Welsh Motorsport

 

 

Sponsored by

MATTHEWS AUTO SALVAGE

A family run Vehicle Dismanters Yard

in Anglesey, North Wales.

The 2007 championship comprised 12 Autotests, seven in North Wales and the other five in English border counties. Points are awarded for position between Welsh championship contenders only, irrespective of over-all positions on individual events, but there are additional points for on-event class wins and FTD. Maximum score on each event is 25points. Best 8 of 12 events to count.

 

DUNCAN WILD was crowned 2007 Welsh Autotest CHAMPION after yet another Fastest Time of the Day, this time on Rhyl & DMC's Elim Citroen Autotest at the former Ferodo Car Park, Caernarfon. This was the Chester mans 6th consecutive Welsh title.

SION MATTHEWS was runner-up, winning the Large Saloon Car Class in his road-legal Vauxhall Nova 1.4. This was his first season of Autotesting at just 16 years of age. Now having just turned 17 he hopes to widen his portfolio, having already won awards in a Stage Rally and a Road Rally in the same Nova.

IAN CHAPMAN snatched the Tim Sargeant Memorial Cup, awarded to the winner of the Sports Car Class, on the Final event at Ferodo, by finishing 2nd Overall and 1st Class C. This meant he tied on points in the championship with Paul Fobister, but the tie decider went 2 to 1 in Ians favour.

DAVID GOODLAD wins the Mini Class in his 1100cc version, after a year long battle with John Griffiths in a similar, but heavier road going Mini Cooper.

JOHN BARRY WILLIAMS collected the Class D (Specials) trophy in his first full year of autotesting, using his home-built 1275cc Mini Special. His best result was FTD on the Aberconwy Autotest, and finished 3rd O/A in the championship.

(All Photo's copywrite Duncan Littler 01248 430015)

 

Results after Final round (Rhyls Elim Autotest 19-01-08)

1   D   Duncan Wild               ABS 1.4                      186

2   B   Siôn Matthews       Nova 1.4 / Corsa 2.0      145

3   D   John Barry Williams     Mini Special 1.3         121

4  C   Chris Chapman         Westfield / Striker         119

5  C   Paul Fobister          Striker / Caterham 7        118

6  C   Ian Chapman            Westfield / Striker         118

7   B  Gavin Dickson             Nova 1.4                     115

8   C   Gordon Holmes         Westfield                     106

9   C   Steven Gray          Striker / Caterham 7       103

10   A   David Goodlad            Mini  1.1                   101

11  B   Lee Matthews              Corsa 2.0                89

12   C   Chris Atkinson            Buggy 2.0                87

13   A   John Griffiths             Mini 1275                  84

14  B   Tomos Parry               Nova's 1.2/1.4          68

15  C   Kevin Easterbrook     MX5 / Midget              56

16   D   David Evans             NCF Blitz 2.0               52

17  C   Bob Sargeant             Dutton 2.1                 41

18   B   Arwel Williams            Cavalier/Fiesta          36

19   D   Alastair Moffatt         Mini Special 1.4          23

ROUND 10 - L&CCC Chairman Challenge Autotest - 30-10-07

Stephen Wild (below) shrugged off mechanical gremlins to take FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) at Demon Tweeks HQ, Wrexham. The ABS suffered a blown rear caliper while at the hands of his dad, Duncan, and then put the front suspension geometry well out after clipping one of the kerbs.

Next Welsh driver was 4th Place overall Gavin Dickson (Below left), winning the large saloon class C award in the well sorted Nova 1.4. Duncan Wild came in 8th despite the Max time with the caliper, while Gordon Holmes has made a return to autotesting and was the leading welsh sports car driver, using the Ffern Fernishing Westfield (below right) to take 5th O/A.

 

Paul Fobister came in 14th, sharing the ex-Morten Silva Striker with Steve Gray (below left), and has earned a place in the Welsh International team at the Wharton this year. David Goodlad had another good day, now sporting a new 2-speed gearbox in the yellow Mini and takes a 1 point advantage over John Griffiths in the championship.

  

There was just as much action in the paddock as on the test sites on this hot day. David Evans (above right) holed the gearbox casing, fixed it, then blew a CV on the newly refurbed NCF Blitz with 2.0 Vauxhall mechanics. Siôn Matthews, our championship leader finally joined the Nova gang by breaking a Drive shaft on the Nova 1.4, his 1st from 25 events! Ian Chapman and his son Ian had an early exit when the gearbox died in the new Ffern Fernishing Striker, and even Gordon Holmes dropped to 3 cylinders towards the end.

This BTRDA round had over 40 cars.

ROUND 5 REPORT - CSMA Autotest - 20th May

This busy Motorway Service Car park near Blackburn was a chance to show our sport off to the general public, and the 15 drivers did not disapoint. FTD went to Duncan Wild (below left) in the ABS despite loosing a few seconds stood stationary on what he thought was the finish line, only to realise this was only half way through the 2-minute long double loop test. Local furniture store owner Ian Chapman (below right) won the Sports car class, despite starting the day off by scrapping his bum on the ground when the floor gave way in the red Westfield. After repairs he and his son Christopher Chapman tried using a standard steering wheel on the shared car, but after just one test was putting the "twiddle knob" back on. Bob Sargeant (Dutton) finished 3rd sports car.

  

David Goodlad (below left) came 2nd in the mini Class, while Siôn Matthews' 1st in Class award gains him the over-all lead in the Welsh title race (below right). Gruff Parry was shareing Sions Nova when a suspension bolt came adrift, costing him a maximum time, and then the Powersteering belt got shredded on the penultimate test.

  

ROUND 1 (Autocolour Autotest) Rhyl & DMC - January 20th

Held at the excellent ANGLESEY TIMBERYARD

by kind permission of HUWS GRAY FITLOCK

The opening round had only a few of the usual top competitors, but it was to be one of the closest and hard fought battles for a long time. Reigning Welsh Champion Duncan Wild has won at this venue vertually every time he has done it, but this year he had a 10 second Max penalty for a wrong route on the first test, caused by distraction with a missfiring "cold" engine. This left Gavin Dickson (Nova) and Lee Matthews (Corsa) thinking now it was to be their year! All 3 drivers set times within half a second of one another all day long over the 12 tests, but Lee collected 2 line faults at 5 second each, whilst Gavin glanced a woodpile with the Nova's wing and the resultant 5 second bounday penalty. And that is how it finished, Gavin 5 seconds clear of Lee, who just held off Duncans ABS.

     

Gavin Dickson - Fastest time of the Day                Bob Sargeant - 1st Sports Car (4th O/A)

  

Duncan Wild - 1st Special (3rd O/A)                 Tom Parry - The 16 year-old trying hard

Bob Sargeant was a convincing fourth, just not quite able to match the terriffic pace of the top 3, while John Barry Williams has made a return to the sport after 4 years away in the white Mini Special, and saw his times over the repeted tests come down all day long, to finish 5th. Juniors Tom Parry and Sion Matthews both using Nova's clipped a woodpile and knocked off the rear lamp, but both set very good times and the C&A youth team will be watched by their mentors. Arwel Williams used a Fiesta, but bent the front suspension on a log, so had to go home early and see what other car he could find for the next days event.

ROUND 2 (Anglesey Timberyard Autotest) C&A MC - January 21st

With Lee Matthews the only Expert competing on the Sunday it was no surprise to see him roar away to victory, although he still pushed hard, trying to better his Saturday times over the repeted test sites. John Williams was improving with every test, and by the end was getting within 2 seconds of the pace setter over the 60-second tests. 3rd O/A fell to an improving Sion Matthews, the 16-year old's only problem was that the handbrake wasn't any good on right turns, which was the main direction turn!

    

        Lee Matthews - Fastest Time of Day          John Barry Williams - 1st Special - 2nd O/A

  

   Kevin Easterbrook - 1st Sports Car - 7th O/A                Arwel Williams 4th O/A 

Arwel Williams came back with the huge Vauxhall Cavalier, and deserved his 4th place with some excellent car control in the tight spaces of this woodyard. Kevin Easterbrook's Autotest car wasn't ready in time, so used his wifes Mazda MX5. He treated the car with respect, so didn't hit anything, but this did drop him down the order a bit, although still taking max championship points as the only Class C driver. Tom Parry finished one place ahead in 6th place, just behind non-championship local driver Eifion Jones in a 205Gti.

ROUND 3 (Foxley Autotest) Hereford MC - 1st April

Round 3 took place between the trees and fences on the concrete roads of Foxley Estate, near Hereford, the day after the Inter-association team event at the same venue. There was a close battle at the top of the field, with Paul Swift taking FTD, while Welsh contender Alastair Moffatt collected 2 more penalties to finish 3rd Overall, on this MSA and BTRDA event, and top Welsh driver. Only a few seconds behind was the Wild's ABS Freestyle, but in the hands or Junior, Stephen Wild in 4th spot. His dad, Duncan was next Welsh driver in 6th place, having to replace a drive-shaft coupling and clamp pre-event as a precaution.

   

                Alastair Moffatt (3rd O/A)                        Chris Atkinson (9th O/A) with Dad Roger

Chris Atkinson came in 9th O/A in the Subaru Impreza engined Buggy as highest Welsh Sports car, with Paul Fobister 23rd in the Caterham. The Saloon car class had 18 cars, 16 being Nova's and was decided by breakages. Duncan Stephens lead all day until a driveshaft failure on the last test. Lee Matthews had to push his Corsa over the finish line of test 10 when he broke a shaft, but after Duncans failure he looked set to win the class by 3 seconds from Gavin Dickson who in turn had collected a few line penatlies. But on the last test Lee too broke a driveshaft at the same point as Duncan, handing Gavin another class victory. Sion Matthews and Tom Parry shared the MAS Nova 1.4, Sion finishing 7th in Class, 29th O/A, with Tom a little further back, but learing fast. Their only problem was a slipping clutch in the hot weather.

  

Lee Matthews fixing the first of two broken shafts.     Tom Parry and Sion Matthews

9 seconds seperated the 2 Welsh Mini Drivers, David Goodlad finishing 26th with a WT, while John Grffiths much heavier road verision was 2 places behind in 28th. John Barry Williams had a Wt on the hill site (like many drivers) and got lost on the last test, but improved as the day went on to finish 25th O/A and 5th in Class.

ROUND 4 (Aberconwy Autotest) North Wales Car Club - 6th May

John Barry Williams (Mini Special) kept away from the penalties and took his first championship event FTD on the tarmac section of Bwlch Gwyn Quarry, Anglesey, and with it now leads the Welsh Autotest championship. NWCC ran 12 tests in varying weather, dust a problem in the sunny 1st half, but a downpour during the lunch break kept the dust down for the afternoon runs. Siôn Matthews (Nova) challenged for the win, but four cones penalties meant he had to settle for runner up, the 20 seconds added being the difference at the end. Fastest times on tests went 7 - 5 to John.

      

John Barry Williams - FTD                                    Sion Matthews - 2nd O/A

Kevin Easterbrook used his MG Midget to win the Sports Car Class, 4th O/A, whilst Tomos Parry  made the top 5 despite a difficult to select reverse gear and wrong tyre choice on his 1.2 Nova Expression.

  

Kevin Easterbrook - 1st Sports Car                     Tomos Parry - 5th O/A