Based in Shrewsbury and using the classic Dovey, Dyfnant and Pantperthog forest complexes, plus additional stages in Penilyn and Llangywer, total 70 stage miles, this was going to be testing.
After the hectic class battle on the Wilson, another looked in prospect as there was a second ex-works SEAT Ibiza on the entry list. The SEAT crews had met before, on the Astra, with Nik just coming out on top. The situation was complicated however by the need to finish for Welsh National Championship points.
Saturday morning dawned very very WET, the torrential rain seeming to have affected quite a lot on the car, namely the radio had quit, and the probe for the Trip was non-functional - Hey Ho another good start to the day.
The early morning wake up call was a 10.24 miler in Dyfnant, very slippy, and very fast in places, but still 13 secs gained on the other SEAT. Then on to Stages 2 & 3 at 8 and 5 miles. The gains were 16 and 5 secs, so into service at Dollgelau with a lead of 34 over the other SEAT. The next stage was a massive 14 miler in Dovey South, things were looking good for the first 11 miles, but then a deflating rear tyre, 1 mile after the start made the handling very weird, so bad in fact that Nik was convinced there was a problem with the front end, a brief stop (2 min) on the stage to give the car a brief MOT and we lost 124 secs to the other SEAT.
At second service, we were 1 min 14 secs down, and with only 3 stages to go (23 miles), it looked impossible. Now "Impossible" is obviously a word that young Mr. Kershaw does not quite understand, and with the soft Maxsports giving amazing grip, it was a case of "Game On".
On stage 6, he took 26 secs back, on 7 another 24. So going into the last stage, a repeat of stage 1, and now very cut up, we needed 25 secs to beat the other SEAT. Sure enough, and "In the Nik of Time" (Yuk!), with a time 47 sec quicker than the morning, the gain was 33 secs. So we were second in class to the Hyundai Kit (Oh dear more Awards), and took maximum Welsh Championship Points. Good drive Nik - but can we do without the on stage MOT in future!
Nik now leads A7 in Welsh National Championship, and with the Cambrian in 2 weeks could tie it up along with BTRDA A7. A very good and enjoyable event, and many thanks to Andrew Coley and Tim Slattery in the other Ibiza for a great competition.
