Dale claims victory in Wales
Justin Dale took his first overall win on the third round of Formula Rally. Justin and co-driver Andrew Bargery took the spoils in their works-run Peugeot 106 Super GTi after 12 rain-soaked stages.
The event ran at a disused military base at Caerwent, Gwent, when the original venue - the Epynt ranges - were closed for Foot & Mouth testing only days before the event. Although the new venue was not considered as formidable as Epynt, it still provided it's own challenge. The venue provided almost 80 miles of good-quality tarmac stages, the longest being almost 10 miles. However, it was the weather rather than the roads which characterised the event.
The weekend had seen continuous heavy rain - reducing the number of spectators who turned up to the Rally Show and demonstration runs in Swansea the previous day. Continuous rain during the morning made driving conditions treacherous as well as leaving all the marshals and team members soaked through.
During the early stages of the event, the lead swapped places a few times, with Michael Brew (Peugeot), Patrick Magaud (Ford) and Paul Wedgebury (Citroen) all vying alongside Justin for the lead.
By midway, it had come down to a two-horse race between Dale and Wedgebury. When the Citroen crew took the lead by a mere 0.2 seconds, Justin retaliated, taking back 10 seconds in the next 8 mile stage. However, Wedgebury's fightback was cut short when the differential broke on his privateer Saxo on the very next stage. This left Justin and Andrew with a comfortable lead which they we able to hold on to for the remainder of the event, to claim their maiden victory.
Crew Comments
Justin Dale (driver):
"I'm obviously delighted to take my first overall win here. It's great for the whole Peugeot team. The weather has made the stages very difficult to drive. We've been able to find a good pace - the times have been consistent and we've been able to go a little quicker whenever our lead was threatened.
Although I've finished with over a minute lead from the next car, it's been very competitive. The stage times have been very close and it's nice to have taken the win fair and square. However, a lot of cars had problems in the last few stages. It meant my lead was comfortable starting the last stage. I was driving carefully to avoid any mistakes - I think my granny could have driven faster!
After finishing second on the first two rounds of Formula Rally, it's good to get the win and close the gap to Martin (Rowe). I've really looking forward to the Scottish now - hopefully we will be able to debut the new Peugeot 206 there too."
Andrew Bargery (co-driver):
"It was difficult with the recce being limited to only one pass and some parts not recce'd at all. Unlike most crews who used the organiser's pacenotes, we decided to take a risk and make our own notes from scratch. It seemed to be the right decision as Justin was able to commit completely on the faster corners. It was hard work re-writing notes between every stage, but after Wirral and Silverstone, it was nice to have something to do!"
12th August 2001
