Jon Armstrong is on course to take his first Probite British Rally Championship win after a blistering day at JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion – the M-Sport driver has completed an almost clean copy book – apart from one lapse in perfection on SS3 when the Irishman spun his Fiesta Rally2 on a slippery patch under the trees.
Armstrong along with Shane Byrne are within touching distance of their first BRC win with just one day to go.
One of the main talking points on the second day of the rally is the rise of Romet Jürgenson in the sister M-Sport machine. The Estonian took his first ERC stage win and is nestled into second just 7.3 seconds off the summit of the leaderboard and he believes there is more in the tank to give tomorrow.
Championship leader William Creighton is balancing caution with speed in his pursuit of his first domestic title. The Toyota Yaris Rally2 driver – has kept out of trouble all day and is now four stages away from the title. A tantalising prospect for the promenade tomorrow afternoon.
Callum Black in his first ERC rally holds fourth after a cool and calm approach and is poised ready to attack if rivals in front falter in the rain tomorrow, while Robert Proudlock can do no wrong in BRC3. The Scottish ace is on track to claim the BRC3 title this weekend and is on his way in style as he kept his head down in fifth overall.
Creighton’s hopes were bolstered with title rival and teammate Meirion Evans visiting the scenery on the punishing Y Diafol stage. Dragging the car out and dropping several minutes – the Welshman’s luck went from bad to worse when the Yaris slipped in two-wheel-drive mode – with Meirion losing confidence in the process. His eighth in the BRC standings as it stands won’t be enough to stop Creighton’s title charge.
The Y Diafol stage – which translates into the Devil, claimed several BRC frontrunners including Garry Pearson and Neil Roskell on the first pass and Max McRae in the second.Both McRae and Pearson will restart whilst Roskell sadly would have to call it a day.
There has been a ding-dong battle between Joe Kelly and Kyle McBride in the Junior BRC with the pair trading times and the lead at the top of the Junior leaderboard. Kelly has the initiative by a mere 5.8 seconds.
Sam Touzel is dominating the Open category and in turn the Rali Ceredigion National Rally – the Fiesta driver has three minutes in hand over Dylan Davies, while in the BRC National class – a titanic battle between the lightweight, two-wheel-drive Toyota Starlet of Chris Richmond Hand and heavier four-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza of Rob Cotton. Local ace Richmond Hand was showing the way but a heavy missfire on the final test dropped him down behind Cotton, with the battle resuming on the final day.
Four stages remain on Sunday, with not only event results at stake, but championship hopes on the line. Reports of mixed weather conditions could add an extra layer of spice too, in true Rali Ceredigion fashion.
