ASP / NETRC DCC Stages 2015 Preview

Regulations for the DCC Stages are now available. Once again the Dunfermline Car Club will be our hosts when they promote their annual stage rally and this year it runs on Saturday 25th April. As usual the event will be contained wholly within the grounds of The Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston, which is right next to Edinburgh Airport. There will be a total of 8 special stages offering about 46 miles of 100% sealed surface roads. Anyone considering doing this rally should get their entries in quickly as the organisers have found the entry list filled up very fast in the last couple of years. For more information go to www.dunfermlinecarclub.co.uk/

We can expect battle to resume for the 2015 championship, as there are some new names out front at the moment. We’ve had 3 rallies so far and each one’s come up with a different winning driver. David White has contested all 3 events in his group N specification Subaru Impreza and picked up top 3 finishes too so currently holds a comfortable lead ahead of Andrew Fawcett in his Vauxhall Nova. Andrew finally managed to break his Blackpool jinx on the recent North West Stages, when along with Chris Purvis, they recorded a fine top 4 finish amongst the championship contenders. As they played their Joker on this rally as well, they’ve both got good scores to date. However, Andrew usually gets tempted away into the Rallycross world as their season gets under way so we may not see much of him again this year. Our multiple champion driver Barry Lindsay is next up despite missing the last round and 3 points further adrift is Stuart Walker driving a Skoda Fabia. Another new driver for this year is James Sharrock with his very quick Ford Escort Mk2 sitting in 5th overall. Meanwhile the winners of the last 2 events are lying outside the top ten at the moment. Peter Stephenson and Nigel Feeney have already shown their pace and will need to be watched when they contest the upcoming rallies.

Across in the co-drivers table we find Andrew Roughead way out in front. Andrew won the co-drivers title 5 years ago when he was a regular contender but other rallies may distract him from a concentrated campaign this year, as he is very much a man in demand by quick drivers these days. Ann Forster lies 2nd after solid performances with a couple of different car / driver combinations and picked up some good points on the way. Next up is Chris Purvis and then having just contested 2 rallies each are Stuart Faulds and Mathew White

In the classes we already have Andrew Fawcett and Chris Purvis setting some pace in the up to 1400cc group while in the next class we have Bill and Kari Bates leading the way. The father and daughter pairing from Ripon will have to watch their backs now though as the son and father combination of ex champions Barry and Michael Lindsay will be keen to make up lost ground. The up to 2-litre class sees Stuart Walker just ahead of the Peugeot 206 of Mark Thompson and in the co-driver’s side; we have a 4-way tie. Alistair Knox used his Joker to good effect on the opening round while Neil Thompson, Julie McGuire and Joe Hutchinson have all won a round as well. Class 4 sees James Sharrock and Stuart Faulds out front; class 5 has David White and Andrew Roughead in the lead while in our new class for historic cars, John Nicholson and Peter Littlefield are the leading crew.

There’s still lots to play for as we look forward to plenty of good competition with some new names mixing it with our established stars.