Payne’s sailing at the Woodpecker

Elliot Payne and Patrick Walsh took another maximum score in the Reis Motorsport Insurance English Rally Championship last weekend, taking their Fiesta Rally2 to second overall at the Phil Price Memorial Woodpecker Rally.

Over 125 crews headed for a revised event which was held entirely in Wales. Based in Newtown due to the unavailability of the English borders stages that have been used on the event for decades, a lineup of mid-Wales classic stages such as Hafren, Ceri and Sweet Lamb were on offer to test the crews.

To add a further dimension to the day, thick mist and fog descended on the region, making the already difficult stages an altogether tougher proposition. Setting the pace in the opening Ceri test, Matthew Hirst showed no sign of needing to bed into his new Skoda Fabia Rally2, which he would be using for the very first time.

Hirst went two seconds faster than Ludlow driver Perry Gardener with Mellors nine seconds shy of the lead. But Hirst’s glory was short-lived as he went off the road on the very next test, losing almost 5 minutes trying to extract the Fabia. Eventual rally winner Ollie Mellors would be the one to benefit and the fastest time saw him take the lead; a position he wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the day.

Behind Mellors, who wasn’t registered for points, a feverish battle was unfolding. Hirst would go on to set several fastest times during the afternoon, but the damage was done earlier in the day and the top score was secure for Payne, his third maximum in the championship this season.

Three events remain in the calendar, with Trackrod Forest Rally up next at the end of the month in Yorkshire.