LUDLOW Castle’s Keaton Williams capped off an eventful spell with victory alongside John Perrott at the Builth Wells Stages.

Williams followed up a class victory in the national section of the Wales Rally GB and a call-up to the Motor Sports Association Academy for Co-drivers with the overall triumph.

Seeded ninth, Perrott and Williams shrugged off early problems with their intercom and a sticky throttle on stage 10 to record an eight-second victory in the Ford Escort Mk II.

Steve Davies and Lucy Wilding set solid times against more experienced opposition, finishing 12th overall and fifth in class despite having started as 33rd seeds.

Debutant Perry Gardner took 18th overall and fifth in class alongside Ben Innes in the Vauxhall Nova, a stellar show from their 55th-placed ranking. Roger Titley and Jack Bowen retired having hit a boulder during stage four.

Williams then jumped into dad Chris’s Mitsubishi Colt for the Powys Lane road event but retired with electrical problems.

The rookie now joins a small squad of young co-drivers who are selected for the academy based on their potential to reach an elite level.

The programme is primarily workshop-based but the bespoke approach to co-driver development ensures that Williams will also receive individual support.

At the Wales Rally GB, Williams helped Gee Atherton to tackle the 107-mile course which was shrouded in fog for most of the opening day.

The duo led their class and were 15th overall heading into day two but dropped to 17th and second in their section as the pace picked up.

The third and final day saw the pendulum swing several times before Atherton and Williams’s nearest rivals for the class prize slipped off the road five corners from the end. Ludlow’s Gary Smith took 14th overall and second in class alongside Bryan Thomas.