Jack Morton, alongside Callum Black, has won the Motorsport UK Protyre National Asphalt Championship, with an impressive 4th place overall on Rali Ceredigion.
In second place in the championship was Andrew Roughead, co-driving for Neil Roskell. This is an excellent result for our club, with the two leading co-drivers menbers of Whickham & District Motor Club.
Neil Roskell/Andrew Roughead (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Going into the final double header round of the Championship, Roskell/ Roughhead were leading, after six high-scoring finishes in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. Black/Morton were the only pairing able to deny Roskell the title, with the potential to add 59 points and Roskell only able to add 14.
Two loops of three stages over roads across the Cambrian Mountains provided nearly all of day 1’s 54.32-mile competitive distance. The morning saw Meirion Evans in the lead of the 110-car field, however, a spin and puncture in SS2 enabled the 2019 winner Osian Pryce to take the advantage, and he set a total of four fastest stage times out of eight to stretch out a 42.4 second lead by the end of the day.
Black was quick out of the blocks and held an impressive second overall by the end of Saturday morning, but determined to fight back Evans battled back to overtake him before the overnight halt.
Having established a comfortable Asphalt championship lead, Black opted for a considered approach on Saturday afternoon to secure the victory on the penultimate Protyre round, with third place overall on the rally at the end of the first day a bonus.
With dropped scores in play, the maximum points from the first round gave Black the advantage going into round two, which featured another loop of stages over the Cambrian Mountains on Sunday. Overall positions at the service halt were Pryce, Evans and James Williams, whilst Black - now fourth - admitted he had backed off just enough to secure the Protyre Asphalt Championship prize.
Callum Black/Jack Morton (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Having taken the lead on the second of the event’s 14 stages, Pryce and co-driver Stephane Prevot crossed the line to win the rally 22.9 seconds ahead of second-placed Evans/ Jonathan Jackson, themselves 8.6 seconds ahead of Williams/Dai Roberts.
Pryce drove faultlessly over the final three stages and recorded his fifth fastest time of the rally on the penultimate stage. Williams was on a mission to secure his very first BRC victory with co-driver Dai Roberts and went on to win the remaining two stages but was unable to overhaul Evans.
Black held station to finish fourth, the maximum points score on both days securing the Asphalt Rally Championship title. “Winning the Protyre Asphalt title was the plan at the start of the year, but it wasn’t easy to do and I’m pleased that we’ve got the pace on asphalt to achieve what we set out to do,” he said.
Congratulations to both our co-drivers on an excellent result.
Rali Ceredigion Overall Results
1: Osian Pryce / Stephane Prevot VW Polo R5 1:24:30.8
2: Meirion Evans / Jonathan Jackson VW Polo R5 1:24:53.7
3: James Williams / Dai Roberts Hyundai i20 Rally2 1:25:02.3
4: Callum Black / James Morton Ford Fiesta Rally2 1:26:18.1
5: Garry Pearson / Daniel Barritt VW Polo R5 1:28:19.0
6: James Ford / Neil Shanks Citroen C3 Rally2 1:29:29.1
7: Kevin Davies / Owain Davies VW Polo R5 1:29:57.4
8: Mark Kelly / Will Atkins Skoda Fabia R5 1:30:06.3
9: Andrew Purcell / Shane Buckley VW Polo R5 1:31:53.4
10: John Dalton / Gwynfor Jones Darrian T90 GTR 1:31:59.1
British Rally Championship Results
1: James Williams / Dai Roberts Hyundai i20 Rally2 1:25:02.3
2: Garry Pearson / Daniel Barritt VW Polo R5 1:28:19.0
3: Kyle White. / Sean Topping Peugeot 208 Rally4 1:33:47.8
Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship Results
1: Callum Black / Jack Morton Ford Fiesta Rally2 1:26:18.1
2: James Ford / Neil Shanks Citroën C3 Rally2 1:29:29.1
3: Kevin Davies / Owain Davies VW Polo R5 1:29:57.4
Pictures by Russ Otway and Mark Sims
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