Max McRae headed to bed after the opening day of the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion in the lead of the British Rally Championship contenders after threading his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 through the darkness of the Welsh lanes into a tender two-second lead over championship leader Osian Pryce.
After the opening double run of the Aberystwyth Street Stage to kick off proceedings, McRae headed the BRC timesheets by just 0.2s over Meirion Evans’ Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Still, the true test was yet to come with two daunting stages in the darkness.
Having to deal with a ‘bouncing’ lamp pod, McRae managed to hold onto the lead into the overnight halt. Behind him, Pryce replaced Evans in second as the two-time Ceredigion winner recovered from a poor road position thanks to a small overshoot during Qualifying.
However, Evans was just 0.5s shy after the fourth test, professing to be happy with his opening leg performance, and setting up an intense battle on Saturday’s eight-stage marathon. Sam Touzel sits fourth on his International debut, posting impressive times and less than 10s shy of the podium positions.
Championship returnee Kalum Graffin set a blistering BRC3 pace in the darkness, with a healthy 38s lead over Aoife Raftery, with Junzhe Tang third.
In Junior BRC, Luke Constantine had the measure of his Rally4 compatriots with three fastest times from four stages to head into the overnight halt with 15s in hand over newcomer Oran England. Junior BRC series leader Ben McFall rounds out the podium places.
