North of England Tarmacadam Rally Championship – Round 10

The local crew comes good at last. After several years of trying, Chris and Katherine Singer have finally finished as top crew on a championship round. The husband and wife team, who live within earshot of the famous Otterburn military ranges, produced a top performance to lead home the many contenders on this year’s Cheviot Keith Knox Rally. Having made the move up from an ex Peugeot Super Cup 106 to a Mitsubishi Evo 6 in mid season, they set top ten times all day and by gradually upping their pace they would finish a worthy 4th overall. This would be a just reward for their consistency and to go better than on the Lindisfarne Rally where their rear diff failed on the final stage when in 7th place.

And although the Mitsubishi crew set a cracking pace all day, they didn’t have an easy run to take the top spot. After the first 4 stages, it was Bob Grant who was setting the pace. Driving his regular immaculate Subaru Impreza, Bob and regular co-driver Pete Carstairs set off at a terrific pace with the intention of carrying on where he left off at the end of his previous visit to Otterburn – the Lindisfarne Rally. At the end of the initial loop, the Scots crew held a 6 seconds lead over the Mitsubishi crew which they managed to stretch out to 29 seconds by the end of the re-run. However, on the fourth stage of the afternoon’s run, disaster struck when a puncture caught them out and the resultant time loss getting the wheel changed and then driving back to service was too much and the current champions were out.

Driving their Peugeot 106, Barry and Michael Lindsay would be very happy to settle for second on a day when the championship would be decided in their favour. The Spadeadam crew started the rally 2 points behind recent leaders Pete Gibson and Adam Bradford in their Vauxhall Nova. Although Pete and Adam have driven quickly all year, their reliability of finishing every one of the 9 rounds so far has pushed them to the top of the pile. But it was to all go very horribly wrong three quarters of the way through the very first stage. Going down the fast twisty section towards North Yardhope, the rear end of the Nova stepped out and the car was quickly launched into a couple of rolls. Although the car landed on it’s wheels and the crew were unhurt, the damage was too great to continue and their season was over. Once Barry and Michael learnt of the Nova’s retirement it was a case of keeping out of trouble, trying to drive in the middle of the road resisting the temptation to push too hard and dice with other competitors. They simply used their wise heads to bring the car home safely for another championship.

It’s good to report another new name at the top of the results with Mark and Matt Thompson recording their best result of the season. The Durham Motor Club pairing put in another consistent run in their smart Peugeot 206 to regularly record top 20 times and push themselves into a fine 3rd overall championship contender on the day

And a quick update of some of the crews who never made it to the finish. David Conley moved up from his ageing Hillman Avenger to a Talbot Sunbeam but his run only lasted until stage 4 when a gearbox mount broke and then a faulty water pump was discovered in service; Geoffrey Harkness and Caroline Lodge returned to the series after their slight indiscretion on the Pendragon and were steadily moving up the leaderboard and looking to break into the top 20 – they stopped with mechanical problems on stage 10; and finally Rob Hornshaw’s cracking drive to bring his beautiful Ford Escort Mark 2 to finish just inside the top ten came to nothing when he was excluded after his service crew was found on a prohibited link road.

A quick look at the overall and class winners for 2009:-

• Barry Lindsay 1st overall driver.
• Michael Lindsay 1st overall co-driver.
• Stephen Bethwaite 1st driver class 1.
• Ann Forster 1st co-driver class 1.
• Barry Lindsay 1st driver class 2.
• Michael Lindsay 1st co-driver class 2.
• Mark Thompson 1st driver class 3.
• Matthew Thompson 1st co-driver class 3.
• Rob Hornshaw 1st driver class 4.
• Rob Dawson 1st co-driver class 4.
• Bob Grant 1st driver class 5.
• Phil Short 1st co-driver class 5.

All the above positions are provisional for 7 days.

Thanks go to the organisers of the Cheviot Keith Knox Rally, Whickham and District Motor Club and Hadrian Motor Sports Club for providing another stern test for man and machine – just a shame the local micro climate decided to offer most of the seasons in the one day. Another cracking rally run over some of the best tarmac roads available to rallying in England and a fitting end to another good year of rallying competition too !

The last event of the year will be the annual end of season awards presentation. More details will be announced in the very near future.

Courtesy of Peter Grant – North of England Tarmacadam Rally Championship