The first day of the 2024 Ashley Forest Rallysprint started on a cool morning September morning. The field was a mix of those who had competed here previously and a lot of new faces, including Emma Gilmour, Citroen C3 Rally C2, and Steve Cox in the Audi Quattro. The first qualifying run of the weekend was an uneventful one for all bar one of the 53 drivers. Mark Kibble had a minor moment at the hairpin in the BMW 318Ti. Setting the pace was Hayden Paddon in the Hyundai Kona EV with Sloan Cox in his Mitsubishi Evo Hillclimb Special with a 1:02.28 in 2^nd place.  Hayden was hard on his heels in the Hyundai i20 WRC which had arrived in the country a few days before the event. This was the car he drove to victory in the 2016 Rally of Argentina. Next up was Neil Webb, Mitsubishi Mirage, who was half a second behind. 5^th and 6^th places were also being fiercely contested between Mike Tall, Mitsubishi Mirage, and Sean Haggarty, Subaru Impreza, with .15 separating them.

The drama began to unfold on Run 2 with Mark Pedersen rolling his Subaru WRX not far along the course. Mark and his co-driver were ok but they would take no further part in the event. Sloan was having an issue with his Evo while Hayden sat this run out in the EV. This saw the i20 WRC top the leaderboard with a 57.42. Mike got tantalisingly close to the minute mark with a 1:00.51, extending his lead over Sean. Gareth McLachlan, Mitsubishi Galant VR4, and Emma were separated by .22 in 6^th and 7^th.

The 3^rd qualifying run saw two of the front runners sit this run out. Hayden again opted not to run the EV and Sloan was still working on the Evo after his Run 2 issue.  Mike was now within .20 of breaking the minute mark and had a 1.5 second lead over Sean. Benjamin Donovan spun the Nissan Pulsar on the uphill. Showing his drifting skills on the gravel was Alex Pirlea in the Nissan Silvia as he came across the finish line sideways. Another new competitor, Monty McHaffie, had a moment when he was caught out by the hairpin in his Toyota Celica. At the end of the first day’s competition Hayden was leading in the i20 from Mike and Sean.

In the Waimak Bins Cross Car class Matt Penrose had two mistimes on the first run and hadn’t recorded a time. Jarrod Owens was in 1^st with Harri Silcock 1.1 seconds behind. Matt moved into 1^st on the second run with a 1:01.69 from Jarrod and Harri who were both on 1:04.’s.

Day Two began with the final qualifying round in similar cool conditions to the previous day. Hayden confirmed the EV would take no further part in the event. Competition was hotting up as the drivers were vying to make the Top 32. Chris Herdman spun his Toyota Starlet at Noters. Shortly after this Rhys Dunsmuire rolled his Suzuki Swift on the fast downhill section of the course, bringing his weekend to an end.  Also going no further in the event was the Quattro with a gearbox issue and Neil’s Mirage, who was in 4^th, having blown a clutch. Sloan had repaired his Evo overnight and was challenging Hayden for the lead with a 56.45 which was .18 behind. Mike broke the minute mark to set a 58.95 to round out the podium. Matt was the only Cross Car driver to go under the minute with a 59.61 from Jarrod and Harri.

The Waimak Bins Cross Cars had their final round and the positions on the 3^rd run remained unchanged.

The field now reduced to the fastest 32 and none of the previous times counted. Second to go in the Top 32 was Shane Paget. Unfortunately he didn’t get much past the start line as an issue with the Toyota Starlet brought his run to an abrupt end. Next to strike trouble was the Subaru Impreza Sti of Dave Ollis, one of the two he entered, which slowed up at The Plough Hotel Dipper and saw him exit the event in 31^st overall. Vahur Ots, Subaru Impreza, Stefan Moser-Rust, VW Polo, Chris Hey, Toyota MR220, John Silcock, Mazda RX7, and Carey Harwood, Subaru Impreza, were having a close contest for 12^th to 16^th as there was .42 covering them. At the top of the leaderboard Hayden was leading by 1.5 seconds from Sloan and just shy of 3 seconds from Mike.

The Waimak Bins Cross Cars had their runoff with Matt taking a second consecutive class win with a 59.50 from Harri who set a very competitive time to finish .25 ahead of Jarrod.

The Chris Herdman Builders 0-1300cc Class run off was also won by its 2023 winner – Paul Roughan, Toyota Starlet, from Chris Herdman and the Suzuki Swift of Corban Radford.

The Top 16 round saw the five drivers contesting the 10^th to 14^th places with times in the 1:04’s with Willy Hawes, Toyota Celica, at the front of this pack with Vahur, Chris Hey, Dave Ollis and John Silcock hard on his heels. Sean broke the minute barrier with a 59.83 in 4^th overall. Emma got so close to going under the minute with a 1:00.07. Hayden and Sloan set near identical times to those set in the Top 32 run.

It was a close contest in the Skip 2 U 1301-1600cc class with Tim McDonald heading the trio in the Toyota Corolla on a 1:11.49. .16 behind was Brendon Wadsworth in the Toyota Starlet with James McIver, who made his first appearance at the event this year in the Ford Escort MK2, on 1:12.18.

The Top 8 were covered by 8 seconds with Sloan pulling one out of the bag setting a 54.36 to switch places with Hayden. Emma continued her impressive debut drive as she moved into 5^th to secure 1^st in the Brand Mechanical Ltd Rally 4WD Class and in the process going under the minute with a 59.10. Second and third in this class were Sam Gardiner, Subaru Legacy, and John Ward driving the Subaru WRX Sti.

John Silcock comfortably won the Parks Engineering Classic 2WD Class from the Ford Escort’s of David Owen and Tim McIver.

The Top 4 finished in the same order as they had in the Top 8. Sloan was the first driver to set a sub 54 second time with a 53.80. Hayden was a hairs breadth behind on a 54.48. Mike ended the weekend on the 3^rd step of the podium. Sean finished 4^th overall and 1^st in the Pub Charity 4WD Unlimited Class from Gareth McLachlan, Mitsubishi Galant VR4, and Willy Hawes.

The final class to be decided by a runoff was the Secure Scaffold Unlimited 2WD Class. Chris Hey took his 15^th Unlimited 2WD class win from Scott Johnson, Toyota Supra, and Alex Pirlea.

A new class introduced this year was the Harris Signs and Graphix Pre 1996 Rally 4WD Class. The inaugural winner was Shane McKenzie, Mitsubishi Galant, from the Subaru Impreza’s of Corey MacAskill and Craig Barlow.

The Top 2 runoff was a real nail biter. As Sloan had the fastest time in the Top 4 round he had the choice of going first or second and opted to run first in the final. He set a very competitive 53.99 and had given himself a good chance of taking the win. It was now all down to Hayden and anyone watching would have been doing so with baited breath. Hayden’s final time of the weekend was a scant .11 ahead of Sloan to take a record 5^th victory. Paddon said after the event that “It went down to the wire with Sloan with super close times. He was driving really well and I had to push a little more than I would have liked to with this special car.”

Click here for results for the Rallysprint and Cross Car Gravel Sprint.

Article added: Monday 23 September 2024