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LinksRally of the Midlands - 22-23 Jun 12
Posted: June 25, 2012 12:01 PM - 6310 Hits
Round 4 - 2012 MSA Asphalt Rally Championship
- Results
- Seeded Entry List
- RALLYING RETURNS TO THE STREETS OF HINCKLEY AND NUNEATON
- MAUGER ALL FIRED UP!...MSA Asphalt Rally Championship
- Entries Received
- Regulations / Details
RALLYING RETURNS TO THE STREETS OF HINCKLEY AND NUNEATON
Posted: June 20, 2012 10:04 PM
This weekend sees more than 80 Rally Cars arrive in the region for the biggest Rally event of its kind in the West Midlands, the Lovell Rally of the Midlands – and what a spectacle it’s set to be!
Vehicles ranging from those once used on the World Rally Stage to the crowd pleasing, sideways Ford Escort MK2 of 2011 event winner Simon Mauger will take to the stages set in the region’s stately homes, race circuits, vehicle proving grounds and the ever popular Argents Mead stage in Hinckley Town Centre in a bid to be crowned as victor of Round four of the REIS Get Connected MSA Asphalt Rally Championship.
The Mallory Park based event will see crews from across the UK descend on the Midlands for two days of high-octane action, taking in ‘Special Stages’ across the region. Beginning on the evening of the 22nd of June from Lovell’s award winning Renaissance housing development in Camp Hill, Nuneaton, the event will wind its way through twenty four special stages before finishing at Mallory Park on Saturday evening - and following them every step of the way will be Rally FM.
Leading the crews away is last year’s winner Simon Mauger in his Ford Escort MK2. Mauger is one of four previous winners of the event entered in 2012, with three time Rally of the Midlands winner Tom Morris in the glorious MG Metro 6R4 running at number two. Fresh from a victory at SOL Rally Barbados, Paul Bird and Kirsty Riddick are the first of the modern day World Rally Car machinery at number three, with REIS Get Connected MSA Asphalt Championship sponsor Damian Cole at number four in the second of the Ford Focus WRC’s.
Including the Escort of Mauger, the fight for two wheel drive victory is set to be hard fought, with the Darrian’s of John Indri and Ashley Field ready to pounce should Mauger falter. The event also welcomes the newest generation two wheel drive car, with the Citroen DS3 R3 of Callum Black a welcome entry. Alongside Black, and fellow representatives from the British Rally Championship, are the two Citroen C2R2 MAXs’ of James Ford and Christian South, bringing a taste of France to the Midlands this weekend.
Spectators can go to Mallory Park from 14:00 on Friday and 10:00 on Saturday the 23rd of June, with access to the Spectator stage at Merevale open from 9:30 the same morning. Access to each venue is £10 per head. However, if you wish to experience a full Rally weekend, a Saturday Super Pass is available at £15 per head or a Midlands Super Pass is available at £20 per head. These passes will gain each person a full day’s or weekend access to each of the spectator stages on offer, plus the service area and Rally Village – incredible value! The popular Argents Mead stage, run through the car park of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, returns for one final fling on Friday evening and remains FREE to view. Spectator maps and diagrams are available at www.rallyofthemidlands.co.uk
New to the event in 2012 is the partnership between Lovell Rally of the Midlands and Rally FM – a Radio station dedicated to bringing the event to much wider audiences, both at the event and further afield. Available via the internet at rallyfm.net and smart phone applications, Rally FM will be broadcasting live from the event from the start at the award-winning regeneration project in Camp Hill, Nuneaton, throughout the event to the finish at Mallory Park at around 18:00 on the Saturday – not a moment will pass by unnoticed by the experienced Rally FM team. A simple guide on how to listen in is available on the event website.
Lovell are also key supporters in the event’s brand new Rally Village at Mallory Park, providing a Rally simulator in the style of a Ford Focus WRC for spectators to test themselves against the competitors – with a fantastic prize of a day’s Rally experience on offer, you can come and push yourself to the limit, experiencing the thrills without the bills!
Can’t make the event but want to keep right up to date with the action as it unfolds? As well as Rally FM, the event is offering a plethora of ways in which you can, with live results available from NERS Results service, videos available from the event’s YouTube page as well as pages on Facebook and Twitter. With the event at your fingertips, it’s hard to miss out!
MAUGER ALL FIRED UP!...MSA Asphalt Rally Championship
Posted: June 20, 2012 10:00 PM
In deference to their win on the 2011 Rally of the Midlands, Simon Mauger and Brian Cammack will lead the 85-car field away from the Nuneaton start of this year’s event in their Ford Escort MkII. Fully recovered from the last round of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship, the Jim Clark National Rally, the Oxfordshire crew experienced a torrid time in the Scottish Borders when, having already been beset by electrical problems which had pushed it right down the order, their car actually caught fire as it was started up to leave the finish arch!...
More than half the total entry for the fourth round of the REIS – Get Connected MSA Asphalt Championship are registered contenders and the next crew, behind Mauger/ Cammack, to be chasing series points are Paul Bird/Kirsty Riddick who return to these shores fresh from their recent victory on Rally Barbados. Their Ford Focus WRC is followed by the similar car of defending MSA Asphalt Champions Damian Cole/James Morgan. Top points scorer on the Jim Clark, Cole currently heads the table as he battles to become only the second driver in the Championship’s 30-year history to take a hat-trick of titles.
John Indri has had a frantic few weeks since the Jim Clark when his Darrian T90 GTR was involved in a potentially dangerous incident at the refuelling zone. Although the car emerged virtually unscathed, it was covered in both fire retardant foam and powder. Consequently, it will have to have been completely stripped down, cleaned and put back together before its appearance this weekend. Simon Hunter, from one of the Championship’s ancillary sponsors, Kwiktrak, will be co-driving on this occasion.
2007 MSA Asphalt Champion Steve Simpson, with Patrick Walsh sitting beside him in his Subaru Impreza WRC, holds second place in the points table prior to Rally of the Midlands but, as Cole has used different co-drivers for each of the first three rounds, Walsh actually leads his particular category.
Gary Le Coadou/Paul Hollingham set out on their 2012 campaign in their Toyota Corolla WRC and past history tells us that these two could possibly spring a surprise. They were leading the 2009 event until car failure put them out and, coincidentally, right behind them is the driver who went on to take victory three years ago. Having reverted back to a Ford Escort Cosworth after an unsuccessful dalliance with an Impreza, Mark Welch also makes his first appearance in the MSA Championship this year.
Ashley Field/Janice Moore join John Indri and, further down the field, Washington James in the race for Millington Darrian Challenge points, while the likes of Phil Sprason/Andy Boswell, Ian Kenvin/Ian Meakin and Kevin & Charles Tappin will be chasing Simon Mauger as they hunt down Millington Escort Challenge success.
Neither of the main players (so far!) in the AB Motorsport Peugeot 205 Challenge, Tim Daltry and Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett, finished Rally of the Midlands last year but they both return this time and are joined by Kev Harbour/Dave Tortoishell.
Midlander Matt Beebe, who had such an excellent run on the Jim Clark in his MG ZR, returns to his ‘home’ event in the hope of improving on his 8th overall last year. If that isn’t enough pressure, Matt and Paula Swinscoe will have increased competition in the form of his mum, Jane, who also has an MG ZR at her disposal...
The Group N battle is between the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9 of South Wales crew Rob Tout/Dan Holley and Bromsgrove’s Julian Barnett who has Andrew Smith reading the notes in his Impreza. Having had a good run on the Isle of Man in May, Paul James/Derek Davies return with their Lancer EVOX to join what promises to be an interesting weekend from which anyone of the three crews could emerge as leaders!
In the classes themselves, Chris Wheeler/Yan Griffiths have monopolised the points in N3, their Fiesta taking maximums on each outing so far. In A6, also Fiesta-mounted, Alex Laffey/Jack Morton will be taking the opportunity to extend their lead and B9 will be argued over by Steve Brown/Paul Stringer (Nissan Micra) and Stuart Spyer/Peter Williams (Vauxhall Corsa).
Based at Mallory Park Race Circuit, the Lovell Rally of the Midlands features 90 stage miles over the two legs. Simon Mauger leaves the start on Friday evening at 17.30 and then, following an overnight halt, the first car restarts at 7.30am on Saturday morning. Cars then begin arriving at the finish back at Mallory Park from 5.15pm that afternoon.
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