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Quinton Stages Forest Rally - Saturday 7th July 2007 Matt Edwards / Andy Murphy The 'Quite' Eventful Quinton! The M.E.Rallysport crew of Matt Edwards and Andy Murphy took a dominant third consecutive class victory in the Tesco 99 1400 Championship on Saturdays Quinton Stages Rally. Once again in their little 8 valve machine, the pair also gave the overall runners something to think about as they attacked the fast and flowing Mid Wales Stages. Backed on this event by Slaters Vauxhall of Colwyn Bay, and supported by Gardner Motorsport and Onyx Rallying, the young crew got off to a flying start, setting a time just 2 seconds slower than the overall championship leader, and more than 30 seconds faster than their closest class rival. With confidence building in the capabilities of the car with its new engine, Edwards went on to take the lead of the Tesco 1400 event overall on the blisteringly fast Route 60 Stage on the Epynt Military Ranges, taking another 25 seconds of their class opposition in just 5 miles. Reaching first service as the leader, just routine checks were required on their Vauxhall Astra before the run through Crychan forest, as used on the Wales Rally GB World Championship round. " Its a great feeling to be leading our part of the rally at this stage!" said Edwards. "The car has been going really well, and the stages tend to suit the cars handling capabilities so we have been able to set times comparable to the more powerful cars on an overall level, based soloely on our cornering speeds" Having maintained an overall lead in that Crychan test, the following stage, the longest of the rally, was to see the start of an eventful afternoonn for the duo. Continuing their furious pace throughout the 9 mile stage, the Astra would slide wide on a tight slippery corner and break the windscreen and exhaust manifold as they ploughed through the undergrowth and back onto the road. The lucky escape fortunately cost only a handful of seconds, but further time loss was incurred as they tackled the next stage, a re-run of the first, with a snapped exhaust manifold. Remarkably however, a time just 10 seconds slower than their morning effort was the reward for nursing the car round so repairs could be carried out in service. With the genreous help of Dorian Ress and the M.E.Rallysport team, after a frantic repair of the broken manifold that took the crew close to their time limit, a fully fit car would set another blistering stage time on the following stage to recover to third overall in the standings heading into the final stage. With the class safe, it was decided to back off and maintain position on this last 5 mile test, however a lapse in concentration as a result ended in a collision with a boulder on the outside of the track and a crippled Astra would limp out of the stage dropping over a minute to its rivals. With frantic make-shift repairs carried out at the side of the road to the bent suspension and destroyed tyre, the enthusiastic crew were able to drive the car back to the event base in Llandoverey to celebrate a well earned third consecutive Tesco 99 Octane Championship class victory. At the finish, Edwards commented; "Its been one heck of a battle today! We had a great tussle with John (Lowe) and Alan (Howard) for overall honours this morning which was awesome for us in a comparitively underpowered car, and even though we didnt finish the job off today, to be setting times so competitive is a huge positive to take, as well as our first ever overall class win on the event, so im delighted to say the least! But i have to thank everyone that helped us out in service, otherwise we'd have never got back here thats for sure!" Matt and Andy would like to thank Slaters of Colwyn Bay for their generous support on this event, as well as Gardner Motorsport and Onyx Rallying for their assistance in their efforts this year. Following repairs to the car, funds permitting, the duo's next outing will be the Woodpecker Stages in Ludlow on September 3rd. More Information can be found at www.merallysport.co.uk . Report presented by Matt Edwards - Pictures by Rally Action Photography