Maciej Lubiak and Gregorz Dachowski won in Cerefigion and took maximum EHRC points.
Words by James Downie, videography by Nikolay D Nedelchev, images supplied courtesy of Michael Cramp/MJC Media.
For the first time, Ceredigion hosted the European Historic Rally Championship. It would cover the same 16 stage route over the weekend of 4th to 6th September as the main ERC and BRC event. The very fast stages looked likely to suit the powerful low slung aerodynamic racers such as the TR7V8 of Mark Higgins/Carl Williamson, the Lancia Stratos of Sebastian Perez/Dale Bowen and the Porsche 911s of championship leader Maciej Kubiak/Gregorz Dachowski and Enrico Brazzoli/Martina Musiari. Local opposition would come from the BMW M3 of Thomas Davies/Shane Buckley and the Ford Escort RSs of Dyfrig James/Tristan Evans and Arwel Evans/Jordan Jones.
Former British Champion Higgins stormed into the lead with fastest time on the first 3 stages. Dyfryg James won SS4 to prevent a clean sweep of the Friday night stages for Higgins but the rumbling V8 Triumph led by 9 seconds overnight from the Welshman, who’s local knowledge in the dark was helping to make up for a big power deficit. Lubiak’s Porsche was a comfortable 3rd but already 30 seconds down on the leader.
Leaderboard on Friday Night:
Higgins/Williamson TR7V8 13m01.1s
James/Evans Escort +8.0s
Lubiak/Dachowski Porsche+30.7s
Davies/Davies Escort +53.5s
Evans/Jones Escort +1m36.6s
The first daylight stage on Saturday saw the top 3 pull further away from the rest. The next one was cancelled but SS7 was the magnificent Cwm Elan stage, which finally gave Higgins the opportunity to really open the TR up in daylight and exploit its 320bhp. He didn’t waste it either, taking 17 seconds off Lubiak and a massive 42 seconds off James. Andy and Owain James managed 3rd quickest on this test in an Escort. Seb Perez was driving within himself with Championship points at stake on such a long rally but the Stratos was 4th quickest through Cwm Elan.
Mark Higgins and Carl Williamson looked set to destroy the opposition until electrical failure out the TR out.
Into his stride now, Higgins hammered home the TR’s prowess as a great tarmac car and destroyed the opposition over the next 2 stages. His lead after SS9 was a massive 1 minute and 13 seconds over Lubiak, who had got past James into 2nd, but Brazzioli’s Porsche had retired on SS5.
Unfortunately it was not to be for Higgins. After a superb performance on the Saturday, electrical failure on the 2nd run at Cwm Elan cost over 6 minutes on the stage, and resulted in retirement after it. A huge disappointment for the crew, the team, and the spectators who were loving the sight and sound of this amazing car. At the end of the day Lubiak’s inherited lead was just over 15 seconds from Dyfrig James’s Escort. Perez was up to 4th behind the Escort of Andy and Owain Evans.
Leaderboard on Saturday Night:
Lubiak/Dachowski Porsche 1h05m37.4s
James/Evans Escort +15.5s
Davies/Davies Escort +1m51.7s
Perez/Bowen Lancia +3m13.1s
Evans/Jones Escort +5m37.7s
Three stages remained on the Sunday… and with Lubiak a long way ahead of his nearest Championship rival, would he go for the overall rally win or settle for championship management and allow James to catch him?
It was very wet on Sunday, and fastest times for James on SS13 and 14 closed the gap right down to 1.4 seconds going into the final stage, with Lubiak appearing to not be trying to do anything too heroic. Would there be a Welsh winner?
The power and traction of the Porsche was too much though, and Lubiak went 4 seconds quicker than the Escort over the final stage to take the win by 5 seconds, as well as maximum championship points. James finished a fine second, from countryman Davies. Perez took 4th and was 2nd of the registered championship contenders.
At the finish Lubiak said how much he’d enjoyed the fast and technical stages in Wales. The Ceredigion was a worthy addition to the Championship and lets hope it is back in 2027.
Seb Perez and Dale Bowen took 4th and 18 championship points.
Final Leaderboard
Lubiak/Dachowski Porsche 1h31m14.4s
James/Evans Escort +5.2s
Davies/Davies Escort +3m00.2s
Perez/Bowen Lancia +5m34.9s
Evans/Jones Escort +6m50.9s
