CRC: What happened at the Snetterton Stage Rally

After the fifth round of the circuit rally championship, everything begins to heat up as Snetterton threw a curveball in many of the overall and class championships.

Michael Igoe and Will Atkins take second rally win in a row

Last year’s champions take another victory in their quest to catch the championship leaders of John and Alex Stone who themselves failed to finish the rally after not taking to the start of the second stage in their VW Polo. This closes up the championship hunt quite significantly as we step one race closer to the drop scores rounds. Taking the full points from the weekend allows Igoe and Atkins to take both the overall drivers and co-drivers’ championship lead. Not only that but they also clinch the Class A championship lead by nine points over John and Alex. A runners up finish for John Griffiths and Emma Morrison meant they jump to second place in the Class A championship as well, hot on the heels of Igoe and Atkins in both class and overall standings.

Stephen Johansen and Neil Beaumont close Class B lead

Stephen Johansen has taken his second class victory this season after winning the Brands Hatch round in class, drawing himself 30 points closer to Nigel Wetton after the Cuckney driver missed the Snetterton round. Meanwhile, Neil Beaumont comes home second in class allowing him to complete squashing the lead Wetton had in the Class B drivers’ championship. Both Wetton and Beaumont will head into the sixth round of the season on 106 points with Johansen in third on 90 points.

In the Class B Co-Drivers Championship Colin Stephens takes his third class win, two with Stephen Johansen and one with Luke Sedzikowski in the third round at Donighton Park. Louise Wetton keeps her championship lead despite missing the Snetterton round with Dylan Thomas, who finished runner-up in the rally, 4 points behind in second, Colin remains 20 points adrift from the championship lead in third after a difficult opening two rounds.

Class C reaches overall podium once more as Barry Morris and Tom Hutchings win the class

Barry Morris and Tom Hutchings takes another class win and overall podium this season with the team beating rivals Chris West and co-driver Keith Hounslow by 22 seconds to take the class win. No one else in class managed to finish the rally in under an hour with championship leaders Alasdair Stables and Neil Jones only managing 8th in class and 38th overall. However, a consistent first four rounds of the season allow them to maintain their championship lead over everyone else but with four rounds to go, another result like that could bring their rivals back into play.

Michael and Ben Jowers take class win to extend championship lead in Class D

The largest class entry of the weekend saw 20 drivers and co-drivers aiming to take that top spot, but it was championship leaders Michael and Ben Jowers who took the victory to extend their class lead. Finishing eleventh overall, this was Michael’s first class win this season as Ben had already won in class earlier this season at Donighton when partnered with Tony Davies. The consistency of the two meant that their already commanding championship lead is only strengthened taking it by over a minute to runners up Wayne Hole and Chris Wilson.

Chris Woodhouse and Lucy Wilding wins fourth round in a row together for Class E

Class E has been dominated by Chris Woodhouse and Lucy Wilding since they paired up in round 2 at Cadwell Park, Chris Woodhouse made it four wins in a row after a second place in the opening round to Daniel Poole, Wilding’s former teammate, allowing them to dominate the class. Lucy Wilding has not been knocked off the top step of the class in the co-driver category having taken five wins in five rounds in a dominant display.

Jon Bray and Darren Styles take championship lead of Class F

After winning the class in the Brands Hatch round last time out, the pairing repeated the feat again in Snetterton allowing them to take the championship lead away from James and David Palmer-Smith. Finishing two minutes and twenty-one seconds ahead of runners up Brian Marquis and Stuart Delf, the pairing now need to contest with holding on to the class lead for the remaining four races, having taken their third win of the season.

With the next round at Anglesey for the Lee Holand Memorial Trophy Stages Rally only a few weeks away, all the championships are still up for grabs.