Bulldog Historic Rally Report

Just as they had done a year earlier, Nick Elliott and Dave Price stamped their authority on the opening round of the 2010 Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Bulldog Historic Rally (Saturday 27 March).

While Elliott/Price (Ford Escort Mk2) dominated an incredibly strong category three, other key winners were Jonathan Gale/James Whitaker (Sunbeam Tiger) and Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook (Ford Escort Mk1). For the 80-car field, which was packed with quality, the Bulldog delivered a fabulous rally over some of the finest gravel stages in Britain.

Category 1: Gale and the Tiger started favourites to repeat their 2009 Bulldog win in category one, but it was still a challenge as a late change of co-driver left Gale and Whitaker to get used to each other over the opening stages. Meanwhile, Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride set off at a cracking pace in their Porsche 911 and edged ahead before the Mimecast-backed Tiger got into its stride.
"We put softer tyres on for the second loop and it was much better," said Gale of the big push through the long Gartheiniog stage that took the Tiger into the lead. Even a spin on the final stage failed to hinder the Tiger's progress as it finished 37s up on Nutt's Porsche. "The stages were very, very good," said Nutt of a trouble free rally.

A strong class B4 was won by the flying Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gill Cotton after another spectacular performance. "We were matching times with Dessie later," said Waite of his day's work. Leading the chase of the Volvo was the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell, with a gap of just over half a minute at the finish. The sportsmanship of Mankin and Bell allowed a timing query over the class result to be quickly resolved.

In class B1, Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill stormed through in their Sunbeam Imp Sport despite a misfire and a puncture late in the last stage. Some way back, but happy to finish his debut BHRC event, was Simon Whitehead, teamed with Gary Wood in his Hillman Imp.

Category 2: Everyone was hoping for a fine battle in category two between old rivals Jeremy Easson and David Stokes in their Escort Mk1s. Unfortunately Stokes and Guy Weaver were out very early with a blown core plug and so Easson and Alun Cook swept to victory, 36s up on the non-BHRC registered Andrew Haddon/Mark Crisp.

"It's been absolutely fantastic," said Easson of a great day on some epic stages. It was his third category win in three events in his latest car. Chasing the Mk1 Escorts and bagging class C4 was the Porsche 911 of Tim Mason and Graham Wild after a problem free day. "The main target was a finish and that's probably the steadiest rally I've ever driven," said Mason.

Tim Jones and Don James were the top of class C3 with a great run over their local stages in their Escort Mk1, finishing the rally a minute up on the similar car of Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson. Out very early with an engine fire went Drew Wylie/Howard Pridmore.

Class C2 delivered an interesting day, with victory finally going to the non-registered but spectacular Hillman Avenger of Stephen Whitford/Simon Morrow. However, until the final stage, the class lead was with Vince Bristow/Tim Sayer after a mighty run in their Escort. Unfortunately, an off in Dyfnant cost them a couple of minutes and dropped them to second, albeit still with maximum class championship points. Third in C2 went to the Hillman Avenger of Gary and Jane Edgington, as the driver celebrated his 48th birthday. "I paid the entry fee; he's not getting anything else," said Jane of her husband's birthday.

Category 3: Probably the best ever entry for category three promised a great day for the fans in the forests and they were not disappointed. But from the off, no-one could match the pace of Elliott/Price who swept ahead on the opening Big Ray stage and led all the way back to Welshpool with a stunning display of pace and commitment. "I didn't think we were going that quickly," said Elliott after a masterful performance.

Leading the chase was the similar Escort Mk2 of Julian Reynolds/Ian Oakey, but Reynolds accepted that the day belonged to Elliott. "We went too slow this morning and Nick gave us a good hiding," he admitted, although the gap at the finish was just 25s. Third in category three was a fine result for the non-registered Phil Collins/Derek Brannigan, while Richard Hill/Patrick Cooper took fourth in their Escort Mk2. "Cracking stages," said Hill of their rally. "The car was spot on, but the driver was just steady," he added.

Packing out the leading places in Escorts came great performances from Will Onions/Dave Williams and Conor Corkill/Rob Fagg, while Seamus O'Connell/Nigel Gardner deserved better than seventh. However, losing second and third gear through the final two stages cost them a lot of time.

In D4, Rob Smith/Shaun O'Gorman took top slot in their Vauxhall Chevette, with a result that put them among the top 10 Escorts. There was a great battle among a strong D3 entry, as Richard Lane/Frank Richer took the class by just seven seconds from Stuart Clarke/Andy Ballantine in the contest of the Mk2 Escort-Pintos. Into the final Dyfnant stage, Clark was ahead by a second but Lane mounted a big attack and emerged eight seconds faster to grab the class. "It all came together well," said Lane. "Brilliant stages," he added, summing up the feelings of just about every crew on the rally.

Images from the Bulldog Rally

To see the event gallery please click here.

Sykes suffers agonising retirement on C2 R2 debut

Stourbridge rally driver Richard Sykes suffered a disappointing debut event in his Citröen C2 R2 Max last Saturday when engine problems forced him into retirement.

Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor were contesting the Bulldog International Rally of North Wales, the opening round of both the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship and the Citröen Racing Trophy.

The rally got off to a tough start with two stages in the Llanurig area totalling 33 miles. Sykes successfully completed both stages in his Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed car, taking third place in the Citröen Racing Trophy behind two ultra quick Irish crews.

"We didn’t push too much early on, it was our first time driving the new car competitively and it took a few miles to learn the feel of the car," said Sykes.

"I was reasonably pleased to be third in the Citröen Racing Trophy, especially as I was beating my rivals from the Suzuki Swift championship last year and one of the regular C2 competitors."

After a service halt in Welshpool the crews returned to Llanurig for a repeat of the opening two stages. Sykes and Taylor had a excellent second run gaining more confidence in the new car and maintaining third in the Citröens.

The event then moved to the forests around Corris for the remainder of the eight competitive stages. They remained third Citröen in the Big Ray stage but Sykes and Taylor’s rally came to a premature end on the next stage in Dyfi forest.

"The engine threw its oil out in the stage which meant instant retirement for us. I’m not sure exactly what caused it, the digital dash in the car had stopped working so we weren’t able to monitor oil pressure and temperature."

"It’s massively disappointing not to finish the event, I had hoped that the new car would be reliable after the problems we had last year with the Swift but sadly it was not to be."

"I am happy that we were pretty much on the pace in the Citröen Racing Trophy though, we were in third place when we retired which I think is pretty good considering it was our first event in the car and it gives us a base to work on.”

“I am just over a second a mile off the lead so we will work hard for the next event, it is clear I need to step up the game to compete with the new Irish lads. Hopefully we can have a reliable car on the next round and get a decent finish."

Sykes and Taylor will next be in action on the Pirelli rally at the end of April, round two of both the British Rally Championship and Citröen Racing Trophy.

For more information please visit www.gisykes.co.uk.

Peart claims class podium on Bulldog Challenge rally

Burton Pidsea’s Chris Peart enjoyed a successful start to his 2010 BRC Challenge rally championship campaign when he took fourth place overall and second in class on the Bulldog Challenge Rally in his Peart Auto Services Vauxhall Astra.

Peart and co-driver Jamie Forrest made a cautious start to the opening 17 mile stage at the Sweet Lamb rally complex, completing the course in sixth place and fourth in class.

“It was the first time I have driven the car on gravel since last November so it took a few miles to get back into it,” said Peart.

“The opening stage was a long one with plenty of testing slippery sections, we were pleased to get to the finish in sixth.”

After a break for servicing at Welshpool the crews headed to the forests of Dyfi, Pantperthog and Gartheiniog for the remainder of the event’s 50 competitive stage miles.

Peart and Forrest took fifth place on the Big Ray stage before stepping up the pace on the last three stages of the event, claiming fourth place on each of the tests to end up in fourth place overall and second in class as the crews headed back to Welshpool for the rally finish.

“I’m pleased with the result, our aim for the rally was to get a decent haul of points to give us a good start in the BRC Challenge championship and we’ve achieved that with the fourth placed finish.”

“The car performed well and I enjoyed the stages although they were a bit different to the ones in Yorkshire that I usually compete on. It's an excellent start to the season and I'm looking forward to the next round.”

Peart and Forrest will continue their BRC Challenge campaign on the Pirelli rally which takes place at the end of April.

Please visit www.pasmotorsport.co.uk to keep up to date with the team’s championship progress.

Moore makes solid start to BRC Challenge campaign

Rally driver Simon Moore overcame a few car problems on the Bulldog Challenge Rally to claim fifth place overall and third in class in his Renault Clio as well as taking first place in the Hankook Renault Clio Challenge.

After debuting the car on the previous weekend’s Border Counties rally Moore, from East Boldon, and co-driver Emma Morrison were keen to claim a good points finish on the North Wales event which was round one of both the BRC Challenge and the Clio Challenge.

The first of the rally’s five competitive stages saw the crews head to the Sweet Lamb rally complex near Llanurig. Moore and Morrison successfully completed the 17 mile course in fifth overall and third in class.

“The opening stage was very testing, we were pleased to get to the end of it in fifth,” said Moore.

“We had a problem with the brakes, the pedal was going soft which meant we couldn’t push as hard as we’d like. Unfortunately the problem lasted all rally – we’re going to try some different brake fluid on the next event.”

After a service halt in Welshpool the rally moved to the forests around Corris for the remainder of the competitive mileage. Stage two saw Moore and Morrison maintain their fifth place before a good run through the nine miles of the Dyfi stage moved them up to fourth overall and second in class.

Some time was lost in the final Gartheiniog stage when the Clio’s engine started running on three cylinders but despite the problem the crew arrived at the rally finish in a creditable fifth overall and third in class. They also won the Clio Challenge.

“I’m happy with the result, it could’ve been better had we been able to rely on the brakes more but it’s a decent start to our championship campaign.”

“The car has finished two events in two weekends so I’m very pleased with the reliability. The performance is definitely there too, we need to do some development work on the suspension though as the handling could be better. We’re planning to test the car before the next event to try some different springs which will hopefully give us some improvements.”

“With better handling and reliable brakes I am confident we will be on the pace on the next round.”

Moore and Morrison will next be in action on the Carlisle-based Pirelli rally in April.