NETRC Jack Frost Stages 2014 result
Barry’s back on top. After only 2 qualifying rounds, the championship already has a familiar look to it as our current champions are leading the overall tables.
Sunday’s Jack Frost Stages was another reminder of how the Lindsays have this particular ability to push their little Peugeot 106 way beyond what other competitors seem to be able to come up with and give some big boys a run for their money. The morning’s 4 tests were run in a clockwise direction of Croft’s racing circuit and the weather stepped in to provide an equalising effect and let drivers of some of the less powerful cars show the fans their skills. The heavy rain experienced by some of the world’s very best on the Monte Carlo Rally a day earlier, seemed to have moved north to cover the North Yorkshire skies on rally morning. Tyre choice was simple – just go on wets and do your best.
Over the opening 5.9 miles, Barry and Michael Lindsay were 3rdfastest beating several fit Metros and Subarus to set up a fascinating battle. The pace was only slowed down on the last one before lunch when lady luck deserted the Spadeadam crew as they got too sideways on the grass and big marker tyres arrested their forward motion. A badly damaged driver’s door was the cosmetic result but fortunately there was no mechanical damage. The timesheets showed they had dropped from 4th to 6th in a flash as they made their way back into lunchtime service. Normal service was resumed in the 4 afternoon tests run on a drying track and so allowing the more powerful cars to shine. The 2013 champions still managed to win their class by over a minute and take a well-deserved 7th overall.
Rumour has it that Barry’s new seats made the ride more comfortable and helped him generate more speed but perhaps the new mountings have allowed him to sit closer to the important controls and push the accelerator pedal to the floor now …
Our next 9 contenders all finished consecutively from 9th down to 17th overall – some feat! First up were Mark Thompson and Phil Kenny in their 206. The Durham driver ‘struggled’ in the rainy opening tests as the screen demister was sometimes working and sometimes not. On one occasion, Mark was looking through an inch gap of clear screen trying to find the next stretch of tarmac. However, they were happily lying in 9th overall at the lunch halt. Despite hoping for more rain in the afternoon stages, they actually managed to consolidate their top ten placing and it’s good to see the local crew open their account with a great set of points.
Joe Cunningham was our third man to round off the top ten. After his disappointing driveshaft issue on the Christmas Stages, Joe was re-united with Daniel Kennedy in the silly seat of the Peugeot 106 and hoping for a better result. It started well with 12th position on the opening wet, stage and the youngsters just consolidated on every test up to the penultimate one. Over enthusiasm saw them lose a little time, but no places, after a little autograssing moment on SS7 before they calmed down on the final run and claim a splendid finish
And completing our Peugeot 1234 finish was the 306 variant of Joseph Redmond and Luke Campbell. No real problems for the crew this time at Croft and their only ‘complaint’ was about catching slower cars. They felt that they’d suffered more than most on the day and would have probably lost in the region of 30 seconds. However, the jovial Irishman from Leeds never stops smiling and was delighted to finish in 11th slot.
Edward Todd and Andy Brown were next in the little GTM Coupe. The Durham boys were complaining of poor grip on the morning tests and at the half way were to be found in a lowly 22nd place. Perhaps the drying afternoon runs suited them better or perhaps they found better grip as they moved up the leaderboard to finish in 12th. Or perhaps Ed had been driving like a girl in the morning again … who knows but they were happy to get another solid result under their belts after a frustrating 2013.
The Honda Civic of Nick Thorne was next up. Six o’clock on rally morning and Nick found out that his regular co-driver couldn’t make the rally. A few administrative tasks completed with the organisers, and now several pounds sterling lighter, James Stewart was promoted from service crew to co-driver and raring to go. He coped well with combining his new duties along with continuing to service the car after each stage. Nick just got on with trying different tyres as he steadily moved up the leaderboard from his poor start of 36th after SS1 to finish in 13th overall at the end of a trying day.
Tim Finch is more often found preparing and running cars on rallies rather than driving them these days. However, after teaming up with Terry Martin for the first time, he set off warily into the opening stage. His Subaru was only 29th but he set about improving that only to find that he had no 4th gear at the halfway halt. With no new box to hand, Tim and Terry just decided to see how the box would hold up in the afternoon with the thought of losing more gears very likely. The surprised crew actually didn’t have any further problems and somehow found 4th gear again – maybe the driver had been trying to select a fantasy 6thgear earlier and just came back to earth after lunch ! Smiling faces at the final control says they were content with 14th overall.
Next up were giant killers Andy Fawcett and Chris Purvis in their 1400 Vauxhall Nova. After the opening pair of stages they’d pushed the little car into a fantastic 11th overall. It all started to go wrong just before the end of the third test when they lost an argument when some tractor tyres and damaged the front end of the car. They managed to get the car into service despite losing water from the radiator. With no spare available, it took some gentle coaxing by Chris to persuade a fellow competitor to lend them his spare. Once the loaned radiator was fitted, they continued their test programme and managed to get to the end of the rally in a splendid 15th place.
Neil Raven and Ann Forster started the event leading the championship tables and hoping to rack up some more useful points. This time out was to be a steady day that started with a 16th fastest and they ended up in 16th overall too. No big issues to report with another reliable day in their Subaru Impreza for the team that were awarded the Best Mixed Crew award at the after rally presentation.
The similar Subaru of Darren Wilcox was just behind in 17th position. The garage owner from Stokesley had a trouble free day with his new co-driver and the pair were very happy to notch up another confidence building result.
Finishing in 39th place were the new Lad and Dad combination from Middlesbrough, Mark and John Burton. Their Vauxhall Nova behaved itself this time at Croft and they really enjoyed the wet morning tests moving up 6 places from the 45th place on SS1. Mark’s new to this rally driving stuff but this result will boost his confidence even more for his next outing on the North West Stages.
Nigel Hepburn / Richard Clark were next in a Renault Clio Cup car. Nigel’s only recently acquired the car and was struggling in the morning’s wet runs as he only stopped the clocks in 73rd place on the opening stage. As the day wore on and the track continued to dry out, they upped the pace to finish in 50th spot.
David Cox was next sitting in with the non-registered Luke Searle. David used to co drive for Luke’s father in the very same Rover Metro GTi many years ago when they enjoyed lots of success. They recorded a clean run and were happy to take the 3rdin class for their troubles.
Our final registered finisher was the effervescent Colin Butler. Colin enlisted the services of Alistair Hutchinson’s son Joe for the pleasure of co-driving his Toyota Yaris. Joe stuck to his task and helping the little 1 litre powered car come home in a trouble free 60th overall.
A quick mention of those who never made it into the darkness of the final control. First to go with damaged front suspension were Peter Stephenson and Ian Windress after their Subaru P2000 hit a wall neat the end of the opening stage; Andrew Grimstone / Rob Dawson retired from 46th after the second test with mechanical woes; Alastair Hutchinson decided not to start the afternoon stages after he found some loose metal in the gearbox; Simon Stewart and Doug Levee stopped after SS5 with no gears and finally John Stone / Jack Morton when queuing for stage 6 as their Peugeot 206 decided it didn’t want to rev or even pull away and their rally ended when as they went OTL.
Our thanks and a pat on the back for Terry Wright and his band of men from Darlington Motor Club for another well-organised Jack Frost Stages rally. And the pace of the events just doesn’t stop with the next one being just over a fortnight away when we’re off to the seaside. The third round of the championship is the Legend Fires North West Stages and this will take place on Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th February. The Regulations were released before Christmas and the organisers have received all the applications for the maximum 100 entries available already. If you’re still interested in competing on this one, it will be a good idea to contact the Organisers, as you never know if anyone has withdrawn.
The rally is always well organised with fantastic facilities at the event HQ, the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool, with its unrivalled facilities enabling scrutineering, indoor parc ferme and champagne finish ceremony all within the hotel’s own Exhibition Hall. The adjacent ʻRally Villageʼ promises to be bigger than ever with trade stands, simulators and displays to entertain the supporters and spectators. Last year, the rally village was oversubscribed and once again interest is expected to be high. Similar to previous years, the hotel is offering very favourable accommodation rates for the 450 hotel rooms assigned to the event.
The organisers are retaining their base at the Norbreck but will have a brand new service park that’s almost in the shadow of the seaside resort’s iconic tower. A deal has been struck with the local council to use the Promenade’s Middle Walk that will bring the event to the edge of the town centre and provide a better viewing experience for spectators. The move is a throwback to the sixties when the same area served as the Parc Ferme for RAC Rally of 1968. As for the competition, this will start with a Friday evening leg giving competitors some stages in the dark before a night in bed. The event continues with Saturday offering a wide variation of stages at several different venues with about 75 miles of good quality sealed surface stages within a compact route of only 150 road miles. The all creates a very demanding event for competitors, with no hanging around. For more information on this event, go to http://www.nwstages.co.uk
And finally, a little heads up about the 2013 Awards Presentation. Unfortunately, this was postponed last November and we’re hoping to have the usual extravaganza on a Wednesday night in February. More details to follow soon.