The Final Countdown – NETRC Finale
Six of the best. Now that the dust has settled after the Pendragon Stages and our championship results have turned final, we’re looking forward to a thrilling finish to the competitive year at the Cheviot Keith Knox. And anyone who’s had their calculators out will see that right across the championship tables there’s very little settled. The maths say that Paul Swift is the only person who can’t be overtaken in his class whilst in all the remaining 9 classes and the 2 overall tables, it’s still all to play for.
Naturally most of the interest is in the overall driver’s table where 6 people can still take the coverted title. Chris Anderson is still out front, a position he’s held since April when he won the DCC Stages outright. Although the Durham youngster had a great first half of the season, the last 4 rallies have seen him only pick up 11 points. Snapping at Chris’ heels now is Barry Lindsay. Our multiple champion of yesteryear, is the man picking up the points at the moment with a brace of good scores on Otterburn and Warcop that have seen him leap to just 1 point behind the youngster from Durham. Nick Thorne is another 4 points behind Barry and what many may see as the surprise of the year. Driving a beautiful little Honda Civic, the Earlston man only signed up on round 4 and his consistency in bagging points on every rally since has pushed him onto the bottom step of the podium for the moment.
And behind these guys lurking in the wings is our current champion Paul Swift. Paul is still in with a chance of retaining his crown despite not completing too much. A couple of reliability issues have meant that he’s only scored on 3 of the 5 events he’s started while work commitments forced him to miss events too. At the moment he may be at Croft on the day of the Cheviot, but the opportunity to retain his championship may yet attract him north to Otterburn. Alex Laffey currently lies in 5th place yet he’s only started 3 rallies in his Ford Fiesta S2000 – it makes you wonder what might have been possible if he’d done more events. And also on the same score as Alex – 13 adrift of Chris Anderson – is JonTrenholme. Jon, a farmer from Little Thirkleby, has had an up and down season with a couple of ‘offs’ that have kept his score lower than he’d hoped. But he has scored regularly to build up points since the Christmas Stages and in his Subaru Impreza he can’t be discounted.
The co-drivers aren’t there just to get some ballast in the car and even the weight distribution up either. Their guidance and encouragement is just as important as driver skill and we shouldn’t forget their role as mobile office manager, not to mention keeping the drivers on the right road. It’s not quite so open in this table but we still have 3 guys and 1 gal in with a chance to ending up on the top spot. Chris Thirling who is just a mere point ahead of Michael Lindsay heads these title aspirants. While Ian Murray and Alison Trenholme are equally placed a further 11 points adrift.
It’s been quite a few years since this championship has been so open going into the last round. And it’s no exaggeration to claim that not only is this a popular clubman’s championship – it is also a very competitive one too.
So we’ll be descending on Otterburn in just over a couple of weeks time for yet another battle. This one may not be as famous as the one in 1388 when the River Rede ran red, but it’s sure to be fast and furious as the 2013 AS Performance North of England Championship is settled. Preparation, bravery, reliability, experience and skill will all play a part in deciding the outcome of this year’s championship – and quite possibly a little bit of luck too ! It would be a fool who doesn’t consider the weather as well. Last year’s Cheviot was run in very cold and slippy conditions but the Otterburn micro climate could come up with all four seasons in one rally – on any day of the year. We’ll find out who has the ‘best package’ once the lights turn to green and all the bullsh*t stops.
Whickham and District Motor Club and Hadrian Motor Sports Club are co-promoting the UTS Cheviot Keith Knox Stages on Sunday 20th October 2013. This year the organisers are promising 90 competitive miles in 13 special stages on Otterburn’s military ranges – there’s lots more information about the rally at the event website http://www.cheviotstages.org.uk/