JAMES Williams claimed his first victory in his Orange Amplifiers Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the double header Manx National Rally (10/11 May) – and in doing so scored maximum points on both Rounds 2 and 3 to extend his lead in the Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship.
Co-driven by Ross Whittock, the Newcastle Emlyn driver led the three leg, two day, 15 stage, 127 stage mile event from start to finish.
After setting the fastest time on all four of Leg 1’s stages, Williams went into the afternoon break leading by 48.4 seconds – and over the course of Friday evening’s stages he extended that advantage to 1min 17.9secs by the overnight halt.
It hadn’t been all plain sailing however, as he’d had to top up the brake fluid system with water and Lucozade after suffering brake problems on the day’s final two stages.
The dry and fast conditions continued on Saturday, where James extended his lead as the longest leg of the event progressed – eventually winning the famous Isle of Man event in his Pirelli-shod Hyundai by an incredible 4mins 04.5secs. He now has a perfect Protyre Asphalt score of 90 points after three rounds.
“It’s been a solid weekend to be fair and I’m over the moon with the feeling I’ve had in the car,” said James.
“I had the confidence to push on the stages which I hadn’t really had before but which has been coming all year.
“Everything worked well. Ross did an amazing job, the team has done a fantastic job, all my partners and family back home supporting us – it’s just a massive weight off my shoulders to get my first win.
“That was the biggest thing for me – I really needed to tick that box. I said I wanted to make a mark on British rallying this year and this result shows that we’re going in the right direction.”
Steve Wood knows that if you keep out of trouble then a good result is likely to follow, and the 2022 Protyre Asphalt champion did just that with a textbook drive in his Michelin-shod Sligo Pallets Citroën C3 Rally2.
Together with Kenny Hull (who leads the overall co-drivers’ standings), the Aberystwyth driver picked up third-placed points on Friday and fourth-placed points on Saturday to rocket him from sixth to second in the standings.
Round 4 of the 2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship is the Beatson's Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally (24/25 May). 2024 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship – top 6 drivers’ overall after Round 3: 1. James Williams, 90pts; 2. Steve Wood, 77pts; 3. Simon Bowen, 75pts; 4. Hugh Hunter, 72pts; 5. Darren Atkinson, 68pts; 6. Stephen Simpson, 67pts