Caleb MacDonald/Kerran Graeve (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) have won the Mainland Rally Championship fifth round at the Lawrence Rally on Saturday. The pairing won all five stages finishing over a minute ahead of second-placed David Quantock/Grant Marra (Skoda Fabia AP4).
Third home was Dylan Thomson/Richard Fairhall (Ford Fiesta ST150 2.3), ahead of Jonty Brenssell/Terri Taylor (Toyota Starlet) and Tim McIver/Scott Cousins (Ford Escort Mk2).
Thomson now has the overall lead in the six-round championship with one event remaining.
The Mainland Rally Championship competitors were part of the 45-strong entries competing for overall honours, which saw MacDonald and Graeve finish second overall to Andrew Graves/Hayden Graves (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3).
Again, Mike Matheson/Gordon Legge (Toyota Vitz) finished ahead of Class A (2WD 0-1300cc) leader Pat Norris/Geoff Parr (Toyota Yaris). A narrow four-point difference heading to the finale may be too close to call.
Jonty Brenssell won Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) ahead of a strong showing by Thomas Paul (Honda Civic) who finished sixth overall. Kerry Sloan (Toyota Starlet) managed to increase his class lead to seven-points over David Birkett (Toyota Levin) with Dean Schoder (Toyota Trueno) in third.
Caleb MacDonald’s win sees him take over the lead in Class D (4WD) with a golden opportunity to secure the class title. Josh Marston is 10-points adrift but has missed he last two rounds. Dave Ollis is third a further 18-points behind Marston.
Hayden Shakespeare (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) has secured the Class E (Pre 1996 Classic 4WD) title with an unassailable 26-point lead over Mike Barltrop (Subaru Impreza) who didn’t enter the Lawrence Rally.
It’s close in the Historic Class F with Tim McIver (Ford Escort Mk2) first home reducing Ally Mackay’s (Ford Escort Mk1) lead to just 10-points with Stephen Gill (Ford Escort Mk2 FJ20) in third.
Tom Milliken’s (Subaru H6) has secured the Class H (Subaru H6) title also with an unassailable 28-point lead over James Macdonald (Subaru H6).
The final and deciding Westland Rally round takes place in three weeks’ time on Saturday, 25 November 2023.
Header Image: Tim McIver and Scott Cousins (Ford Escort Mk2) were first in Class F. Image:Geoff Ridder
