NETRC North West Stages 2012 Results
It’s a top points finish for Pete Gibson and Josh Davison on the North West Stages. This rally is based in Blackpool and run over 24 stages for 75 tough, competitive miles. Some of the tests are run along Blackpool and Fleetwood Promenades and may be quite short in distance, but when mixed with other longer stages, some run in the dark of Friday and Saturday evenings, linked with lots of urban road mileage and then the changeable weather conditions, you come up with a real challenging event. This year would be no different but the championship would have new ‘winners’ in Gibson and Davison.
Driving a Mitsubishi Evo6, the boys set out their stall from the off with a 5th fastest time on the opening Clifton test and although a little slower on the next 3 runs, they would end Friday in 7th overall. Next morning and they set more top 10 times to move up another place by lunch time and then consolidated all afternoon. However, they would leave the final service to tackle 6 more stages in the dark with the worry of a problematic rear diff. The car was now “handling like a pig” as the driver put it, and a spin in the next run over Weeton only put them more on edge so a cautious, controlled approach was required. It became a damage limitation exercise from thereon in but still setting top 20 times on the remaining stages as they dropped time and 3 places over the final, icy stages. 9th place overall was a super finish with some very fast opposition both in front and behind them at the end and Pete’s first ever championship win made it even sweeter.
Taking second in the championship was Paul Swift. Paul had to use a new co-driver for the event and they made a steady start on Friday night to end the session in 14th place. The first stage on Saturday saw him drop about 25 seconds when the car in front stalled at a tight hairpin and as there was no way around the stationary car, precious seconds and 8 places on the leader board were lost. A fight back started immediately with some consistently quick times that moved him up to 10th overall before Lytham Hall. This was just a short blast around the estate and all was going well until the route went down a muddy track and with very little grip, the Escort slid off the road and down a bank. Paul lost over 2 minutes as the marshals eventually pushed him pack onto the track. With 9 stages remaining and the conditions still very difficult, driving with a steady head was the order of the day. He kept posting times just outside the top 10 and moved up a couple of places to take 15th place by the finish. However, this fine result gives him another good haul of championship points and he extends his advantage at the head of the driver’s table to 14 points.
Chris Purvis was once again out co-driving with the non-registered Andrew Fawcett in the indecently quick Vauxhall Nova. They finished the first stage in 17th place and then the rally in 17th place as well. In between time they had some very spirited runs but a misheard call meant they dropped to 64th after missing a split junction on the first Fleetwood test and a trip through the bushes at Clifton. A class win and top 20 finish would be the reward for the 1400-engined car.
Shaun Walker and Jack Morton were our next finishers in their Mitsubishi Evo9. This was another steady run for the Scots driver with the young English co-driver. The Friday tests weren’t good to them and they could only manage 53rd place by Parc Ferme. They picked up the pace into Saturday morning and grabbed 8 top 10 stage times, including a 3rd fastest around Lytham Hall, to catapult them up to 12th by final service. However, problems with the heated front screen and spotlights made life a bit difficult over the final 6 tests run in the dark. The clocks showed the lost seconds and they slipped down the leader board to eventually finish 18th.
Andy Davison would finish 3 places adrift with his new co-driver Paula Swinscoe. Andy’s been working on his new mount over the last 2 weeks but was struggling on Friday as he lay just outside the top 30. A misfiring run on the first Saturday test resulted in a stage maximum and dropped them to 68th. Despite a problematic ECU, their times improved and by the last service, they had moved up to 32nd. A change to some soft tyres really helped them over the remaining 6 stages as they moved up 11 places to finish 21st overall.
The Mitsubishi Evo 6 of Geoff Simpson and Mick Johnson were our next finishers in 26th spot. A slow start for the Ripon crew would see them end the first day in 42nd position. Saturday morning’s progress was slowed with a few overshoots but come the afternoon they settled into a better rhythm and moved up the times. It was a generally trouble free event for them, even though they didn’t enjoy the 6 Weeton tests, and they were once again happy to finish with no panel damage to the car.
Next up were Stephen Ritchie and Ian Harden. Having rallied for many years with Vauxhall Astras, the lads from Sheffield were making their debut in our championship with a big change in car. A move from front to rear wheel drive, would take the experienced crew into a BMW M3 Compact. A canny run in the darkness of Friday’s tests would see them go to bed in 43rd place before they moved up a gear on Saturday. The lads reported no major problems as their consistent times all day took them to 31st overall by the finish.
Our final championship finishers would be Phil Morton and Jo Emma Hind in a Fiat X/19. The Whickham Motor Club crew believe that they’ve found some reliability with the temperamental, little Italian sportscar before the rally even got under way and they were very happy to make it through to the end of a very tough rally.
What about the guys who never made it around all the 24 stages ? 2010 event winners Darren Doherty and Chris Thirling’s debut in their newly built Subaru Impreza only lasted until stage 13 when they stopped; Duncan Wardrop / Ian Crosbie were going well in their Impreza and were up to 15th after the first run through Fleetwood before they retired with differential problems; Keith and Jackie Richardson had a steady run just inside the top 20 for most of the rally before the alternator cried enough with just 4 stages remaining; Peppe Planeta and Chris Williams made a fantastic start in their Fiesta Cosworth with 6th fastest on the first test but this didn’t last and they struggled with drivetrain issues on the Saturday morning before retired on stage 8 with broken driveshafts; Craig Pennington was out to prove the organiser’s seeding of 35 was wrong and went into the overnight Parc Ferme in 9th overall – a misfire on the first Fleetwood stage dropped him to 31st and he pushed over the next 6 stages to get back up to 8th before a stage maximum on the 4th Weeton stage lost more time. His final recovery came to an end on the last run though Weeton when the car stopped altogether; the Renault Clio of Steve Quigley and Terry Martin were running steadily just outside the 30 when a drive shaft broke on the first Weeton stage – they parked up well down an escape road only for a Ford Escort to lose control and slide into their car, the errant Escort crew then continued on their way before retiring with mechanical problems many stages later; Michael Davison also retired his Proton Satria in Weeton when the icy conditions caught him out and he hit a substantial kerb that pushed the wheel right back into it’s arch damaging the subframe and drive shaft; and finally Bill Bates who was making his debut on the event – after his steady run on Friday Bill started to move up the order before the dreaded Weeton stage claimed yet another victim.
A special mention to North West Motorsport, the organisers of the Legend Fires North West Stages for putting on another well run event. All the indoor facilities at the Norbreck Castle Hotel were fantastic with the Rally Village concept adding a truly professional show for everyone to enjoy; the opportunity for spectators to view cars in action on the Promenade stage just over the road from Rally HQ was great and all the competitors who made it back to the finish would know that they had completed in a brilliant event for the clubman. One year they might get some better weather organised too but they always manage to cope with whatever comes along.
It may be only 5 weeks since we kicked off our championship year but we’re already moving into our close season break. The next rally is planned for 12th May when we return to Ingliston Showground near Edinburgh Airport for the D & W Brown Stages. The Regulations for the event haven’t been released yet but once this happens, full details will be available at the rally website – http://www.dunfermlinecarclub.co.uk/