Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11

Photos

Posted: January 26, 2013 5:07 PM

Peespeed Photography

Strong Finish for Barrable on Pirelli International

Posted: January 26, 2013 5:03 PM

Robert Barrable winner of the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman award in his Skoda Fabia S2000 with Damien Connolly alongside on the notes scored a convincing second overall on the weekend’s third round of the Dulux Trade BRC the Pirelli International rally. Following the disappointment of missing the last round of the championship Robert headed to the Pirelli event with his sights set on a top three finish and a haul of valuable championship points. The rally with its base at the race course in Carlisle saw the BRC regulars take to the difficult stages of the Kilder forests which were dry and dusty following the recent good weather. The rally got off to a difficult start for Robert and Damien following a couple of minor mistakes on the first of the evenings stages saw them post fifth quickest time, the second and final night stage was much more fluid as Robert settled into the car and the crew emerged with third quickest time and third on the road for day two. Robert started day two with fastest stage times through the opening two stages as he held third overall just 17.6 behind the leader David Bogie.

Through the lunch time stages Robert set his sights on second place driver Elvyn Evans and on stages five and six he over hauled Evans who also picked up a puncture dropping him down the leader board, the Skoda moved into second overall, a position Robert and Damien held on to through the closing stages to finish the rally a strong second overall.

“I am delighted with the result second overall is a good result and I felt I drove the car much better on the gravel than I had in the first round of the championship, the car is great and with every rally I feel I am gaining in confidence and better able to drive the car at its limits. I am looking forward to the next round on tarmac” commented Robert. The next round of the BRC will be the Jim Clarke rally later this month.

BHRC report, round three: Pirelli Historic Rally

Posted: January 26, 2013 4:57 PM

Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey were well on their way to a second win of the season as the Dunlop Wonago MSA British Historic rally Championship moved out of Wales for the first time this season, for the Carlisle-based Pirelli Historic Rally (Saturday 30 April).
Having built up a 28-second lead, an electrical failure put them out on the penultimate stage, handing category three victory to fellow Escort Mk2 crew Nick Elliott and Chris Brooks.
Graham Waite and Gill Cotton (Volvo Amazon) topped category one and Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard (Escort Mk1) claimed category tw2o, after Rupert Lomax’s Escort Mk1 suffered a gearbox problem on the final stage at Chirdonhead.

Category 1
Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes (Porsche 911) set the pace on the opening stage through Falstone, with Waite 3.9s down, but well clear of third placed Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911). But Proffitt’s glory was short-lived. “it was great to have all six cylinders for the time in three rallies, but then we managed to jump a ditch on the second stage. I thought that was it, but we put it into first gear and managed to drive back out,” said Proffitt.
Waite was the new leader, but only by six seconds over Proffitt, while Nutt was struggling to stay on the pace and began to slip down the order. “There is a problem but we don’t know what it is,” he admitted.
One more stage through Blackaburn preceded first service, and Waite arrived as the leader with just over a minute in hand. “We lost third gear though on stage three, so it’s going to be hard now,” he said.
The Lotus Cortina of Simon Wallis/Graham Wride was up to third, rebuilt after its roll on the Bulldog Rally. “We had a bit of a tank-slapper on stage three, going from ditch to ditch, but it’s my first visit to Kielder,” said Wallis.
Up to fourth came Dave Reynolds/Bob Duck (Volvo Amazon), having consolidated the place over Nutt. In sixth were Bulldog winners Ian Beveridge and Peter Joy in their Volvo PV544, “We picked up a small oil leak and are adjusting the rear brakes a bit,” said Beveridge in service.
The pressure was off Waite as they negotiated Shepherdshield as Proffitt picked up a 10 second road penalty and had a spin, which dropped him to fourth behind Wallis and Reynolds. But the Porsche driver was straight back on the pace and by the end of the penultimate stage he was back into second.
Waite took the spoils by just under 16 seconds, “it was really hard on the last two stages, trying to carry the speed without third gear,” he explained. “That spin blew it for us,” added Proffitt, who reclaimed a solid second and took the class B5 spoils.
Wallis managed to consolidate third place over Reynolds during the closing stages. “I was happy to stay out of the ditches and it went well all day,” said Reynolds. Beveridge was fifth: “Our tyres just held out, but we got a bit loose at the end,” he said. Nutt finally settled in sixth. “It just got worse, a bad day for us,” he said, after taking second in B5, just ahead of the Porsche of Derek and Roisin Boyd. “We finally got rid of our misfire during the afternoon,” said Derek.
Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill reported that their Sunbeam Imp felt quicker. “We stalled at the chicane on the last stage and damaged the exhaust on Shepherdshield too, but overall much better,” said Taylor after taking eighth and class B1.
Apart from a minor off in the stages, Edmund Peel/Janet Craine had a clear run to ninth and fourth in B5 with their Porsche. On their first gravel rally for seven years John and Stephen Moxon brought their Volvo Amazon home tenth, with Paul Mankin/Peter Scott (Lotus Cortina) completing the finishers. “We were in trouble only yards into the first stage, but finally solved our problem by running two fuel pumps,” said Mankin.

Category 2
The expected three-way fight for victory in category two between the Escort Mk1s of Rupert Lomax/Phil Harrison, Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard and David Stokes/Guy Weaver didn’t prove to be as close predicted. Stouf had been quickest in Falstone, but Lomax immediately responded and turned a 3.6s deficit into a one-second lead on stage two, with Stokes a solid third, but 8.5s adrift of his rivals.
But on stage three Stouf had a problem with his notes. “We had to slow down to sort ourselves out,” he explained, after arriving at service in third place, one second down on Stokes. “It’s been excellent so far,” said leader Lomax. “We have been a bit slow,” admitted Stokes.
Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne and Chris Browne/Liz Jordan had established themselves in fourth and fifth, although Browne had briefly fallen behind C3 leaders Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson after the second stage. “We had a major moment on that stage too,” said Siddall. “We were all over the place and just held on, settled down and got back on with it,” he added. “We just need to go faster,” added Browne.
Stouf soon reclaimed second place and reduced Lomax’s lead to 3.5s with only the Chirdonhead finale to go. But Lomax’s gearbox gave out and left him stranded, handing Stouf victory by over 16 seconds from Stokes. “We had no more problems at all,” said the victorious Belgian.
Smith was relieved to see the finish.” That was the main thing,” he said after clinching third. Although Browne was fourth, he was disappointing not to have done better. “We had a hold up and I lost my momentum. I should have been able to push Peter harder over the last two stages,” he said.
Class C3 winner Siddall kept a safe margin over Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing for fifth and sixth overall. “I had to try a different approach to the chicanes and it worked,” said Slaughter. “I hit or glanced three chicanes during the afternoon I think,” Siddall added.
Mark Holmes and Tony Lindsay had been well inside the top 10 in their C3 Escort Mk1 until they hit a log pile on stage three. “If we hadn’t hit it we would have had an even bigger one,” said Holmes. Chris Nixon/Chris Davies also went out when they lost drive, which left Jeremy Wells/Ken Bowman to take seventh. Ian Drummond/Yvonne Coppin recovered from losing their brakes in the morning, to finish third in C3 and eighth overall, with C2 victors David Kirby/Sean Kennedy in ninth, having completed the final stages with only second and fourth gears. Nick Danks/Martin Corbett retired their C2 Escort, leaving Peter McDowell/Ian Orford (Porsche 911) and Steven and Tony Graham (Lancia Fulvia) to take undisputed victories in C4 and C1 respectively.

Category 3
With one win each so far this year Reynolds and Elliott were both looking for victories in Kielder, but both started behind the Escort Mk2 of the non-registered Steve Bannister/Louise Sutherland.
Reynolds grabbed the immediate initiative with six seconds in hand over Elliott and Will Onions/Dave Williams in Falstone. But over the next two stages all three consolidated their positions, with Reynolds reaching service with a lead of 16.7s. “It’s very hard. I had two scary moments, the worst on stage two when we went in a ditch but got back on and nearly hit the bridge,” said Elliott. “It’s a clean run so far for us. We went wide a few times as its slippery,” Reynolds added.
Onions found visibility in the dust one of the biggest problems, while in fourth Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks had picked up the pace after a couple of minor moments. Reynolds flew through Shepherdshield and his lead grew by a further 12s, until disaster struck in Pundershaw when an electrical failure put him out of the rally. Onions reckoned he had “really gone for it,” during the afternoon and following Reynolds’ retirement Elliott had the lead but it was down to 8.4s with the Chirdonhead final stage to come.
Elliott made it home but the margin was considerably reduced. “I felt more relaxed in the afternoon and just took it steady,” he said, as Onions delivered another mighty Kielder performance. Pearcey had looked set to follow Onions home in third, until he collected a last stage puncture and fell to fourth behind Bannister. Walker also came unstuck on the last stage. “We spent 11 minutes in a ditch in sight of the finish of the last stage,” he explained. Mark Barnett/Phil Clarke moved up to clinch fifth, with Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson surviving a few early ditch explorations to seal sixth and victory in class D4.
Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams retired in Shepherdshield with a misfire on their Escort, which left the Escorts of Nick Woodman, Simon Crook, Roger Kilty and James Slaughter to complete the top 10. Guy Woodcock/Hu Kent (Escort Mk2) dominated D3 all day, while John Worthing/John Cadwallader held off Wayne Bonser/Richard Aston for second in class and maximum BHRC points. “We got stuck at a chicane on the penultimate stage for 20 seconds, but fortunately had enough in hand,” said Worthing.
Jimmy McRae and Pauline Gullick brought their Tuthill Porsche home second in D5 and 12th overall. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to make my return in the same forests I hurt myself in three years ago. The car felt good and strong but the driver was very rusty,” said McRae.

Evans Digs In To Claim Valuable Points On Pirelli Rally

Posted: January 26, 2013 1:35 PM

After two visits to the podium in the opening two rounds of the 2011 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, Welshman Elfyn Evans had to settle for a fourth place finish when round three of the series visited Carlisle for the Pirelli International Rally this weekend.

After a good start which had him in second place overnight and for the opening few stages today, the 22 year old from Dolgellau, along with Aberystwyth co driver Andrew Edwards, then dropped time in the TEG Sport Pirelli Shoot Out sponsored Subaru Impreza N15 because of a time consuming puncture on SS6.

Because of the damage caused by the flailing rubber which in turn damaged the steering and brakes, Evans dropped further time on the dry and dusty stages meaning he was happy to reach the finish this evening in fourth position and in doing so, consolidated his second place in the title race for the Carnforth-based team.

TEG Sport team-mate Adam Gould and co driver Seb Marshall didn't fare any better as the 23 year old driver from Bristol hit one of Kielder's infamous rocks in stage one whereby the impact broke a rear wheel hub. Although managing to get his Subaru to the regroup and autograph session in the middle of Newcastleton last night, there was nothing to be gained by attempting stage two so he retired leaving himself down in fifth in the standings.

After three rounds on gravel, the series resorts to asphalt for the next two rounds, the first of which is the Jim Clark International Rally based in Duns on 27/28 May whereby both Evans and Gould will be looking to get their title aspirations back on course.

Elfyn Evans:
"We had quite a few problems today so I'm really pleased to get to the finish. I can't say I'm happy with the result but all things considered, these are important points for us and fourth was the best we could do today. The puncture came four miles from the end of SS6 and we dropped a lot of time as a result of it and the other problems it caused which we had to contend with also so it's a relief to get here. The team did a magnificent job to keep us going, so I'm very grateful for their efforts today. It's been very physical so hopefully we can challenge for the win on the Jim Clark in a month's time."

Lynn Newby - TEG Sport Team Principal:
"We don't seem to have much luck on this event and so it has transpired again. Given Elfyn had more than his fair share of problems this weekend, fourth is a brilliant result and those points may prove vital at the end of the season. Adam lost too much time last night and there was no point in continuing so he decided to save the car which was very wise. We're better placed this year than we were this time last year and still ended up winning the Championship so hopefully, we can get both TEG Sport cars back onto the podium at the Jim Clark as that's our aim."

Results (All Sections)

Posted: January 26, 2013 1:32 PM

International Top 10:
1 David Bogie/Kevin Rae - Mitsubishi Evo9 -1:28:57.9
2 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly - Skoda Fabia S2000 - 1:30:00.0
3 Jonathan Greer/Dai Roberts - Skoda Fabia S2000 - 1:31:37.5
4 Elfyn Evans/Andrew Edwards - Subaru Impreza - 1:33:10.4
5 Martin McCormack/David Moynihan - Citroen DS3 - 1:35:03.3
6 Jukka Korhonen/Marko Salminen - Ford Fiesta - 1:35:22.5
7 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts - Ford Fiesta - 1:35:32.6
8 Mark Donnelly/Barry McNulty - Renault Clio - 1:35:35.6
9 Jason Pritchard/Ryland James - Subaru Impreza - 1:36:17.8
10 Tom Clark/Alistair Wyllie - Subaru Impreza - 1:37:05.8

Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11 - INTERNATIONAL RALLY RESULTS
Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11 - TOUR OF CUMBRIA RALLY RESULTS
Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11 - HISTORIC RALLY RESULTS
Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11 - CHALLENGE RALLY RESULTS

Barrable Heads to Pirelli International

Posted: May 31, 2011 11:11 AM

Robert Barrable winner of the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman award and multiple C2RC champion in his Skoda Fabia S2000 heads to this weekend’s third round of the Dulux Trade BRC the Pirelli International rally, which will see crews compete on gravel before a break from gravel in the BRC until later in the year. The rally will again be based in Carlisle with the Rally Headquarters at Carlisle Racecourse which is the centralised service park for the duration of the event and will also stage the start and finish of the rally. The rally kicks off at 6.30pm on Friday with the competing crews tackling two stages which will decide the running order for Saturday stages. The crews will undergo a re-seed overnight prior to eleven special stages comprising of eighty miles before they return to the racecourse shortly after 8pm for the finish. Robert and co-driver Damien Connolly in the Pirelli shod Skoda have set their sights on increasing their points in the BRC having missed the last round the Bulldog rally due to engine failure. The Pirelli will be Robert’s second rally on gravel in the new car where he will be hoping to build on the experience gained on the opening round of the championship back in February of this year.
“The Pirelli is a tough rally and not to be under estimated, I am looking forward to competing on gravel again, the past two rallies have been on Tarmac and I feel I have gained a lot more confidence in the car and have a better understanding of the braking ability and handling of the car. I am hoping to score well on the event and head to the Jim Clark on the back of a strong performance” commented Robert in advance of the rally.

Seeded Entry Lists

Posted: April 27, 2011 11:48 AM

Pirelli International Rally - 29-30 Apr 11 - Seeded Entry Lists

• Pirelli Rally BRC

McRae to guest drive in Tuthill Porsche Challenge

Posted: April 9, 2011 9:16 AM

Jimmy McRae will get back behind the wheel of a Tuthill Porsche 911 when he contests round two of the new-for-2011 Tuthill Porsche Challenge, the Carlisle-based Pirelli Historic Rally, on April 30.

The 67-year-old Scotsman will replace Andrew Barnes in one of the two JLT Rally Team-backed entries. Barnes has a prior commitment and the JLT team has invited McRae, a five-time British rally champion, to deputise.

McRae, from Lanarkshire, has driven on a number of rallies for Tuthill Porsche, the United Kingdom’s foremost preparation firm of historic Porsche rally cars, and finished second overall on last year’s Karcher Summer Stages Historic Rally in Barbados, winning his class in the process with the Banbury-based operation.

“It’s great to have Jimmy back in one of our cars and driving in the Tuthill Porsche Challenge,” said Tuthill Porsche director and Challenge founder Richard Tuthill. “Jimmy has driven for us on plenty of occasions in the past and it goes without saying that he has lots of experience. After Francois Delecour drove on the opening round of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge earlier this month, having Jimmy competing in the series is equally significant.”

McRae, who will be co-driven by Pauline Gullick, said: “Nobody knows historic Porsches better than Tuthill Porsche. The desire is always there to drive, the Kielder Forest is a great place to go rallying and Tuthill Porsche always prepares a good car. I’ve done a lot of testing with them in the past and had a good result in Barbados last year in one of their cars.”

John Lloyd, who finished second on the Tuthill Porsche Challenge opener, the Bulldog Historic Rally, said he was delighted to call on McRae and Gullick’s services. “Pauline has co-driven for me in the past and Jimmy has done a lot of events under the JLT banner so I’m pleased to welcome them back into the team.”

Unseeded List of Entries

Posted: March 31, 2011 2:33 PM

Unseeded Entries - Pirelli Rally 2011

Regulations and Entry Forms available

Posted: March 22, 2011 1:51 PM

Under Competitors on Event website:

• Pirelli Rally BRC

PIRELLI TOUR OF CUMBRIA (National Rally)

Posted: March 4, 2011 11:16 AM

The Pirelli Tour of Cumbria, run over the weekend of 29/ 30th. April will offer even better value to Clubman competitors now that the event will feature an extended route offering an amazing 72 stage miles in the legendary Kielder Forest for a modest entry fee of less than £600.

Offering superb value for money, at just £8 per stage mile, the extra mileage will give Tour of Cumbria crews the incentive to compete over many of the stages used on the main Pirelli International Rally and to compare their times with the front runners in that event

Running at National B staus means that the rally is open to just about every driver, using any type of car, so even a local club competitor can join in, mix it with WRC crars, and experience the thrill and razamatazz associated with a major International event. All the comprehensive facilities of the superb Rally Headquarters at Carlisle Racecourse will be available while a remote Service Area in the Kielder Forest complex means a money saving reduction in road mileage.

With Scrutineering Friday and an early finish, with a dedicated awards ceremony on the Saturday, The Pirelli Tour of Cumbria package all adds up to a cost effective all action event that's not to be missed.

More Details:

Rally Guide 1 available

Posted: February 18, 2011 2:19 PM

Under Competitors on Event website:

• Pirelli Rally BRC

Pirelli planning hit by snowbound stages

Posted: January 19, 2011 3:22 PM

Early reconnaissance for the Pirelli International Rally, the third round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, has been badly delayed by the Arctic conditions still prevailing in the depths of Kielder Forest.

However, the Deputy Clerk of the Course, Brian Kinghorn, has managed, albeit with some difficulty as many of the forest tracks are still covered by deep snow, to make the first run over the proposed route which will feature a radically revised format as the event organisers strive to reduce road mileage and pack more stage miles into a tighter schedule.

The Pirelli International Rally will feature a new and improved spectator facility on the ever popular Pundershaw where major harvesting operations around the well known Pundershaw Farm location have opened up a huge clear felled are giving uninterrupted viewing for some 1½ miles of the stage’s length. The spectator viewing area will be located in an n elevated area so that spectators can get full benefit of this spectacular vista.

The Pirelli International Rally, which runs over two days, 29/30th. April will again see the rally headquarters based at Carlisle Racecourse, which will also host the start and finish venue and the main service area. There will be grandstand accommodation for enthusiasts coming along to see the cars flagged away, or cheer the winners on their return.

Event Website / Details

Posted: January 2, 1990 3:01 PM

• Pirelli Rally BRC