Trackrod Rally Yorkshire - 25-26 Sep 15

Elliott and Price take BHRC final round

Posted: October 20, 2016 9:03 AM

Nick Elliott and David Price emerged to take maximum points on the final round of the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Trackrod Historic Cup (25/26 September).

The annual charge through the Yorkshire forests, starting in the darkness of Friday evening, brought the season to an excellent finish with the Yorkshire countryside bathed in sunshine. The event also marked the end of the BHRC’s first season under the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.

Steve Bannister, who is not registered for the BHRC, took historic victory after a fierce battle with Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis. However, Robinson went out with a high-speed roll in Dalby and at almost the same moment Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke retired after a slower speed roll earlier in the stage.

Those two retirements elevated Elliott to top BHRC scorer and allowed him to clinch the Category 3 title. Next up was a tremendous result for Simon Webster and Jez Rogers, as Webster took his best-ever result.

After two stages in the dark on Friday evening and two more on Saturday morning, Robinson was 2.8s up on Bannister in pursuit of overall victory but then came a daylight run through Dalby. Sadly, it all went wrong on a fast section and the car hit a tree and rolled. “We’ve scattered it down Sneverdale,” said Robinson.

For Elliott and Price, who needed a maximum championship score to snatch the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3 title, the retirement of Pritchard and Robinson in the space of three miles handed Elliott second overall and the result he needed to edge Richard Hill for the Category 3 crown. “I thought I might catch Jason, but Matthew was away and gone,” said Elliott.

Steve Bennett and Iain Tullie should have moved up to third for Bennett’s best historic result to date, but a moment in the grass in Langdale ended against a hidden tree stump. Into third, for a career best result, went Simon Webster and Jez Rogers. “I’ve never been so fast in a rally car,” said Webster after a very impressive Yorkshire debut.

Behind Webster was the Escort Mk2 of Mark and Ed Bentley, who had a very good run despite a cracked exhaust manifold, while another sibling pair in Phil and Mick Squires were next after yet another trouble-free rally.

Ian Jones and Iestyn Williams bagged Class D3 after a good run on unfamiliar stages in their Meirion Evans-tended Escort Mk2 Pinto. Chris Skill and Captain Thompson were relieved to make the finish and win Class D2 with an ailing engine in their Escort Mk2. “We just about killed the engine in Dalby, but it has done 14 rallies,” said Skill.

In the Capital Construction Category 2, John Perrott and Keaton Williams claimed victory on the rally and in the championship after a fabulous contest with the similar Escort Mk1s of Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson and Ernie Graham/Will Graham. Just six seconds covered the three cars after more than an hour of rallying. “I knew I couldn’t be beaten for the class title so I was on it for the afternoon loop,” said Perrott. “It’s been a very good day,” said Philliskirk despite an off in Dalby on Friday evening that damaged the steering.

James Slaughter and last minute stand-in co-driver Jim Goodman won Class C3 in Slaughter’s Escort Mk1. “The Pinto is too slow in there,” said Slaughter of the Yorkshire stages. “We spent a lot of time on the rev limiter.” Terry Cree and Richard Shores (BMW 2002) were second in the C3 points, while Phil Jobson and Arwel Jenkins overcame a catalogue of problems just to get their Escort to the finish.

In class C2, Dave Watkins and Tom Jordan took maximum points on their home event in Dave’s ex-works Escort Mk1.

The BMW 1800 of Bill Douglas/Roger Nevitt won the Walker Diecastings Category 1 after the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell retired with a broken halfshaft on the last loop of stages.

Category winners:
Category 1: Bill Douglas/Roger Nevitt (BMW 1800)
Category 2: John Perrott/Keaton Williams (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Nick Elliott and David Price (Ford Escort Mk2)

Mason takes WWRS R.A.C. victory in Yorkshire

Posted: October 20, 2016 9:02 AM

Tim Mason and Graham Wild were the first West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship contenders home on the final round, the Trackrod Historic Cup (25/26 September).

However, it was incredibly close as the Porsche 911 ended the rally just four-tenths of a second ahead of the Open Category Ford Escort Mk2 of Phil Burton and Mal Capstick. Mason will not score championship points as he did not run championship livery on his car on this event.

An error over re-start times for Saturday morning cost Burton a one-minute road penalty. To add to Burton’s woes, a probable 30s time error on the final stage had a big impact on his final total, but he still had a fine event to wrap up his title-winning season. “It was a fantastic event; fast and furious,” said Burton.

Mason and Wild topped Category 2 in terms of the WWRS championship contenders, while a fighting drive from Aziz Tejpar and Alister Crook netted second despite losing the brakes on their Ford Escort Mk1 on the final stage. “We lost a lot of time on the last stage, but the other times were good,” said Tejpar.

Stuart and Linda Cariss were the first 1600cc crew home in their Escort Mk1 as they won class C2 with a spirited drive. Making the trip from Mid Wales to finish second in C2 were Malcolm Bayliss and Siobhan Pugh (Escort Mk1). They had a major drama even getting to the rally after the hire company let them down over a van and then Pugh was feeling decidedly unwell, but they got round on a rare foray to the Yorkshire forests.

James Potter and Bob Duck took their Ford Escort Mk2 to maximum points in Category 3 and were pleased to finish without any dramas after a high-speed roll on the 2014 event.

Burton/Capstick, confirmed as champions before the rally, won the Open Category by 39s from Barry Stevenson-Wheeler/John Pickavance (Escort Mk2). “We had a bit of a steady start on the slippery stages on Friday night, but were trading times with James Potter on Saturday,” said Stevenson-Wheeler.

Category winners were:
Category 2: Tim Mason and Graham Wild (Porsche 911)
Category 3: James Potter/Bob Duck (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category O: Phil Burton/Mal Capstick (Ford Escort Mk2)

The Trackrod Historic Cup was organised by Trackrod Motor Club.

Results

Posted: October 20, 2016 9:00 AM

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire - 25-26 Sep 15 - RESULTS (Main Rally)
Trackrod Rally Yorkshire - 25-26 Sep 15 - RESULTS (Historics and Land Rovers)

Results by: Tynemouth Computer Services Rally Results

Seeded Entry Lists

Posted: September 17, 2015 10:15 AM

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire - 25-26 Sep 15 - SEEDED ENTRY LISTS

Think Dalby is all straights? Think again!

Posted: August 29, 2015 3:31 AM

The organisers of Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (Friday 25/Saturday 26 September) have issued a challenge to any rally crews who think Dalby forest is all long straights to think again.

The stage route to be used in September takes in around 34 corners in 8.5 miles, with few long straights in a revised route designed to be fast and flowing (see attached image). The route through Dalby has been developed specifically to make it appeal to competitors, no matter what type of car they are in.

"We want to show everyone that the way we have planned Dalby leaves out the long straights and offers a very challenging stage with lots of corners," said Clerk of the Course Rod Parkin.

The Dalby stage will be one of the classic Yorkshire forest stages used on both the Trackrod Forest Stages and the Trackrod Historic Cup. The overall event will form a round of no less than 14 national and regional championships, with central servicing for all competitors.

The response to the 2015 event has been outstanding, with unprecedented demand for places on the long-established event. The entry is now filling very rapidly and anyone planning to enter is urged to do so as quickly as possible.

With a great deal of focus on the MSA Safety Review more marshals than ever are being sought to help ensure that the rally runs safely and smoothly. Anyone able to support the event is asked to contact Sue Rylatt via www.rallyyorkshire.co.uk

The entire event will be based at Pickering Showground which will be the venue for scrutineering, documentation, start and finish, regroup control and central servicing.

No double usage for 2015 Trackrod Forest Stages

Posted: August 1, 2015 4:17 AM

Trackrod Rally Yorkshire features two individual events, the Trackrod Forest Stages and the Trackrod Historic Cup. The overall event will form a round of no less than 14 national and regional championships, with central servicing for all competitors.

The Trackrod Forest Stages will form the penultimate rounds of the MSA English Rally Championship, the REIS/Ravenol BTRDA Rally Series and the Kick Start BTRDA 1400 Championship. The organisers have confirmed that on the Trackrod Forest Stages there will be no double usage of special stages when competitors tackle the very best of the famous Yorkshire forest stages on Saturday 26 September.

The Trackrod Historic Cup (Friday 25/Saturday 26 September) will include the final rounds of the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C Rally Championship. This event will only have one double-use stage, with crews additionally tackling the spectacular Dalby stage in the darkness of Friday evening.

With a capacity entry expected for the Pickering-based event, the organisers have confirmed that the special stages are in very good order. "The condition of gravel special stages is a very important factor for competitors and we have designed our rally so that the vast majority of stages are only used once," said Clerk of the Course Rod Parkin.

With the event less than two months away, regulations will be published in early August and entries will open. With recent events filling up very quickly indeed, the organisers are urging prospective competitors to enter as soon as possible. The provisional date for regulations going live on the event website is Monday 10 August.

With a great deal of focus on the MSA Safety Review more marshals than ever are being sought to help ensure that the rally runs safely and smoothly. Anyone able to support the event is asked to contact Sue Rylatt via www.rallyyorkshire.co.uk

The entire event will be based at Pickering Showground which will be the venue for scrutineering, documentation, start and finish, regroup control and central servicing.

Rally Guide / Website / Details

Posted: July 30, 2015 9:52 AM

• Trackrod Motor Club