The AGBO Stages Rally was run on Sunday 21^st March at Weston Park on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border.

 

 

Competitors were greeted with a bright morning, but overnight rain had made the first few stages slippery in places.

Ludlow Castle Motor Club (LCMC) members competing in this event were: Duncan Edwards/Colin Stevens (Ford Escort), Tim Cains/Richard May (Peugeot 309 GTi), and Eric Weaver, HoE Rally Champion driver in 2000, who teamed up with experienced co driver Andrew Sankey in the immaculate Weaver Motorsport prepared Ford Anglia 105E. This car has so much motorsport history from road rallies, track, and stage rallying, and is always a welcome sight on the stages.

The first few stages were driven cautiously by Weaver due to the slippery roads, with some braking points having next to no grip at all.

Consistent runs were put in by all three LCMC drivers. Cains did have worries with a noisy drive shaft and lost time on Stage two with an overshoot into a chicane bale.

In the afternoon the tarmac roads were dry and speeds were increased, but the front wheel drive cars still had the edge on the powerful rear wheel drive machinery.

Weaver/Sankey put in a very fast run on Stage 9, but suffered a misfire on the final stage, finishing in 13th place overall. Edwards also suffered a misfire on Stage 10, but finished the rally in 16th place, 5 seconds behind Weaver. Tim Cains was in 18^th place despite having clutch problems on the last two stages. At the end of the rally only 11 seconds separated the three LCMC drivers.

Very well set up front wheel drive cars dominated the first round of the championship.

 

Top 5 finishers:

1st Andy Corner - Peugeot 205

2^nd Mark Gamble - Citroen c2

 3^rd Dai “dot” Davies - Vauxhall Chevette

 4^th Gareth Richards - Darrian T9

 5th Oliver Davies - Ford Escort.