Michael Igoe and Will Atkins secured a dominant overall victory at this year’s season-opening MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages in their Citroën C3 Rally 2 with a time of 29m20s.
Across eight challenging stages that featured tricky conditions and sections of the circuit run in reverse, the pairing of Igoe/Atkins pulled out a dominant display, claiming victory in all stages except one in which they finished second, albeit just a second off the quickest time.
The Darrian T90 GTR+ of Barry Morris and Tom Hutchings finished second in the standings, 19 seconds behind the lead car. The pair won in stage two to deny Igoe and Atkins a clean sweep of stage victories and the Darrian would not finish lower than third in any of the day’s stages to secure a clear second overall. The VW Polo GTI R5 of John Stone and Alex Stone completed the top three a further 45 seconds back from Igoe/Watkins.
Rounding out a closely contested top five was the Skoda Fabia Rally2 of John Griffiths and Emma Morrison, finishing just a second off of third place, with Chris West and Keith Hounslow’s Peugeot 306 Maxi Kit Car a further two seconds behind in fifth place.
MGJ Engineering Brands Hatch Winter Stages results:
1. Michael Igoe/Will Atkins, Citroën C3 Rally2, 29m20s
2. Barry Morris/Tom Hutchings, Darrian T90 GTR+, +19s
3. John Stone/Alex Stone, VW Polo GTI R5, +45s
4. John Griffiths/Emma Morrison, Skoda Fabia Rally2, +46s
5. Chris West/Keith Hounslow, Peugeot 306 Maxi Kit Car, +48s
6. Stuart Maloney/Steve McNulty, VW Polo R5, +54s
7. Richard Weatherley/Shaun Layland, Citroën C3 Rally2, +1m0s
8. Alasdair Stables/ Neil Jones, Vauxhall Chevette HSR, +2m46s
9. Sam Cox/ Mattie Franklin, Renault Clio Cup 3, +3m2s
10. George Sherman/Neil Colman, Ford Fiesta Rally2, +3m20s
Photo: Gary Hawkins