Cristofaro and Morrison take Spring Rally Stages podium

Junior 1000 rally driver Nick Cristofaro from Milford Haven took third place on last weekend’s Spring Rally Stages event despite a persistent problem which meant his Nissan Micra’s top speed was severely restricted.

The two-day event was held at Sculthorpe airfield in Norfolk and it was round two of the Junior 1000 championship, a series of events for drivers aged 14-17.

Cristofaro and co-driver Emma Morrison’s event got off to a troubled start, the car would not go over 60mph in the high speed parts of the course where rival crews were hitting over 80.

“It was a frustrating start, we tried changing various parts such as the distributor and throttle bodies each time we came into service but it had no effect,” said Cristofaro.

“We pushed as hard as we could in the twisty parts of the stage but we lost a lot of time on the straights.”

Despite the problem Cristofaro and Morrison held third place after four stages at the end of the opening day.

The car troubles continued into day two and the lack of top speed saw the Micra crew drop to fourth after the sixth stage. Continued efforts were made in service to identify the problem and just before the final stage a fault in the electrical system was found and fixed.

Cristofaro and Moore started the last stage of the rally 12 seconds behind the third placed crew but with the car now in good health the stops were pulled out and the crew clawed back the deficit and made it to the podium.

“Although third is a decent result it is disappointing that we had the car troubles. Our time on the last stage was over 40 seconds faster than we’d been with the problem so I think we could’ve been challenging for victory had we had a clear run.”

“Hopefully now that the car is running well we will be able to fight for the win at the next event. Thanks to all those who helped us in service trying to sort out the problem.”

The next round of the Junior 1000 championship takes place at the end of April with Anglesey race circuit the venue for the Lee Holland Memorial Rally.

Sutcliffe returns with improved Bowler for BCCC

Norfolk driver Dean Sutcliffe will once again contest the Britpart BCCC MSA British Cross Country Championship in 2010.

The AMEC project manager will be using his familiar Bowler Vengimaroda but after a number of changes to the car he is hoping to be on the pace of the higher powered Bowlers of his competitors.

“The ever committed service crew have spent most weekends working on the car, travelling from Lancashire and Yorkshire to help me out,” said Sutcliffe.

“We’ve done a lot of work on the drivetrain shafts and diffs and we’ve also reworked the suspension. We have been working with Milner Off Road on the shock settings and spring rates to improve the handling of the car”.

“We’re hoping to have a new Rover 4.6 litre engine in the car in time for round two which will give us some more power. We’ve built the engine ourselves using tuning parts from RPI Engineering of Norwich”.

Due to work commitments Sutcliffe was only able to compete on three rounds last year but he is hopeful of a full season this year.

“We’re intending to contest all the rounds and the aim is to score plenty of points and enjoy every mile that we do.”

“For me the BCCC provides the whole package for a brilliant weekend. You get two days racing, excellent organisation, timing, catering and medical staff. You even get flapjack from Debbie Difflock when you break down in the course!”

“It’s more or less like having an extended family that you don’t see for ages and then you all get together at the events. There is some real driving talent in the championship and characters who will remain nameless or should that be shameless!”.

“The events have good mileage and the courses have something for everyone. We use AT control tyres so we’re doing our bit to minimise the environmental impact of our sport as well.”

Sutlcliffe’s BCCC campaign will kick off at round one on the weekend of 17/18th April.

6R4 duo set for Cross Country challenge

Rally fans are in for a treat this year as two MG Metro 6R4 replicas are set to contest the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship.

Resplendent in the old works Computervision colour scheme the car of Whitworth’s Phil Ibbotson has contested the championship for the last three years and has always been popular with spectators.

"We get plenty of people asking questions about the car, I think the colours give people a sense of nostalgia for the Group B days", said Ibbotson.

"The 6R4 was my favourite car from that era of rallying so when I decided to build my own off-roader I chose to make it look like the works Metros."

"Although it looks like a 6R4 from the outside underneath the body panels it’s completely different. The car is based around a Gordon Monaghan built space frame and we’ve got a 3.0 litre BMW M3 engine and six-speed sequential gearbox running through a transfer box, with BMW 7-series diffs completing the transmission.”

“Myself and navigator Will Jefferson thoroughly enjoyed last year’s championship and we’re looking forward to competing again.”

Joining Phil this year will be Ivan Dudley and David Rendle in their 6R4 which has recently been completed. Their car also has a BMW engine but it is the 3.2 litre version of the M3 power unit.

“Ivan has always built his cars and has competed in safaris, hill rallys and, most recently, in the French Tout Terrain championship”, said Rendle.

“The car has a full space frame and power goes through a Quaife 5 speed box and self-made transfer box. We’ve got inboard Hi-Spec brakes and Fox shocks for the suspension.”

“2010 will be an installation season for us, we’ve been away from racing for a while due to the car being built and we need to get into the groove again and allow time for the car to settle down and to iron out any problems.”

“Our aim is to try and finish all the events and get in the top ten. Having watched a few events last year we know we are sure to enjoy the racing this year.”

Both cars will compete on all six rounds of the BCCC kicking off with round one near Ashby de la Zouch on the weekend of 17/18th April.

Macleod ready for BCCC return

Great Dunmow driver Greg Macleod will return to the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship this season to try and improve on his excellent eighth place overall in the 2009 series.

After using a Maxtraction Tomcat 100 and his own Bowler Nemesis last year Greg is hoping to have a new car ready for round 1 of the BCCC.

“We have a new M3-powered Milner supported by John Cockburn which will hopefully be ready for round one. If not then we’ll be in one of our RallyRaid cars,” said Macleod.

“I’ve avoided spending the off season tinkering with the car as I have been busy trying to get fit – I am running the London marathon the week after round one! The marathon is in aid of Macmillan cancer relief, any donations would be gratefully received at www.justgiving.com/Gregmacrun”

“Ollie Ford will once again be the calming influence in the passenger seat and as well as the BCCC I’m aiming to do some Bajas and the Shamrock Rally in Morocco in my Bowler.”

Round one of the BCCC takes place near Ashby de la Zouch on 17/18th April.

Team Morrison launch new website

BRC Challenge rally crew Team Morrison have launched a new website to document their 2010 rally season.

The team consists of driver George Morrison and co-driver David Jones, who are contesting the BRC Challenge in their Peugeot 205, together with team manager Emma Morrison who is also competing in the Challenge with Renault Clio driver Simon Moore.

The new website can be seen at www.team-morrison.co.uk and it features news, profiles and photographs. It will be updated after each BRC Challenge round.