Llandudno’s Matt Edwards started his 2012 rallying campaign in style last weekend finishing 8th overall and 2nd in class on the Team GMF Wyedean Forest Rally, the opening round of the Reis-Get Connected British Trial and Rally Drivers Association (BTRDA) Championship and the Pirelli MSA Welsh National Rally Championship. The rally was won by Ripon based Charlie Payne co-driven by Craig Thorley in their Ford Focus WRC car.
Rally crews faced arduous conditions following heavy snow and freezing conditions in the area leading up to the event and were greeted by a clear sunny morning with temperatures of -7˚C at dawn rising to only -1˚C during the day. All but one of the stages had ice on them and this was to play a huge part in the result with 58 of the 180 starters retiring from the rally.
Starting from Chepstow Racecourse on Saturday morning and seeded 14th, 26 year old Millers Oils Rising Star Award recipient Edwards was co-driven in his newly acquired Class B13 Mitsubishi EVO by Chesterfield’s Sam Collis for the 7 gravel stages in and around the Forest of Dean.
North Wales Car Club member Edwards is no stranger to icy conditions. He broke off from his six week stint in Sweden, where he is currently instructing would-be and rising rally prospects in the finer art of driving and controlling a rally car on ice through his M.E.Rallydrive business, to fly back for the event.
Used to driving a rally car flat out on a frozen lake in Sweden, Edwards explained that the Wyedean conditions were much more challenging than those in Sweden saying “In Sweden, our rally cars are equipped with studded tyres and conditions are consistent with ice throughout. On the Wyedean however, conditions were variable with patchy ice and exposed gravel in open sections with sheet ice in the shaded parts. Studded tyres are not permitted due to the public highway liaison sections between stages so it was either a snow tyre or gravel tyre to decide upon.”
Edwards opted for the DMack gravel tyres and searched for the best line to get some traction and grip. He explained “Conditions were so variable that snow tyres were prone to puncture due to their soft walls so we compromised with the gravel tyres, cutting the treads by hand to get more grip.” On the DMack tyres he added “We were the first car home with gravel tyres so I’m really pleased with that and the tyres performed really well, especially when there was exposed gravel and I think these tyres have got huge potential for the rest of the Championship.
If the prospect of driving his newly acquired rally car in these conditions after just 8 miles of testing was worrying Edwards, he certainly wasn’t showing any signs of uncertainty. On the first stage, the crew set off at a pace only to slide off the road midway through the stage at a notorious black-spot losing 45 seconds and finishing the stage in 15th place.
The next four stages were without major incident and on the fifth stage, Edwards was impressed with the handling of the car saying “We got to an open section with no ice and got some real speed going. The car felt light to drive and handled so positively which is reassuring and I’m looking forward to tackling the rest of the season on some fast and flowing gravel stages.”
It was obvious that Edwards was getting used to the car as the rally went on with him setting top-ten stages times on the three of the last four stages even with losing 5 seconds on the last stage with a minor spin exiting a downhill corner.
On his result Edwards said “I’m really happy with finishing and to get a top-ten placing and 2nd in class in these conditions is a major achievement. More importantly I‘ve scored points in the two championships so all in all it’s a good start to the season, but now it’s time for me to get back to Sweden to give more ice driving tuition.”
Edwards, retaining the backing of North Wales based structural engineers, Evans Wolfenden Partnership for the new season announced support from new partners Beech Developments of Conwy. Chris Lee, Managing Director of Beech Developments said “It’s great to be involved with someone of Matt’s ability and passion for his sport and he’s done a great job to get such a strong finish in the car’s first outing. We wish him well for the season and will be following his results with interest.”
Edwards would like to thank his sponsors Swift Group, Holton Homes, DMack Tyres, Altech, Smart-Trailers, Beech Developments, Evans Wolfenden Partnership and Egniol Environmental
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