Moore overcomes driveshaft problem to claim Challenge finish

East Boldon rally driver Simon Moore overcame driveshaft failure with his Renault Clio Cup on Jim Clark Challenge Rally to claim 15th overall and ninth in class.

Moore and co-driver Emma Morrison made a great start to their event taking third place on the opening stage which took place around the spectator-packed streets of Duns in Scotland.

Disaster was to strike on the second stage though, the Clio suffered a broken driveshaft four miles into the 15 mile stage. With the rally taking place over two days and the cars being allowed to be fixed overnight a determined Moore and his service crew did not give up hope of being out on day two and several hours of hard work saw the car finally fixed at 2am.

"I was completely gutted when the driveshaft went," said Moore. "The first stage of the rally went brilliantly and I was delighted to be in third, especially as we still don’t have the correct suspension for the car."

"Stage two started well too and we were pushing hard to keep at the top end of the leaderboard but part way through the stage the shaft broke and our hopes of a good result were over."

"We limped 11 miles through the stage losing nearly seven minutes to the leaders and got the car back to the overnight halt location. Although we were all very disappointed we decided to try and fix the car and take a 10 minute penalty rather than pack up and go home and we eventually got it sorted at 2am – huge thanks to everyone who helped!"

With the Clio back in good health and nothing to lose Moore decided to go for it on the four stages of day two. Such was his pace that he caught the car in front on the first stage of the day. Despite this he claimed third fastest time.

The second stage of the day was cancelled due to an accident but Moore maintained his pace on the third stage, Eccles, once again claiming third fastest time even though he bent a front strut. The rally ended with the 12 miles of Swinton, a tricky stage with some very high speed jumps. Moore didn’t back off and despite having to reverse on a hairpin and also clipping a large hay bale he stopped the clocks just 1.1 seconds behind rally winner Richard Archer to take second fastest on the stage.

Despite his excellent showing on day two the 17 minutes lost on day one was too much to overcome and Moore was unable to make a challenge to the leading crews.

"Day two was brilliant, I thoroughly enjoyed it and the car was going really well. It makes the day one problems all the more frustrating though as without them I think we would’ve been able to get a top three finish which would have kept us in touch in the BRC Challenge championship."

With their BRC Challenge championship hopes now all but over Moore is going to concentrate on developing the Clio for more speed and he will upgrade some components to match his rivals. He will miss the next BRC Challenge round, the Rally Isle of Man in July, as his wife is due to give birth.

Image courtesy Jakob Ebrey Photography

Sykes aims for change of fortune on Jim Clark International Rally

Rally driver Richard Sykes, from Stourbridge, is hoping for a change of fortune on next weekend’s Jim Clark International Rally after crashing out while leading the previous Citröen Racing Trophy round in Cumbria.

Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor will contest the event in their Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed Citröen C2 R2 Max. In a change from the previous two rounds, which were held on gravel forest tracks, the Jim Clark event will take place entirely on closed public roads in the Duns area of Berwickshire with competition taking place over 134 miles of stages.

"I was extremely pleased with our pace on the previous round, we were leading the Citröen Racing Trophy after three stages, seven seconds up on the second-placed crew," said Sykes.

"On the fourth stage, the opening of the second day, I wanted to take time of my nearest rival over the first two stages to increase the lead and win the physiological battle. All was on course as I gave it 100% and came out of the blocks at absolute maximum, but a tricky fast right hander saw me just go slightly wide and get onto the looser gravel which dragged me off the road at 90 mph into the scenery. Although I was disappointed with the retirement, I was very happy to have been leading the event overnight and this will give us a great boost going into the next event.”

"My aim for the Jim Clark is to build on the pace we showed on the last round and hopefully get a good finish with a decent haul of championship points. I haven’t driven the car yet as the repair has taken all the time available between the events, but massive thanks to M I S Insurance and Jam Motorsport for their efforts in getting the car back to pristine condition.”

"We will have to use the shakedown as our first tarmac test and the first loop of stages will be a massive learning curve but we’ll have to go hard as we dare as it is sure to be close at the top of the leader board."

“My competitors have all got many tarmac miles under their belt, especially the Irish lads who have been competing in the Irish Citröen championship, but as ever I shall give it my utmost to compete. With the Jim Clark being the first of three tarmac rounds in the championship I’m sure we will get quicker and quicker with every mile.”

The rally kicks off from Duns at 7pm on Friday night with the crews finishing the first leg in Kelso around midnight. The second day starts from Kelso racecourse with the successful crews enjoying the podium finish back in Duns.

Please visit http://www.gisykes.co.uk/ to keep up to date with all the latest news and photographs.

Image courtesy Jakob Ebrey Photography

Peart to resume championship challenge on Jim Clark rally

Burton Pidsea rally driver Chris Peart will resume his BRC Challenge rally championship campaign next weekend when he contests the Jim Clark Challenge event in Scotland.

Peart has enjoyed a good start to his season, taking fourth and second in the two events so far, a performance which sees him lying in second place in the championship standings.

Round three of the championship sees a move to tarmac, the previous events having been held on gravel forestry tracks. Peart and co-driver Jamie Forrest had planned to used a Vauxhall Corsa S1600 in tarmac specification instead of their usual Vauxhall Astra but a shortage of time has meant that it has not been possible to set the car up and test it.

"The Corsa should be more suited to the tarmac stages on the Jim Clark but unfortunately we’ve been so busy at Peart Auto Services that we did not get time to check the set-up of the car and test it," said Peart.

"The roads used on the event are very challenging and it would’ve been risky using the Corsa with no set-up work, it’s vital to have a car that handles well."

"The Astra has served us well on the previous two rounds so hopefully we’ll be able to be up near the top of the leaderboard again."

"After this event we’ve got a few weeks until the next championship round on the Isle of Man so we’ll aim to get the Corsa ready for that."

The rally kicks off next Friday and the Challenge crews will compete over 67 stage miles on closed public roads in the Duns area.

Rally Isle of Man set for spectacular town centre start

Competitors and fans alike won’t have to wait long for the action to start on this years’ Rally Isle of Man - the opening stage begins 50 metres into the event!

In fact the crews don’t even take to the public highway after crossing the start ramp before the countdown begins and the revs rise!

In an effort to improve still further the spectator appeal of one of the British isles major rallies, organisers have decided that it should, quite literally, fire into life! The first of the 21 high speed, closed roads special stages will therefore take place through the streets in Douglas, starting in the TT Pit Lane at the Grandstand Rally HQ.

From the start, the crews will turn hairpin right, heading up Glencrutchey Road to Governors Bridge and then left towards the finish just before Bedstead Corner (the stage will be called ‘Governors’).

Clerk of the Course Les Postlethwaite is delighted that permission for the stage has been obtained from island authorities. ‘This will be something quite unique for the top British Championship stars. We’d like to thank both the authorities and the local residents for their co-operation’, he says. ‘We carried out a survey of the residents and have been delighted with the response. It should help give the event a real boost and add to what is already recognised by teams and competitors as one of the biggest challenges in the sport.’

‘The teams in particular are delighted. They are normally stationed in service areas miles away from the action, but here they will be able to see their crews begin the event in earnest, and spectators will have plenty of time to take in the start before heading out to the following tests.’

The stage and is actually a shortened version of the test used throughout the years the event was part of the European Rally Championship, with legendary names such as Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Tommi Mäkinen among the fastest drivers.

The move also means that for the first time ever spectators at the Grandstand will be able to witness both the start and finish of the rally, with the now traditional Saturday afternoon dash to the TT finish line also retained on the schedule…

…and even more good news, access to the Grandstand is completely free on both days, so make sure you catch all the action from Britain’s fastest rally stars.

It all gets underway on Friday 9th July from 10am.

Images from Round 2 of the Britpart BCCC

To see the event gallery please click here.