Brilliant drive nets Wright second on Wyedean rally

Bentham’s David Wright put his disappointing 2012 rally season behind him on the Wyedean Forest rally last weekend when he stormed to second place overall in his  Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-backed GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9. The event was the first in this season’s BTRDA rally championship which Wright intends to contest.

Wright’s rally got off to a frustrating start when he was forced to run in the class for much more powerful world rally cars rather than the B13 class he usually runs in but he used this frustration to good effect as he led the event after the opening four stages.

“The hassle about the class we were in was not an ideal way to start the rally but it made us even more determined to show what we can do,” said Wright. “We set a good time on the opening stage and then started to push harder.  Keeping a good rhythm going in the tricky slippery conditions was the key to a good time and after being fastest in Serridge and Chepstow Park we held a slender lead at service which I was really happy with.”

Wright dropped to third following stage 5, Mailscot, after clipping a rock and bending the front wheel which resulted in a puncture. Despite this handicap he was only 10 seconds slower than the fastest stage time.

The puncture was changed at the end of the stage and Wright drove out of his skin on stage 6 to try and regain the lead. Unfortunately he beat the stage bogey time by 9 seconds so did not move up the order despite being quickest.

A charge through the final Speech House stage saw him overhaul the world rally car of Hugh Hunter to take second place but his time was not quite enough for the win.

“We were so close to taking a victory, those few seconds lost on stage 5 and 6 made all the difference. I’m still extremely happy with second place though, we’ve shown we have the pace to beat the world rally cars and it bodes well for a good season. I can’t wait for the next event!”

Wright’s next event will be round two of the BTRDA championship, the Malcolm Wilson rally, which takes place in Cumbria on 2^nd March.

Image courtesy Simon Clarke

Wright to kick off rally season in Forest of Dean

Bentham's David Wright will start his 2013 rally season next weekend when he contests the Wyedean Forest rally in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-backed GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The Chepstow-based event is the opening round of the BTRDA rally championship which Wright is intending to contest this season.

"I can't wait for the season to start," said Wright. "I'm keen to get the year off to a good start after our disappointing retirement from the Grizedale Stages at the end of last year."

"I enjoy the Forest of Dean stages that the Wyedean uses although I am hoping that conditions will be better than last year when the stages were covered in sheet ice - it becomes a bit of a lottery when we have zero grip."

"Thanks to the support from my sponsors we are starting the year with the aim of contesting the full BTRDA championship. I will be trying to repeat the title win I achieved in 2009."

The rally starts from Chepstow racecourse on Saturday morning with the crews facing tough stages such as Speech House and Serridge.

Rally2Raise team aiming for more success in 2013

After a very successful 2012 where £2,500 was raised for four charities the Rally2Raise project will continue in 2013.

The project, founded by Aberdeen's Rachel Clark, is using motorsport to raise funds and awareness for charitable causes and for this year the Nystagmus Network will once again be supported.

John Sanders of the Nystagmus Network said: "The Nystagmus Network funded research in Leicester University and Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2012. We helped more than 800 people directly by email and phone and thousands more through the support and information on our website.”

“We also published our ‘The Challenge of Nystagmus’ book and wrote a new ‘easy guide to nystagmus’ for teachers. All of these achievements were only possible thanks to the support of Rally2Raise and many other fundraisers and donors. We hope to do a lot more in 2013 and are really pleased that Rally2Raise continues to support us."

In addition Rally2Raise will help raise awareness of the Bottle Stop campaign, a campaign started by Jane Sherriff after her husband tragically died after being attacked and stabbed with a broken glass bottle at a corporate event In London. The aim of the campaign is to ban glass bottles from late night pubs and clubs.

Rally2Raise has already had a great start to the year with the news that the Saltire Rally Club have very generously agreed to continue their support, part of which will involve the Rally2Raise Micra running as course car on the popular Saltire Classic rally in March.

Colin Wallace of the Saltire Rally Club said: "The Saltire Rally Club were delighted to support Rally2Raise in 2012. We look forward to continuing our association in 2013 and contributing to the superb work of the nominated charities.”

Rachel is hoping to compete on selected Scottish Rally Championship events this year but her first event will be running as course car on the E.Watson and Son Coneyhatch rally time trial next Sunday.

Rachel commented: "I'm delighted that Rally2Raise was such a success last year and we are hoping to build on that this year. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported us, we raised far more than I expected and I think the awareness raising, particularly of the lesser known causes such as nystagmus, went really well."

"We have decided to continue to support the Nystagmus Network this year. My son suffers from nystagmus and I want to do all I can to help find a cure for it. We will also help raise awareness for Bottle Stop. Both myself and fellow Rally2Raise team member Katherine have seen the trauma due to glass incidents through our work. Jane has been through her worst nightmare in losing her husband and she has founded Bottle Stop to try and prevent more families from going through that pain. The cause really resonated with us.”

"I can't wait for the season to start, Stonehaven and District Motor Club have kindly let me run as course car on their time trial so that will be a good way to blow away the cobwebs. Hopefully we will be able to run on a few of the Scottish championship rounds again this year but that will depend on funding – if anyone can help with the costs of running the Rally2Raise Micra please get in touch via our website.”

For more information please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or follow the team on Facebook www.facebook.com/rally2raise and Twitter @rally2raise.

Images from the Roger Albert Clark rally

Please click here to see the images.

Wright hoping for Grizedale rally double

Bentham’s David Wright will end his 2012 rally season on Saturday when he contests the Coniston-based Grizedale Stages.

After winning the rally in 2011 he is aiming for another victory on the challenging Cumbrian event this year.

Wright has been out of action since October following a serious hand injury suffered at work which meant he was unable to drive but, although he has not fully recovered, he should be fit enough to return to competition at the weekend in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-backed GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9.

“I’ve not done a rally since the Merrick Stages so it will be good to be back out in the car again,” said Wright. “My hand is still painful but I’ve got most of the movement back into it now so I think I’ll be ok to drive competitively. I’m really looking forward to our final event of the year, Grizedale is always a cracking rally and the stages used are some of my favourites.”

“It is always a very tough event and the forest tracks are very challenging, especially after all the recent wet weather. They are sure to be extremely slippery. It would be great to win the event again but there are some very quick crews entered so it will be difficult. It could all come down to the very long 18 mile stage that ends the rally. Thank you to all my sponsors for their valued support, I hope we can get a good result to round off the year.”

The rally starts from Coniston on Saturday morning with most of the action taking place in Grizedale forest.