EAST Yorkshire teenager Ashley Slights made an outstanding start to the BTRDA Rally First Championship with victory at the Wyedean Forest Rally.
More than 180 cars competed in the Chepstow-based rally, with Sutton-on-Derwent-based Slights and co-driver Tom Hughes joining crews battling it out over seven stages in the Forest of Dean.
Piloting his championship- winning RF1.4 Toyota Yaris, Slights charged into an early lead of the Rally First class, with an eight-second advantage over closest-rival Chris Hellings.
Slights, 18, who works for Malton-based Rally Sport Development, said: “I got into a good rhythm from the beginning.
“Although I hadn’t competed on a rally for a good few months, everything just clicked into place.”
The only drama of the day was when Slights and Pocklington-based Hughes hit a rock on stage three at Speech House.
Slights said: “After repairing the minor damage, we went on to finish two minutes, 12 seconds clear in the Rally First 1.4 class. I was also really happy to finish fifth overall in the 1,400 category.”
The next round of the championship is the Malcolm Wilson Rally on March 5.
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