Domination to Disaster for Edwards and 586 Sports
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Domination to Disaster for Edwards and Collis
Llandudno resident Matt Edwards and Chesterfields Sam Collis were on dominant form in the BTRDA 1400 Series on Saturdays Plains Rally based in Welshpool, but a freak component failure put them out of the event on the final stage leaving the pair stranded at the side of the road.
 On-board their 586 Sport MG ZR, the duo, supported by High Hill Ford, Fuchs Titan Race, 586 Sport, Trade Aways, EvoParts.org and Racing-Lines.com, and Tradeaways, would be fired up for this event, lying just two point behind championship leader Darren Pinchen beforehand, and with a little more experience of the stages in store than they had on previous events. This they would be looking to put to good use running first car on the road and able to take their own lines without the influence of those laid down by the cars ahead. The first stage of the day in Gartheiniog saw the 25yr old off at furious pace, knowing that a good mornings work could see him in the lead of the event. And this plan got off to a good start, stripping 9 seconds out of their closest rivals on the stage, but most importantly 11 out of championship rival Pinchen. A further 5 seconds were taken on the next short stage, followed by a scintillating 13 seconds on the final stage before service, with Edwards admitting to being on maximum attack to open up an impressive 35 second lead overall. |
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“We honestly couldn’t have gone much harder this morning” exclaimed Edwards; “we knew if we went for it on the first few that wed have a chance at opening up a bit of a lead to hopefully sit on for the rest of the day, but I’m surprised its as much as 35 seconds already. Everything went really well and we woke up fast for the first stage and were really committed to the fast corners to carry the speed onto the sections where the car is losing out a bit on power to the rest”. Following just routine maintenance in service to their 586 Sport machine, the crew headed to Hafren forest for an 8 mile stage which saw the unfortunate demise of Pinchen, as he left the road at high speed causing extensive damage to the car and were unable to continue. Once this news filtered through the pressure was of the leading pair and were able to coast through the remaining stages thanks to the lead they had built up over their rivals in the morning. |
 However a bitter ending was in store for the enthusiastic pairing, as 3 bolts securing the driveshaft to the gearbox sheared in the 1.5 mile final stage, leaving the car with no drive to get it to the finish line and the dejected crew stranded at the side of the road. The same feat would unbelievably befell the sister car of team mate Callum Black just 500yards earlier in the stage, stripping the 586 Sport team of a hard earned 1-2 finish. |
 Edwards was nearly lost for words with the disappointment etched on his face after such a determined and dominant drive being lost in the final mile of the event.; “This is one of the lowest lows yet i think; we had a clear game plan and it worked a treat and our committment in the morning stages really felt like great andeverything clicked, but its clearly not to be with these bolts going for no obvious reason. We can take a lot of positives away from this event as the cars handling is vastly improved and we clearly had the pace to win the event today but as usual we ran out of luck.” |
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With no more budget to continue his championship assault, the team looks unlikely to contest the next event in June but will take a break to try and find the required budget for the remaining 3 rounds of the series. More information on the BTRDA series can be found at www.btrdarally.com, with Matts new website at www.merallysport.com currently under development. |
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