Tour of Hamsterley - (Sat) 26 Apr 14

Edwards/Baker win WWRS R.A.C. Rally Championship round three

Posted: April 29, 2014 11:49 AM

Matt Edwards and Kim Baker scored a fine victory on the SG Petch Tour of Hamsterley historic rally (Saturday 26 April), the third round of the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship. The 45-mile event made use of the Hamsterley forest complex as well as the mixed surface stage at Raby Castle and it was Edwards who took control from the start, despite feeling decidedly unwell. Edwards and Baker went into the final loop of three stages just 12s up on the similar Ford Escort Mk2 of Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis, but when Robinson hit electrical dramas on the penultimate stage, Edwards was clear of Nick Elliott/Dave Price by 47s. Graham Waite and Gill Cotton had a great run in their Volvo Amazon to win the Walker Diecastings Category 1 while brothers Ross and Arron Forde took maximum points in the Aldon Automotive Mini and Imp Cup in the Mini Cooper usually driver by Frank Cunningham. David Stokes and Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) won Category 2. Other category winners included Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2) in Category K and Dave Hemingway/Simon Ashton (Ford Escort Mk2) in Category O.

With 65 registered contenders starting the rally, the Shildon-based event was another strong event for the WWRS R.A.C. Rally Championship and also marked the opening round of the championship’s Northern Challenge.

Waite and Cotton emerged convincing winners in Category 1 despite a nervous moment on the first Raby stage when the Amazon was sideways on the grass for about 60 yards and in close proximity to a stone wall. The first Raby stage claimed the Lotus Cortina of Bob Bean/Malcolm Smithson after a hefty impact with a large bale.

“Very pleased with that,” said Waite at the finish as they headed Simon Wallis/Graham Wride (Lotus Cortina). An electrical problem left Wallis seriously short on revs and there was a late scare when the engine cut out on the road section to the final stage. Then, on the run to the finish they struggled to keep the car running and had to be pushed into the final control.

Ray Cunningham and Gary McElhinney were denied a hat-trick of Category 1 wins after an early off followed by a driveshaft coming out on the startline of Raby Castle. The off came at a notorious bend in Hamsterley, but willing hands had the Mini back on track just as Waite arrived a minute later. Team mates Ross and Arron Forde duly took class B2, while Stephen Higgins/Don Bramfoot (Saab 96) and Peter Stimson/Graham Wild (Ford Anglia) also won their classes. Higgins had a clear run but struggled with the hills, while Stimson was just pleased to be there after a family illness for Mark Butler meant a very late change of co-driver. Out of luck were John Everard and Mark Sharpley in the Alfa Romeo, who slid into the mud a mile from the finish of the final stage and could not get out.

Stokes/Weaver won the Capital Construction Category 2 despite struggling all day with a bent steering rack and were only 11s up on the similar Ford Escort Mk1 of Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson at the finish. It very nearly went wrong for Stokes as he bent a steering arm on the final forest stage and struggled to Raby Castle with the front wheels pointing in different directions. Fellow competitors Alan Walker and Gareth Lloyd got under the car in the queue for the stage and improved it enough for Stokes to get to the finish. Second in Category 2 was a good result for Philliskirk. “We had one or two moments: we’re still learning the car and picking up the pace,” he said.

Other Category 2 class winners included Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead (Ford Escort Mk1) and welcome championship newcomer Duncan Pearcey/Fred Roberts in the immaculate Datsun 240Z. Shuttleworth enjoyed a good battle with class D2 pacesetter Chris Skill, which Shuttleworth won by just nine seconds.

David Kirby/Tom Hutchins (Ford Escort Mk1) clinched class C3 as Peter Smith/Pat Walsh retired the Opel Ascona with clutch failure and Terry Cree/Richard Shores parked the BMW 2002 with a rattling engine. “We landed in a hole in Hamsterley and flattened the exhaust,” said Kirby after his ninth straight finish in the R.A.C. Championship. In a close battle for second in C3, Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins headed Simon Pickering/Colin Jenkins by just six seconds.

A driver error on the opening Hamsterley stage cost Edwards around 10s, but after that he flew, taking six or seven seconds out of everyone on the longer stages. Despite this being the first event together for Edwards and Baker, the partnership gelled immediately and the pace was mighty. “It’s now handling like I expected a Mk2 would,” said a delighted winner. They duly headed the Rob Smith Rallying Category 3.

The final winning margin was 47s, but Robinson and Collis led the chase despite battling an electrical drama that was costing pace. “In fourth gear it was hard to get the last 1500rpm,” said Robinson, who was still only 12s down heading back into Hamsterley. But the electrics cut dead near the end of the last Hamsterley stage and second place was gone. The battery had blown up like a balloon as the alternator had been over-charging.

That promoted Elliott and Price to second. “We were steady all day,” said Elliott, who dropped around 10s in a ditch on the penultimate stage. Elliott had a major starter motor drama the day before the rally, but for Pritchard the same issue developed on Saturday.
“It was a stressful morning,” he said after stalling on stages two and three in Hamsterley. Pritchard lost around 30s and ended the rally only 33s down on Elliott to underline ever increasing pace.

Championship leaders Richard Hill and Steffan Evans were a strong fourth, while Meirion Evans/Iwan Jones took a fine fifth on the driver’s first gravel rally out of Wales. A big escape from a Hamsterley ditch topped their day.
“You’ve got to be very precise: it’s a very, very tricky event,” said Evans.

Tim Pearcey and Alan Walker teamed up for the first time and took sixth on the driver’s first rally for six months and only Walker’s second time in the co-driver’s seat. “I was really rusty in the morning, but don’t think I could have gone any faster in the afternoon,” said Pearcey. Tim Freeman and Paul Wakely bagged another good result in seventh and did it on just six tyres within the championship’s Clubman’s Challenge, while Owen Murphy/James O’Brien were denied a top five finish by gearbox dramas in the Sunbeam Lotus. They had only fifth gear in Raby Castle and had to get out and push the car back after an overshoot. They took eighth after a ‘box change despite losing at least 1m30s and still won class D4. Chris Skill/Glenn Hall (Ford Escort Mk2) flew to class D2 victory, with David Hopkins/Tony Vart upping their pace in the Talbot Sunbeam to take second. Meanwhile, Adrian Young and Gwynfor Jones (Ford Escort Mk2) were worthy class D3 victors. Mike Reed and Joe Sturdy, on the driver’s championship debut, had a cracking run to second on his first rally for nine years and his first in rear-wheel drive for 30 years. Into third in D3 went John Baker and Ian Jones in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk2.

Pritchard and Clarke topped the Holton Homes Category K for FIA specification cars with their excellent third overall, while Tomas Davies and Carl Williamson were second after losing time in a ditch. Tom Coughtrie and Calvin Cooledge had a good run to third in their Escort Mk2, despite a close encounter with a large bale in Hamsterley.

In the Open category, Dave Hemingway and Simon Ashton were top runners and headed all the two-wheel drives in their Ford Escort Mk2.
“Very good, but we buckled a few things in the first two stages,” said Hemingway. Barry Stevenson-Wheeler/John Pickavance (Escort Mk2) battled to the finish next up, but had lost eight minutes in a Hamsterley ditch.
“Raby was a cracking little stage,” said Stevenson-Wheeler. Robert Cholmondeley and Dave Evans (Ford Escort Mk2) were just pleased to make the end of the rally for their first finish in five years!

The West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship is the only championship that runs historics first on the road on all events. Round four is the Severn Valley Stages on Saturday 31 May.

The Tour of Hamsterley is organised by the Stockton and District Motor Club in association with Teesside Motor Sport Group.

Results

Posted: April 29, 2014 11:46 AM

Tour of Hamsterley - (Sat) 26 Apr 14 - HISTORIC RALLY RESULTS
Tour of Hamsterley - (Sat) 26 Apr 14 - MODERN RALLY RESULTS

Results by: rallies.info

Hamsterley next for WWRS R.A.C. Championship

Posted: April 22, 2014 11:37 AM

The challenging Co Durham stages of the Tour of Hamsterley will be the setting for round three of the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship (Saturday 26 April).

Another superb line-up of cars will gather for the first northern round of the R.A.C. Rally Championship with an impressive 65 championship contenders on the entry list. The event will mark the opening event in the championship’s three-round Northern Challenge as well as the next round of the highly successful Kumho Clubmans Challenge for crews competing on a maximum of six tyres for the event.

Once again, there is a tremendous line-up of pre ’68 cars in the Walker Diecastings Category 1, which includes contenders in the Aldon Automotive Mini and Imp Cup. Heading the field away is the incredibly quick Mini Cooper S of Ray Cunningham/Gary McElhinney, which has taken victory on each of the first two rounds. This will be new territory for the Galway asphalt ace, but the fact that there is some asphalt included in the non-spectator Raby Castle stage suggests he will again be tough to beat. In the second car from the Galway Mini Centre will be brothers Ross and Arron Forde and it will be very interesting to see how Ross compares to the team boss.

Top of the Lotus Cortina pack are the cars of Simon Wallis/Graham Wride and Bob Bean/Malcolm Smithson and either could prove to be the biggest rival to Cunningham. However, that also applies to the Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton and the Porsche 911 of Paul Mankin/Peter Scott. In class B3, the Ford Anglia of Peter Stimson/Mark Butler makes the long journey from Devon while class B1 should be a straight battle between the Singer Chamois of Chris and Jo Tooze and the Saab 96 of Stephen Higgins/Don Bramfoot.

In the Capital Construction Category 2, David Stokes and Guy Weaver head the field in their Ford Escort Mk1 as they prepare for their debut on this event. Rivals in class C5 include the similar cars of Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson and Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell-Browne. Meanwhile, the contest for class C3 promises to be even more intense as Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh lead the pack away in their Open Ascona A. Right in contention will be Terry Cree/Richard Shores (BMW 2002Ti), Steve Magson/Darren Smith (Ford Escort Mk1) and David Kirby/tba (Ford Escort Mk1).

A pair of Datsun 240Zs will make a fine spectacle in class C4 as Jeremy Easson/Mike Reynolds line up against welcome championship addition Duncan Pearcey in his Z Farm entry.

The 1600cc cars in class C2 run alongside the Category 1 cars at the head of the field and it is the Escort Mk1 of Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead that leads them away. Local crew Paul and Daniel May will chase Shuttleworth, while Tony Ginns and Mark Ellis make a welcome return to competition with their similar car.

Nick Elliott and Dave Price head another superb entry for the Rob Smith Rallying Category 3 in their Ford Escort Mk2. However, Hamsterley a year ago was not kind to them after they went off very early on the opening stage and the Mid Wales winners will be looking for a rather different experience this time around.

Elliott has a gaggle of challengers, headed by Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis and Richard Hill/Steffan Evans. Robinson crashed out of the 2013 event, but has been going superbly so far this season, while Hill will be aiming to be right back at the head of the action after a modest Mid Wales result compared to his usual high standard.

Welsh crew Meirion Evans and Iwan Jones will be making the driver’s first visit to these stages and will be right in the hunt while Owen Murphy/James O’Brien will surely take the fight to the Escort Mk2s with their Sunbeam Lotus. Also running in the incredibly competitive top 12 are Matt Edwards/tba and Terry Brown/Den Golding, while crews like Tim Freeman/Paul Wakely, Gareth Lloyd/Dorian Evans, Richard Lane/Frank Richer, James Potter/Bob Duck, Jerry Bailey/Graham Lacey and Phil and Mick Squires add tremendous quality in depth to the D5 field.

The Holton Homes Category K for FIA specification cars is getting stronger and stronger as the season develops and four front-running Ford Escort Mk2s will be in the hunt for both the category and overall success. Jason Pritchard has 2013 Hamsterley winning co-driver Phil Clarke alongside, while Tomas Davies/Carl Williamson, Darren Moon/Tim Pearcey and Tim Pearcey/Alan Walker are all very strong contenders.

Class D3 for the Pinto-powered Ford Escort Mk2s has drawn a fabulous eight-strong entry and it is Welsh crews Gareth Lewis/Dan Holley and Adrian Young/Gwynfor Jones who head the pack. Meanwhile, in class D2 at the head of the rally will be the Sunbeams Talbots of Pip Coulson/John McNichol and David Hopkins/Tony Vart as well as the Hillman Avenger of local crew Keith Davison/Henry Richardson.

Running alongside the historics are the cars in R.A.C. Category O for open two-wheel drive cars and it is the Ford Escort Mk2 of Dave Hemingway/Simon Ashton that heads the category away within the event’s modern section. Barry Stevenson-Wheeler/John Pickavance (Escort Mk2), Geraint Davies/Chris Williams (Peugeot 205 GTi), Will Midgley/Jonathan Driver (Toyota Corolla) and Robert Cholmondeley/Dave Evans (Ford Escort Mk2) will all be chasing Hemingway.

The rally will be based at the National Railway Museum at Shildon. The first historic car will start at 8.45am and return to the finish shortly before 3pm. The Tour of Hamsterley is supported by SG Petch.

Spectator Details

Posted: April 22, 2014 11:36 AM

Available at:

Tour of Hamsterley

Seeded Entry List:

Posted: March 13, 2014 11:14 AM

Available at:

www.rallies.info/webentry/2014/hamsterley

Regulations / Details

Posted: February 23, 2014 9:22 PM

Tour of Hamsterley