Rally of the Midlands - 18-19 Jun 10

COLE/DREW ON FIRE!..

Posted: June 22, 2010 9:02 AM

By winning the Trinity Hyundai Rally of the Midlands outright in their Ford Focus WRC 05, Damian Cole and co-driver Craig Drew have taken their third consecutive maximum points score in the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. Time lost following an incorrect tyre choice for the first leg of the Hinckley-based event was soon recouped during the Saturday stages and Cole/Drew pulled ahead to take the win by almost a minute.

John Stone/Lee Carter finished in the runners-up position on Rally of the Midlands in their Skoda Fabia WRC and, maintaining their 100% finishing record, took their fourth podium Championship finish from four starts so far this season. As the Championship moves towards the halfway stage, their consistency sees them leading their respective categories in the points table.

Simon Mauger/Chris Butcher brought their Ford Escort MkII home in 3rd place after another giant-killing performance in the two-wheel drive machine. In spite of the Friday night stages being damp after some unforecast rainfall, the pair were leading the rally outright at the end of the first leg but had to give best to the superior traction of a World Rally Car as the event moved towards its conclusion.

Steve Leonard/Sion Humphreys made the trip across from Jersey with their rapid Escort MkII to take 8th place overall – their best result of the season so far. They, too, had opted for wets for the early stages and, once the tyres had gone off, had had to cope with a car that was ‘all over the place’!

Having missed the opening round of the Championship, Roger Donnan/Chris Davies are plugging away in their Ford Puma S1600 and moving up the table as they do. Their main rivals in Class A6, Rod Bennett/Henry Richardson, retired on Saturday morning when their Fiat Punto’s alternator packed up, leaving Roger & Chris unchallenged on their way to another class maximum. Prior to the trip to Ireland, Roger is 4th in the Drivers’ table while Chris is one place higher in the Co-drivers.

Winners of the John Horton Motorsport Management ‘Star Performance’ salver on the opening round of the season, James Martin/Dylan James continue to impress in their Vauxhall Astra. Having taken off over the bridge in Arbury rather faster than was, perhaps, wise, they thought they were ‘never going to land’, but they did and went on to finish a fine 15th overall.

The recipient of the JHMM salver on Rally of the Midlands was just behind the Astra. Having travelled all the way down from Scotland, Jim Sharp and co-driver Amy Mackinnon found themselves saddled with a two-minute penalty during the first leg. Uncomplaining, they mentioned it to the CLO and carried on to a Top 20 finish in their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9, by which time the two minutes had disappeared!...

Graham Muter/Steve Hallmark took their 1300 BDA-engined Ford Escort to a customary class win, arriving at the final control a few seconds ahead of Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett (Peugeot 205) who were one of the few crews brave enough to use intermediate tyres on the first leg of the rally.

Chris Gravestock/Mark Harmer (Peugeot 106) were another pair unwittingly attempting to put their car into orbit in Arbury and had to stop at the finish to make sure that there was no water leaking from anywhere. It wasn’t and they went on to open their account in the 2010 Championship points tables.

Ian Copping/Dave Rowley and Steve Webb/Steve Tott were both out in Fiestas, although that was where the similarity ended – one was RWD, the other FWD! – but they would finish the event a mere ten seconds apart.

Following retirement last time out on the Isle of Man, a tanned Geoff Glover, just back from a fortnight in the sun (which certainly counts his home in Teesside out of the reckoning!), and co-driver Bob Brown brought their Vauxhall Astra RWD home ahead of Tim Daltry/Paul Ohren-Bird (Peugeot 205) who were yet another crew who ‘could have been braver’ with their tyre choice for the opening stages.

The ‘famous’ jump in Arbury saw Lewis Roper/Joe Cruttenden put their Nissan Micra on its nose but, unbowed, they continued to complete the event and take another maximum score in their Rally First class.

The Rally of the Midlands is a deceptively tough event and, with twenty stage starts, transmissions also take a hammering. Consequently the list of retirements accounted for almost exactly 50% of the original field. Cold comfort for some, obviously, but, if your name appeared on it, you were in good company!

The event witnessed the debut of Peter Lloyd’s new Subaru Impreza S14 but, unfortunately, it was not to be the greatest of successes. The car was beset with problems on the Friday evening and did not start the second leg. We wish Peter well with its development and look forward to welcoming him back to the Championship soon.

Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter’s rally came to a rather violent end at MIRA on Saturday when their Mitsubishi Lancer clipped the ARMCO barrier at high speed. The driver’s door of Dave Price/Ashley Trimble’s Ford Escort Mk6 bore witness to a close encounter with a deer in Arbury on Friday night but, before the end of the event, they, Steve Cressey/Sam Collis and Chris Daykin/Dan Megannity (both Subaru Imprezas) were out after experiencing problems with the route.

Paul Evans’ Escort’s engine packed the fiddle and Tim Seipel/Martin Haggett’s return to the MSA Asphalt Championship was short-lived after their MG ZR’s clutch required replacing. They arrived back at service on the end of a tow rope and then began the long job of fitting a new thrust bearing. Well, nobody said it was going to be easy!...

Mike Perkin/Martin Bristow lasted until early on Saturday when their Ford Puma’s engine went sick. A similar problem affected both Phil Bruce and George Cooke’s co-drivers which led to their respective cars being withdrawn.

Included in the calendar for the first time, the next round of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship is the Dublin-based ALMC Stages Rally, on Sunday 18th July.

Photos

Posted: June 22, 2010 8:49 AM

RallyGallery.com

Results

Posted: June 22, 2010 8:47 AM

Rally of the Midlands Results 2010

North East Rally Services

Seeded Entry List

Posted: June 16, 2010 3:12 PM

Available on Event Website

• Rally of the Midlands

REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship - LLOYD’S NEW CHARGE INTRODUCED!...

Posted: June 10, 2010 8:48 AM

The fourth round of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, the Trinity Hyundai Rally of the Midlands, will witness the debut of Peter Lloyd’s brand-new Subaru Impreza S14 WRC. Having been absent from the previous couple of qualifying events, Lloyd and co-driver Graham Handley led the points table after their victory on the season-opener, the Tour of Epynt, in March and now need a good result to put their campaign back in motion.

They will be joined on the Hinckley-based event by winners of the recent Jim Clark National Rally Damian Cole/Craig Drew in their Ford Focus WRC who are on a roll at the moment, having also returned home from the trip to the Isle of Man with a maximum score under their belts.

Cole/Drew are currently second in the Championship points table behind John Stone/Lee Carter whose Skoda Fabia WRC has had a very impressive start to the season. As the crew become more familiar with their recently-acquired car, both speed and reliability are on the increase and, even at this early stage, they have thrown down the gauntlet as serious challengers for the overall MSA Asphalt Rally Championship title.

Runner-up to Cole on the Jim Clark, Simon Mauger brings his extremely rapid Ford Escort MkII to the Rally of the Midlands. Accompanied by Chris Butcher, Mauger will be hoping that the rain stays away as, the drier the stages are, the higher the chances are of a good result for his two-wheel drive machine.

The Rally of the Midlands can cater for 100 cars and, having received a capacity entry this year, over a quarter are Championship-registered crews.
The four-wheel drive contingent also includes Chris Marshall/Simon Hunter (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5), Jim Sharp/Amy Mackinnon (Lancer EVO9), Steve Cressey/Sam Collis (Subaru Impreza) and MSA Championship Group N winners on the Jim Clark, Chris Daykin/Dan Megannity (Subaru Impreza). David Hardie/John McCulloch (Subaru Impreza) are down as 3rd reserve, but likely to get a run.

Not to be outdone, the remainder of the REIS Championship crews heading for the Midlands offer a wide variety of machinery. In no particular order (the entry was unseeded at the time of writing), they include :

* Roger Donnan/TBA Ford Puma S1600 Kit Car
* Rod Bennett/Henry Richardson Fiat Punto S1600 Kit Car
* Mike Perkin/Martin Bristow Ford Puma Kit Car
* Dave Price/TBA Ford Escort MkVI
* Steve Leonard/Sion Humphreys Ford Escort MkII
* Andy Baker/Cath Woodman Peugeot 205
* James Martin/Dylan James Vauxhall Astra
* Steve Webb/Steve Tott Ford Fiesta ST
* Geoff Glover/Bob Brown Vauxhall Astra RWD
* Ian Copping/Dave Rowley Ford Fiesta RWD
* Martin Murray/Peter Weall Peugeot 205
* Tim Daltry/Paul Ohren-Bird Peugeot 205
* Tim Seipel/Martin Haggett MG ZR
* Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett Peugeot 205
* Graham Muter/Steve Hallmark Ford Escort
* Chris Gravestock/Mark Harmer Peugeot 106
* George Cooke/Geoff Nash Citroen Saxo

The 100th entry received by the organisers (and, thus, just missing out on joining the list of reserves) was from the winners of the ‘John Horton Motorsport Management Star Performance’ salver on the Jim Clark Rally, Lewis Roper/Joe Cruttenden in their Rally First specification Nissan Micra.

The first car leaves the start of Rally of the Midlands at Bedworth Civic Hall at 6.00pm on Friday 18th June and then, following an overnight halt, competition resumes at 8.00am on Saturday. Cars then begin arriving at the finish in Hinckley town centre from 5.00pm that afternoon.

Entries Received to Date:

Posted: May 10, 2010 1:53 PM

• Rally of the Midlands

Regulations / Details

Posted: January 1, 2010 12:01 AM

• Rally of the Midlands