May 30th, 2011
Current champion driver Michael Glendinning is back at the top on the Jim Clark National.
Berwick and Border Ecosse Car Clubs organised the annual Bank Holiday feast of rallies run over the closed roads of Berwickshire. Once again we had the chance to take in 120 miles of competition running with the top tarmac crews in the country. This was broken down into 22 miles run on Friday evening and then 98 on Saturday with the last 49 run without an opportunity to service. The weather would keep all crews guessing for most of the weekend with its variability; generally it was dry and windy with the occasional heavy downpour thrown in to liven things up.
Driving his usual Subaru Impreza, Glendinning was making a return to the series after a brief break and was immediately quick out of the blocks. His only problem was catching a slower car on the last stage but even so he took a 2 minute lead at the end of Friday and would never be headed. But he didn’t sit back after that he continued to push on and at the half way service he held a brilliant 4th overall in the rally. He dropped 30 seconds and 2 places on stage 12 but still went into the final stage in 6th overall. Unfortunately he picked up a puncture and he dropped over 5 minutes in the stage but still finished a fantastic 9th overall and well ahead of the next championship contender.
Andy Davison and Mike Curry, (BMW M3) were next up in 10th overall place. The Northallerton driver was another who we haven’t seen since the snows of Croft but he was hoping for better luck this time. He took a cautious approach to the changeable weather conditions when opting for intermediate tyres on the Friday run and he went to bed that evening in 19th place. He pushed harder on Saturday and steadily moved up the leader board and was only slowed by an overshoot on the first run through Swinton. He ended up in a field and luckily managed to drive out with the loss of just over 1 minute and slight panel damage.
Next up was Pete Gibson, our 3rd placed driver who was pleased to get to the finish. Pete isn’t competing much this year and felt his driving was very rusty on the 3 Friday stages as he got up to speed again. He was another to lose out to a slower car running in front of him but was content with 21st overall. As Saturday’s morning loop of 5 stages neared completion, he’d moved up 7 places before losing his brakes and almost 4 minutes in Swinton 1. Luckily for him, it was straight into service where the problem was fixed and he could start attacking again from 22nd. He managed to move up to 14th place, again, in the remaining 5 stages and he was very pleased to finish the rally after his 100 mph crash last year on the Swinton stage.
Next up were former championship sponsor Barry Renwick and Ken Bills. Barry’s been away shopping in Ireland and come back with a ‘brand new’ Mark 2 Escort. The car looked absolutely immaculate and drew lots of onlookers when in service. Barry only drove the car very briefly on the night before the rally so took a safe option of wet tyres for Friday’s 3 tests. The car never missed a beat all Saturday either and they were happy with their 19th place overall.
And finishing right behind was Kev Monaghan / Chris Purvis. Kev too has been spending his pennies on a new car but unlike Barry, he’s built it all himself. It was a good first outing for the new Corsa even though he endured a few teething troubles. The starter motor failed after the first stage and could only be changed the next morning after parc ferme, the alternator belt came off and caused a little grief, the engine felt down on power and he was running slicks all rally which wasn’t much fun when the heavens opened every now and then ! Having said all that, the lads were over the moon to finish 20th overall and win their class into the bargain too.
Dave Seed and Mick Morpeth were next in their Escort G4 and happy as ever to get to the finish. Once they’d fixed their suspension problems early on Saturday morning they’d moved up to 29th overall before being caught out on the first run through Swinton. They lost over 2 minutes with a huge spin that took out a hedge and some precious time trying to regain the road.
Paul Swift had a character building rally. He was happy to make steady progress on a long rally and glad to get to the end. On the penultimate stage the car stuck in 4th gear and although he found other gears on the next road section, the box became jammed in 4th again just after the start of the last stage. His time loss was minimal compared to the penalty he received for leaving parc ferme early.
The father and son duo of Michael and Josh Davison struggled with an intermittent misfire for the first half of the rally. It was eventually traced to a faulty fuel filter and despite incurring some road penalties getting this sorted out. they were happy to get a clean run thereafter to the finish.
Our last championship finisher was Simon Stewart / Doug Levee in their 1400 Vauxhall Corsa. They boys were keen to get a good run after bad memories from last year’s Clark and this time they managed to make it to the end. They were another to suffer from a rally long misfire when the engine didn’t want to run below 5000 rpm which made the road sections difficult but on the stages it was usually not so bad.
First of our 3 retirees was Stuart Baillie and Dave Cranston. The Scots didn’t get a chance to shine before the turbo of their Subaru started playing up and they retired their Impreza after the Abbey St Bathans test. It was good to see the husband and wife team of Chris and Kath Singer out again after their bad run of mechanical luck last year. They’ve acquired a Citroen Saxo and despite a sticking gear lever, had a steady run to end Friday in 20th place. They moved up a couple of place on Saturday’s first loop of stages before retiring after hitting a telegraph pole on the outside of a 90 left in Eccles 1. And finally, Gareth White and Callum Atkinson didn’t have as good a rally in their Citroen C2R2Max as the previous weekend. A steady start by the boys from the Borders was brought to an early end with mechanical woes after the Swinton stage.
There’s little change at top of the championship tables as Barry Lindsay still leads Paul Swift but Michael Glendinning now moves into 3rd ahead of a tying Chris Grieve and Pete Gibson. There’s no change at the head of the co-drivers with Michael Lindsay still in front of David Cox, Ann Forster, Paul Makepeace and Mick Johnson
Once again our thanks go to Colin Pagan who leads an army of volunteers from the Borders and beyond to run this super rally weekend. We move just a few miles south into Northumberland for the next rally – the Tyneside Stages. It’s our first visit of the year to Otterburn on July 31st when Alnwick and Berwick Motor Clubs promote this classic event. Regulations are expected to be available in the next week and full details can be found at www.alnwickmotorclub.co.uk
Tags: championship, Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
May 24th, 2011
The ‘Rain Meister’ continues to reign on the ranges. Following on from their 3rd overall finish on the last rally, Barry and Michael Lindsay continued to dominate the championship runners with another stunning performance.
Moving on from the last event based at Edinburgh, we had 16 competitors turn up for the Stobart Rail Pendragon Stages at Warcop. With the loss of Lowther Park as a venue and the traditional Bank Holiday weekend date, a single venue event comprising of 60 miles run on MOD land over 8 stages was the offering this year. Throw in some unseasonal rain and windy weather and this year would prove a difficult challenge for everyone.
A brilliant 4th fastest on the first 6.5 miles of competition and already the Lindsays had over 30 seconds lead from the nearest championship contenders. More rain in the remaining 3 stages before lunch would see the gap extended by another minute. The stage layout was reversed for the afternoon runs and the rain eased off. Although tyre choice kept Barry on his toes he continued to push hard even when the final 2 stages were run in the dry. He pushed so hard he locked up and nearly went off at the final corner of the final stage where the clocks showed he’d set second fastest time – 2 seconds ahead of a WRC Focus ! As ever, the boys had tried their hardest all day long and were delighted to take home another yet maximum points score.
Taking second place in the championship and 13th on the day was the Citroen C2R2Max of Gareth White and Callum Atkinson. This was the first time out with a new car for the youngsters from St Boswells and they had only briefly tested the car before the rally. They slowly settled in during the morning’s slippy stages as they learned their new mount. Although they ran a similar car last year, the newer evolution has much different characteristics and they didn’t want to throw the car into the scenery on the opening tests. As the roads dried out later, Gareth’s confidence grew and he went quicker. At the finish, he pronounced himself happy with the day and ready for his home event, the Jim Clark.
And finishing a further 26 seconds behind in 14th were Duncan Wardrop / Ian Crosbie. Driving their usual Subaru Impreza, the Dumfries crew were hoping for better luck than their last outing when engine management problems cut short their North West Stages and a top ten finish. Like most people, they were kept guessing on tyres all day but were happy to have a trouble free rally and get their championship back on track with some points.
Right behind was the pairing of 2 drivers in the same car – Mark Thompson and Alistair Hutchinson. Mark successfully finished 6th overall in his Peugeot 206 at Blyton on the day before the Pendragon with his regular co-driver Matt Thompson. He then enlisted the services of that Renault Clio pilot from Northallerton – Alistair Hutchinson – to guide him around Warcop. There was some good banter all day particularly about Alistair’s co-driving skills as he seemed more interested in pushing Mark to go faster on the stages. They both had a great day and were pleased to come home in a fine 15th place.
Next up was Andrew Fry in his unusual MG. The youngster from Dumfries has replaced his 1400cc motor over the winter with a 2.5 litre engine but has struggled with some reliability. Andrew reported a misfire for most of the day, although it didn’t seem so bad over the drier runs.
The final points for co-drivers go to Andrew Roughead. Andrew was partnering Peter Taylor as they tested their Renault Clio in readiness for the Jim Clark International. They found it a useful day apart from losing over a minute in a ditch on stage 1 and then they visited another ditch on stage 5 and ended up with a stage maximum. The final driver points were picked up by Paul Banks in his Peugeot 106. Paul’s first visit to Warcop would prove eventful as his intercom would only work intermittently, the gearbox kept jumping out of various gears and he was using cut slick tyres – not the ideal choice with all the rain !
Geoff Simpson and Mick Johnson were late entries in their Mitsubishi. A steady start with a couple of top twenty times all went wrong when the Evo touched a bank on the third stage and then quickly launched the car into a roll. Both crew members escaped safely but were out of the rally. Nigel Hepburn was making progress after a slow start in his Peugeot 206 before the fire extinguisher went off during stage 5 and ended his rally. Our final championship contenders were Barrie Thomson / Jerry Hettrick in another Peugeot 106. The Carlisle boys thought they’d cured the misfire from the last rally with a change of injectors and they started off well with top twenty times on the first 2 stages. A huge moment near the end of the third stage found them locked up and hitting a wall. Not much time was lost before another misfire returned to slow their progress on the next one. They were unable to solve the problem so departed the fray early.
It’s now the half way point in the championship and we have new leaders. In the driver’s section it’s now Barry Lindsay’s turn to go to the top ahead of Paul Swift and they’re followed by Chris Grieve, Alistair Hutchinson and Stuart Baillie. In the co-driver’s section Michael Lindsay takes over from David Cox with Ann Forster just 2 points adrift and then comes Paul Makepeace and Mick Johnson. The class leaders are:- Stephen Bethwaite and Paul Banks head class 1 drivers with Ann Forster leading co-driver; in class 2 it’s the Lindsays; class 3 we have Chris Anderson / Chris Thirling; Paul Swift and David Cox lead class 4 and finally Stuart Baillie and Mick Johnson are tops in class 5.
A big thank you goes to Miles Whitelock and his team from Kirkby Lonsdale, Eden Valley and Northallerton Motor Clubs for putting on another well run event. Having to change the format of the rally and get it running in 9 weeks provided quite a challenge but these guys managed it – shame they couldn’t organise the weather too.
The second half of the season starts immediately with the 6th round of the championship being the Jim Clark National and this will take place on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May. Starting and finishing at Kelso Racecourse, this is our annual chance to run over the closed public country roads around Duns. This year’s event has been extremely popular and the organisers have received more entries than they can cope with and may have to turn competitors away. The rally kicks off with a blast around the town centre of Duns at 18:00 on Friday. Full details can be found www.jimclarkrally.com
Tags: championship, Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
May 24th, 2011
Andrew Comrie-Picard got the job done for the Scion xD Rally Team and Performance Friction by winning the 2WD class in the Oregon Trail Rally.
The Scion xD Team has been a force to reckon with this year and the Oregon event was no different with hot shoe ACP behind the wheel with co-driver Jeremy Wimpey. Drivers faced a plethora of weather conditions as the race got off to a dry start but was soon overcome with heavy rains and thunderstorms which forced Rally America officials to cancel some of the later stages of the event.
ACP was in a heated battled for much of the event with 2WD rival Wyatt Knox in his Mazdaspeed 3 entry. ACP was able to hold on to the lead in the closing stages and get his second win in the Oregon Trail Rally. Knox ended up in second place after leading several stages of the race and showing his strength in wet driving conditions. Third place went to driver Dillon Van Way in his Ford Fiesta. The victory was the fourth pro motorsports victory for Performance Friction in the same weekend.
Tags: brake, championship, racing, Rally
Posted in Event news
April 25th, 2011
It’s another tremendous drive to 3rd overall for the Lindsays. The Ingliston Stages was the latest round of our championship and once again it was based at the old racetrack next to Edinburgh Airport. Although the day dawned with overcast skies it was not raining but the ground was still damp from the overnight downpour. The early stages kept crews on their toes as grip was variable until lunchtime and then once the persistent rain arrived, it made tyre choice much easier for the rest of the rally.
Back in their usual Peugeot 106, the son and father crew of Barry and Michael Lindsay were quick out of the blocks and after the first 2 long stages were positioned nicely just inside the top ten. They continued their push up the leaderboard over the next pair of stages and so at the half way point they were in 5th equal place. Barry loves driving in the rain and so for stage 5, he bolted on a full set of wets and instantly moved to 3rd overall. Another storming performance in all the afternoon’s wet conditions was rewarded with the fastest time recorded on the final stage – putting many cars with more power, and 4 wheel drive in some cases to shame as they just couldn’t live with our ex champion’s pace.
And taking second place in the championship and 6th on the day was Paul Swift and David Cox. The Darlington crew were out again in their beautiful Ford Escort and keen to get a good result after the disasters of the North West Stages. From the off, they were setting top ten times that showed they were 8th at the lunch halt. Their consistency continued in the rain and going into the last stage, they’d managed to creep up to 4th place. However, a ‘problem’ on the last 4.7 miles saw them lose about 30 seconds and they ended up 6th overall and yet still take home 2nd championship points.
And coming up fast on Swift / Cox was a hard charging Chris Anderson and Chris Thirling in their Ford Fiesta. A steady start over the first couple of stages found them in 11th position before they went into the lunch halt a little confused. They felt the driving on stages 3 and 4 had been good but a change of tyres had lost them time. The wet roads in the second half suited them better and they got faster with every stage but were a mere 3 seconds behind Swift at the end. It’s good to see the Durham lads get some consistency this year after their awful experiences of 2010.
Next up were Stuart Baillie / David Cranston in an Impreza. After a fraught opening pair of stages when the brake setup wasn’t good, the Subaru crew struggled in the lower reaches of the top twenty. However, they pushed on to bring their once pristine car home in 8th overall and 5 seconds adrift of Chris Anderson. Finishing just outside the top ten was Ed Todd and Andrew Brown. The Durham boys enjoyed a great run in their GTM Coupe and were only slowed by a misting screen in the afternoon and a slight off. Next up were Dave Seed and Mick Morpeth in another unusual car – a Ford Escort G4. It was the first time out this year for the boys and a clean run saw them take the ‘over 50s award’ with 14th overall ! Andrew Fry was another starting his first event this year and his steady drive netted 16th place. He reported no problems driving his hybrid MG ZR that he’s managed to wedge a 2.5 litre motor into the engine bay. Andrew was followed by the evergreen Geoffrey Harkness with Caroline Lodge in their Vauxhall Corsa. Another reliable run would see them take 8th amongst the championship runners. Geoff Simpson / Mick Johnson struggled with the big Mitsubishi Evo around the tight corners / roads and were another to lose over a minute on the last stage and drop down the order. The final 2 finishers were Nigel Hepburn / Fiona Gourlay and a 206 and Richard Clark / James McWhir in a 205. These 2 Peugeots were never separated by much all day with the older car always in front until the final stage when over 2 minutes were lost and the more modern variant ended up just ahead.
On our last qualifying rally, it was rare to report that we had more retirements than finishers. On this rally we only had 2 retirements – and they were both Peugeot 106s. Going into the Ingliston rally, Chris Grieve was the leading driver in our championship and he justified his position by being 3rd fastest car over the opening stage. Along with regular co-driver Paul Makepeace, the youngsters consolidated this until the engine started making horrible noises as they finished the 3rd stage. Rather than risk an expensive explosion, the pair called it a day and went off for an early bath. Barrie Thomson / Jerry Hettrick were the other crew to retire. The pairing from Carlisle struggled to cure a persistent misfire and having lost too much time, decided go home soon.
We’ve now had 4 rounds of the championship and there’s a new leader in the driver’s table with Paul Swift just 1 point ahead of Barry Lindsay and they’re followed by Chris Grieve, Alistair Hutchinson and Stuart Baillie. In the co-driver’s section David Cox takes over at the top with Michael Lindsay and Ann Forster both 2 points behind and then comes Paul Makepeace and Mick Johnson.
A big thank you to Dunfermline Car Club, and Graham Provost in particular, for running another slick event in miserable conditions. We now have a 4 week break before the next rally which is the Stobart Rail Pendragon Stages. This year’s event is having to be run on the re-arranged date of Sunday 22nd May and will be based entirely on Warcop Ranges near Appleby. The organisers of the rally have lost the use of the Lowther Park Estate Roads this year but still promise an event run over the military roads that will test man and machine over 60 competitive miles run in just 8 stages. Already the first 20 of the 80 allocated entries have been received, so get your entry in soon if you want to do this popular rally. There’s more information at www.pendragonstages.co.uk
The 6th round of the championship is the Jim Clark National and this will take place on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May. Based at Kelso Racecourse and run over the country lanes near Duns, this prestigious rally has already received 66 entries. Full details at www.jimclarkrally.com
Ingliston Action
Tags: championship, Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
April 9th, 2011
Pendragon Stages 2010
Unfortunately we have to announce another change to the championship calendar, this time it’s for the Pendragon Stages.
For some years now the rally has enjoyed a traditional slot on the Sunday of August Bank Holiday weekend. The event organisers were hit earlier this year when they learnt that they wouldn’t be able to use the Lowther Estate roads for competition. However, Kirkby Lonsdale Motor Club, Eden Valley Motor Club and Northallerton Automobile Club believed that they’d be able to run a ‘single venue’ type rally on Warcop Ranges, near Penrith.
The Army has recently increased military activity on the Ranges over the weekend of 27th and 28th August and now withdrawn permission for the rally to take place at that time. Members of the organising team have met with representatives from the MoD to be told that the only possible alternative date for this year’s rally is on Sunday 22nd May. The rally organisers have taken the bold decision to run the event rather than lose the opportunity to visit a rarely used venue and the North of England Tarmacadam Championship will continue to support them.
We are aware that this is not ideal timing as it ‘clashes’ with the recce for the Jim Clark National running the following weekend. However, for those competitors thinking of contesting both the Pendragon and the Jim Clark rallies, it is still possible to do a recce on Thursday the 26th May for that event.
On the flip side of this change, we will reduce the congestion in the published calendar of having 4 rallies in 6 weekends between the Tyneside and Lindisfarne Rallies. There will now be a 2 week gap after the Tyneside Stages before the Solway Coast Rally takes place and then another 4 weeks before the Lindisfarne. Keep an eye on the Pendragon website for more information www.pendragonstages.co.uk
Tags: championship, Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
March 17th, 2011
Ingliston 2010
We have a further update on the next 2 rallies in the championship, the Ingliston Stages and the Jim Clark.
Dunfermline Car Club has now published the Regulations for the next rally which will be known as the D & W Brown Builders (Mull) Stages 2011. Once again the rally will be based at Ingliston Showground near to Edinburgh Airport and take place on Saturday 23rd April. Scrutineering will take place between 17:00 and 19:30 on Friday 22nd and also on the Saturday morning between 07:00 and 08:45. The Organisers are proposing to run 8 special stages covering 40 miles of good tarmac. Entries will cost £195 and can be made from now until the closing date which is Saturday 16th April. For full details, go to the event’s website – www.dunfermline.cc/events/dw-brown-builders-(mull)-stages-2011/111
A quick update on the 5th round in the championship – the Jim Clark National. The organisers have updated their website to accept online entries as from today, Monday 14th March.
The headline details are: – 118 special stage miles for an Entry Fee of £645; based at Kelso and run on the evening of Friday 27th and all day Saturday 28th May; a recce is available on either the Sunday or Thursday before the rally; scrutineering will be on Friday 27th. There are more details at the rally’s website – www.jimclarkrally.com/
Tags: Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
February 13th, 2011
As mentioned in the last bulletin, Dunfermline Car Club were going to run the Ingliston Stages on Saturday 26th March but following the changes in personnel at the club this has now been postponed. The revised date is Saturday 23rd April and the location of the rally will be the usual old race track next to Edinburgh Airport. The new team are working on the details of the event and hope to have the Regulations available sometime next month. These will be available from the club’s website www.dunfermline.cc
There’s also news about the 5th round in the championship – the Jim Clark National. The organisers have issued ‘rally guide 1’ which provides lots of preliminary information about the event. Some of the key points are
• Entry fee will be £645 and you can place your entry between 14th March and 3rd May but after the 4th May, the fee is increased
• A Recce is available on either Sunday 22nd or Thursday 26th May
• Scrutineering will be on Friday 27th
• Rally starts later on the evening of 27th
• Centralised servicing is based at Kelso Racecourse
• Rally finishes on Saturday afternoon, 28th
Full details can be found at the rally’s website – www.jimclarkrally.com
Tags: championship, Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
February 9th, 2011
Thousands of entrants, 12 monthly prizes later and after a lot of anticipation from many, the time to select the annual winner of ‘Goodridge LTD – Win a Suzuki B-King competition’ in association with Suzuki GB and Crescent Suzuki had arrived.
It was at the Motorcycle Expo at the NEC, Birmingham, that lucky winner Steve H. from Staffordshire received the keys from the Goodridge stand to his new Suzuki B-King.
A quote from the lucky winner:-
“Seems such a long time since I got the call from Jon.
I was stunned when I got the call from Goodridge. An unbelievable experience. The B-King is sensational and I’m thrilled to bits with it.
A massive thank you again to all of you.”
Tags: aeroquip
Posted in Product news
February 9th, 2011
Alistair Hutchinson and St John Dykes take the championship spoils after a difficult North West Stages. Driving their usual Renault Clio, the Northallerton crew will be the first to admit it wasn’t an easy victory. And that’s not just because of the horrible weather – lots of wind and rain on Friday night and then just lots and lots of rain on Saturday’s 20 stages.
The Teesdale boys probably thought that after driving most of their last rally with no assistance to the steering, they could forget about any further possible problems after a pipe change before this rally. However after the 4 stages on Friday night, a new power steering pump had to be fitted before parc ferme. Then they suffered a problem with some wheel studs before a drive shaft went on the 4th visit to Weeton and they ended up with a stage maximum time. A steady run over the last 6 stages got them home to a fine 10th overall and top championship points.
Next up in 14th overall was Pete Gibson and Chris Dodds. Pete is returning to the series after being runner up in 2009 when he was driving a Nova. He’s now acquired a Mitsubishi Evo 6 and looking to get higher up the running order. The plan didn’t work for this event as he was seeded at 61 after finishing inside the top 20 on the 2009 version of North West. However, he immediately set about proving the organisers wrong and finished Friday’s 4 stages in 29th place, despite the demister not working. He struggled on all rally with the problem but continued to push when he could see properly and moved up the order to a fine 2nd place championship finish.
A further 3 places behind after the final stage was Craig Pennington. He was running his Evo 9 version of a Mitsubishi and was on the pace start from the off and completed day 1 in 7th place. He maintained that speed and position despite fighting with a dodgy diff that kept him on his toes for the rest of the event. This all became academic when he was awarded a 5 minute penalty for early arrival at stage 20.
In fourth place for the championship, were the father and son pairing of Michael and Josh Davison. The crew from Tynemouth MC don’t make many appearances together in their Proton Satria so it was good to see them feature on the rally. Their only problem was a shattered nearside window after they came too close to a chicane. A temporary fix with some polythene kept them ‘watertight’ for the rest of the day and got them to the end of the rally in 20th place. Just 2 seconds further back after 75 competitive miles were Stephen Bethwaite / Ann Forster in their Vauxhall Nova – they struggled with no starter on Saturday and were glad of a few marshal’s assistance when they drowned their engine in one of Weeton’s puddles. A quick dose of WD40 later, a push start and they’re back in the rally, albeit with iffy steering and lots of water in the car. Still they made it back to the Norbreck Castle and a hat trick of class wins on this rally. Geoff Simpson and Mick Johnson finished 6th for the championship with a mainly trouble free drive – that is apart from the barrel that jumped out from one of the Promenade chicanes and damaged the Mitsubishi Evo X front panel and wing ! Richard and Andy Barnard were next up in their Subaru Impreza. Making their debut in the series, the son and father from Cockermouth settled in with a steady run and were happy with some good points. And our last scorers were the Spadeadam crew of Nigel Hepburn and James McWhir. Having just taken delivery of the Peugeot 206, the first drive of the car was over the start ramp so they were delighted just to record a finish.
So what happened to some of our other runners and riders in the atrocious weather conditions ? Chris Myers / Matt Whattam were charging along in 17th place when the turbo expired on the Evo 9 after stage 11; Paul Swift suffered in the darkness of Friday night with alternator problems and after 4 stages he was in 88th place. A string of top ten times on Saturday moved him up the order to 57th before he stopped in the mud on stage 17; Peppe Planeta didn’t make around the first stage after attacking too hard and coming off second best to one of Weeton’s kerbs; Duncan Wardrop and Ian Crosbie were going well in 9th place overall when the management warning light starting illuminating on the last Promenade stages and they never made it to the final loop of stages; Mark and Matt Thompson changed rear shockers on Saturday but the driver still felt he wasn’t in control of the car and he stopped on the final stage along with Barrie Thomson / Jerry Hettrick. The Carlisle team suffered with an oil leak on Saturday afternoon but were ‘topping up’ between stages and although a new oil cooler at final service helped, they lost out just before the finish when lying 20th overall; Paul Dolan / Derrick Fawcett struggled from the off and eventually retired after stage 14 with mechanical woes. It’s rare to report that we had more retirements than finishers on the rally but that just confirms how testing the event is.
And so with the first 3 rounds of the series run, we have Chris Grieve still leading the driver’s championship from Alistair Hutchinson, Paul Swift, Craig Pennington and Barry Lindsay. There’s only 4 points separating these guys while across in the co-driver’s section Ann Forster already has a 10 points lead over Paul Makepeace with St John Dykes, David Cox and then Michael Lindsay close behind.
Congratulations to Motor Sport (North West) Ltd for putting together a fantastic show over the whole rally weekend. The Legend Fires North West Stages is always a real, nonstop challenge for competitors with it’s stages run in many different conditions. This year the organisers had to cope with the very adverse weather conditions as well as many road works that affected the link sections between the 24 planned stages. Amazingly, every stage ran and mostly on time too !
There’s now a 7 week break before the next scheduled round of the championship which is the Ingliston Stages. This is planned for Saturday 26th March and the location is the usual old race track next to Edinburgh Airport. Dunfermline Car Club are the organisers of the rally but as most of you reading this will be aware, the club are at a crossroads and considering their future direction. An extra ordinary meeting of the members will decide the next steps and once more details are available, we’ll have an official update to keep you all in the picture.
Tags: Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news
January 18th, 2011
Paul Dolan / Rachael Fawcett in action
Swift by name and swift by nature. Paul Swift and co-driver David Cox produced a controlled drive to finish top crew on this weekend’s Cartersport Jack Frost Stages. Driving their immaculate Ford Escort Mark2 the local boys were determined to improve on their finish on the Christmas Stages. The lack of snow and ice this time around meant they could attack the 8 stages with more confidence than before. Their tyre choice was much better too and the precision driving expert was able to ‘do the day job’ to great effect. In the opening stages he set a couple of 4th quickest times before moving up to 3rd overall at the halfway point. After lunch he was one of the crews to struggle with the conflicting stage furniture / diagram information that caused some competitors to take the wrong route on stage 5. The stage was eventually cancelled so Paul and David consolidated with more consistent, neat and tidy driving to maintain position. Going into the final stage and the darkness, Paul decided not to gamble on pushing any harder and settled for a fine 3rd overall.
Although they were our top crew, Ann Forster finished in second place overall alongside the unregistered Martyn Tinker. Ann had ‘jumped ship’ from Stephen Bethwaite’s Nova for the day and her regular driver was there supporting her with a huge smile on her face all day as she enjoyed the Lotus power so much.
Next up was the Scottish pairing of Stuart Baillie and Dave Cranston. The boys were making their debut in this year’s championship and brought along the recently re-fettled Subaru Impreza. With a gearbox returned from TegSport and fitted in the week leading up to the rally, they thought they were ready to go until the clutch was started acting up when the car was loaded onto the trailer for Saturday’s run to scrutineering. This was fixed before the long drive to Croft and then it became apparent during the rally’s opening stage that all was not well with the head gasket. More time was lost on stage 2 when they stalled after a spin. Stages 3 and 4 were improvements before they went to lunch in 10th place. Top 3 times on the next 2 saw them move up to 4th before the final dark stage. As neither of the team had been to Croft before they lost a bit of pace on the final run to end up a fine 5th overall. A character building experience that earned them a good bagful of Championship points too.
Next up was another new crew to the championship – Simon and Janice Moore. Driving their Renault Clio, the husband and wife pairing scored consistently top 9 times all day to earn them a 6th place finish. Their only problem was a nearside rear disc that was fouling on the wheel. Once they realised this, they managed to change the offending item in the lunch break and then continue their march up the leaderboard with an improved braking system.
Chris Grieve and Paul Makepeace continued on from their fine 7th overall at the snowy Christmas Stages to take the same result on the return visit to Croft. Although part of their result last time was attributed to having the right tyres on their Peugeot 106, the boys showed it wasn’t the only reason for their success. Chris capitalised on his circuit racing experience of Croft and showed he’s got plenty of driving skill too. A spin on the first proper stage left them down in 20th place and with plenty of commitment they worked their way back up the leaderboard and 4th championship crew. A further 23 seconds back were the Northallerton AC members Alistair Hutchinson / St John Dykes. The local crew managed to wheel out their Renault Clio after their recent troubles but they’d still brought the troubles along too. On the opening stage they lost all power steering. The issue turned out not to be a jumped belt but damaged pipe. As they didn’t have a spare, plan B was to stop any further leaks and build up the arm muscles. Unfortunately for them the stage layouts contained many tight chicanes that most crews were unhappy with. 7 stages later, an exhausted Alistair was happy to finish 8th overall. And in 9th place were Dave Conley / Mike Scrimgour with their Historic specification Hillman Avenger. Having solved their head gasket problem from their last outing, it would be the gearbox to give them grief this time around. They lost 5th gear on stage 4 and then 3rd would become troublesome in the afternoon. However, they continued to push and the box held out to the end.
Next up were the Lindsays in 11th overall but an unfamiliar low position in relation to our championship. They suffered in the tight chicanes and rarely having the right tyres on for the right weather conditions; in 15th overall were an untroubled Chris Anderson / Chris Thirling getting a second successive finish; Rob Hornshaw and Dave Boyes ended up 16th after 2 minutes of penalties were applied for ‘taking an incorrect route’ – a real shame as they would have been 4th overall otherwise; Neil Ayre was happy after his trouble free day to end up 18th overall; Chris Myers / Matt Whattam were next up in a very battered looking Mitsubishi after getting too close to a chicane on stage 1; Paul Dolan was another to lose out with the chicanes as he had to use reverse gear often to get around some of them even though his handbrake was working well; Barrie Thomson / Jerry Hettrick were pleased to be very much on the pace of the class 2 masters – the Lindsays – until they completed one more loop than necessary on stage 7; Bill Bates and daughter Kari Bosworth managed to get their smoking Lotus Elise to the finish and it’s scheduled rebuild; Geoff Simpson / Mick Johnson were happy to finish with an unmarked or damaged Mitsubishi this time even though they lost out with a wrong tyre choice from the off; Kevin Hullah and Chris Harding return after gearbox woes last time netted 55th; followed by David Martin and Dave Bell whose Vauxhall Astra struggled with fuel problems on stage 2 and left them in 76th position but they would recover to 56th by the end and finally 1 second behind in 57th place was Richard Clark / James McWhir in an ageing, mechanically standard Peugeot 205 that had over 110K on the clock – apart from a small fire they had no problems.
So after the opening 2 rounds at Croft, the driver’s championship is led by Chris Grieve and followed by Paul Swift, Barry Lindsay, Chris Myers and Stuart Baillie while the co-driver’s table is headed by Paul Makepeace from the tying pair of David Cox and Ann Forster followed by Michael Lindsay and Matt Whattam.
Special thanks go to Darlington DMC for organising the Cartersport Jack Frost Stages. They managed to provide warmer weather than last year and despite losing a couple of stages, put on another stern, testing rally. They’re already talking with the Croft Circuit owners about next year’s event and considering improvements to make the show better.
The third round of the championship is the Legend Fires North West Stages. This is run over the weekend of Friday 4th and Saturday 5th February and will be based once again around the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool. As usual there will be a ‘Rally Village’ where all the pre rally stuff, start, parc ferme, finish and presentation will take place there. A couple of the Friday night stages are run just over the road from the Norbreck so spectators are well looked after too. The organisers have already received more than the 100 entries that they will start with so if you haven’t put your entry in yet it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get a run. Full details are available the event’s website www.nwstages.co.uk
Tags: Rally, Tarmacadam
Posted in Event news