Harry hungry for success on Somerset Stages

Bangor on Dee rally driver Harry Morgan will resume his BTRDA RF1000 championship campaign next weekend when he contents the Somerset Stages event with co-driver James Ford.

After making his rally debut late in 2010 Morgan is contesting the full BTRDA championship this year in his Nissan Micra. His season got off to an excellent start with third in class on the opening round, the Wyedean Forest Rally, but there was disappointment on round two in Cumbria when distributor failure robbed Morgan of the chance of another good result.

"We had a fantastic start to the season with my first ever podium finish," said Morgan. "The little Micra was even beating some of the more powerful 1400cc cars."

"We were competitive again on the Malcolm Wilson Rally which was round two, once again we were in third but sadly we had the problem with the car which forced us out of the event."

Despite the non-finish Morgan presently lies fifth in the RF1000 class for near-standard 1.0 litre cars and he is keen to build on that position in Somerset. The car has been stripped down and repaired and a new exhaust has been fitted.

"The car seems to be running a lot sweeter now and I’m all set for the trip to Somerset. My aim is to try and get into the top three again and get a good haul of points to make up for the retirement on the last round."

"I’ve never competed in Somerset before so all the stages will be new to me. I’m particularly looking forward to getting experience of competition driving on tarmac as the rally will use the Porlock Hill toll road as part of the route."

The event kicks off on Saturday morning from Minehead with the bulk of the competitive mileage in the surrounding forests. Please visit www.harryrally.co.uk for all the latest news and pictures.

Wright aiming to get championship back on track in Somerset

Bentham’s David Wright is looking to get his BTRDA rally championship campaign back on track next weekend when he contests round three of the championship, the Somerset Stages.

After a good start to the year on the opening round in the Forest of Dean where he claimed fourth place Wright suffered disappointment on last month’s Malcolm Wilson Rally when a stone holed the oil filter on his GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9, forcing him out of the event.

Post-rally checks found that the engine was badly damaged and it required a rebuild which has meant a lot of work to try and get the car ready for the Minehead-based event.

“We’ve just got the engine back from being rebuilt so it’s going to be a mad rush to get it in the car and remapped,” commented Wright. “The guys are GPM are working hard to get everything sorted and I’m confident we’ll be ready in time”.

Wright has a good record on the Somerset Stages and he took third overall and first in class in his Proflex, Drenth, Kumho Tyres and Grove Hill Garage-backed car last year.

“I’m looking forward to the event, we’ve shown this year that we have the pace to push the WRC cars so I am hopeful of another good result, we’ll be aiming to be on the podium again.”

The rally starts from Minehead on Saturday morning with the action taking place both in the surrounding forests and the tarmac of the Porlock Hill toll road.

KC Rally Team - testing and debut event gallery

Images of Becky Kirvan's Ford Fiesta ST in it's new KC livery, please click here to see the gallery.

Cristofaro overcomes gearbox problems to maintain championship positions

Rally driver Nick Cristofaro, from Milford Haven, battled gearbox problems all day on the Bulldog International Rally but he came away from a difficult event with a good haul of points to maintain both his fifth position in the British Rally Championship (BRC) Formula 2 standings and second in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy (FST).

Cristofaro and co-driver Rob Fagg were contesting the Welshpool-based event in their TEG Sport-run Ford Fiesta ST with support from Pirelli, Genpower UK, Autoglym, Millers Oils, Nicky Grist and Cut In Edge and their rally commenced with the Llangywer and Penllyn stages near Bala. The gearbox problems started in stage one with the car jumping out of second gear meaning that Cristofaro had to drive one-handed on the tight corners so he could hold the gear lever in position.

Despite the problem he completed the opening stages 7th in class and 5th in the Fiestas, positions which were maintained over the next two stages before the crews headed to a service halt back in Welshpool.

“I was quite pleased with our position early on as we lost a lot of time in the tight and twisty parts of the stages with having to hold the car in gear,” said Cristofaro. “Conditions were pretty tricky in some of the stages with the opening tests being particularly slippery.”

The rally then moved to the forests of Gartheiniog and Dyfi for two loops of three stages. Cristofaro continued his battle with the other Fiesta crews and with two stages to go he had moved to within one second of third place. Unfortunately further gearbox problems prevented him from pushing for a podium position.

“We had high hopes of getting up to third in the Fiestas but in the penultimate stage I was coming down through the gears and the lever got stuck in third. There was nothing I could do to free it so we had to drive the last two stages in third gear which was very tough.”

“It was a difficult day for me but I kept fighting the problems and it’s great to get some valuable championship points to keep us in fifth on the Formula 2 leaderboard and second in the Fiestas”

Nicks BRC and FST campaigns will continue with the Pirelli International Rally at the end of the month.

Please visit www.nickcristofaro.co.uk for further information.

Becky takes third in class on KC Rally Team debut

Burton Pidsea rally driver Becky Kirvan debuted her new KC Rally Team Ford Fiesta ST last weekend on the Bulldog Challenge event in Wales, taking third in class on a very tough rally which tested both car and crew to the maximum.

After a ceremonial start in Welshpool town centre on Friday evening the competitive action of the opening BRC Challenge championship round kicked off on Saturday morning with the Penllyn stage near Bala. Heavy rain in the hours before the rally had made the forest tracks treacherous and conditions were not ideal for Becky to get used both to a new car and new co-driver Kaz Watts.

"The course was extremely slippery on the first stage, it was like driving on ice in places", said Becky. "We took a cautious approach and got to the finish of the stage without any major problems."

The crews headed to the Dyfnant stage next which was followed by the popular Woodyard spectator stage. Becky continued to build her confidence in the KC, Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Bardahl Oils, Rally4Real, Songasport and Peart Auto Services-backed Fiesta and she had a good run through both tests to lie third in class.

"I enjoyed the Woodyard stage, it’s not very long but there are always loads of spectators there which really adds to the atmosphere of the event. I liked getting the car airbourne at the finish line jump as well although we didn't have it marked as a jump in the notes so it was a bit unexpected!"

After a service halt in Welshpool Becky faced the daunting Gartheiniog stage which, at nearly 16 miles long, was the longest she has ever undertaken in her rally career. With the tracks drying and her knowledge of the car improving Becky enjoyed a clear run through the stage which saw many fellow competitors crash out or suffer terminal mechanical problems.

The event ended with two stages in Dyfi forest which Becky completed with no problems and she maintained her third in class as the crews crossed the finish line back at Welshpool.

"I’m delighted to get a finish on my first event in the Fiesta, it was a very tough rally and I still have a lot of learning to do as the new car is hugely different to my old one. I'm now looking to build on the experience I have gained on this event."

"My main priority for the rally was to get to the end in one piece and I’m pleased to have achieved that. Thanks to all my sponsors for providing the support which let me do the event – it was great to see Mark Conway from KC cheering me on in the stages!"

Becky will next be in action on the Pirelli Challenge event which is based in Carlisle and takes place at the end of April.

Please visit www.beckykirvan.co.uk or www.facebook.com/beckykirvanrallying to keep up to date with all the latest news and photos from the KC Rally Team.