Michael Binnie & Richard Simmonds (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) SS8
Josh Carr & Ben Hall (Ford Escort Mk I) SS2
Ieuan Rowlands & Emry Hall (Hillman Avenger) SS5
Robinson/Collis wins Carlisle Historics
Posted: November 13, 2018 4:17 AM
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis took a long overdue first BHRC victory when they won round three of the FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the ATL Carlisle Stages (8/9 June).
Over tough and dusty stages Robinson and Collis (Ford Escort Mk2) had a great battle with the BRM-powered Hillman Avenger of Ieuan Rowlands/Emyr Hall until the Avenger slid into one of Kielder’s notorious ditches on the penultimate stage. Instead, into a superb second place went the Pinto-powered Escort Mk2 of Stuart Egglestone and Brian Hodgson.
As the Category 1 cars returned to their rightful place at the head of the field, Rikki Proffitt and Graham Wild won the division in their Porsche 911 and Mark Holmes and Craig Simkiss again topped Category 2 with another fine performance in their Escort Mk1.
As well as being the third of eight BHRC rounds, the ATL Carlisle Stages was also the third round of the BHRC Forest Challenge, supported by Rally and Competition Equipment, and the third event for the new BHRC2, supported by Sherwood Engines.
“We’ve been close so many times, so it makes a change,” said Robinson after a very popular win. “But the man of the rally was Ieuan Rowlands.” Three stages on Friday evening started the historic rally and Rowlands attacked from the start to take a five-second lead over Paul Barrett/Dai Roberts.
Unfortunately, former championship leader Barrett went out with an engine fire at the start of the second stage and the survivors were glad to make it back to Carlisle at the end of the very dusty first leg. Robinson clawed back time on Rowlands in stage two but the Welshman added another five seconds in the second run of Tommy’s Fell to finish the leg five seconds ahead.
After a short test in Florida opened Saturday’s action, the daunting 14-miler in Newcastleton decided the result as the flying Avenger slid into a ditch and out of the lead. A safe run through the final Ash Park stage sent Robinson and Collis back to Carlisle for a well deserved victory, both overall and in the Rally and Competition Equipment Category 3.
A class D3-winning second overall was a fantastic result for Egglestone and Hodgson as the local driver leapt to head of the BHRC points with a mighty run. It was close for second between Egglestone and Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver and Egglestone had a margin of just three seconds at the finish.
A few seconds back, another tight contest settled fourth place for Simon Webster/Jez Rogers who had only five seconds in hand over Steve Bennett/Osian Owen. Bennett was a fine second fastest in Newcastleton to claw back 21s, but was still just short of regaining time lost on Friday evening.
Tim Freeman and Paul Williams were sixth despite losing time to several cars off in Newcastleton, while Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons headed the class D3 chase of Egglestone in seventh. Holmes/Simkiss took the Skipton Ford Category 2 by half a minute from Warren Philliskirk and Mark Casey who were a last minute pairing after illness struck Philliskirk’s original co-driver.
After two disastrous non-finishes this season, Josh Carr and Ben Hall (Ford Escort Mk1) were pleased to finally finish a rally and duly won class C3. However, it was still not a trouble-free run as they lost the brakes half way through the long Newcastleton stage.
BHRC2 supported by Sherwood Engines
The ATL Carlisle Stages was the third round of the new BHRC2, supported by Sherwood Engines, which has been created to turn the spotlight on the REIS Category 1 (pre-1968) and all other up to 1600cc cars in the championship.
Top of BHRC2 as well as clear winners of class C2 were Robin Shuttleworth and Ronnie Roughead (Ford Escort Mk1) who went clear of husband and wife Stuart and Linda Cariss. Shuttleworth had a great battle with the flying Hillman Avenger of Ken Graham/Rory McCann until a detached brake pipe put Graham out on the long Newcastleton stage.
The Porsche 911 of Proffitt and Wild claimed Category 1 glory despite a big challenge from the Ford Anglia of Malcolm Rich/Arwel Blainey. The final margin was only 22s after both crews reported excellent road conditions at the head of the field, with the Anglia taking class B3 victory.
Out of luck were the two Lotus Cortinas. Bob Bean and Miles Cartwright were out before the start of the first stage with engine issues, while Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell became more victims to the Kielder ditches in the long Newcastleton stage. Brothers Malcolm and Ronald Mounsey (Talbot Sunbeam) overcame fuel problems on Friday night to get their Sunbeam Talbot to the finish and took class D2 honours in the process.
Bird/Morton Win ATL Carlisle Stages Rally
Posted: November 13, 2018 4:15 AM
Just a week after finishing on the podium at SOL Rally Barbados, Penrith rally driver Paul Bird Paul Birdswapped the dry Caribbean asphalt for the daunting gravel roads of Kielder Forest only to emerge victorious on the ATL Carlisle Stages Rally.
The event, based in his native Cumbria, formed round five of the Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Rally Series and along with Hexham co-driver Jack Morton in the Dom Buckley Motorsport/IRS-prepared Ford Focus WRC08, with backing from Frank Bird Poultry, Be Wiser Insurance, Hager, Fuchs Titan Race and Loco Energy Drink, the pair were back in action in more familiar surroundings.
Bird, who led the series going into his local event due to a string of consistent podium finishes, including taking victory on the opening round, was hoping for more of the same. But after three days of the fast closed roads of Barbados, the changeable weather in the UK made the infamous roads even more trickier and the former National champion found himself in sixth place after the opening stage.
However, the pair fought back to move up to third after the 14-mile Newcastleton stage which comprised SS2 before taking the lead after a 15-miler in Kershope which formed the penultimate test. By now, Bird was over 20 seconds to the good over his nearest rival and he maintained the gap to the finish to take his second maximum of the year.
With a number of title rivals retiring, the British Superbike team boss increased his lead as a result meaning he holds a healthy advantage going into the next round in Wales which comprises the Nicky Grist Stages Rally on July 14th.
Paul Bird: “I really struggled on the opening stage and dropped a shed-load of time and I can only Paul Birdput it down to me not being on gravel for a while, I think I was still in Barbados-mode! We also didn’t have the car set up quite right so once the boys sorted that, we found our pace and I felt good for the second half of the rally. It’s great to win again and our position at the top of the table was enhanced due to a number of main challengers not finishing but there’s still a long way to go yet.”
For further information, please visit www.pbmuk.net and www.btrdarally.com
A new title sponsor and a new format are the key elements of the 2018 ATL Transport Carlisle Stages (Friday/Saturday 8/9 June), which brings together the FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Rally Series as well as several regional championships.
The rally, which runs over top quality stages in the Kershope and Newcastleton complexes, will feature two elements. Running on Friday evening and Saturday morning will be the 2WD section of the rally for contenders in the British Historic Rally Championship, the Motoscope Northern Historic Rally Championship and the new Rally2 Championship.
Running throughout Saturday will be contenders in the BTRDA Rally Series, the MSA English Rally Championship, the S G Petch Association of North East and Cumbria Car Clubs Stage Rally Championship and the Association of Northern Car Clubs Forest Challenge and Border Challenge.
Building on the success of the first five editions of the Carlisle Stages, the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club will run a compact event based at H&H Auctions in Carlisle next to junction 43 of the M6.
The 2WD section of the rally will feature 21 stage miles in three stages in daylight on Friday evening, starting at 6pm and finishing at 9pm. These crews will then join the BTRDA event on Saturday morning for three more special stages and a further 22 stage miles before finishing back in Carlisle at 12.30pm. There will be no double usage of stages for the 2WD event. On Saturday morning the entire entry will be seeded in one block based on expected performance.
The BTRDA event will start from Carlisle at 8am on Saturday for five special stages and 43 stage miles, with only five miles of second use stages. This element of the event will finish at H&H Auctions at 3pm on Saturday. Scrutineering and documentation for both sections of the event will be held on Friday afternoon.
Most of the stages have not been used since the 2017 Carlisle Stages, with only a limited section of Kershope having been used once on the Roger Albert Clark Rally last November.
Clerk of the Course Nicola Heppenstall said: “We are delighted to welcome ATL Transport as title sponsor for the Carlisle Stages. We have an innovative format for 2018 with stages on Friday evening when we will have daylight until nearly 10pm. We look forward to delivering a first class event with excellent road conditions for all crews.”
Director at ATL, Pete Ascott, said: “We are excited to be sponsoring such a highly regarded event in motor sport. This is also a fantastic way to bring visitors to Carlisle and support local businesses. We look forward to working with Colin and the team at the RACRMC.”
ATL is a family-run logistic service provider with roots going back over 150 years. It has approximately 220 employees and operates across 1.1 million square feet of warehousing, much of which is high-bay, located at its Head Office in Foston and in Carlisle. ATL’s fleet includes 90 commercial vehicles and 150 trailers to provide all logistic solutions. ATL is also a shareholder member of the national Palletline network, with depots in Foston and Carlisle.
The ATL Transport Carlisle Stages will be organised by the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club. Event regulations are due to be published in April.
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