"The stages were very good and we were driving to make sure of the class," said Jones, after leading rivals Neal James and Kevin Jones went out on Saturday afternoon with gearbox failure. Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes got their Escort to the finish but time lost due to an electrical gremlin and then a puncture left them well down the order.
The new partnership of Vince Bristow/Ian Harden was easily clear in C2, their Escort Mk1 a long way clear of the similar car of Kevin Broadhurst/Andrew Turner.
Category 3
The action in category three kicked off on the opening stages as McCormack/Agnew lost third gear and then had the fire extinguisher go off, while Hill/Cooper hit a post and damaged their steering. McCormack was 40s down, but Hill was two and a half minutes down overnight. Instead, Paul Griffiths/Sam Collis led at the end of the first day after a storming start, but Darren Moon/John McNichol were only three seconds behind in their Escort Mk2.
On Sunday morning it was all about McCormack and Hill as they flew through the pair of Hafren stages. McCormack was 18s quicker than Hill and they were both well clear of the rest in a stunning display. That pace soon put McCormack into the lead and he was able to measure his pace through the later stages on his way to a resounding victory. "We were really flying. It felt so good and the adrenalin was pumping," said Martin.
Griffiths should have bagged second, but lost around two minutes driving four miles of Sweet Lamb with a puncture, so it was Moon/McNichol in second after a tremendous performance on their first run through these stages. Hill's mighty recovery drive netted third in category three and fastest times on the final two stages.
In a typically competitive D5, a gaggle of quick Escorts packed out the next places with Terry Brown/Den Golding fourth from Griffiths/Collis and Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing.
![Martin McCormack /Joe Agnew [Pic credit: BHRC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/463041.jpg)
