{"id":977,"date":"2017-01-02T17:48:29","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T16:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asperformance.com\/?p=977"},"modified":"2017-01-02T17:48:29","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T16:48:29","slug":"asp-netrc-championship-2017-christmas-stages-results-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/event-news\/asp-netrc-championship-2017-christmas-stages-results-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"ASP \/ NETRC Championship 2017 \u2013 Christmas Stages Results 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Max score for ex champ.\u00a0\u00a0The Christmas Stages run once again at Croft Circuit near Darlington kicked off our 2017 championship on Bank Holiday Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0Our 2012 champion driver Paul Swift came away a maximum set of points by finishing 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0to event winner Guy Smith and playing his \u2018Joker\u2019, ensured that the local boy made the best possible start to our new year.<\/p>\n

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The days leading up to the rally were extremely windy as storm Connor left his mark on a cold Christmas but once the set up crews went home on Boxing Day, a wonderful calm descended of this converted wartime airfield in North Yorkshire.\u00a0\u00a0A couple of degrees of frost welcomed crews to the opening test and some occasional icy patches would keep drivers on their toes.\u00a0\u00a0But for the hardy spectators, it might have felt a little warm under the sunny blue sky and 7o<\/sup>C heat.<\/p>\n

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Paul Swift had his wife Jessica sitting alongside him in his usual Ford Escort MkII and opened his account with a couple of 4th<\/sup>fastest times.\u00a0\u00a0He complained of some baulking that didn\u2019t help his cause but managed to hold onto 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0overall at the lunch halt.\u00a0\u00a0Some brake issues solved by a little bleed and then a change of steering arm after contact with a substantial object did little to hinder progress and they would eventually finish rally runners up.\u00a0\u00a0They head into 2017 with a very healthy lead in the championship.<\/p>\n

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Taking 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0placed championship points were car 87, Neil Prior and Peter Littlefield.\u00a0\u00a0This was only Neil\u2019s second rally in a Subaru Impreza and the improved performance of the car belied his running order on the road.\u00a0\u00a0Although their poor seeding didn\u2019t help them on the stages, after the first test the Tynemouth crew were 11th<\/sup>\u00a0fastest and continued this upward progresses to 7th<\/sup>\u00a0at halfway.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They were a bit concerned about the engine\u2019s high water temperature during the afternoon runs but were very happy to end the day still in 7th<\/sup>\u00a0position.<\/p>\n

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Rounding off the rally\u2019s top ten and taking 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0championship place were contenders Stevie Irwin and Ian Middleton.\u00a0\u00a0The man from Berwick was driving his usual Vauxhall Nova and happy with his almost trouble free day despite some reservations about the gearbox and nudging the odd bale.\u00a0\u00a0Winning the rally\u2019s 1600cc class was a bonus too.\u00a0\u00a0Five seconds adrift of the yellow Nova was the red Nova of non registered Andy Fawcett along with Chris Purvis who was happy to relive their 2 wheeled moment as they copied one of Paul Swift\u2019s stunts.<\/p>\n

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Des Campbell made the trip over the border into Englandshire for the rally and made a disastrous start but admitted it was a poor choice of tyres by the driver.\u00a0\u00a0He completed SS1 in 64th<\/sup>\u00a0place so was chasing the opposition thereafter.\u00a0\u00a0With the right rubber, he made it up to 23rd<\/sup>\u00a0at lunchtime and 12th<\/sup>\u00a0place at the finish to head back north again a happier man.\u00a0\u00a0And 9 seconds further back were Mark and Andrew Constantine in their red class 2 Vauxhall Corsa.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Breaking a drive shaft on stage 4 just when they\u2019d made it into the top ten spoilt their good day.\u00a0\u00a0The 30 seconds lost dropped them a handful of places but they made it back up to 13th<\/sup>\u00a0overall by the end of the day.<\/p>\n

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Mark Burton and Zoe Wright made a return to the championship with their unusual Ford XR2.\u00a0\u00a0From a start number of 48 they showed their pace to end the first pair of stages in 21st<\/sup>\u00a0overall.\u00a0\u00a0A driveshaft problem on stage 4 dropped them sometime but this was sorted out in service.\u00a0\u00a0They kept their chief mechanic busy in the afternoon too with a brake calliper change and ended up in 15th<\/sup>\u00a0place.<\/p>\n

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And 7 seconds behind came our championship winning Renault Clio, CUB.\u00a0\u00a0Alistair Hutchinson was relegated to the role of team manager for the day as his nephew Andrew took on the task of pushing the pedals and turning the wheel with Alistair\u2019s son Joe sitting alongside him.\u00a0\u00a0He quickly adapted to the car and the lads enjoyed a blast with Andrew\u2019s only comment at the final control being \u201cWhat an awesome car!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Well done to Uncle Alistair for loaning Andrew the car for his first competitive drive \u2026<\/p>\n

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A mere 3 seconds further back were newcomers to our championship, Ben and Kev Wilson.\u00a0\u00a0Driving something a bit different, a Citroen AX, these guys pushed the little 1400cc powered car to a fine 17th<\/sup>\u00a0overall and 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0in class.\u00a0\u00a0Their only worry was around the clutch and cable with very little adjustment but it held out to the finish line and helped them record a great result.\u00a0\u00a0Hopefully they\u2019ll provide some good opposition in the forthcoming rallies to our current class titleholder.<\/p>\n

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Next up were Tony and Aston Blake in a Porsche 911.\u00a0\u00a0The boys from Ripon are more used to racing this car but with a few changes can quickly make it rally ready. They enjoyed a good day despite clouting a straw bale on the opening test and finding themselves down in 57th<\/sup>\u00a0position.\u00a0\u00a0After some confidence building on the next stage they found a good rhythm to move up the order to end the day just inside the top twenty.<\/p>\n

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The gorgeous orange mark two Ford Escort of Rob Snowden and Tommy Rogers had a challenging event that records them finishing in 27th<\/sup>\u00a0overall. The day opened with a sensible 15th<\/sup>\u00a0fastest but on the rerun over the same stage the throttle cable snapped and they plummeted down the order to 77th<\/sup>\u00a0position.\u00a0\u00a0Once rectified in service, they Malton crew recorded top ten times in all the remaining 6 stages to regain some pride and respectability as they gained 50 places.<\/p>\n

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Bruce Lindsay was alongside his non-registered driver, Dave Johnstone, in a Peugeot 205 this time.\u00a0\u00a0Low fuel pressure and clutch problems slowed them a bit on their way to 29th<\/sup>\u00a0overall.\u00a0\u00a0John Nicholson was next with the non-registered Bill Lymburn sitting in the left hand seat for a change.\u00a0\u00a0John couldn\u2019t seem to get into a good driving mood in the morning but then the times improved in the afternoon, perhaps he\u2019s prefers to go anticlockwise around the circuit ?\u00a0\u00a0The unregistered John Hepworth enlisted the services of Dave Boyes to guide him to 36th<\/sup>\u00a0place.<\/p>\n

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Next up was the Tango Clio crew by Colin Butler and St John Dykes.\u00a0\u00a0The local crew had a clean run to 40th<\/sup>\u00a0just ahead of Geoffrey Harkness \/ Caroline Lodge.\u00a0\u00a0The Spadeadam pairing were making steady progress up the timesheets from 31st<\/sup>\u00a0to 24th<\/sup>after stage 5 when a little incident just after the start of SS6 slowed them up.\u00a0\u00a0They, or Geoff to be precise, clobbered something coming out of a tightened right and shot across the grass.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Geoff felt he had no steering or drive and announced that they had a wheel off.\u00a0\u00a0When the car stopped, they jumped out to look at the car and both confirmed they still had 2 wheels their side of the car so carried on to the finish.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s sometimes a good thing to stop mid stage to count the wheels on your wagon before continuing.<\/p>\n

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The husband and wife team of Nigel and Helen Harkness were glad to see the final control as they felt the head gasket had finally gone on their little Vauxhall Corsa.\u00a0\u00a0They, or perhaps just Nigel, have some midnight oil to burn in the days ahead as they are planning to return to Croft for the Jack Frost Stages in just over 2 weeks.\u00a0\u00a0Mark Casey was next sitting in the silly seat of Gordon Watson\u2019s Peugeot 205 and they had a steady run to 46th<\/sup>\u00a0overall.\u00a0\u00a0Next were a couple of youngsters from Whickham MC, Karl Knox and Ewan Tindall.\u00a0\u00a0This was only Karl\u2019s second rally in his Vauxhall Nova so he continues to learn about the car and driving.\u00a0\u00a0Completing the rally and gaining more seat time was his priorities so he was a happy man at the end of the day despite hitting a few tyres and bales on the way.\u00a0\u00a0Ewan has just completed another successful season in both the Scottish and English Junior championships so was having a fun day out in \u2018the other seat\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our final classified finishers were Berwick\u2019s Jeff and Owen Malthouse in the Peugeot 205 and Ann Forster guiding Neil Raven in his 1400 Peugeot 106.\u00a0\u00a0No problems reported by either crew just a few spins.<\/p>\n

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There were very few retirements and the first to head home early were Michael Thomas and Ken Bills after they picked up a puncture on stage 2; Andrew Roughead was called in to look after multiple event winner Kevin Proctor but they retired due to a misfire on stage 3 whilst the leading the rally; Ed Todd \/ Andy Brown retired the little GTM Coupe when the wee red beastie dumped out all it\u2019s gearbox oil while waiting to start stage 5; our champion co-driver Richard Wardle called it a day after breaking a shaft on stage 2 and then again on stage 6 and our final Dad and Daughter pairing of Bill and Kari Bates retired after taking a stage maximum on SS6 caused by low fuel pressure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once again we must offer our thanks to Ian Jackson and all his team at Northallerton Motor Club for another well run rally and fitting in some cracking weather too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s only a couple of weeks break before we\u2019re back at Croft again for the Jack Frost Stages Rally in association with\u00a0Cartersport<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0This year\u2019s event will take place on Sunday 15th<\/sup>\u00a0January and the entry list has been open for sometime now.\u00a0\u00a0The organisers will take 90 starters and are currently about one dozen shy from being full.\u00a0\u00a0Anyone considering contesting the rally have until the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0January to enter and there\u2019s more on the event at\u00a0http:\/\/www.darlington-motor-club.org.uk\/series_home.php?seriesid=61<\/a><\/p>\n

And finally for now a quick mention about round 3 of this year\u2019s championship, the North West Stages.\u00a0\u00a0Taking place three weeks later this year on\u00a0Friday 24th<\/sup>\u00a0and Saturday 25th<\/sup>\u00a0February\u00a0will be the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0running of the\u00a0Legend Fires<\/strong>\u00a0sponsored North West Stages.\u00a0\u00a0Similar to the Jack Frost Stages, Motor Sport (North West) Limited are already taking entries and have already passed their target of 110 plus reserves.\u00a0\u00a0The link for full details of this event is\u00a0http:\/\/www.nwstages.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Max score for ex champ.\u00a0\u00a0The Christmas Stages run once again at Croft Circuit near Darlington kicked off our 2017 championship on Bank Holiday Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0Our 2012 champion driver Paul Swift came away a maximum set of points by finishing 2nd\u00a0to event…<\/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":[11,15,12,28,14,25,39,17,36,23,35,13,8,42,34,7,30],"post_series":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977"}],"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=977"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":979,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asperformance.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}