2005 ANCRO MSA National Rally Championship

Posted: June 21, 2005 10:14 PM

---

21/06/05
ANCRO AWARDED MSA CONTRACT FOR A FURTHER THREE YEARS
The Association of National Championship Rally Organisers (ANCRO) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the contract by British motor sport’s governing body to run the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship for a further three years.

This follows the successful launch of the Gravel Rally Championship by ANCRO for the 2005 season and the news will allow the series to continue to grow in what is already widely recognised as Britain’s most competitive rally championship.

John Trevethick, Chairman of ANCRO, said:
“The awarding of this long term contract will enable ANCRO to develop what is already the most competitive championship in the UK. Our objective is to use the stability the contract will give us to develop the commercial potential of the series to help events and competitors control costs. With our successful Sky television coverage and the existing goodwill of the competitors contesting the rallies, we have a superb platform to continue.”

In addition to the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, ANCRO also organises the popular Clubman’s Championship and the series visits England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man during the course of the season.

---

12/05/05
Late Challenge Cup Results & Report after round one - Wigmore storms into the lead
Round one of the inaugural ‘Innovation Motorsports Late Challenge Cup’ took place over the weekend with forty-five crews signing up at the Roush Manx National Rally. This newly introduced award has been incorporated into the remaining five rounds of the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship as an incentive for crews who suffered a bad start to the season.

With the results now verified by Dilys and John Trevethick, Jonnie Wigmore and co-driver Robbie Durant have emerged as series leaders after a tough battle in class A6. The young 206 Cup crew are now one step closer to a fully funded Winter trip to the Innovation Motorsports Norwegian testing facility in Gautefall, Southern Norway.

The seven day trip includes ferries, accommodation and four full days testing and tuition on frozen lakes. Jonnie remarked, “It’s great to be involved with the Innovation Motorsports scheme that can award drivers with lower powered cars just as much as the drivers with the latest 4wd machinery. I was not even aware i'd taken maximum points until I arrived back in England but it was a nice surprise! The Manx was very tough as always but we worked very hard in the lead up the event to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible. The great start we had in the fog on friday night took the pressure off a little for the Saturday stages. The Banzai team are already looking forward the Mutiny rally in four weeks to aim for a good points haul once again”.

Innovation Motorsports director Chris Moore said, “Im thrilled to bits to finally get the championship up and running. Jonnie drove a brilliant rally in tricky conditions and fully deserves to be leading the championship. The scoring system we use calculates the points on a class based performance system. The scores are then amalgamated to determine who is the eventual winner. In this case it was an A6 driver that came out on top”.

The next round, the Mutiny National Rally based in Builth Wells takes place on the 4th of June will see another fierce battle for the maximum points. With only four scores counting towards the final total, it is still all to play for…

• Download Results in Excel Format

---

08/05/05

Drivers:
1 Paul Bird 64
2 Barry Johnson 61
3 Brendan Crealey 50
4 Marcus Dodd 42
5 Roger Duckworth 39
6 Andy Burton 38
7 Steve Perez 33
8 Nik Elsmore 32
= Ryan Champion 32
= Phillip Morrow 32

---

• 2005 ANCRO MSA National Rally Championship TV Times

---

19/01/05

• ANCRO puts the fun back into rallying Fantasy ANCRO Championship

---

15/02/05
NEW PRESS OFFICER APPOINTED FOR 2005 MSA NATIONAL GRAVEL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
The Association of National Championship Rally Organisers (ANCRO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Larry Carter as Series Press Officer for the 2005 MSA National Gravel Rally Championship.

A former competitor in the series, the 40 year old motorsport journalist and broadcaster runs his own successful motorsport PR and publicity company and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the series which kicks off with Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth later this month.

ANCRO Chairman John Trevethick commented: "With the increasing popularity of the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, we needed to take this to a higher level in order to move forward. Larry is well respected in the rallying world and has both plenty of experience and good contacts in order to help us achieve this and we are looking forward very much to reaping the benefits of his association with us.”

Some of Carter's existing clients in the rally world include 2004 Kumho Tyres ANCRO National Rally Champion Steve Perez as well as new Eddie Stobart Motorsport signing Paul Bird plus the likes of double British Rally Champion Jonny Milner and Olly Marshall's ProSpeed Motorsport concern. He will combine the role on an event by event basis and in conjunction with his existing commitments as Series Presenter and pit lane commentator in the British Superbike Championship

"I'm delighted to have been asked to do this job by ANCRO and hopefully we can ensure that the profile of this great championship is continually raised and promoted in a manner which befits it. The popularity of the series continues to grow and I'm looking forward to working with the competitors rather than trying to beat them!” said the Yorkshireman.

The seven round series, dubbed 'The Friendly Championship' by officials and competitors alike, gets underway with the premier motorsporting event on the south coast in the shape of Rallye Sunseeker over the weekend of February 25/26th. From there, the championship heads north of the border for round two and the newly incorporated Jedburgh based Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally on March 19th.

Then it's a trip to the Isle of Man for the Roush Manx Rally on May 6/7th with the series making the first of three visits to Wales on June 4th with the Mutiny National Rally which starts in Llandrindod Wells. The Swansea Bay National Rally gets underway from Cardiff on July 23rd before another trip to Scotland sees competitors converging on Castle Douglas for the Park Systems Furniture National Stages Rally on September 10th.

The final round comprises the popular Bulldog Rally, which is based in Shrewsbury and kicks off on October 22nd, with crews battling it out on the championship decider in all thirteen classes no doubt. In addition, four additional titles will also be finally resolved and these include the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship Production Cup, the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship Junior Award (for competitors under 25 years of age), the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship Ladies Cup and the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship Manufacturers Award.

Incorporated into the series during 2005 will be the ANCRO Clubman's Gravel Rally Championship as well as the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge and the Peugeot 206 Super Cup meaning bumper entries and top class action throughout the year.

This year will also see several current competitors taking the initiative to put the social and fun side back into rallying, with the blessing of the series organisers.

Steve Harris, co-driver to Brendan Crealey, is going to run a "Fantasy ANCRO" where, for £5 for the whole year, fellow competitors, service crews, organisers, marshals and spectators can have the chance to run their own fantasy team on the championship. The winner at the end of the year is assured of a minimum £100.00 prize. More details from codrive@bigfoot.com

Jonny Wigmore, who is this year competing in the Peugeot 206 Super Cup, has generously talked the family company, Banzai Events and London Rally School, to give the prize for the Team Award in the Clubman's series whereby the winning team at the end of the year will get a day out at the Banzai motorised activity centre in Buckingham.

Stalwart clubman drivers, Steve Magson and James Potter, are organising "get togethers" on the evenings before the Kall Kwik Rally and Barrett's Rally of Kent respectively. All ANCRO registered contenders and their service crews are invited to come along and meet each other and the championship organisers. Contact Steve on 07702 136709 or James on 07711 205175.

Finally, all competitors and their service crews had better watch out during 2005 as the official photographer to the championship, Chris Miles-Williams, will be lurking around the events with the intention of getting some "entertaining" photographs for show on the championship notice board and at the end of year awards presentation. No one's blushes will be spared!

• Crealey Focussed for 2005
• Brendan Murphy Sets Sights on MSA National Championship

1. Rallye Sunseeker (Bournemouth) 25-26 Feb 05
2. Border Counties (Jedburgh) 19 Mar 05
3. Manx National 6-7 May 05
4. Mutiny (Llandrindod Wells) 6 Jun 05
5. Swansea Bay 23 Jul 05
6. Park Systems Stages (Newton Stewart) 10 Sep 05
7. Bulldog (Shrewsbury) 22 Oct 05

Championship Website www.ancro.co.uk