Well the 60th Cambrian Rally was a fitting end to the 2015 REIS-RAVENOL BTRDA Rally Series. And what a year it was with more than 400 registered BTRDA competitors and record entries on events.
On the promenade at Llandudno it was Luke Francis and John Roberts (Mitsubishi Evo) who took maximum Gold Star points on their home event but the drama this year was reserved for the Silver Star Championship where Callum Black (Citroen DS3) was hoping to score well and take the title. However he suffered terminal gearbox problems in stage 6 and could only wait and see if Boyd Kershaw & Bryan Hull (Escort Mk2) could finish the event and amass sufficient points. That may have seemed relatively easy but they had no clutch pedal on the last couple of stages and were starting to loose road time. (Remember Mat Smith last year!) However they did reach the finish control, only to stall for one final time, but they had scored sufficient points for the Flying Kiwi to take the Silver Star title, much to his delight.
The Kick Start 1400 Championship saw a three way battle for the 2015 title between Dave Bennett / Alistair McNeil (Corsa) Ash Slights / Alex Lee (Toyota Yaris) and Dave & Freddy Brick (Nova). A fabulous 14th overall not only gave Dave and Alistair victory in the Kick Start 1400 Championship on the day but also more importantly, for the season. They finished ahead of a fast improving Chris Powell/Jim Lewis (Talbot Sunbeam), whilst 3rd in North Wales gave Dave Brick (Nova) runner-up spot in the Championship, with Freddy taking 3rd co-driver.
In the Vital Equipment BTRDA Rally First Championship Morgan Handford (VW Polo) took his first maximum points score of the season to consolidate his runner-up spot in the Championship. He completed the nine stages a minute quicker than Sion Ellis/Dan Nieroda (Nissan Micra) whilst another Micra, albeit a one-litre version in the hands of John & Duncan Freeman, was 3rd, taking a class win into the bargain.
The full list of all the 2015 REIS-RAVENOL BTRDA Rally Series award winners can be viewed HERE The list also includes winners of the RAVENOL and Revolution Wheels awards.
You will see that there are still a number of Special Awards which have not yet been announced and are listed as TBA. These include the RAVENOL Best New Driver Award and the RAVENOL Marshals Award plus the Maximum Attach Trophy and the Rally man or woman of the Year. Most of these are traditionally kept as a surprise to the recipients and are only announced at the Awards Presentation.
Congratulations to all the championship, class and category winners and thank you to ALL the competitors, event organisers and marshals for providing another enthralling season of BTRDA forest rallying.
The 2015 REIS-RAVENOL BTRDA Rally Series and MSA English Rally Championship Awards evening and Dinner is on Saturday 9th January at the Ramada Penns Hall Hotel Sutton Coldfield. B76 1LH. (application forms for tickets can be found in the Bulletins section). HERE
Photo is Dave Bennett / Alistair McNeil on their way to 14th overall on the Cambrian Rally. Courtesy of RalliPhotosWales.