The third round of the
Silverstone Tyres BRC Challenge seemed likely to offer up a third straight victory for series leader Richard Sykes in his Fiesta ST, but his championship aspirations took a blow on the second day of the recent Rally of the Midlands.
The opening day of the event offered the crews six stages on the Friday evening, starting with a town centre spectator stage in the heart of Nuneaton, a couple of short stages through the grounds of Merevale Hall and some flat out stages around Mallory Park racing circuit, before returning to the town centre to entertain the awaiting crowds.
The first three stages saw Sykes open out a 14 second lead over championship rival David Harrison, who in return then recovered a couple of seconds. However by the close of play on Friday, Sykes had a 20 second cushion over Harrison, with all the remaining championship contenders languishing a minute further back.
"Dave has really pushed me tonight, but I'm happy enough with the lead we have,” said Sykes. “We return to Mallory again in the morning and his car is obviously suited to that venue so having that cushion will allow us to concede a small amount of time to him in there.
“But with rain scheduled for the morning it will be a bit of a lottery as to whose car will be suited to the other venues.
“MIRA includes the bulk of tomorrow's mileage, a venue where I retired last year in an identical car to Dave's, and it could be where his car comes into play having the extra power."
Saturday's change in weather prompted a change in fortunes at the front of the field, Harrison taking four straight wins on consecutive stages, managing to claw back his time deficit and open a 3 second lead.
Sykes dug in though, pushing the Smile Spa Midlands backed Fiesta, reversing the positions on the following stage and took a further 3 seconds on the next stage. But the battle was still on as Harrison halved Sykes' lead over the next run at
Mallory Park.
