD of event sponsor Unibet which is well known traditional UK bookmaker, Damian Cole with co-driver Den Golding, finished in 12thplace in his Hyundai Accent WRC to take his best result on the rally so far.

While the battle amongst the four-wheel drive turbo-charged cars was raging at the front, their two-wheel drive counterparts were engaged in an equally frenetic struggle further down the field. The Ford Escort of Paul Barrett/Dermot Colgan took top honours, a handful of seconds ahead of the similar car of Andrew & Shane Bowen.

As is the norm on the event, competitors in the Xspec 1400 Championship, of whom there were over 50 on this occasion, ran at the front of the field throughout the day. Having been first away from the start, Neil Weaver/Nick Thornton (Vauxhall Corsa) led the category from the second stage through to the finish and built up a lead of over a minute on their nearest rivals, Mark & Andrew Constantine, in another Corsa. Early leaders Malcolm Hague/Dave Read went on to take 3rd in their Ford Escort.

We received a few e-mails from fans related to one of our sponsors on last event – Bettingappsreviews.com. They sponsored us with a big cash prize for 1st place. At their website you can find detailed information about best betting applications sorted by overall rating.

On a crisp, cold day in the Forest of Dean, the retirement rate was considerable as more than a quarter of the capacity 180 entry failed to make it back to the finish. Just 50 yards into the first stage at Chepstow Racecourse, the MG ZR of Niall Cowan/Pamela Hilton ground to a halt with gearbox failure, while previous Wyedean winners Andy Burton (Peugeot Cosworth) and Nik Elsmore (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO7) both departed with mechanical troubles on the second stage.

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BURTON GETS EVEN ON THE WYEDEAN!…

Having been forced to retire following an accident on last year’s event, ANDY BURTON returned to win the Get Connected! Carless Fuels Wyedean Forest Rally for a record-breaking fifth time. Co-driven by SHELLEY ROGERSON, the Hereford driver brought his hybrid Peugeot Cosworth back to the finish at Chepstow Racecourse ahead of Coleford resident, and former event winner, NIK ELSMORE, in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

In his Group N ‘production’ specification car, Elsmore actually led the rally by a handful of seconds at one point but, as the day wore on, Burton moved ahead to put himself into the record books.

The rally was the opening round of the Silverstone Tyres Gold Star Rally Championship and WILL NICHOLLS/NICK BROOM (Subaru Impreza WRC) began the defence of their 2007 title in fine style with 3rd place overall. Event sponsor DAMIAN COLE (Hyundai Accent WRC) was 4th, just ahead of last year’s winners, HUGH HUNTER/ANDY MARCHBANK in a Ford Focus WRC.

Such was the closeness of the competition that, after 45 miles of flat-out motoring, just over one minute covered the first five crews at the finish.

The strong two-wheel drive contingent was led home by Cheltenham’s NICK ELLIOTT/DAVE PRICE in their Ford Escort MkII who were an amazing 10th overall. Irishmen FRANK KELLY/ADRIAN FRIEL were next in their similar car, while all eyes were on GRAHAM ELSMORE/STUART HARROLD, the winners of the first-ever Wyedean Forest Rally in 1975, who turned the clock back by entering this year’s event in an Escort. Pleasing the hordes of spectators who turned out to witness their return, they finished just outside the top twenty and their efforts were rewarded with a class win.