25 Year Old Welshman Matt Edwards claimed the Millers Oils BTRDA 1400 Series title over the weekend, with a stunning drive in his 586 Sport MG ZR in testing circumstances; with the ‘Swift Group’ backed driver only conceding 1 second all day to his 1400 rivals.

The result also netted Edwards the MG ZR Championship for 2010 and put him in a strong position in the MSA English Championship; a fine reward for his and the 586 Sport teams efforts.

Despite feeling unwell in the run-up to the event, Edwards, with long term co-driver Sam Collis once again on the notes, set a blistering pace on the first stages of the Ludlow based event to emerge from the second stage with a strong 20 second lead after main championship rival Darren Pinchen suffered engine problems on the opening test, and the challenge of the local crews failed to materialise. This left the duo in an arguably more difficult position of having to drive at a speed enough to still secure the maximum points required, but knowing a non-finish would certainly not help their chances.

After the third test of just over four miles, the Racing-Lines.com, Fuchs Titan Race, Tradeaways and Pamaya.com supported MG ZR held a 21 second cushion over Justin Lawson who would prove his pace over the course of the day.

“We knew we had to push on the first two stages as always, and see where we were then” explained Edwards at service; ” however, Darren has unfortunately retired which is a great shame for him, and believe it or not makes life more difficult for us now as its not as simple as a straight fight for the win now! The car is going great as usual but im just a bit concerned about our relative lack of power for these next two stages which are very fast and less technical than the ones we have already done, so our lead at 21 seconds here is not comfortable in my eyes”

Edwards fears were realised in the fast and flowing Radnor complex, as despite a hard push over both of the challenging 9 mile stages, the hard work only resulted in a net gain of one slender second over the 18 miles after taking ‘two’ from Lawson on the first stage, and giving back ‘one’ on the second; the long steady hill climbs sapping the progress of their machine.

This left the Swift Group pairing with no choice but to continue to push hard on the remaining two stages, knowing that a 22 second gap could quite easily evapourate if they slackened their pace or made a mistake, and despite their main rivals retirement, they still needed a maximum points haul to seal the championship.

So to Wigmore and Haye Park to decide the rally, and settling in to a good rythym immediately on the first of the two stages, Edwards pulled another 7 seconds out in just 3.5 miles to take a 29 second advantage into the final 9 mile stage. Normally this would have been a comfortable position to be in, but with the memories of the last mile mechanical breakdown on the Plains Rally earlier in the year still playing on the talented Welshmans mind at that point, there was no room for complacency, and Edwards promtly sealed the deal with a time 11 seconds faster than any other 1400 crew – a fine performance.

“Im obviously thrilled with the result today, not only for the individual rally result, but to seal the championship with a round to spare is also great, and I’d probably say its my biggest success to date given the nature of the cchampionship all year. Its been great working with 586 Sport who have provided an awesome car to do the business in, its also been huge fun being involved with such a friendly atmosphere and good events. Id also like to say a huge thank-you to the Swift Group’ who have completely made this possible, and also to everyone else involved from the team, to family friends and other supporters; you know who you are! It will be great going to my home event at the Cambrian now with the championship already in the bag, but we still need to do well there to guarentee Sam the Co-Drivers titile, as he missed an event earlier in the year.”

Edwards is also looking for the budget to contest the National status event running alongside the UKs round of the World Rally Championship in South Wales on 13th November to finish off the year, as the crew already have the support of several parties towards a deal to do the rally.

For more information on Matts 2010 season, and 2011 plan and opportunities please visit http://www.merallysport.com, and for more information on the Swift Group, please vitis http://www.swiftgroup.co.uk. The Swift Group are Britain’s largest manufacturer of touring caravans, motorhomes and holiday homes. For results also see http://www.btrdarally.com.

Ends