Newcastle Emlyn rally driver James Williams enjoyed one of his most successful events in his rallying career to date last weekend, as he achieved a double podium for the Hyundai Power Products Rally Team on the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland.
Williams, along with co-driver Dai Roberts drove faultlessly over the two-day event around the town of Duns in southern Scotland.
The pair came second in the British Rally Championship category and first overall in the Motorsport UK National Asphalt Championship – having registered for both series.
24-year-old Williams came off the back of a strong BRC season opener – claiming third overall in Clacton, Essex at the wheel of his Hyundai i20 R5 rally car.
Confident of a good result, the Newcastle Emlyn-based driver was eager to fight for another British Championship podium and a top-step in the National Asphalt series.
On the opening night, two stages equating to over 23-miles was the first challenge of the event. Recording two, third fastest stage times, his smooth and consistent approach saw him slot into second overall at the overnight halt – 40.6 seconds behind the rally leader, four-time BRC champion Keith Cronin.
On the final day – the young British driver in his four-wheel-drive, turbocharged Hyundai had the bit between his teeth as he was given a joint fastest stage time with three other crews, as they all cleared the average speed ‘bogey time’ set by the organisers. This sadly denied Williams and Roberts a chance of denting the deficit to Cronin.
Eager to show his pace, Williams on the following special stage would finish the 6.28-mile stage just 0.5 seconds behind the rally leader.
The roles reversed on Stage 5 – with Williams ahead of Cronin by half a second – matching the times of the sealed-surface specialist coming into the lunchtime service halt.
Stage six and nine were cancelled – which meant two stages stood between James’ best ever rally result. However, it wasn’t all going to be plain sailing in the Hyundai. SS7 saw the Welsh crew suffer power problems, which dropped them into the clutches of the third placed crew.
Ahead of the last stage, James and Dai checked everything on the car, in the hope of giving them the best possible chance of fighting for their best ever career result.
Whatever the problem was, it solved itself, as the crew flew through the final 8.75 miles of the event, entertaining the thousands of spectators lining the route in the process.
The spirited run netted them the fastest stage time – enabling them to secure second in the British Rally Championship and sealing top National Asphalt points scorer in the process.
“We are over the moon with that one,” enthused Williams. “The event was all about trying to drive within ourselves and keep it consistent – but my heart was in my mouth in the last stage.
"We had lost all turbo boost in the one before, so we had to really wring the neck of the car and empty the tank to stay in the front of the guys chasing us. Terrifying, but I really enjoyed having to fight and show our speed on this event.
“I want to say a big thanks to everyone who made this happen. I always drive with a lot of passion and emotion – with the heart on the sleeve every time I get in the car.
"We really enjoyed these roads, they were a real challenge and to come here fighting for victories and achieving two podiums in two championships is incredible, and it’s where we want to continually be.
“We have only done a handful of events in this car and the more rallies we do, the faster we are going to get – so look out for the rest of the season – we have big ambitions for the rest of the year.”
MORE NEWS
The British Rally Championship heads to Wales for James Williams and Dai Roberts as the third round of the series will be held at the Nicky Grist Stages in Builth Wells.
Britain’s premier rallying series takes a tantalising twist, as the series moves from the smooth asphalt roads to forestry gravel tracks on Saturday 9 July.
With the benefit of being on the familiar Welsh stages, the Hyundai Power Products Rally Team will be gunning for a strong result on home soil.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here