NETRC North West Stages 2013 Result
Back to the top for Chris and Chris. Driving their usual Ford Fiesta, Chris Anderson with Chris Thirling alongside him powered to a fantastic 3rd overall and top championship contenders on the 2013 Legend Fires North West Stages.
The event continues to use the tremendous facilities on offer at the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool as it’s base with spectator friendly stages across the road both on the seafront at Bispham and at Fleetwood Promenade. As the 88 competitors left the early evening darkness outside the hotel, they could look forward to 75 miles of competition crammed into 26 stages of non-stop action.
Anderson’s rally got off to a good start with 4th fastest around the opening 1.65 miles of kart track outside Preston before a stall at the first split on the next Clifton test dropped time – 20 seconds in fact before he was on his way again. The Durham crew would go to their beds on Friday night content in 13th place knowing there’d be plenty of opportunities on Saturday to move up. Anderson was up against it in the technical nature of the promenade tests but his commitment into the chicanes and hairpins was a sight to behold. However, he struggled against the 4-wheel drive of the opposition to get away down the next straight. He had no major incidents for the rest of the event just a slight skirmish with the water butt on the last chicane on Fleetwood 4. The longer 5-mile stages of Weeton suited the Fiesta better and Chris continued his rise through the top 10 all day so that at final service he was holding 4th place but 26 seconds adrift of 3rd. A big push over the next 5 stages, including overtaking 2 Mitsubishis on the final run of Weeton, would see that gap reduce to 2 seconds. Over the final 3 miles of Clifton he was 6 quicker and so the job was done to take an excellent 3rd overall. The was Chris’s first attempt at the rally and he used his best attributes to the full; he kept things very tidy, he has a knack of judging the conditions and driving to them – a very accomplished drive for a young man.
Howard Chopping and Ken Bills were our second successful crew with a fine 8th overall. Howard may be new to our championship but Ken brings loads of experience to guide Howard on the right road. Their Subaru Impreza got them off to a steady start but only 13th fastest before they could use their power / traction combination to good effect. They quickly moved up the leaderboard to go into parc ferme as the leading championship runners. Saturday was about consolidation but they seemed to lose out on the twisty tests run in the Docks and their only regular problem was water coming onto the windscreen under braking. This necessitated running most of the time with the wipers on ! At one point they managed to get up to 4th overall but by the finish they had dropped down to 8th place and they’d got their campaign off to a good start.
Finishing in 13th overall and taking another good haul of points were Alistair Hutchinson and St John Dykes in the Renault Clio. The boys from Northallerton AC know from experience that this is a long hard event and recorded a fine 10th overall 2 years ago when seeded at 33. And even starting from 33 this year, they never quite managed to emulate that earlier result. It was a steady start that saw them in 11th overall at the overnight stop and a consistent, trouble free run on Saturday that was only spoilt in the final test when, similar to the Jack Frost Stages, they lost out on the last stage. Approaching a mid stage junction, Alistair reckons that he hit the brake pedal 6 feet after he’d reached his braking point. The resultant lockup sent him down an escape road and what seemed like an age passed, 40 seconds, before he was back on the stage again. Their only damage all rally were broken bumpers, the front one having only being painted and fitted 4 days earlier ! They both lead their respective championship tables now after 3 rallies.
Next up were Craig Pennington and Michael Calvert in the Mitsubishi Evo9. They were one of a dozen crews credited with a stage maximum on the first stage of the rally and despite discussions and queries with the organisers they were left to suffer the loss of about 2 minutes. The remaining 25 stages were about getting back up the leader board and they recorded 17 top ten times to end up in 15th overall – another handy result. The car worked fine all weekend but they were left to ponder the ‘what if’ scenario.
And finishing 1 place and 1 second behind were Duncan Wardrop and Ian Crosbie. The Subaru Impreza crew haven’t been out on the stages much in the last couple of years due to work commitments so were a little short on match practice. The boys from South of Scotland have been stalwarts of the championship over recent times so it was good to see them competing once more. A steady start on Friday night found them in 29th place before confidence grew in the daylight and the times improved. They’d made it up to 12th by final service but then slipped back 4 places over the final 4 tests run in the dark. They were slightly disappointed at the end but glad to have had a good, clean run. Having used their Joker on the rally, this helped them to shoot straight into 8th place in the tables.
The husband and wife team of Jon and Alison Trenholme were next along in their Subaru Impreza. Friday’s 5 stages were cautious as they settled into 28th place. Things got better on Saturday as they improved 13 places but just like Wardrop/Crosbie they also lost out over the final pair of stages run in the dark. However, they were delighted to finish 18th on Alison’s first multi venue rally.
Right behind in 19th overall were Mark Thompson and Phil Kenny in the Peugeot 206. This was also Phil’s first attempt at multi venue rally so he was so pleased to come through the pressure unscathed. Mark was pleased to get the car to the finish without a scratch on it as well but his old problem of a long brake pedal returned on the Saturday’s tests. It never lost them any time or caused any dramas so long as Mark remembered to pump the pedal up going down long straights.
The Ford Escort Cosworth of Keith and Jackie Richardson was back out after lots of money had been spent over the recent months. It certainly was money well spent as they made it to the finish despite incurring a stage maximum at Clifton both on the Friday night and Saturday afternoon runs. They’d return to the Norbreck on Saturday night in 22nd position.
Stuart Walker and Julie McGuire had a trying rally in the Mitsubishi Evo9. They finished 27th overall and were really pleased as Julie found it to be the most intense rally she’s done so far with lots of steep learning curves. And they had some good fun out there too.
Bill Bates enlisted the services of his daughter Kari Bosworth in the hot seat for his first rally in a while. Bill’s another who has had to put his rallying on the back burner for a while as work took over. He’s also been a long time supporter of the championship and it’s good to see him out again – this this in his little Peugeot 106. After a steady ease back into rallying on Friday night, the pairing found themselves in 63rd place back at the overnight halt. Saturday saw them have a trouble free day and finish in 44th overall. We look forward to seeing him contest a few more rallies later this year too.
And our final classified finishers were Drew Barker and Shona Hale. This was the first time out for Drew with his wee tartan liveried Vauxhall Corsa and he was so happy to get to the end. They suffered with road penalties in the confusion of an accident at Clifton on Friday night but the little 1400cc-engined car was reliable. The Dunfermline based crew found the rally a huge eye-opener for them and loved the whole experience.
So what about those who never managed to get back to the finish ? Paul Dolan and Chris Purvis were the first retirements on Friday night when their clutch packed in on the first Clifton. Paul Swift / David Cox made it into Saturday but only the second test along Fleetwood Promenade before a half shaft let go. They’d dropped a couple of minutes on Friday’s opening stage when the Ford Escort became beached on tyre markers and they had to stop. They fought their way up the leaderboard from 74th to 15th and they’d just recorded fastest time over the first run at Fleetwood before disaster struck.
The first pair of runs around Weeton Camp spelt the end for both John Stone and Darren Doherty. Both these drivers have won this rally over the years but 2013 would see John and Lee Carter’s Fabia retire with accident damage while Darren and Andrew Falconer called it a day with suspension problems.
Our final crew out on the rally were Geoff Simpson and Mick Johnson. They were another crew to suffer at the kart track stage on Friday evening and like Swift/Cox, were on a charge to make up lost time from 77th overall. By SS11 they had taken their Mitsubishi up to 22nd when they locked up and t-boned a wall on Fleetwood Promenade. Geoff was shaken up but able to get out of the car while Mick didn’t feel too good. The stage was stopped to let the medics have a look and 40 minutes later the rescue crews cut Mick out of the car. He was discharged from hospital after a precautionary check and our best wishes go to both of them for a full and speedy recovery.
Once again we must thank Motor Sport (North West) Ltd for putting together a fantastic show over the whole rally weekend. The Legend Fires North West Stages continues to provide a real, nonstop challenge for competitors with it’s stages run in many different conditions. And there’s plenty to interest spectators both indoors at the Rally Village and out on the Promenade stages as well. The whole event experience is a great platform to showcase rallying to the man in the street as well as the die-hard enthusiast. This year the organisers had managed some slightly better weather too with overcast skies and 4oC for most of the day until the sea fret rolled in off the Irish Sea on Saturday teatime.
We now hit our ‘mid season’ break and the championship leader boards show an interesting picture. Out front in the driver’s table is Alistair Hutchinson with Joe Cunningham 6 points adrift and then come Barry Lindsay, Craig Pennington and Mark Thompson all tied in equal 3rd. St John Dykes is at the head of the co-driver’s section with Daniel Kennedy ahead of Michael Calvert and Phil Kenny in joint 3rd and Brian Smith a further point back. The Joker has produced the uncertainty we were hoping for and a few new names are up there due to some good results being doubled up. We now have to wait until 27th April for our next round – the DCC Stages. Dunfermline Car Club are still working on the details of the event but hope to offer 8 stages covering in the region of 40 miles around the old racetrack of Ingliston. There’ll be more information once things are finalised.
There’s also a wee bit of news about round 5 of this year’s championship, the Jim Clark National. The rally follows a familiar format on Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June and will have backing from Event Scotland and Scottish Borders Council. A couple of new stages are on the itinerary for this year as well. The organisers have just put a You Tube channel up on the event website that you may find good to watch. This includes a few stages from the 2012 rally to whet your appetite too ! For more information on this event, go to www.jimclarkrally.com