Wylie bags maximum points for XS Racing

News from XS Racing (Chesterfield)

Drew Wylie maintained his challenge for the overall BHRC crown for XS Racing on round six of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Harry Flatters Historic Rally on 1/2 August.
 
Wylie and Howard Pridmore took their Ford Escort Mk1 to maximum points in class C3 after 80 stage miles on the daunting Epynt ranges in Mid-Wales, despite Wylie's limited knowledge of the truly demanding stages. "Local knowledge seems to be an advantage for the Welsh and English drivers here," said Drew before the start of the rally.
 
The car ran faultlessly through two stages on Saturday evening followed by eight more on Sunday and Wylie had a big battle with the similar car of Ken Forster before taking maximum points with a margin of just 14s over Forster. "I had been here once before but it’s a steep learning curve," said Wylie after keeping his title chances running strongly.
 
Just behind Forster in the final results was the XS Racing Escort Mk1 of Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson after another strong run. Like Wylie, Siddall was still learning about the unique challenge of Epynt where many blind brows can easily catch crews out. "A plug lead came off the distributor on the first stage," said Siddall of an otherwise trouble free rally.
 
The third crew in the XS Racing line-up came so close to bagging a class victory, but in the end it was just three seconds that kept Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne from winning class C4 in their Porsche 911. With a superb run on unfamiliar ground, Smith ended the rally just three seconds behind the similar car of Irish veteran Derek Boyd. "I really enjoyed the rally and the car was just great," said Smith after a tremendous performance.
 
The penultimate round of the BHRC is the Tour of Flanders in Belgium over the weekend of 12/13 September and a strong squad from XS Racing will make the trip to the 50th anniversary of the famous rally.
 
XS Racing specialises in all types of historic rally preparation and parts supply across a wide range of cars. XS Racing can be contacted on 01246 233777.