NETRC Tyneside Stages Results August 2012
A personal best for Chris Anderson. And partnered as usual by Chris Thirling, the youngster from Durham beat off a host of quicker machinery from the country’s national championship to take a magnificent 2nd overall on this weekend’s Tyneside Stages. He also bagged his second maximum score this year in our championship – the first driver to manage this feat.
The rally was organised by Alnwick and Berwick Motor Clubs once more and is the first of our final four rallies that are run over military range roads. It followed a similar format to last year with 9 tests for 66 crews and was sponsored again by Wilkinson Maintenance and Alba Water. As ever, the weather in the Redesdale Riviera was cooler and more changeable that the rest of the country was experiencing but the day dawned cloudy and dry.
From the off Anderson and Thirling were on a mission and despite an overshoot at the Featherwood triangle dropping about 10 seconds, they were 6th fastest overall. Their Ford Fiesta was working well after it’s gearbox problem on the last event and they gained more confidence as the morning progressed to go into the lunch halt in a fine fourth place. With the next 2 stages on the west side of the Ranges being cancelled due to a couple of accidents, the action returned to the more technical roads of the eastern side. With a 2nd and 3rd quickest time over Dudlees, they managed to move up another place to go into the final long test a mere 1 second adrift. A leaking exhaust manifold would keep the service crew occupied late in the afternoon and particularly before the final run. A couple of ‘moments’ early into the 17 miles of Cocklaw Green, showed how hard Anderson was trying but with his confidence sky high now, he was able to push on. He stopped the clocks 4 seconds quicker than his rival and elbowed his way into a fantastic 2nd overall. A great result for the lad who’s not even 21 yet – and a great outlook for what’s possible in the future.
Taking second placed co-driver points in the championship would be Don Whyatt. The Dublin based man is no stranger to the Otterburn Ranges having guided many a driver to victory over the years. Once more he was out in a Subaru, this time the mount was George Mackey’s ex factory version just recently acquired. It would be a learning day for the Haydon Bridge driver with a new car and co-driver and they were happy to come home in 4th overall.
Our second placed crew were Barry and Michael Lindsay in 8th overall. Despite a poor start number, our current champions set off to show the seeding committee how wrong they had been with their selection and at the half way, they held the class lead and 9th overall. In the afternoon tests, Barry felt he was losing out on the uphill sections but he still coaxed the little Peugeot 106 to another giant killing 8th overall. He felt he couldn’t have driven the car any quicker over the last stage as he was on the absolute limit. It would be a good warm up for his big test coming up on Saturday.
Next up in 9th position and a further 28 seconds behind the Lindsays were Pete Gibson / Josh Davison. A disappointing start over the first 3 stages saw the Mitsubishi crew down in 20th place. The car just didn’t feel ‘quite right’ and after a change to Pirelli tyres and some ‘tweaking’ of the suspension, the times improved. As Pete felt happier with the car he moved up the leaderboard after each stage. So by the end of the day he’d made it into the top 10 and also takes away a good base setting ready for the next rally on Otterburn.
Kev Monaghan was out again with Steve Dargan once more filling the co-driver’s seat in Chris Purvis’ enforced absence. After recent rallies, Kev had decided that his demon paddle shift was not for him any more and he reverted back to the good old gearstick – something to be pushed around with your hand when looking for another gear. A slow start saw him come back into 1st service in a lowly 28th place but with no major mechanical problems all day he steadily improved to 15th position. He reckons that following Barry Lindsay on the final stage helped him move up 2 places as well.
A further 21 seconds back were Alex Laffey and Jack Morton – another couple of youngsters in a Ford Fiesta R2 enjoying their rally. It was first time on the ranges for the driver and he spent the day learning about the venue. A trouble free event and he was happy to end up in 18th place.
The reliable Vauxhall Corsa of Geoffrey Harkness and Caroline Lodge were next up. Another incident free rally for the Spadeadam crew ensured they’d pick up more good championship points.
Michael Davison and Chris Dodds shared a first when they finished their first rally of the year. Their Proton Satria had let them down a few times lately and still felt a ‘little loose’ on the front nearside corner but after a major check over at first service and no problems identified, they pushed on and were delighted to get to the end of the event.
Stuart Bate returned to the championship with his Mitsubishi Evo9 and was a little nervous before the start. He’d never used pacenotes before and he was an Otterburn Virgin too. The venue’s reputation had him concerned but with the experienced Giles Dykes to guide him over the ranges he was very happy to make it to the finish in one piece. The lack of a wing mirror and panel evidence of close encounters with the black chicane bales showed he’d been trying hard, particularly in the afternoon.
The Fiat X 19 of Phil Morton and Jo Emma Hind returned to the series with a rebuilt gearbox after their recent woes. Their only issue was filling the jerry cans full of diesel for the rally ! Once petrol was found their panic was over and this time the gearbox managed to cope with 90 miles of fast and furious competition to bring them home in 33rd place. And our final finisher was the father and son pairing of Malcolm and Richard Holdsworth. Their Honda Civic had been parked up since the Christmas Stages and only got a quick wash and new tax disc in the week before the rally. It was another reliable rally, although Malcolm’s only complaint was about it not been fast enough – hardly surprising with 185,000 miles on the clock.
A quick mention of those who didn’t manage to finish the rally and our first retiree was Janice Moore sitting alongside the non registered John Stone on his Skoda Fabia – their engine stopped within the opening couple of miles. Andy Davison and Mike Curry had high hopes going into the day having taken maximum championship points on last year’s running of the Tyneside. Although he had a problem starting the BMW before the opening stage he stormed through it to stop the clocks second fastest. Unfortunately, the clutch failed at the start of the second test. Ed Todd and Andy Brown retired after SS7 with clutch problems too. On every stage Ed was frustrated by sometimes having loads of grip and sometimes loads of slip. By fourth service he decided to save the car for another day as thing weren’t getting any better. And our final retirement was Dave Seed and Colin Tombs – yes with clutch problems. Half way through the third test, they started having gear selections problems and although they got to the end of the stage, they’d lost all the car’s clutch fluid. Topping it up in service solved the problem but the fluid quickly drained out again. Solving the leak wasn’t possible so it was an early bath for the Durham boys this time.
Thanks go to Alnwick and Berwick Motor Clubs for all their efforts over the weekend. It was quite an eventful rally in more ways than one and they had to cope with a couple of bad accidents too.
We now have 2 events coming up within a week of each other and the first one will be Tynemouth Motor Club’s Lindisfarne Rally. Similar to the recent Tyneside Stages, the rally will be based at both Otterburn Leisure Centre for documentation and the Airstrips on the military ranges for the action. This action will be over 11 stages and approximately 90 miles on some of the best tarmac roads in the country. As usual, a reconnaissance of the stages will be allowed and this takes place on Saturday 15th September starting at 12:00. The entry fee for the rally is £350 and it will take place on Sunday 16th September. Entries are already being received and there’s lots more information available at the event website – http://www.richard-burns.com/tdmc/lindisfarne
And 7 days later, the Stobart Rail Pendragon Stages will once again be organised by Eden Valley, Kirkby Lonsdale and Northallerton Motor Clubs. It is scheduled to run on Sunday 23rd September. Just as in 2011, the event will be run solely on Warcop Army Ranges but this time will include some public roads as short link sections. This allows competitors the opportunity to use ‘route notes’ on the special stages. However, unlike last year all competitors will require their cars to be taxed for use on the public highway and also be covered with road insurance. The organisers are planning 8 tests with a total mileage of about 70 miles and less than 20 road miles. This year the rally is a counter for 6 championships so if you want to do the event, get your entry in quick. And all for the same entry fee as 2011, £235. Entries are now open via the event website, http://www.pendragonstages.co.uk