Jonathan and Graham Gale maintained their overall title bid for XS Racing on round four of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Mid Wales Historic Stages on Sunday (21 June).
 
The Sunbeam Tiger crew dominated category one to move into fourth place overall at the halfway point of the season. The event was a major challenge for the XS squad as it fielded no less than seven cars in the historic event and the Metro 6R4 of Stuart Larbey in the concurrent modern event.

Just one of the six historic cars failed to finish the event, and that was the Escort Mk1 of Peter Egerton/Jamie Edwards, which unfortunately slipped off where there were no spectators and they were unable to get the undamaged car back on to the stage.
 
At the head of the field, Gale took control of category one from the start of the rally and even a big moment on the high-speed descent in the Pikes Peak stage didn't prevent a resounding victory. The result also sets Gale up for the next round on the Isle of Man, which is his favourite rally of the season.
 
For Drew Wylie and Howard Pridmore in their Escort Mk1, a slow start on the opening stage in Hafren South left them with a lot of work to do. "I didn’t really wake up until the end of the stage," said Wylie, who was a massive 40s faster on the second run through the stage. Though they clawed back time to class leaders Tim Jones and Neal James, the XS car was destined to finish third in class C3, just 20s down on class winner Jones.
 
Punctures hit two of the other four XS cars, and both of them happened early enough in the stages to force the crews to stop and change wheels. Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson ended the rally sixth in class C3 after a delay changing a puncture that cost them the chance of a top three class finish. "The car ran with no problems at all and we had a good run apart from the puncture," said Siddall.
 
Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne also lost four minutes changing a puncture on their Porsche 911, which cost them a real chance of class C4 victory. Nevertheless, Smith was pleased to be showing increasingly good pace as he gets used to the Porsche. "It’s getting better," he said. Meanwhile, a fractured alternator mounting cost Philip Wylie/James Whitaker a stage maximum in their Escort Mk1.
 
The final member of the XS Racing BHRC contingent was 2003 Le Mans winner Guy Smith, making his rallying debut in the Escort Mk1 of his father Peter. Partnered by Graham Henshaw, this was a baptism of fire, but Guy gave an excellent account of himself to bring the car home safely in seventh place in class C3.
 
"It's fantastic; I really enjoyed it," said Guy at the finish. "I was starting to get my head around the pace notes and understanding what Graham was saying to me. The people are great and there is great camaraderie among the competitors. The main thing was to be able to tell my dad that his car was still in one piece. I'll go away and sleep on it now, but I’d love to come back and do another one if time permits and then I could push a bit harder."
 
Meanwhile, in the modern event, Stuart Larbey was giving his 6R4 a first run after having a new engine and transmission installed by XS Racing. After a trouble free run he finished 11th overall in what was a shakedown event as Stuart and the Metro have been invited to take part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 4/5 July.
 
"It was a fantastic effort from all the team to get all the cars prepared and seven cars came home with only minor mechanical problems," said team boss Jon Cropper.
 
The next round of the BHRC is the challenging Isle of Man Historic Rally on 10/11 July, when XS Racing will field six cars for Andrew Siddall, Drew Wylie, Jonathan Gale, Peter Smith, Peter Egerton and Steven Smith. It will be the first rally of the year for Steven Smith in his Porsche 911 and he is set to challenge for overall victory on one of his favourite rallies. "We've got a great squad for the Isle of Man and it's great to have Steven back out," said Cropper. This weekend, the team has a tarmac test session ahead of the Isle of Man event.
 
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.

Issued by Paul Lawrence on behalf of XS Racing (www.xsracing.net).
For further details, call 01952 510382.