![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.nerallychamp.com\/newsimages\/bulletin_3201501201350Large.jpg\")
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Stephenson\u2019s rocket. Whilst still getting used to his recently acquired MG ZR, local businessman Peter Stephenson raced to a fine 3rd overall on the Jack Frost Stages. And the event certainly lived up to it\u2019s name this year with most weather permutations fitted into the short daylight hours of the competition. Sunshine started the day before the snow arrived and then thawed into rain; the afternoon\u2019s cold biting wind was only interrupted by another snow shower to keep all the drivers on their toes. While all crews had tales of woe about the snow, Peter\u2019s only niggling issue was some concern around the gearshift. But unlike the last rally, he was able to make it to the finish and clinch a well-deserved podium finish.<\/p>\n
In a tremendous 5th overall was Barry Lindsay driving a Mitsubishi Evo. This was Barry\u2019s prize for winning the ANECCC championship and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The power and 4 wheel drive of the Japanese car were a change from his usual little Peugeot 106 but our multi champion took to it all with ease, even though he looked under pressure before the start. He was pleased to bring the car back undamaged, as it was a day to remember and must be the first time in a long while that he\u2019s finished a rally and not picked up an award for his labours. No doubt he\u2019ll not bothered about that fact as he\u2019s probably still ginning from ear to ear now as he appeared to be really enjoying himself all day.<\/p>\n
David White was next up along with a virgin co-driver, Edward Pikul. David admitted to a few overshoots and issues with chicanes but was still a happy man at the finish with his 6th overall. Just 15 seconds adrift were Stuart Walker in the Skoda Fabia. With Julie McGuire back in the right hand seat it was a case of normal service restored and they were delighted to finish with no damage and the front bumper still intact. And a mere 3 seconds further back in 8th overall were James Sharrock and Stuart Faulds. The boys were using the rally as a shakedown for the North West Stages and were another crew that were happy to bring their Ford Escort home undamaged.<\/p>\n
With the Lindsays out in different cars on the rally it was left to Joe Cunningham to do a spot of giant killing on the day. Having sorted out the sensor problem that ruined his Christmas Stages, he drove his little Peugeot 106 with great gusto as ever, and now with a good dose of reliability, he took not only a win in the 1600cc class but also 13th overall. Mark Thompson was next in his Peugeot 206. It would be a bit of an understatement to suggest he\u2019d had a fraught week leading up to the event as engine rebuilds (yes, that\u2019s more than one rebuild) and MOT problems meant the car wasn\u2019t ready until late Saturday night. He\u2019d start rally day not exactly optimistic and also with a co-driver new to rallying. They suffered a water leak in the morning and this was quickly fixed by Alistair Hutchinson out on service duties. Mark has lots of form at this venue and with no more mechanical problems was delighted to round off a satisfying, character-building day in 16th overall. Ann Forster, co-driving for the unregistered Dave Hornbrook in his Mitsubishi Evo6, lost out on the final stage to end up 1 second adrift. Next up was Michael Lindsay co-driving for Steve Bannister in his Ford Escort. This was Michael\u2019s prize ride and just like son Barry he was having a whale of a time with his chauffeur.<\/p>\n
Our next 3 championship contenders all finished with exactly the same penalties. The first in 24th place was Barry Renwick in his Ford Escort. The car never missed a beat all day but Barry struggled to put all his power down onto the road. Next was the Peugeot 106 of Liam Walling with a new co-driver as well. The youngster from Consett seems to have got over his driveshaft problems and was right up there taking a 4th fastest when the slippy, snowy stages affected the more powerful cars on SS3. And classified in 26th was Paul Swift \/ Jessica Bell. Paul suffered on the opening test when he dropped time with an electrical issue and then he suffered even more with the snowy third stage. At the lunch halt he was in a lowly 64th overall and the idea of going home was discussed. However, he got his head down in the afternoon session with top 8 times on the last 3 runs to pull himself back up to a respectable 26th. And as ever, our pro stunt driver entertained the crowds with his sideways style.<\/p>\n
Stuart Baillie had one of those days that he\u2019ll try to forget as he had no centre diff and was stuck in rear wheel drive all day. He also had the wrong tyres, which we\u2019ve all heard that one before \u2026 Geoff Simpson and Bruce Lindsay were out testing their Mitsubishi Evo6 in preparation for the North West Stages. They were pretty happy with the car and new gearbox so look forward to Blackpool now. David Cox was back in the driving seat of his Rover 25 for this event. He was pleased to get to the finish and with both wing mirrors still intact. Our Dad and Lass combination of Bill and Kari Bates were next in their faithful Peugeot 106. Before the start Bill was not very confident about how well his engine was running but after an ECU problem in the morning they set very consistent times in the afternoon runs.<\/p>\n
John Nicholson and Peter Littlefield were the first crew to register for our historic class in the championship with their Ford Escort RS2000. A steady run with no damage and John\u2019s extremely happy to say that he\u2019s beaten Steve Bannister on a rally stage too ! Mark Burton was 10 seconds behind with a change of car and co-driver. His Dad John was kicked out and a younger model \u2013 Zoe Wright \u2013 installed in the left hand seat of his new Subaru Impreza. It\u2019s actually a very old car and he suffered some teething problems with a turbo pipe blowing off. This spoilt 2 stage times but with the help of Barry Renwick\u2019s service crew a permanent fix had the job sorted. On the remaining 4 stages that counted, the Durham crew set top 15 times so the potential is there for some good results in the future. Our Lad and Dad crew for the day was Graham and David Malthouse in a recently acquired Vauxhall Astra. David reckons it was over 30 years since he last sat in the silly seat but was looking forward to the day. The car ran well all day and they felt their afternoon tests were better after the steady start in difficult conditions.<\/p>\n
Another family pairing of Alex and Katie Willan were up in their Proton Satria. Alex felt that winter tyres were the way to do it on this rally but he didn’t have any. Being one of many to bring the wrong rubber with him, he lost out. So after the brake problems they endured on the Christmas Stages, they concentrated on getting the car reliable for the future. He felt he was actually quicker last year in his Road Rally car !! Colin Butler was back out with Andrew Hutchinson in the unusual Toyota Yaris. The snow Colin had been praying for all week arrived in the morning and he was frustrated as everyone was slower than the stage maximum. He carried on regardless and keeps talking about getting his Impreza out soon. Kevin Mathers was next in his Peugeot 205 and struggled for most of the day with an intermittent misfire at high revs. The similar car of Neil Marshall had a stop start sort of day as the car would occasionally coast to a halt before picking up again – a 64th overall finish was not his normal pace. Nigel Harkness and Helen Gibbon were next in the little Vauxhall Corsa. The Spadeadam crew had a clean run until the last stage when they hit some tyres and damaged the car\u2019s front end. Yet they were still very happy to make the final control. And our final classified finishers were Ed Todd and Andy Brown. It had been an anxious week getting the car ready and running properly so they were glad to be able to don the helmets on Sunday morning and get into action. Unfortunately it all went wrong with a big off at the end of the pit straight that found them in the \u201ccat litter\u201d and they were forced to take a stage maximum of 20 minutes as well. However they kept going at a more reduced pace in the afternoon just to make it to the end.<\/p>\n
What about the few that never made it to the finish ? John Stone and Carl Williamson were the first to go after the heavy snow of stage 2 and they realised that they didn\u2019t have any suitable tyres; it was a similar fate for Chris McCallum and Jane Nicol in the Ford Escort too; Geoffrey Harkness \/ Caroline Lodge retired with another broken diff \u2013 that\u2019s 2 rallies in a row with the same problem for them and finally Nik Artley gave up after the penultimate stage when he felt the car wasn\u2019t handling very well.<\/p>\n
Our thanks go to the team from Darlington Motor Club for another very different Jack Frost Stages rally. Very difficult weather made for some big challenges to our contenders and some fun for the spectators. The weather certainly tested the organiser\u2019s preparations but the real stars of the day must be all the marshals who were stood out in the changing conditions.<\/p>\n
Round 3 of our championship is the Legend Fires North West Stages that takes place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th February. As is the usual format now, the event is based at the Norbreck Castle Hotel, Blackpool where Scrutineering, indoor Parc Ferme and Champagne finish ceremony will all be held. The format of a short 12-mile Friday evening leg includes the very popular spectator friendly stage on the North Promenade just over the road from Rally HQ. Saturday sees more action at different venues with about 75 miles of competition and only 135 road miles. Once again the entry list is full but if you want to know more, then go to the rally website at www.nwstages.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n Something of a coup for the organisers is that they will be providing LIVE Streaming coverage of the 2-day event. The plan is to have cameras at the popular TRAX venue on the Friday evening and also at the Fleetwood seafront stages on Saturday. Anyone interested can purchase a single ticket for just \u00a35 to view both days via the AMGTV website. For more details on the deal go to www.amgtv.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stephenson\u2019s rocket. Whilst still getting used to his recently acquired MG ZR, local businessman Peter Stephenson raced to a fine 3rd overall on the Jack Frost Stages. And the event certainly lived up to it\u2019s name this year with most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28,14,13,8,7],"post_series":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":779,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions\/779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}