Win/win scenario for Tom Cave in Cumbria and Wales
Posted: May 31, 2011 12:40 PM
Teenage rally driver Tom Cave enjoyed a near perfect two days of rallying this weekend, with an outright win and a class win to his name. He and regular co-driver Craig Parry finished Saturday's Malcolm Wilson Rally in sixth place overall and first in class N4, then followed that up by winning Sunday's Mid Wales Stages rally outright at their first attempt.
Driving their 2004-specification Group N Subaru, prepared and run by Davis Motorsport services and fitted with Pirelli BRC tyres, 19 year-old Cave and Parry knew it would be a tough weekend; two rallies, each a full day of stage action, separated by almost 180 miles, with the Malcolm Wilson rally based in Cockermouth and the Mid Wales stages, in Newtown.
Tom laid out his stall on the Malcolm Wilson early; he and former BTRDA Production Cup champion Tristan Pye were trading times on almost every stage, with occasional times from former British Championship contender and Sky Sports BRC presenter Robbie Head in amongst the action. However, Tom and Pye began to stretch out a lead at the head of the field, swapping class position as they went.
However, Pye hit problems towards the end of the event and heading into the last pair of stages, Tom found himself with a 22 second margin over the nearest competitor. With just two stages to run, Tom elected to back off slightly for the final two tests to safeguard the result.
Having collected his trophy, and a very useful points haul for the BTRDA Gold Star, Production Cup and Junior Driver awards, he and Parry headed south on the M6, ready for another day of action at the wheel of the Impreza.
Tom and Craig began the event - eventually at 12.00 - in their trademark style, by attacking from the start. Although there were only four stages making up the event, they were all long, in the region of 10 miles each and very demanding - they had formed part of last year's Wales Rally GB route.
As he has done on the last few events, Tom set the fastest time on the opening stage, going through some 11 seconds faster than both an N12 Subaru and a World Rally Car. He maintained the momentum to arrive at the day's service, after the second stage, with a 28second lead at the head of the field.
He and Craig continued where they left off and by the time they arrived at the finish ramp, had increased their lead to almost 44 seconds and with it, took the outright win of the event.
Speaking on Sunday evening, Tom said: "This has been a fantastic weekend - I am absolutely shattered now but it's been amazing.
"On the Malcolm Wilson, I was slightly surprised at Tom Naughton's pace to begin with but then, Craig and I found a really good rhythm in the car. It all seemed to click and it felt manageable and competitive. It was really important to find that feeling, I think, as we needed to maintain the pace throughout the day and it's especially satisfying considering it's such a old car - we really had to drive the door handles off it to stay ahead of the Evo9s...
"On Sunday, on the Mid Wales, I knew the first stage reasonably well from Rally GB in the past and I knew that if I pushed hard, we might catch the others napping and get them on the back foot. As it transpired, that's just what happened - we took time out of them and they had to push to catch up and that meant that it was more likely for them to make mistakes.
"I think this weekend, everything just came together - I feel I was driving better than I have done for a long time, Craig was perfect on the notes, the Pirelli BRC-spec tyres worked really well and the Davis Motorsport boys gave us a really good car.
"This weekend has given me a lot more confidence and experience as we look ahead to the Bulldog rally, the next round of the British Rally Championship. We just need to keep this momentum going..."
This weekend's results mean that Tom now leads the BTRDA Production Cup and Junior Driver Award, is fourth in the BTRDA Gold Star Driver category and second in the British Rally Championship.
His next event will be the second round of the BRC, the Bulldog Rally, on 2 April.
BHRC report, round one: Mid Wales Historic Stages
Posted: May 31, 2011 12:23 PM
A winning margin of just one second over some of the finest gravel stages in Britain got the Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship off to a superb start on the Rally Marketing Mid Wales Historic Stages (Sunday 6 March.
While Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey pipped Nick Elliott and Chris Brooks in category three with a last stage charge, other category wins went to David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Simon Wallis/Graham Wride after a fabulous day of competition.
Category 1
An encouraging entry for category one delivered an absorbing contest and put down a clear marker that 2011 is going to be an excellent season for the pre ’68 cars.
Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride proved that they were wide awake when the rally opened with 12 miles in Hafren, taking an immediate lead in their Porsche 911. They maintained a cracking pace, despite some strong challenges, until the Porsche broke on the climb of Pike’s Peak and their rally was over.
With Paul Mankin and Peter Scott (Lotus Cortina) out with two burnt spark plugs, the lead battle was now a three-way affair as Wallis/Wride battled with the Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton and the Porsche 911 of Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes. The Volvo was consuming oil at a prodigious rate and the Porsche was battling a misfire at high revs, but it was all close until Wallis stormed the final Myherin stage to cement a fine victory.
“Those last two stages are the best in the country,” said Wallis of Pike’s Peak and Myherin. Waite was just relieved to make the finish after pouring a litre of oil in before the final two stages, while Proffitt had enjoyed his run. “It’s been wonderful,” he reported.
Fourth overall was a good result for the Volvo Amazon of Dave Reynolds/Cliff Doe, while Geoff Taylor/Steve Greenhill (Sunbeam Imp Sport) bagged class B1 despite a detached plug lead as the Imp suffered over the recently re-graded section of Hafren.
Category 2
The stage was set for a big contest in category two, but David Stokes and Guy Weaver had other ideas and attacked from the very start to take control in their Escort Mk1.Incredily, category two had a 100% finishing record.
Stokes was very quick out of the blocks and was 15s up on Rupert Lomax/Dave Alcock by the end of the first stage. Lomax sneaked a stage win on Pike’s Peak, but Stokes ended the day quickest on Myherin to underline his victory. “I enjoyed that, a lot,” he said at the finish back in Newtown. With no recent gravel experience, Lomax was pleased with second place after a strong run, while third in category two was a good result for Chris Browne and Liz Jordan. “We’ve had a fabulous day,” said Browne, who finished the rally just three seconds up on Stefaan Stouf and Joris Erard. The flying Belgians were new to these forests and admitted to being on a steep learning curve. “It was not too easy to go really quick, but the stages were very, very good,” said Stouf.
Sole runner in class C4 was the Porsche 911 of Peter McDowell/Derek Davies, while a cracking class C3 entry was topped by Tim Jones and Don James (Escort Mk1), competing for the first time since Tim injured his hand on the Mid Wales in June 2010. Despite admitting to being rusty, he edged clear of Dick Slaughter and Geoff Dearing on the first rally in the Escort Mk1 previously campaigned by Dick’s son James. “You’ve got to be more gentle with this car,” said Slaughter senior. Into third, resplendent in a new livery, came the Escort Mk1 of Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson.
The C2 entry was equally good and it delivered a close finish among the 1600cc Escorts as Matt Fowle/Jane Edgington just fended off Rex Ireland/Vince Bristow. “I last co-drove in about 1981,” said Bristow. Fowle was plagued by a misfire and reckoned that he had to push even harder downhill to make up for a lack of pace on the uphill sections.
Category 3
The pace at the head of category three was sensational as Elliott and Reynolds renewed their friendly rivalry. Elliott took the immediate advantage in Hafren and when Reynolds had a spin at the top of Sweet Lamb the gap went out to 10s. But Reynolds was not about to give up without a fight and clawed back some time to be four seconds down going into 10 miles of Myherin. Incredibly, Reynolds and Oakey went five seconds faster to win by just a second.
“We pushed on a bit,” admitted Reynolds. “Fair play to Julian, the pace was intense,” said Elliott after a memorable contest. The rest of category three gave chase, but Reynolds and Elliott were able to break clear from the start. In third should have been Paul Griffiths and Paul Williams in their Escort Mk2 but they slid off and were unable to get the undamaged car back on the road. Instead, Will Onions/David Williams took third from Alan Walker/Jez Rogers, who turned in an impressive performance in such competitive company.
Tim Pearcey and Neil Shanks had been in the battle for third until a scary brake failure in Myherin forced them to back right off and they slipped to fifth.
Class D4 lost the Vauxhall Chevette of Rob Smith and Opel Asconas of Steve Magson and Paul Kynaston, so it was a win for the Volvo 244 of Bill Douglas and Steve Hancock.
Victory in class D3 went to the non-BHRC registered crew of Guy Woodcock and Hu Kent (Escort Mk2), so top points were taken by Stuart Clarke/Andy Ballantyne, while Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne claimed third after a clear run in their Opel Kadett.
Finally, sole runner in class D2 was the Sunbeam Talbot of Guy Anderson and Kim Baker. Despite losing the exhaust, they stormed around in the car borrowed from Guy’s father Pat.
VIDEO: 2011 Mid Wales Stages - Official Highlights
The 2011 Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship will start in spectacular style on Sunday (6 March) with the Rally Marketing Mid Wales Historic Stages.
With the Newtown-based rally moving to the start of the calendar, a superb field of over 70 cars will tackle the classic stages of Hafren and Myherin as used on Wales Rally GB in November. The entry is crammed with quality as well as quantity and this popular event should prove the perfect start to another season of historic rallying.
Category 1
Running first on the road will be the older cars in category one (pre '68) and four Porsche 911s head the pack. Top seed is the Porsche of Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride, back for another assault on the overall BHRC title.
With the Sunbeam Tiger of Jonathan Gale not due out until later in the season, Nutt still has plenty of opposition and running behind the familiar Porsche will be the flying Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton, which will run Nutt close over these fabulous gravel stages. Two more Porsches will also feature with stable mates Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes and Derek and Roisin Boyd aiming to chase Nutt, with Edmund Peel and Janet Craine completing the Porsche quartet.
Two Lotus Cortinas should also be in the reckoning with Paul Mankin teaming up with seasoned co-driver Peter Scott and Simon Wallis/Graham Wride fielding their Alan Mann Racing-liveried car.
Category 2
Category two, for the post-historic cars, has three Escort Mk1s at the head of the pack as defending champions David Stokes and Guy Weaver lead the category two cars away. They will surely be the category benchmark, but right behind them will be Stefaan Stouf and Joris Erard for only their second foray into Wales. The Belgian crew are on a roll right now, having won the Roger Albert Clark Rally and Boucles de Spa in the last four months! Third of the big three in category two will be Rupert Lomax and David Alcock and any one of this trio could be on top when the crews return to Newtown on Sunday afternoon.
Class C3 promises to be just as hard fought as local aces Tim Jones and Don James head the runners in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk1. However, defending class champions Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson will be right on the pace as will James and David Young on an all too rare outing in their Escort Mk1. Class dark horses could be Dick Slaughter and Geoff Dearing in the Escort Mk1 previously rallied by Dick’s son James.
Meanwhile, C2 should also feature a great contest as the new pairing of Matt Fowle and Jane Edgington head the entry in Matt’s 1600cc Escort Mk1, but they will be challenged by the similar cars of Rex Ireland/Adrian Scadding, Nick Danks/Martin Corbett and David Kirby/Ben Friend.
Category 3
The contest for category three and top overall honours will be the highlight of the rally as a stunning line-up of cars and drivers prepare to do battle. Running at the head of the field, having won the corresponding rally last June, will be Nick Elliott in his Escort Mk2. With regular co-driver Dave Price tied up with work commitments, Nick has enlisted the co-driving services of Chris Brooks and just how well they settle in together over the opening stages could have a big impact on the final result, as a 12-mile stage in Hafren gets the event off to a demanding start.
Second on the road, and sure to trade times with Elliott, will be Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey, while a gaggle of quick Escorts will head the chase of Elliott and Reynolds. Ryan Barrett/Paul McCann, Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams, Will Onions/Dave Williams and Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks are all major contenders and their relative pace will be the big talking point of the day. Lining up to stop this being an Escort benefit is the Vauxhall Chevette of Rob Smith and Shaun O’Gorman and their pace at the end of last season marks them as a real threat to the Ford brigade.
However, category three is not just about the battle in class D5 at the top of the field. In D4, the Opel Asconas of Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson and Paul Kynaston/Gary Bulley will add welcome variety, while a superb class D3 entry should also deliver an absorbing contest. Top seeds in D3 are Guy Woodcock and Hu Kent in the first of the Pinto-powered Escort Mk2s, but they will be chased by the similar cars of Stuart Clarke/Andy Ballantyne, Polly Patti/Chris Dewsnap, Chris White/Tim Sturla and David Lloyd-Roberts/Dei Jones. Ranged against the Escorts will be the Opel Kadett of Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne, who will arrive in Newtown on Sunday morning fresh from contesting the Malcolm Wilson Rally the day before in their Escort Mk1.
The Rally Marketing Mid Wales Stages will move earlier in the season for 2011 following news that the event organisers from Newtown and District Automobile Club will run the popular event on Sunday 6 March 2011.
The historic element of the rally will now form the opening round of the 2011 Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship.
The Mid Wales Stages will retain a similar format for its new date, with scrutineering and documentation on Saturday 5 March followed by the rally on Sunday 6 March. Once again, the rally will be based at Theatr Hafren in Newtown and will take in classic stages of the Hafren and Myherin complexes.
"The current date for the rally in June comes at such a busy time for everyone, and this change moves us away from that crowded part of the calendar," said event clerk of the course Chris Tomley. "It is a better time of year for lots of people, including the marshals. It also gives us the opportunity to grow the modern entry. We will keep the event to a similar format, with a compact route and regular visits to the service area."
The organisers of the MSA British Historic Rally Championship are delighted with the date change. "We really do welcome this change," said championship co-ordinator Simon Marks. "This is just what our calendar needed. It takes the pressure out of the middle of the season and spreads the championship nicely over seven months."
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