MELVYN Evans won the opening round of the Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, the Port Talbot MC-organised Melvyn Evans Motorsport Tour of Epynt, in his Subaru Impreza WRC S12b.

It’s been two years since the 53-year old Lampeter driver had driven the car, and six years since he last rallied it on Epynt, yet he and co-driver Mark Glennerster were very quickly into their stride.

The key to their success was a big push over the infamous Burma Road - a very tricky and technical section where bravery and precision can reap its rewards.

Evans inched ahead of the opposition to win the 74 stage mile event by 39 seconds.

“It’s been six years since I last drove this Subaru Impreza WRC on Epynt,” he said.

“We were car number three on the Tour of Epynt in 2012 and won, and this year we were car number three and won again, we’ll have to be number three more often!

“We started off sensibly to see what our pace was like - the pace was there, so we had a push on the Burma Road on the middle loop and found that was the place we could take a bit of time out of Damian.

“There are lots of fast places on Epynt where it’s very difficult to make any time, so we were really fast and precise in the tricky sections and that’s what made the difference and paid dividends.

“All the drivers have gone well today. It’s been slippery and greasy, tyre choice has been very difficult, but it’s been a fantastic battle all the way to the finish.”

Damian Cole set equal fastest time with Evans on the opening two stages in his Get Connected Ford Fiesta WRC, despite ripping the handbrake out of the floor!

Co-driven by Jamie Edwards, the six-time MSA Asphalt Rally Champion never put a foot wrong in the damp and greasy conditions and got off to a great start with a very strong run to finish in second.

Jason Pritchard spun his North Road Garage Ford Fiesta S2000 at the first junction on the opening stage, losing a few precious seconds at the Llandeilo’r Fân Triangle, before continuing through the damp first loop of stages with understeer.

Despite very little seat time in the car, and the S2000 being considerably less powerful than the World Rally Cars around him, Pritchard and co-driver Phil Clarke set a remarkable pace - even setting fastest time on the seventh and final stage when the rain returned - to finish the rally an excellent third overall.

Last year’s Tour of Epynt winner and number one seed Bob Fowden was going well in his Comline Auto Parts/NGK-backed Subaru Impreza WRC S11.

Co-driven by Aled Davies, he was third - only 16 seconds behind Evans and five seconds behind Cole) - when he slipped off the road on a particularly greasy corner near the end of SS5. Beached, he was unable to get back onto the road.

A late change of car saw Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh contest the event in a CA1 Sport Fiesta RS, and an excellent run saw them finish fourth.Adrian Spencer/Matt Daniels lost time with early gearshift issues, a spin on SS1, an off onto the grass on SS3 and a big moment on the approach to Four Ways Bridge on SS4. They recovered and closed the gap to Simpson to just 13 seconds by the end of the final stage, with the Subaru Impreza crew coming home fifth to bag a good set of points.

Wayne Sisson/Max Freeman won their class and finished an impressive seventh overall in the immaculate Mitsubishi Evo.

Less fortunate were Evo drivers Philip Turner/Simon Anthony who retired their Mitsubishi with clutch failure on SS5 and Rob Tout/Peredur Davies who stopped on the penultimate stage – both whilst they weere holding top seven positions and battling for the class lead.Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter crashed their Evo on SS5, Paul James/Derek Davies were forced to stop their Evo when the driver became unwell and Richard Clews/Hamish Campbell retired their ITG Air Filters Subaru Impreza in service after SS4, with a down on power engine problem.

Huw Reed/Anthony Hackett hit their pre-event target of finishing as top two-wheel drive Championship contenders, which was no mean feat in the damp and greasy conditions in their 2.5-litre Millington Series 2-engined Darrian T90 GTR.Tony Rees/Geraint Thomas finished 15th in their similar car, it what was only their second ever rally in it. The throttle jammed open on two stages, but they survived the slippery conditions to get their season off to a fine points-scoring start.

Round Two of the Protyre MSA Asphalt Rally Championship is the Bet on Aces Manx National Rally (May 11-12).

2018 Melvyn Evans Motorsport Tour of Epynt: Top 10:

1. Melvyn Evans/Mark Glennerster (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h04m58s; 2. Damian Cole/Jamie Edwards (Ford Fiesta WRC) +39s; 3. Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Ford Fiesta S2000) +1m46s; 4. Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Ford Fiesta RS) +3m23s; 5. Adrian Spencer/Matt Daniels (Subaru Impreza WRC) +3m36s; 6. Paul Kirtley/David Jones (Subaru Impreza) +4m36s; 7. Wayne Sisson/Max Freeman (Mitsubishi Evo) +5m08s; 8. Gareth James/Steffan Evans (Ford Escort Mk2) +5m09s; 9. Huw Reed/Anthony Hackett (Darrian T90 GTR) +5m25s; 10. Richard Merriman/Kath Curzon (Darrian T90) +5m26s.