WATCH: Le Noa and Volante take top honours as Guernsey Rally returns

The Jersey stars won the 2022 Comprop Guernsey Rally by 1min. 21sec. as visitors shut out the top five positions, with an unfortunate crash eliminating home favourites and overall No. 2 seeds Dale Crowsley and Will Rutherford in a potent reminder that anyone can be caught out in this demanding discipline. Neither was seriously hurt.

But fellow Sarnians Craig Robert and Chris Guille had plenty to celebrate after producing a fantastic performance for top home crew, victory in the FWD2 class and sixth overall despite running at No. 15.

Overall it was a splendid weekend for Guernsey motor sport as the island’s own rally returned truly bigger and better than ever, packing over 35 competitive miles between Friday’s night stages in the north and a busy Saturday in the southern parishes.

Friday’s assignment consisted of fast and flowing stages contested primarily in the dark, at Vaugrat and Chouet respectively.

Volante and Le Noa came out in the lead as their closest threats, Rutherford and Crowsley, suffered a 30sec. penalty for hitting a hay bale in the second of four Chouet stages.

Robert and Guille ended the night apparently ranked second, though three drivers inched past them when several earlier penalties were protested.

Determined to claw back time, Crowsley and Rutherford put on a real shift to win six of the Saturday morning’s eight technical stages around the reservoir and St Andrew’s, moving into second behind the top Jersey duo.

Saturday afternoon’s Petit Bot stage – featuring a steep downhill run on the east side and a tricky double hairpin on the west – was billed as a ‘game-changer’ by organiser Karl Marshall and it certainly delivered.

After winning the first and then at St Andrew’s, disaster struck Crowsley and Rutherford as their Mazda MX5 GT’s throttle jammed open on the descent and they hit the wall near the Petit Bot tearoom, damaging structure and vehicle alike in an unfortunate ending to their brilliant push for home victory.

Le Noa and Volante returned to winning ways in their powerful No. 1 Ford Escort MK2 and took all but the 23rd stage, where Caesarean rivals Sam Touzel and Aaron Nicolle edged them. The 24th and final stage was cancelled due to a lack of time.

WATCH: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2022 COMPROP GUERNSEY RALLY

The winners posted a 47min. 58sec. cumulative time and extended their unbeaten record in the still-young event.

‘Absolutely brilliant – four Guernsey rallies and four times winners, so absolutely amazing,’ Volante said.

‘Set-up, absolutely brilliant, but trying to work our way round the island again is like starting all over again.

‘We did it for three years, we got used to the roads, but missing it a year, we’re like “Where we going?”.’

Touzel and Nicolle followed in 49-19, with Dave Oliveira and Victor Nobrega completing a Jersey one-two-three.

The UK’s Dan and Andy Corner, co-driven by Richard Evans junior and Ade Campo respectively, filled the top five.

But to finish top Guernsey crew and just behind that quality mix came as a welcome surprise for Robert and first-time navigator Guille.

‘It’s not something I would have expected,’ the Honda Civic driver said.

‘[Dale’s crash] was one of these things that could have happened to anyone – unfortunately Dale got caught out, but we’re absolutely thrilled with where we finished.’

They had closed in 50-37 and 19sec. clear of the second Guernsey pairing, Nick Duquemin and Richard Le Marquand.

In 10th overall, Paul Trebert and Jason Carre won Class B in their Peugeot 206.