Porsche 911 | Paul Commons Motorsport

Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney tamed the Mid Wales forests for a second time in 2024 to take Woodpecker Stages National Rally victory and cement their place at the top of the British Historic Rally Championship standings

Due to the unavailability of the traditional Herefordshire forests, the 2024 Sixty and Worcestershire MC organised Woodpecker stages rally would see a healthy historic entry tackle tests in Hafren, Sweet Lamb and Ceri, headed by last year’s victors Joe Price and Chris Brooks. And whilst the 2024 Woodpecker route was a return to similar territory used on the Severn Valley, the organisers had done a great job of ensuring only minimal parts of Hafren were re-used; in-fact even the mileage which had featured on the Severn Valley was passed in the opposite direction!

One thing that was surprisingly consistent however was the weather, with fog and mist a very unwelcome treat for an early September event which proved an additional challenge for the crews. Not that this seemed to get in the way of Price however as the Ludlow man set a very strong pace through the opening Ceri test to sit just 1 second behind the leading 4 wheel drive historic crew of George Lepley and Dale Bowen.

Having narrowly missed out on victory in 2023, Lepley and Bowen, aboard their Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, would have been keen to get the better of last years victors, but possibly suffering from an incorrect tyre choice would drop time in the next three stages. However, sitting only 7 seconds behind at the halfway point, the Galant crew would have been confident of making up the time over the afternoon loop (in conditions benefitting all wheel drive machinery) only for a transmission issue in stage 5 to bring a premature end to their event.

After an excellent morning loop, Price and Brooks, aboard the infamous bright Orange Ford Escort, had found themselves with a commanding 24 second lead over the chasing two-wheel drive historic pack and looked odds on for another Woodpecker historic victory. British Historic Rally Championship leaders Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney, aboard their Global Brands backed Porsche 911, had other ideas however and set a blisteringly quick time through the second running of Ceri to trim the lead by 7 seconds as the crews headed back to the Hafren forest complex.

It was always likely the classic Rally GB / RAC fast flowing but undulating tracks of Hafren forest would decide the outcome of the event and stage 7 in Hafren South proved to be just that. Despite increasing the lead to 18 seconds after SS6, it is not in Price’s nature to take it steady and he and Brooks would unfortunately find themselves off the road, bringing to an end a fabulous defense of their Woodpecker historic title, packed full of their usual sideways flamboyance.

Courtesy of his ultra quick time in stage 5, Perez was now in prime position to take historic honours, however the Chesterfield man found himself with just 4 seconds in hand heading into stage 7 after championship rival and multiple British Champion Mark Higgins, in the David Appleby Engineering prepared TR7, lit up the timing sheets in Hafren Main.

In-fact Perez and McElhinney had found themselves in a battle royale throughout the morning loop with the Fiat 131 of Nick Elliott and the aforementioned Mark Higgins; with the trio of eclectic historic machines covered by just 2 seconds at the Sweet Lamb service halt. But whilst Elliott drifted away from the battle throughout the afternoon, Higgins, with Carl Williamson alongside, had kept the TR7 right in the mix with his strong stage 6 time.

Once in the lead however there was no catching Perez; the category 2 Porsche pilot seemingly finding another gear to top the historic time sheets through both the final two tests to claim an impressive 8 second BHRC victory; stemming the charge of Higgins somewhat (after back to back Tarmac wins for the TR7 man), and maintaining their lead at the top of the championship standings.

Nick Elliott and Dave Price meanwhile will have been happy with 3^rd after struggling for pace over the afternoon loop in the their Fiat 131 whilst class wins went the way of Ben Jemison and Dean Kellett in their Vauxhall Chevette (D4) with 12^th in the National event, David Dobson and Brian Hodgson in their Ford Escort (H2) in 14^th, Mike Reed and John Millington in the RS2000 (D3) with 20^th, Terry Cree and Richard Shores aboard their BMW 2002 (C3) in 22^nd and the Toyota Corolla of Ian Beveridge and Paul Price (C2) in 23rd.

Elsewhere Ollie Mellors and Max Freeman produced a fabulous drive in the interclub section of the event to claim a quite brilliant 47 second victory aboard their Proton Iriz R5 whilst Tom Llewellin and Sion Williams were first historic crew home aboard their Weir Rallying UK Ford Escort MK2, recording a total time that would have seen them 3^rd overall in the National event!

Whilst the weather was disappointing the action was anything but and the BHRC leaves Wales with a mouth watering championship fight in prospect over the remaining three rounds of the season, especially as dropped scores start to come into effect. Can Higgins apply his Tarmac form to the loose in Yorkshire and the English / Scottish borders or will Perez’s pace on the gravel prove too much? And with Nick Elliott and the Ford’s of Richard Hill, Adrian Hetherington and Rudi Lancaster still in the mix, should the aforementioned duo falter, it promises to be a thrilling end to the season.

FULL RESULTS

GALLERY

A sublime drive by Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney, in typical Welsh spring conditions, would land the Porsche 911 duo a famous Historic Rally Victory on the 50^th anniversary Severn Valley Stages.

To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Severn Valley Stages, Midland Manor Motor Club had the excellent idea of extending the usual rally distance to create a mouth watering 62 mile event winding through classic Rally GB stages such as Myherin and Hafren. Naturally this was a huge attraction to would-be entrants with a reserve list required within days of opening and a whopping 180 cars taking the start in Llandrindod Wells!

Slightly disappointingly only 34 of which were lined up for the Historic element of the event, which had reduced in number during the run up to the rally following the withdrawals of Matthew Robinson (engine) and George Lepley (illness). Despite this however onlookers were treated to rip-roaring battle for victory that will long live in the memory.

Nick Elliott and Dave Price sat on top of the British Historic Rally Championship points table coming into the Severn Valley Stages and the Fiat 131 pairing were quickly into their groove in Mid Wales as they set fastest time on stage 1 by 6.6 seconds. Their fortunes would quickly turn on the very next stage however as the RSD prepared machine would disappointingly end the day in a Tarenig ditch.

This instead left an incredible battle for victory between the category 3 Ford Escort MK2 of Joe Price and Chris Brooks and the older category 2 Porsche 911 of Seb Perez and Gary McElhinney; a duel which seemed to yoyo one way and then the other depending on the profile of the stage and differing strengths of each machine.

Perhaps making up time in the faster sections Perez and McElhinney would find themselves in the lead of the rally after the first run through Tarenig (SS2), but it was Price and Brooks who recorded faster stage times in Myherin and Hafren to sit just 1.9 seconds adrift of the lead by the time the cars reached the Builth Wells mid point service.

And with all to play for and still some 33 stage miles left to go Price seemed to have stepped up a gear as for the third stage in a row the Ludlow man set a quicker time than Perez to finally take the rally lead on stage 5. But could he hold onto it?

No was the answer! As relinquishing the lead seemed to be all the motivation Perez needed with the Global Brands backed Derbyshire man going on to record devastatingly quick times in both Myherin Main and Hafren Main (the longest stages of the event) to secure a famous 5 second victory, the first for a category 2 machine in almost 5 years!

Behind, ex British champion Mark Higgins, back in the David Appleby Engineering TR7 for the Severn Valley, was able to really show what the British built brute of a V8 was capable of as he and Phil Pugh sat just 12.3 seconds off the historic rally lead after stage 4. And whilst not able to match Price and Perez through the second run of Sarnau and Myherin Main, signed off in style with fastest stage time in Hafren Main by a whole 8 seconds to round out the podium positions.

Adrian Hetherington and Daniel Petrie had an up and down rally but a strong run over the afternoon stages saw the Ford Escort MK2 duo climb from 6th to 4^th, setting fastest time in stage 5 in the process, to leave Mid Wales with the BHRC championship lead.

In category 2 Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds would claim the runner up spot with 13^th aboard their Ford Escort MK1, but some 6 minutes behind the event and category winners. (More a statement of how well pedaled the 911 was than anything else) Whilst Class C3 winners, Josh Carr and Osian Owen, fought back from time lost in the morning to climb from 6^th to 3^rd in category with 13^th and 10^th fastest times on the final 2 stages aboard their Pinto powered MK1.

Elsewhere, MK2 Escorts would claim class D3 and D2 victories with Shaun Bolt and Shaun Layland fininshing 11^th in their 2 litre machine whilst Chris Squires and Shaun Hughes would end the day in 14^th in their 1600cc Ford. Meanwhile Steve Magson and Steve Bielby would take the non homologated class victory with 16^th whilst Matt Bown and Tom Jordan would claim Class C2 in their Hillman Avenger.

The Severn Valley Stages would also form part of the British Rally Championship where Osian Pryce and Rhodri Evans would claim National event victory in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2. The Welsh pairing would emerge in the lead after stage 3 and not look back as they went on to record a 20 second victory from the similar machine of William Creighton and Liam Regan and Polo GTI R5 of Chris Ingram and Alex Kihurani.

The bulk of the entry would however be found in the Severn Valley Stages part of the event where Matthew Hirst and Declan Dear would come away with another victory aboard their Ford Fiesta R5, whilst well driven Mitsubishi Evos in the hands of Rob Wilson and Martin Haggett and Russ Thompson and Stephen Link would complete the podium positions.

A healthy contingent of historic class machines would also feature in the clubman field where a strong drive by Jack Thorne and Dan Morefield would see them emerge as victors aboard their Ford Escort MK2 with the similar machines of Barry Stevenson-Wheeler and John Pickavance and Rob Dennis and Andy Boswell taking 2^nd and 3^rd.

I have often wondered how longer rallies, akin to the old ANCRO series, would be received today and I think we now have an answer! What an event this had been, great stages, crazy weather (Fog, high winds, sun and rain) and possibly the best entry for a UK gravel rally in many a year! The question is whether more longer rallies for a reasonable entry fee can be achieved? I am guessing if 180 cars can be attracted then the fee would be less of a problem!

HISTORIC RALLY RESULTS

GALLERY