Quinton Stages - 9 Jul 11

KUMHO HELPS BURTON TO HISTORIC OUTRIGHT VICTORY IN 2011 BTRDA RALLY SERIES

Posted: July 16, 2011 10:46 PM

Andy Burton and Robin Kellard have clinched the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Series of 2011 with two rounds still remaining, having finished a fighting third overall on last weekend’s Nicky Grist Quinton Stages event.
Being Gold Star Champion this year will be particularly memorable for Burton, who is being forced to retire his iconic, Kumho-shod Peugeot-Cosworth at the end of the season, due to a change in regulations.

The team entered the Quinton Stages with hopes of sealing the series with their fourth outright victory of the year, but it was not to be. Slightly off the pace on this occasion, they were pushed down the order by Charlie Payne and Craig Thorley (Focus WRC), and Roger Chilman and Andrew Sankey (Impreza WRC) – the latter were another couple competing on Kumho tyres. However, having dropped just six points in six rounds, the Peugeot pairing are still now unbeatable in the championship, which counts competitors’ six best scores from the eight events. The seventh and penultimate round of the series is the Woodpecker Stages event on September 3.

Said Steve Thompson, Kumho’s European Motorsport Manager, “We are delighted to have played a key role in Andy and Robin’s very successful season. Our tyres have clearly worked very well on their famous Peugeot-Cosworth and, along with spectators up and down the country, we are very sorry to see it heading for an arguably premature but well-earned retirement.”

Determined performance nets Tom Cave useful BTRDA points

Posted: July 12, 2011 11:16 AM

A determined performance by Tom Cave on this weekend's Nicky Grist Quinton Stages Rally saw the 19 year-old bag a useful haul of points in his Production Cup campaign. He and co-driver Craig Parry overcame weather and mechanical issues to finish the event seventh overall and third in Group N, to hold second in the points table with two rounds to go.

This weekend's event used stages forming part of the UK round of the FIA World Rally Championship, including the Crychan and Monument tests, many of which Tom knows well from his three outings on the world event.

He and Craig began well, right on the Group N pace, taking the class stage win on the second test of the day. However, the third and fourth stages of the event would cause some problems.

Tom had elected to tackle the first loop on a set of hard compound tyres, as he knew the stages were abrasive and would likely cut up with the cars running ahead on the road. While this strategy worked well on the two opening stages, rain on the third and fourth tests meant that he dropped time as the tyres struggled to find grip.

He had also clipped a bridge on the preceding test and this had bent the steering arm, which meant the car pulled heavily to the left under braking, making it unpredictable into the slower corners.

By the time he and Craig returned to service after the first four stages, the Davies Motorsport technicians were ready to change the steering arm and get the car fully back on the pace.

Tom pushed hard for the remainder of the event to get back some of the time lost through the rain and on the first of the afternoon's four stages, took the class win, repeating that feat on the penultimate stage of the rally.

Heading into the last stage, he was one second off second in class and a further eight seconds off the lead, so had everything to play for. He pushed hard all the way through the last 5.5mile test but was unable to improve his position, so settled for third and with it, a useful collection of points towards the championship.

Commenting at the end of the event, Tom said:
"This was a good day. I was hoping that we'd be able to snatch second place on the final stage but it didn't go our way. However, I'm more than happy with third and the points that come with that, particularly when you consider that our Subaru is at least five years older than much of the competition.

"It wasn't an easy run though, that's for sure. I went for the safe option on the tyres for the first loop and was praying that it wouldn't rain. Sadly, it did and we lost quite a lot of time as a result.

"We also clipped a bridge on the second stage and bent the steering arm, which meant the car was really unpredictable on the brakes but the boys got that fixed no problem. It also didn't help that we had completely the wrong springs on the car; they were too hard, which meant that while it was very stable on the fast sections, like Route 60, it was really hard to drive in the tighter and twisty parts.

"But overall, I'm really pleased we managed to claim some decent points for the championship. We're second at the moment, seven points behind Jamie [Anderson] but with five out of eight scores counting, we're into dropped scores now. We can potentially gain 25 points on the next two events whereas he can only improve by 12, so it means the last two rounds are going to be very interesting."

The next round of the BTRDA championship is the Woodpecker Stages on 3 September but before that, Tom has two more outings, starting with this weekend on the Swansea Bay Rally, the next round of the Welsh Championship. The following weekend, 23 July, he will be defending his first outright event win, on the Coracle Stages and will drive the Subaru on both events.

However, for these two rallies, the car will be converted from N4 to B13 specification to improve its competitiveness against younger machinery. This essentially allows a larger restrictor in the turbocharger inlet, meaning the engine produces more torque and hence, better performance.

Full Results & Times

Posted: July 11, 2011 11:15 AM

Quinton Stages - 9 Jul 11 - FULL RESULTS & TIMES
Results by: Tynemouth Computer Services Rally Results
Radio Updates/Podcasts rallyfm.net

Seeded Entry List

Posted: July 4, 2011 4:25 PM

www.rallies.info/webentry/2011/quinton/entries.php?type=s

SKODA TO SUPPORT INNOVATIVE NICKY GRIST QUINTON STAGES AS IT TEAMS UP WITH FORMER TEAM CO-DRIVER

Posted: June 10, 2011 11:01 PM

It was six years ago that Nicky Grist navigated for Colin McRae in a Škoda Fabia WRC on Wales Rally GB, and for the first time since then, Škoda and Nicky are teaming up again – this time to support the Nicky Grist Quinton Stages on Saturday 9 July, which will feature an innovative special stage, never before seen in British rallying.

The sixth round of the 2011 BTRDA Series will take place over the classic mid-Wales forestry stages of Monument, Crychan, Halfway and Route 60 – with 44 stage miles and just 26 road miles completed in an action-packed six-hour schedule. The rally is run over sections of the same Epynt Military Range stages, located near Sennybridge in Powys, that formed part of Wales Rally GB – one of two events that Nicky and Colin contested the a Fabia WRC in 2005. (They also competed on Rally Australia, and ran as high as 2nd overall before retiring).

This year’s Nicky Grist Quinton Stages will feature eight special stages, including the highly innovative Škoda Power Stage Challenge, which will be run as SS2 and SS5. For the first time in British rallying, these stages will see the crew in each class with the least cumulative time penalties have 10 seconds deduced from their total accumulative rally time.

Starting at the famous Dixies Corner, crews will be informed of their times over the 4.92 mile Škoda Power Stage Challenge by text, enabling them to plan their strategy for the final three stages – in the knowledge that all but one crew in class will have 10 seconds to try to regain, ensuring exciting flat-out competition from start to finish.

The Škoda Power Stage Challenge will be a major spectator point, with live commentary from rally extrovert Howard Davies (former co-driver to Gwyndaf Evans) and fantastic viewing, with a third of the spectacular Route 60 stage visible from vantage points.

There is another link between Škoda and the Quinton Stages, which makes this partnership so special. In 2006, Andreas Mikkelsen become the youngest ever winner of a British national rally when he won the Quinton Stages Rally, aged just 17 years and 16 days! Today, Andreas drives for Škoda UK Motorsport in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Škoda UK will also be the official vehicle supplier to the Nicky Grist Quinton Stages, providing a fleet of its award-winning cars for rally organisers to use.

Nicky Grist:
“From both a personal and event organiser point of view, I’m delighted that Škoda UK is supporting the Nicky Grist Quinton Stages. We are keen to implement a number of new ideas into the rally this year, one of which is the Power Stage Challenge, which the MSA is allowing us to run this year as a test.

“In the BTRDA Series this year, the Somerset Rally was won by six seconds and the Plains Rally was won by only five seconds, so a ten second bonus on the Škoda Power Stage Challenge will be crucial. We see this as an evolution of rallying, which will be very exciting for both crews and spectators.”

Andreas Mikkelsen:
“The Quinton Stages will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the very first rally I ever competed in. It’s great that Škoda UK is supporting the event this year and I really wish I could be there, but unfortunately it’s on the same day I have to fly to the Azores to prepare for the IRC event. I hope everyone who competes in Wales has as much fun as I did five years ago, and I wish them every success.”

Skoda Power Stage Challenge

Posted: May 30, 2011 4:07 PM

The Skoda Power Stage Challenge will be run on Special Stages 2 and 5, known as Route 60.
The crews in EACH class with the lowest cumulative time penalties on these two stages will be given 10 penalty points, (1 penalty point = 1 second.) These penalties will be deducted from their total accumulated rally time penalties. This means that for close fought battles between teams, this 10 penalty bonus could make a huge difference to their final positions. It is now not just the final stage, that will be crucial, which be even more telling on the ability of the crews, as there are now 3 key stages within the rally being stage 2 and 5 and stage 8, which crews will need to ensure they do well in.

Live commentary for the spectators, giving up to the minute stage times, as well as predicted positions for the Skoda Power Stage Challenge will be offered at the fantastic vantage point of Dixies and the start of Route 60.
Commentary will be done by Howard Davies which will not be just informative but likely to be extremely funny too.

Entries Received

Posted: May 30, 2011 4:06 PM

www.rallies.info/webentry/2011/quinton/entries.php?type=u

Event Website / Regulations / On Line Entry / Details

Posted: January 2, 1990 3:03 PM

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