Wednesday 29 June 2011

Regulations published for the 2011 Roger Albert Clark Rally

With just over five months to go before the 2011 Roger Albert Clark Rally, (2-5 December, the event regulations have been published and entries are now open for the eighth running of this must-do event in the historic rallying calendar.

The event, which has a new start venue for 2011 at Duncombe Park in Yorkshire, offers 170 stage miles over 24 special stages for an early entry fee of £1,850. Rally manager Colin Heppenstall is targeting an entry of 100 cars this year, which would set a new record for the rally.

Among the entries expected is a strong contingent of European competitors. To make it easier for them to compete, approval has been granted for them to run with FIA Historic Technical Passports only, rather than needing to acquire a UK rally log book and MSA Historic Vehicle Identification Forms. Such cars will run in a separate class within the overall rally.

Another new class will cater for Formula 1000 crews. Following interest from prospective crews, a special class has been added to the Open Rally and these cars will be allowed to run at the head of the main field with the category one historic cars.

To help competitors and spectators plan for the event, a Rally Guide has been produced and can now be viewed at the event’s official website. For more details about the Roger Albert Clark Rally, and its support rallies, please visit www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org.

Monday 13 June 2011

Images from BCCC Forrest Lodge


Please click here to see the event gallery.

Wright makes it four out of five on Dukeries Rally

Bentham rally driver David Wright continued his run of success in the BTRDA rally championship last weekend with a class win on the Dukeries rally.

The event commenced with the short Blidworth stage and Wright made a good start in his Proflex, Kumho Tyres, Drenth and Grove Hill Garage-supported GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9, taking sixth fastest time overall and first in class.

Two stages in the Sherwood Forest complex followed and Wright was one of several crews who beat the bogey time on the first of them. A spin on the next stage cost a few seconds and kept Wright in sixth place.

“The early stages went pretty well for us,” said Wright. “It was frustrating to have a spin but other than that we had a good run through the stages.”

A quick time in the fourth stage, Portland, moved Wright up to fifth on the leaderboard, a position he maintained to the finish.

“We had a troublefree run through the remaining stages, the car performed faultlessly. I’m delighted to have won the class again, it’s the fourth time in five events we have achieved that. It’s good that we were on the pace of the cars in the World Rally class on an event which suited those cars more than mine, it bodes well for the next championship round where the stages are more twisty.”

The result moves Wright up to fifth in the overall BTRDA championship and he also leads the championship for drivers in B13 class cars. His next event will be the Quinton Stages in July.

Image courtesy Simon Clarke

Sunday 5 June 2011

Wright aiming to be top of the class on Dukeries rally

Bentham’s David Wright is aiming to take his fourth class win out of five BTRDA rally championship events this year next weekend when he contests the Dukeries rally.

Wright has enjoyed a successful season so far in his Proflex, Kumho Tyres, Drenth and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9 with his most reason outing resulting in fourth overall as well as the class win on the Plains rally in May.

“We’ve had mixed fortunes on the Dukeries in the last two years,” said Wright. “We won our class in 2009 but last year we had a broken driveshaft which put us out of the event when we were on course for a good result.”

“The car has been re-prepared since the last rally and there are no major changes to it so hopefully we’ll be able to aim for the class victory again as well as a good position on the overall leaderboard.”

The rally is based at Southwell racecourse and the crews will face 45 miles of competition in and around Sherwood forest.

Friday 3 June 2011

Third time lucky for Peart on Jim Clark rally

Burton Pidsea rally driver Chris Peart enjoyed a successful Jim Clark Challenge rally last weekend, claiming sixth place overall and fourth in class in his Peart Auto Services-backed Vauxhall Corsa S1600 car.

In 2009 and 2010 Peart suffered the misfortune of having mechanical problems on his car before the rally had started so he was hoping for better luck on the 2011 event.

Fortunately he made it to the opening stage of the Kelso-based rally this year and he was on the pace immediately, taking fifth place on the first test which took place around the spectator-packed streets of Duns. Two further stages took place on the first day of the event, both of them very tricky and testing. Keen to get a finish Peart and co-driver Jamie Forrest treated the stages with caution and arrived at the overnight halt in eighth place.

“After our experience in 2009 and 2010 I was delighted just to make it to the start,” commented Peart. “We did a rally at Barkston Heath to test the car before the Jim Clark and we managed to finish first in our class and fourth overall so I was confident that the car would perform reliably. The Duns stage went well, it was great to see all the spectators lining the streets, the other two stages had lots of places where it was easy to have an accident so we drove on the side of caution to make sure we got to the overnight halt.”

Day two saw a further five stages and Peart had a troublefree run although changeable weather conditions made tyre choice very difficult. A consistent pace saw him move up to an excellent sixth place overall at the rally finish in Kelso.

“I’m very happy with the result, the top crews were setting scorching times so I’m pleased to end up in a decent position on the leaderboard. I enjoyed the event immensely and hopefully we will be back out on the stages again soon.”

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Ray Kempster Memorial Hill Rally to take place at Walters Arena

Walters Arena near Glyn Neath in South Wales will be the venue for a one-off single day hill rally event to celebrate the life of Ray Kempster whose life was tragically lost in a racing accident in 2010.

For over 20 years Ray was a regular and popular face in cross-country motorsport, be it in trials or high-speed competitions. When he wasn’t competing Ray could be found helping to organise events and laying out courses and if he wasn’t doing this he was helping people with their racing, lending his time to sort cars or nurturing the enthusiastic beginner.

The All Wheel Drive Club-permitted event, which will take place on Saturday 6th August, will be an opportunity for cross-country competitors to come together and remember a great man. It will be a National B cross-country event covering approximately 65 miles across 10 stages.

Following the rally there will be an awards presentation with the hand-made winner’s trophy being presented by its creator, Ray’s wife and long-time navigator Vonnie. There will also be a charity auction with lots donated by businesses and friends supporting the event. All monies raised will be divided between the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and a newly formed Cross-Country Safety Fund.

For those wishing to compete, the entry fee is just £199 and entry is open to members of any of the MSA invited clubs (AWDC, Marches 4x4, NORC, SCORC, ALRC etc).

Any tyres from the MSA’s AT and MT list can be used and, as the event exclusively uses private tracks, road legality is not a requirement for competing vehicles.

Supplementary regulations for the event will available shortly, please contact Andy Mills (amills.pcs@btinternet.com) or Nic Blundell (njblundell@supanet.com) if you are interested in taking part in what promises to be a memorable day.