BADMC Clubmans Summer Stages - (Sat) 13 Jul 13

High Five for White Who Wins Fifth Junior 1000 Round!

Posted: February 8, 2014 12:02 PM

The fifth round of the McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland, took place on Saturday 13th July at Bishopscourt Race Circuit. Organised by the Ballynahinch and District Motor Club, eight stages lay ahead for the six Junior 1000 crews that started on what was a dry day. It was to prove to be a superb day’s rallying, with once again a great battle for the win.

Number one seed was Adam Bustard in the Chevrolet Spark. Adam, leader of the series, going into this round, started off with a second fastest time on the first test, just 0.7 of a second behind Finaghy’s Kyle White despite hitting a pigeon with his 107 on the way round! William Creighton had stand in co-driver Johnny Baird in for the day, and the 15 year old Moira driver was five seconds off the lead, admitting to be too cautious. Next up was Philip White in his Micra, ahead of James Partridge in the 107 and Michael McGarrity in his Micra, who had James McKee co-driving in sixth place.

On stages two and three, the dramas started to happen, with White losing the lead after a spin on the second test, and Creighton too lost more ground to the leading pair with a costly over-shoot. He would record a fastest time on stage four, but the new leader was Bustard with two fastest times, and he moved further ahead after stage four to lead by 2.7 seconds. Philip White in fourth was starting to drive very well, and his stage times were moving much closer to the leaders. In turn he was opening up a breathing space ahead of James Partridge who had brake worries an over-shoot on stage two and a moment on the tyres on stage four. Michael McGarrity also had a moment on stage two, but started to get into better rhythm on the next two stages.

Stage five was to prove a turning point as Kyle White took over the lead, despite going off the road after the famous jump. Worse befell Adam Bustard who got a tyre lodged underneath the Chevrolet and now he was 0.6 of a second behind Kyle. William Creighton on his second lap, got stuck behind Michael McGarrity, who had ran wide on a hairpin, and by this stage he was now over fifteen seconds off the lead, with three stages to go. A similar fate befell William on the next stage, as once again he lost time behind the Micra, and it was a matter of settling for points at this stage. After six stages White’s lead was 1.5 seconds, and he rounded off the day with two excellent fastest times to take victory from Adam Bustard. William Creighton was third, despite a big tank slapper slide on the final stage, and Philip White took an excellent fourth, thoroughly enjoying the day with co-driver Glenn Campbell. There was hard luck for James Partridge and Billy Regan in the 107, when the clutch packed up on the penultimate test, and they had to retire, letting Michael McGarrity into fifth place.

This series, now in its second year is also supported this season by the dedicated rallying classified website www.rallysales.eu and Yokohama tyres. Round six of the McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland, takes place at Shackleton on 3rd August, and it promises to be quite a battle.

MacDonald/Walker are Top of the Class!

Posted: February 8, 2014 11:57 AM

Donaghadee's Jonathan MacDonald made a successful return to competition last weekend when he won his class after a six-month layoff at Saturday's Vanilla Black Catering Summer Stages Rally.

Based at Bishopscourt Race Circuit, near Downpatrick, MacDonald and first-time navigator Bill Walker guided their RallyForums.com backed Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1 home in 14th overall and first in class nine.

"It was my first event since our accident at Kirkistown in January," MacDonald said afterwards, "so it was good to have a clean run with no major dramas. It's also nice to have some crystal to show for our efforts, especially for Bill as it was his first rally."

The eight-stage event attracted more than 40 crews to the venue and after a tentative start, MacDonald was lying in 25th overall after stage one. Through the second test, the crew were almost seven seconds faster than their stage one time, promoting them into 20th position.

A tyre change before the start of stage three transformed the Blackwater Graphics Evo 1, and with an increased amount of grip, they went quicker again. By the midpoint of the event, they had worked their way up to 16th overall.

During lunch break, event organisers altered the track layout for the remaining four stages, and on stage five, MacDonald seemed to catch his rivals unawares as he powered to eighth fastest overall time. That promoted the Millers Oils backed Evo into 15th overall but there was some trouble in store on stage six.

"We cooked the clutch on exiting a hairpin," MacDonald explained. "I've been having trouble with the car jumping out of first gear so for the slower corners, I was keeping it in second and dipping the clutch to try to get the car on boost."

"But on this occasion, it was all revs and no go," he added. "I tried third gear and the same thing happened - for a few seconds I thought our rally was over."

Luckily, drive was eventually restored and the crew safely completed the stage, albeit a few seconds were lost with the incident. But with a damaged clutch and no first gear, they had to nurse their car through the final two stages.

"At that point I just wanted to get to the end of the rally," MacDonald admitted. "So there were no heroics through the final two stages. We did our best to look after the car and make sure we reached the finish."

Despite easing off, the crew still managed to set some competitive times and gained another position before the finish. In the end, they were overjoyed with sealing 14th overall and first in class.

"I'm really pleased with the result," MacDonald said afterwards, "But unfortunately the car needs a little bit of work before we can enter another event - it needs a gearbox rebuild as well as a new clutch and exhaust. It would be great if I could find some sponsors to help but I'll have to do lots of overtime!"

Instead, MacDonald’s next ‘event’ will be a 10km walk in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. He will join hundreds of other walkers at Stormont on Friday 30 August as part of the charity’s Walk Ten Belfast fundraising event. Donations to support his walk can be made online at www.justgiving.com/rallywalk.

Results

Posted: February 8, 2014 11:52 AM

BADMC Clubmans Summer Stages - (Sat) 13 Jul 13 - MAIN RALLY RESULTS
BADMC Clubmans Summer Stages - (Sat) 13 Jul 13 - JUNIOR RALLY RESULTS

Results by: RallyScore.Net

Seeded Entry LIst

Posted: July 12, 2013 3:46 PM

BADMC Clubmans Stages - (Sat) 13 Jul 13 - SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Vanilla Black Summer Stages Rally

Posted: July 5, 2013 12:24 PM

Ballynahinch and District Motor Club are delighted to announce the arrival of Vanilla Black Catering as the new title sponsor for our Summer Stages Rally due to take place at Bishopscourt Racing Circuit on Saturday July 13th!

Vanilla Black Catering specialise in mobile coffee shops, and have travelled the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland over recent years working on a huge variety of shows, festivals and sporting fixtures. Whether it's a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream on a cold night at the rugby, or a bottle of water and a sandwich on a hot summers evening at a music festival; Vanilla Black have it covered!

Many of you told us this uncomplicated, fun rally just shouldn't be tampered with, so after much discussion BADMC will be delighted to run the original format for this much loved event!

Saturday July 13th will see all competing crews including the Junior 1000 Rally Challenge, tackle all 8 stages (4 run twice) within the ever improving Bishopscourt Circuit!

We know times are hard and budgets are tight, so this year for the first time, we are delighted to offer overnight caravan and camper-van facilities (including showers) for competitors within the circuit on the evening prior to the event, although we stress that anyone wishing to take advantage of this onsite accommodation will need to contact the club in advance so arrangements can be made!

As ever we hope to offer a great days rallying, and with the entry fee set at £165 (no late entry fee), scrutiny on the morning of the event, and overnight caravanning sorted, we hope you agree; it's gonna be a great days craic!!

For more info, regs or entry forms check out the club website - link below

Regulations / Details

Posted: July 2, 2013 2:58 PM

Association of Northern Ireland Car Clubs - www.motorsportni.org
Ballynahinch & District Motor Club