British Historic Rally Championship – Plains Rally

David Crossen and Ben Teggart took a thrilling victory at the Plains Rally on 17 May, storming to their second BHRC win of the season in hot and dusty conditions in a rally that marked the BHRC’s long-awaited return to Welsh gravel.  The Escort MkII crew came out on top of a fiercely contested three-way battle with fellow Escort drivers David Henderson/Chris Lees and Daniel Mennell/John Roberts.

Henderson made the early running, with George Lepley’s Mitsubishi Galant VR4 and 2024 BHRC champion Seb Perez’s Porsche 911 close behind.  However, Perez was ruled out on the next stage with gearbox failure.

With the margins remaining razor-thin, the Dyfnant stage turned the rally on its head. Lepley turned in an amazing time, going 14 seconds faster than anyone to seize the lead, while a spin for Crossen cost him vital time.  But in another twist, Lepley’s charge was cut short during the afternoon loop, his Mitsubishi succumbing to turbo failure.  With one more contender down, the focus shifted to a three-way Escort shootout between Crossen, Henderson, and Mennell.

When delays forced the final stage to be cancelled, it all came down to the penultimate test — and Crossen delivered.  Keeping his cool under pressure, he edged out his rivals to back up his triumph in Kielder with another standout performance for the overall and Category 3 win.

“It’s been great to race everyone all day – the competition has been amazing and flat out all rally long”, said Crossen.

Behind the headline battle, the spotlight was on the category fights.  Although he initially had to give way to the rapid Ben Smith in the Porsche, Smith’s retirement opened the door for Adam Milner and co-driver Roy Jarvis to claim their third consecutive Category 2 win.  With that result, Milner remains tied at the top of the BHRC standings overall.

In Category 4, for cars up to 1990, Baz Jordan and Arwel Jenkins (Mitsubishi Galant) were another team to score a hat trick this season.   After a faultless run the pair now share the joint BHRC lead with Milner.

Subscribe today and get more rally news and reports  https://historicmotorracingnews.com/subscribe-magazine/