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2009/08 - Mewla Rally (0 images) - created by Adge on 02/10/2009 at 12:46:40
August 30th and the RED Industries/Team Adgespeed rally team was back in business having just finished the Mewla Rally yesterday in 8th O/A and 1st BTRDA Series competitors.

The team of Adrian Spencer and Mark Hewitt returned to the 5th round of the BTRDA Series Asphalt Rally Championship with a bang being the 1st BTRDA registered driver and codriver after a demanding days rallying over the military ranges of Epynt in mid Wales.

Seeded 24th and with a plethora of WRC cars (1 Ford Focus, 1 Hyundai and 8 Subaru Imprezas) in the starting line-up, a top 10 finish looked doubtful, after last years 9th O/A and having been unable to start the last round of the championship, the Rally of the Midlands, due to a water leak at the start, Adrian and Mark had dropped down to 5th in the standings, their championship challenge looking out of reach.

A damp wet day greeted the team after a nice sunny day on the saturday, meant that conditions were going to be even more treacherous for the 9 stages and 90 stage miles which lay ahead. On the pace for the 1st loop of 3 stages, even with a few moments, as the roads were very slippy and Adrian and Mark were up to 14th O/A and 2nd BTRDA behind Chris Jones, last years winner.

Stage 4 was cancelled without Adrian and Mark completing the stage due a big accident to an earlier car which blocked the stage, a scenario which was all too familiar to everyone behind Adrian and Mark as Stages 1, 2 and 3 were also cancelled due to some big accidents which required several crews to be airlifted to hospital. Hopefully they are all OK and at this time of writing that seems to be the case.

Stages 5 and 6 followed and with the roads drying out Adrian and Mark upped the pace to try and build a cushion to their championship rivals Gary Le Coadou, Mark Welch and Chris Marshall. This ploy work and they increased the gap and moved to 12th O/A, 3rd in class, but still behind Chris Jones who was going extremely well over a minute in front of them.

On the next stage disaster struck for Chris Jones, when he broke a drive shaft, a not unfamiliar problem for Adrian, he was forced to retire. Adrian and Mark then found themselves leading the pack and with worsening conditions and with stages 8 and 9, each a daunting 22 mile each, the pressure was on.

Fast, but steady runs on these last 2 stages except for an off on the last stage due to aquaplaning off at a junction just over a blind brow, losing 15 seconds in the process entertaining the spectators, but with no damage and a steadying call from Mark, Adrian and Mark completed the rally in 8th O/A and 2nd in class and more importantly 1st BTRDA competitors.

This result now moves Adrian and Mark right back into contention for the BTRDA championship by moving upto 2nd O/A and with 2 rounds to go, the Patriot Stages at Caerwent on the 27th September and the Keith Knox rally at Otterburn on the 25th October, anyone of Adrian, Gary and Mark who finishes well on these 2 rallies will probably win the championship.