Twyford Targa

Event Report

What an event.

The Mr Tyre Motorsport BTRDA Targa Road Rally Championship visited Twyford for the first time. And what a treat!

Great weather, with many returning home rather red! This also meant that the surface was quite hard and there were many retirements.

Martin Freeman and Katherine Woodward made their debut on the BTRDA Targa Championship in their Skoda Felicia. The car was looking pretty in its recent paint Martin was returning to Rallying. This was Katherine’s first Targa! They did well, learning all the time and taking 22^nd Overall. Good job.

John Rhys-Owen and Sandra Loton Jones had a bit of an off day with a wrong Test leading to another wrong Test when they couldn’t reach the Start of the Test. But still some solid points. It was actually my fault when I commented that they were going well when lying in 8^th place overall. I’ll keep my mouth shut going forward.

Tim Tordoff and Ian Frazer had a hard day in their Fiesta. A broken drive shaft showed that their spare shaft wouldn’t fit! A great deal of work followed, making one good driveshaft from the original and replacement. It worked, then they lost their rear brakes. 17^th overall was a good result considering their many issues.

Rob and Aidan Thompson picked up a puncture early on, changing to some gravel for greater puncture resistance, but less grip. A wrong test also slipped in to their times, but 14^th overall was impressive.

Ben Pritchard had an eventful day, first losing his Navigator when his car was locked in a car park in Birmingham. But a new Navigator was found in the form of Jason Simms, who was originally Marshalling. In fact a relatively uneventful day for Ben, only a small amount of lurid driving. A good 11^th overall was obtained.

Simon Hawken and Sarah Hawken scored their first BTRDA points with 9^th overall. There just seemed to be smiles all day!

The top ten was full of BTRDA crews, with Darrell Denning and Zak Linham taking 8^th overall. The Volvo soaked up everything Twyford could through at her with no real problems reported. First in the Historic class as well!

Richard Jones and David Hillidge finished a fantastic 7^th overall in their Micra. Were there any issues? I didn’t hear anything. Please let me know how it went.

After taking maximum points on the Kemble Targa, Bob Milligan and Nic Jones could “only” manage second at Twyford. The poor little Mini took a battering with the rear radius arm trying to find its own way home! Some washers and nuts held the errant arm in place to enable Bob and Nic to finish an excellent 6^th overall. Another great drive.

The last two Tests made the event. After fixing a bent steering track rod after hitting a log, Ethan Davies and Matt Smalley went in to the last two Tests 18 seconds behind Gary White and Bradley White. Ethan took 12 out of Gary on Test 13, 6 behind. Then 9 quicker on 14,so a win for Ethan by 3 seconds and maximum BTRDA points. Gary should be doing the BTRDA Championship, almost two wins in two weeks!

Full results at https://mtc1.uk/results/2022/twyfordtarga/OverallResults.php

All pictures courtesy of Andy Manston at M&H Photography.