Rally North Wales - (Sat) 2 Apr 16

Pritchard makes it two from two in the BHRC

Posted: April 12, 2016 10:56 AM

Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke took their second win of the season on Rally North Wales (Saturday 2 April), the second round of the 2016 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship.

Once again, Pritchard and Clarke traded times with Nick Elliott and Dave Price and it was a chicane in the opening stage that proved central to the final result. Elliott hit the bales and his engine stalled, taking around 20 seconds to restart, while Pritchard was also delayed. After that, the two leading crews traded times and Pritchard went into the final Gartheiniog stage just eight seconds ahead but extended his margin to 21 seconds for a hard-won victory.

Joe Price and Chris Brooks were only half a minute down on the lead with one stage to go, but ran wide on a hairpin near the finish of the final stage and got beached, dropping two minutes in the process. Instead, Matt Edwards and Will Rogers took third in the Opel Kadett of Peter Smith.

"That's another big result on gravel," said Pritchard after arriving back in Dolgellau with a 21s winning margin. He also won the Holton Homes Category K. However, Elliott's spectacular fight back from his stage one delay had closed the gap to just eight seconds heading into the second Gartheiniog stage. But worries over a starter motor that was trying to catch fire on that final nine-mile stage cost Elliott his chance of pulling back any more time on Pritchard. "I pulled back what I could and didn't do too bad to claw some of it back," said Elliott after a tangle with the bales at the second chicane in Dyfi Main stalled the engine. Pritchard, running next on the road, also had to stop at the chicane and pick his way through the damaged bales. Elliott won the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3.

Pritchard ended the stage 16s up and over the next four stages Elliott managed to pull back half of the deficit as the two Escort Mk2 crews set a fantastic pace. From the modern entries, only Luke Francis could better the historic times in his Mitsubishi Evo 9 and the Escorts eclipsed an R5 Fiesta and several WRC cars in the process.

Joe Price and Chris Brooks should have taken third and were within half a minute of Pritchard going into the last stage.
"We ran wide on a hairpin a mile from the finish and lost two minutes," said Price after dropping to tenth. Instead, third went to Matt Edwards and Will Rogers in a guest outing in Peter Smith's Opel Kadett, which ran strongly despite a water- induced misfire.

Paul Barrett and Dai Roberts (Escort Mk2) dropped a minute and a half driving out of the first stage with a puncture, but then set a fabulous pace in their Pinto-powered Escort to fight back from 38th to fourth and first in class D3.
"Big attack on absolutely brilliant stages," said Barrett after turning in one of the drives of the rally. Barrett's fourth place was at the expense of Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis who spent the day chasing the right tyres for the front of the Fiat 131. "We've got to get our heads around it a bit more," said Robinson.

A drive that should have been the sensation of the rally came to an end on stage three when Adam Milner and Roy Jarvis had a gentle roll in their 1600cc cross-flow Escort Mk1. Milner set joint second fastest time in Dyfi Main, his first visit to that particular forest, but ran wide on a 90-right in Gartheiniog and ended up down a bank with little damage. They were out of the rally but their pace was hugely impressive.

Rounding out the top six were Rudi Lancaster and George Gwynn.
"No dramas, it went really well," said Lancaster after a return to Dyfi following an absence of more than 20 years.

A mighty battle raged over seventh place and Capital Construction Category 2 victory. Stanley Orr/Guy Weaver (Escort Mk1) hit a rock in the first Gartheiniog and struggled with a bent damper, while the charging Simon Tysoe/Paul Morris pulled back 11s on the final stage to leave the gap at just six seconds.
"That last stage was awesome," said Tysoe of the deciding nine-miler in Gartheiniog. Ben Friend and Cliffy Simmons chased Orr and Tysoe to make it a thoroughly enjoyable three-way contest. "It was just a great battle all day," said Simmons.

Bob and Dale Gibbons went clear in the Vintage Car Radiator Company Category 1 in their Ford Cortina Mk2 GT.
"Dale was at his best on the notes," said the proud dad, while Bob Bean/Malcolm Smithson (Ford Lotus Cortina) took their class. Phil Harris/Graham Wild (Mini Cooper) got helped out of a final stage ditch to maintain their class B2-winning record. In class C3, Elliot Retalick/Tim Tugwell (Hillman Avenger) took over once Milner's Escort went out and David Hopkins/Tony Vart (Talbot Sunbeam) won class D2 after Chris Skill/Tom Jordan (Escort Mk2) went out on the opening stage with a blown engine.

Notable retirements included Steve Bennett/Iain Tullie with a failed coil, Tim Freeman/Paul Williams who upended their Escort and Neil Williams/Peter James with a broken halfshaft on the opening stage.

Rally North Wales was organised by the Wolverhampton and South Staffs Motor Club.

Francis and Pritchard take Rally North Wales glory

Posted: April 12, 2016 9:32 AM

Luke Francis takes the modern victory with Jason Pritchard taking the Historic category win

Two of the most popular rally championships in the country joined together at this year's North Wales Rally Services - Rally North Wales and produced two new names to be engraved onto winners on the trophy of Saturdays (2nd April) event. Jason Pritchard, co-driven by Phil Clarke took the honours of the National A event for the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship crews in his Ford Escort MK2 with Luke Francis and John H Roberts taking the National A event win and maximum points in the Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship in his Mitsubishi E9.

With almost identical weather to the 2015 event, this year's Dolgellau based rally took place with torrential rain flooding the area during the day. The 120 competitors who started the Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club organised event would undoubtedly be faced with challenging conditions across the 45 competitive stage miles in the Gartheiniog and Dyfi forests; standing water being the main complaint of the day.

The National B event was set to contest five of the six stages planned and Rhuddlan's Luke Francis dominated throughout. As car 1 was retired from the event in memory of David Stokes who recently passed away, the number 2 seed of Francis started perfectly with a fastest time on all three of the first leg stages. Despite a lack of anti-lag on the Mitsubishi, Francis was never headed all day long and lead from start to finish, returning to the finish at Gwyndaf Evans Motors in Dolgellau to spray the champagne and taking maximum points in the Welsh Championship to boot.

"Its certainly been a challenging day" said Francis at the finish. "We have had to battle against the rain, standing water and the car today so it's been a tough event all round. The lads did a great job to fix the anti-lag issues at service and I'm pleased with how we went considering we had only entered the rally as a test. The stages were great though and we had a good day considering the weather!"

After closest challengers Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh retired at the halfway halt due to driveshaft issues, the Ford Escort Mk2 crew of Ieuan Rowlands and Emyr Hall returned a fantastic performance to finish second behind Francis, by just over a minute. Andy Davies and Max Freeman battled with the rear brakes locking up on the Subaru Impreza to take third place; their strongest result to date.

BTRDA Rally Championship regular Boyd Kershaw and Mark Fisher took fourth in their Ford Escort MK 2 with Andrew Jones and Dale Furniss mixing with the leading crews in fifth. A performance made more impressive by the fact their Ford Escort Mk2 is a near standard road rally specification example, allowing them to dominate class 3B in the process.

The battle for the National A event honours was not quite so simple however which was dominated by competitors in the British Historic Championship. Builth Wells resident Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke took the early blood on the first stage from Ludlow's Joe Price/Chris Brooks. Pre event favourite Nick Elliott/Dave Price encountered a bale early on and the car would not restart, costing last year's category winner over 30 seconds in the process.

However normal service was resumed for Elliott on the second test, clawing four seconds back on Pritchard. The next two stages returned a tit-for-tat battle between the duo and Elliott began a chargeback as the weather started to abate, slightly. They headed into the final stage with just eight seconds separating the pairing with Price in third. But, Pritchard upped his game and took 13 seconds out of Elliott, taking his first Rally North Wales victory. Elliott took a well-deserved second after his problems earlier in the day.

"It's been a real shame that is was so wet today but the action out on the stages has been fantastic" said a jubilant Pritchard. "It was a great battle between Nick and I all day long and we have been swapping times pretty much every stage. It certainly would have been close if it wasn't for his SS1 issue so it's shaping up to be a great fight for the rest of the year".

Third in the National A event went to David Howells and Robin Hernaman, who climbed from sixth in their Subaru Impreza after a slow start. Brendan Cumiskey and Gerry McVeigh brought the glorious Ford Fiesta R5 over from Ireland in a bid for seat time and duly bagged fourth as he continues to learn the car. Matt Edwards and Will Rogers took fifth in the "borrowed" Opel Kadett and third in the Historic honours.

The event was also a round of the formidable Land Rover Defender Challenge by Bowler Motorsport and Edd Cobley/John Tomley continued their round 1 winning ways with a dominant victory by almost four minutes from Christian Fermont/Peter Janssens. Andrew Craig and Trevor Cattle took third just over a minute behind and the Defender series provided a thrilling spectacle for those who braved the conditions in the Welsh forests.

83 competitors managed to complete the route which utilised some of the stages used on the WRC finale, Wales Rally GB. As well as the national series', the event also formed a round of the ASWMC Loose Surface Stage Rally Championship and ANWCC Forest Stage Rally Championship.

Results

Posted: April 12, 2016 7:11 AM

Rally North Wales - (Sat) 2 Apr 16 - NATIONAL A RESULTS
Rally North Wales - (Sat) 2 Apr 16 - NATIONAL B RESULTS

Results on Line | Results by: Tynemouth Computer Services Rally Results

Bumper entry for popular Rally North Wales

Posted: March 31, 2016 9:25 AM

The 2016 North Wales Rally Services - Rally North Wales has received a bumper entry as over 120 crews head to Dolgellau for the popular April 2nd event. After running a successful and revised format in 2015, the Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club organised event will see competitors tackle a one-day blast through classic Welsh stages such as Dyfi and Gartheiniog, hosting the battle for a series of top-line championships.

Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship contenders return to Rally North Wales once again this year and are joined by the spectacular Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship runners for the first time. The Defender Challenge by Bowler Motorsport is another new inclusion and they will certainly provide some great entertainment towards the rear of the field. The ANWCC Forest Rally Championship and ASWMC Loose Surface Championship also return for 2016.

Organisers have retired the coveted ?car 1? from the event in memory of popular rally driver and long-time club supporter David Stokes who recently lost his battle with cancer. This means Rhuddlan's Luke Francis and co-driver John H Roberts will head the field away from Gwyndaf Evans Motors at car two on Saturday morning in his rapid Mitsubishi Evo 9. BTRDA Rally series regulars Stephen Simpson and Patrick Walsh will certainly be hot on the heels of Francis in their Fiesta S2000 at three.

Brendan Cumiskey/Gerry Mc Veigh will make the long trip over from Ireland to gain forest mileage in his new Fiesta R5 and starts at number four seed. Taking maximum Welsh Championship points on the Mid Wales Stages earlier in the month, Llanon's Dylan Davies is at five with new co-driver Mark Glennerster in his Subaru Impreza. Paul Davy/Roger Allen start at six and head the class eight runners for Group N ? showroom spec machinery.

Heading up the Mintex MSA British Historic Championship crews is last year's category winners Nick Elliot/Dave Price in their Ford Escort Mk2 at car seven with Builth Wells challenger Jason Pritchard at eight in his RS1800, accompanied by Phil Clarke. Shropshire's Joe Price/Chris Brooks round off the top 10 in their similar machine.

Edd Cobley and John Tomley lead away the Defender Challenge by Bowler Motorsport crews as they look to build on their round one win at the Mid Wales Stages.

Spectators will have plenty of opportunity to watch the cars in action throughout the day, as well as at close quarters in the service area and start/finish venues. The first car will leave the start line at Gwyndaf Evans Motors, Dolgellau on Saturday 2nd April at 09:00. To view the action, spectators can head to Geoff Jones Motorsport Dyfi for stage one at 09:35 and four at 13:10. You can also catch the action at Jordan Road Surfacing Big Ray for SS2 at 09:50 and SS5 at 13:30.

At a much slower pace, cars will be arriving at the Rally Marketing Service Park which is located at the Farmers Mart, Bala Road in Dolgellau from around 11:15.

Crews who have successfully completed the route will arrive at the finish at Gwyndaf Evans Motors at around 14:30.

All the news from the event will be updated via the Rally North Wales social media feeds:

www.facebook.com/rallynorthwales
www.twitter.com/rallynorthwales

You can also tune into Rally FM for updates online at http://www.spreaker.com/show/the_rallyfm_net_show

Pritchard heads BHRC to Rally North Wales

Posted: March 31, 2016 9:25 AM

The 2016 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship continues this Saturday (2 April) with round two, Rally North Wales. Another excellent historic field will tackle the glorious stages of the Dyfi forest complex in mid-Wales.

The Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club promotes the MSA BHRC under a five-year contract and 2016 is the second year of that agreement. The calendar covers six gravel and two asphalt rallies, with a double-header on the Isle of Man in September to make nine rounds. The team at Special Stage will film all eight events and produce hour-long programmes to give the BHRC some of the best TV exposure in British rallying.

Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke got their season off to a perfect start with victory on the opening round, the Red Kite Historic Stages in late February. On a day of strong winds, persistent rain and, at times, thick fog Pritchard and Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2) never put a wheel wrong and took maximum points to open their title defence in style.

However, this was no easy win as Nick Elliott and Dave Price ran neck-and-neck for the lead despite their Escort Mk2 stalling on the opening stage. It was still very close for the lead until it happened again on the second run through Crychan and the engine refused to restart for around 15 seconds. While Pritchard could afford a measured approach in the final Caio stage, Elliott attacked to grab second place back from the impressive Joe Price and Chris Brooks (Escort Mk2). Elliott was the historic winner on the 2015 Rally North Wales and will be eager to repeat that result this weekend.

Stanley Orr and Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) won a Category 2 battle that had raged all day. Category 1 was also settled on the final stage of the Red Kite as Bob and Dale Gibbons (Ford Cortina Mk2) emerged for victory when the chasing Bob Bean and Malcolm Smithson had an electrical failure stop their Lotus Cortina.

While Pritchard/Clarke won the Holton Homes Category K, Elliott/Price won the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3 and immediately marked themselves as the two crews to beat for this year's BHRC crown.

Price turned in a cracking performance to show this he is now one of the BHRC pacesetters, but equally impressive was Irish ace Paul Barrett with Welsh co-driver Dai Roberts who drove their Pinto-powered Escort with big commitment to finish a tremendous class-winning fourth overall, well in touch with the top three. Ben Friend and Cliff Simmons will head the class D3 challenge on Barrett.

Steve Bennett is getting ever closer to the head of the pack and, with M-Sport's Ian Tullie on the notes, he took fifth overall on the final stage when a steering problem cost the Fiat 131 of Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis half a minute. Despite the late issue, the pace of the Fiat on its first BHRC event was impressive and Robinson will aim to capitalise on that pace on Rally North Wales.

Only 20 seconds split the next four crews on the Red Kite and that battle will be rejoined on Rally North Wales. Simon Webster and Jez Rogers just beat Rudi Lancaster and George Gwynn, while Orr/Weaver took the Capital Construction Category 2 with ninth overall. Neil Williams and Peter James wrapped up the top 10 overall in their Escort Mk2.

The Gibbons father and son took the Vintage Car Radiator Company Category 1 but it was set for a tight finish as heading for the second run through Caio, the gap to Bean/Smithson was only 11s.

In class C2, a stand-out performance came from Adam Milner and Roy Jarvis who put their 1600cc Escort Mk1 into 13th overall on the driver's first rally in Wales. Incredibly, they only had one stage free of a persistent misfire and could be even faster this weekend. Milner finished one place down on class C5 winners Simon Tysoe and Paul Morris who had a good day in their Escort Mk1.

In Category 3, Chris Skill and Tom Jordan (Ford Escort Mk2) topped the 1600cc division despite suffering two punctures. Class D4 fell to Guy Anderson and new co-driver Steven Davey (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus) who had a good day as they got used to the new partnership.

The new pairing of Phil Harris and Graham Wild (Mini Cooper) added to Harris' remarkable run of class B2 wins with another victory despite tough conditions for the Mini and will aim for more of the same on Rally North Wales.

The rally will be based in Dolgellau with the central service area at the Farmers' Market. The first car will start at 9am on Saturday and return to the finish at around 2.30pm.

Rally North Wales, which is backed by North Wales Rally Services, is organised by the Wolverhampton and South Staffs Car Club. For more details about the event please visit www.rallynorthwales.co.uk.

Seeded Entry List

Posted: March 31, 2016 9:24 AM

Rally North Wales - (Sat) 2 Apr 16 - SEEDED ENTRY LIST

Rally North Wales filling fast

Posted: March 10, 2016 4:51 AM

The entry list for the second round of the 2016 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, Rally North Wales (Saturday 2 April) is filling fast.

BHRC crews are being urged to enter as quickly as possible to secure a place on what promises to be a superb event in the classic Dyfi and Gartheiniog forest complexes.

Already more than 100 entries have been received and more are coming in every day, so the event's maximum entry is likely to be reached well before the closing date.

Nearly 50 BHRC crews are already entered but there are more registered contenders not yet showing on the entry list.

Rally North Wales offers classic stages for all

Posted: February 24, 2016 10:02 AM

North Wales Rally Services - Rally North Wales aims to build on 2015 success After a successful return to the British Rallying calendar in 2015, this year's North Wales Rally Services - Rally North Wales on April 2nd is all set to go one better with the inclusion of a series of top-line rally championships. The Dolgellau based event has attracted the attentions of the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the crowd pleasing series will join returnees from the ever popular Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship.

Regulations for the Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire Car Club organised event have been released this week and competitors can look forward to some of the "best stages in the world" according to nine time world Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb. The all-gravel event takes in stages utilised by the final round of the World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB and organisers have provided a compact six-stage route in the Dyfi and Gartheiniog forest complex.

Organisers admit last year's event was a "toe in the water" exercise for the team and providing a cost effective format coupled with world class stages certainly proved popular with the 99 crews who took part. In fact, the event attracted many impressive entries from the likes of David Bogie in his new Fiesta R5+, Norwegian Martin Berglund in the Mitsubishi Mirage R5 and event World Rally star Elfyn Evans who debuted the all new Fiesta R2T under the M-Sport banner.

With the experienced gained from last year's event, the organising team have devised an equally thrilling route to entertain both competitors and spectators. "We really started from the ground up last year and tried several new things which were perhaps a little risky" said Clerk of the Course Richard Hinton. "So we have managed to take the good bits and make them better to give everyone a fantastic days rallying on some classic Welsh stages. It's an honour to be joined by the Mintex MSA British Rally Championship and of course we are delighted to welcome back the Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship. The ANWCC Forest Rally Championship and REIS ASWMC Loose Surface Championships also return to the event. The Defender Challenge by Bowler Motorsport is another new inclusion on the event and they will certainly provide some great entertainment towards the rear of the field".

The signs are looking good on the stages as well. "We have completed several route surveys over the last few months and the stages are looking in fantastic condition" he says. "They really should suit everyone whether in a World or Historic Rally car. We have two events running during the day, a National A event for the MSA BHRC and Defender contenders with 49 miles on offer and a 41 mile National B event for remaining crews. It should be a great days rallying for everyone."

The event regulations are now available and you can also enter online from the event website:

Entries Received

Posted: February 19, 2016 8:27 AM

Available at:

www.rallies.info/webentry/2016/northwales/

On Line Entry / Regulations

Posted: December 18, 2015 5:35 AM

• Rally North Wales
• Wolverhampton & South Staffs Car Club (Bulldog Rally)