Another gravity bike podium for Greaves

Worlaby-based British Gravity Bike championship racer Justin Greaves continued his good start to his debut season with third overall at the recent Coleby Downhill Challenge in Lincolnshire.

A newly resurfaced road made conditions very testing for the riders with loose gravel increasing the risk of sliding off the course. Greaves had a good Saturday practice session and was setting some very quick times to set him up for the actual race on Sunday.

Torrential rain on Saturday evening meant that the course was very damp for the opening runs on Sunday but, as several other riders crashed, Greaves had a successful start to the day, setting second fastest time on one run and lying in third overall. 

Sadly the rain starting falling heavily again and, although he was able to complete his runs, Greaves was unable to improve his times as the course became progressively more slippery.

"I'm pretty pleased with another third place," said Greaves. "It's a bit disappointing that the rain meant that I was unable to improve my time, especially as I finished just 0.16 seconds off second place." 

"It was a good course, the bikes were touching 50mph going over the finish where the road was bumpy, it made for an exciting ride."

Round 3 of the championship takes place next weekend at Penn House in Buckingham before the Greaves' home event in Worlaby on 10th July.

Rally driver Wright set to join the stars at Festival of Speed

Bentham’s David Wright will join some of the best known names in world motorsport next weekend when he drives his GPM and Grove Hill Garage-supported Ford Focus WRC at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. 

It is the fifth time Wright has been invited to take part in the event by Lord March and his car will be one of several representing the International Rally Drivers Club. 

Joining Wright on the rally stage will be the likes of World Rally Championship driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who will be setting the pace in his VW Polo WRC, and former British champion Russell Brookes in a Talbot Sunbeam. 

The event isn’t just about rallying though, it also features a hill climb course which will be tackled by the drivers from various motorsport disciplines including Formula 1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. 

“It’s an honour to be invited to drive at the event again,” said Wright. “The Festival of Speed is the most prestigious event on the UK’s motoring calendar and to be able to be at the same venue as world championship level drivers from all sorts of motorsport is fantastic.” 

“We’re planning on doing several runs of the rally stage over the course of the Festival. It will be interesting to see how our times compare to a current World Rally Championship star in a latest specification car.” 

The event runs from Friday to Sunday with a crowd of over 150,000 people attending over the three days.

Images from BCCC Forrest Estate 2016

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Wright aiming for more success on Plains rally

Bentham’s David Wright is aiming for more success next weekend when he contests the Plains rally in his Kumho Tyres and Grove Hill Garage-backed Ford Focus WRC.

On his last outing, the Malcolm Wilson rally in Cumbria, Wright finished second overall after a final stage driveshaft failure cost him a victory so his ultimate aim is to go one better on the Plains.

“Second was a great result but we were so near to getting the win,” said Wright. “It was very disappointing to have the problem, especially as we were so near to the finish.”

“The Plains will be a tough event, the stages are very fast and there are some huge drops if you get it wrong. It will be difficult to get a win as we’re up against some much more modern cars than our Focus but we’ll give it our best shot.”

“My co-driver Steve Pugh has a lot of experience of the stages used on the event so that will be a great help. Thanks to GPM, Grove Hill Garage, Kumho Tyres, Proflex and Drenth for their help and support.”

The rally, which is a round of the BTRDA championship, starts from Welshpool and the crews will face several stages in Dyfi and Gartheiniog forests.

Images from BCCC 2016 Bovington North

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