Monday, 26 November 2012
Wright hoping for Grizedale rally double
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.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Bridgnorth offroad racing team triumph at British Cross Country Championship
The series, which is Britain’s premier offroad racing championship, kicked off in April with a round in mid-Wales. The team’s season got off to a good start as they finished second, a result that was repeated at round two despite their car suffering some electrical troubles.
Problems with the oil seal on the engine meant the team failed to score at round three in Scotland and, with their closest rival winning each of the opening three rounds, it looked as though their hold on the championship was slipping.
However, victories at round four and five saw Rochelle and Hammond head to the last round in South Wales needing to finish in the top three to retain the title. Torrential rain before the event made the conditions on the 7 mile offroad course treacherous and Rochelle drove within himself to hold third place early on. He was promoted to second after a rival driver lost a lot of time when his steering failed and he held this position to the end of the event’s 13 runs to take the championship win.
“I wasn’t really racing on the edge this weekend,” said Rochelle. “A third place was sufficient and, with the very slippery course, I did not want to risk putting the car off the road by driving at my usual flat-out pace.”
“It is absolutely brilliant to win the championship again, it’s been a very tough year so to finish with the victory is fantastic. It has been a real team effort with Chris putting in a lot of work behind the scenes as well as navigating, Roy Millington producing a brilliant engine and Tim Henry doing a great job as our team mechanic, it’s an all Bridgnorth team and we’re brimming with pride."
“The championship has been a very thorough test of our car with six cracking courses through the year, we’ve had everything from extremely tough offroad sections to fast gravel tracks. To end up as championship winners is a real achievement for all the team.”
The 2013 championship will start next April although Rochelle has not yet decided if he will go for a hat trick of title wins.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Champion Sykes takes on Mull challenge
Sykes completed his BRC Challenge season at the end of last month on the Trackrod Challenge rally. Despite a traumatic first stage in the dark of Dalby forest which saw him lose over 12 minutes to the leaders after first hitting a log and then getting stuck in a ditch Sykes battled back with quick times on the rest of the stages to finish second in class in his Bathams Brewery, G I Sykes Ltd, Boroughbridge Marina and Silverstone Tyres-supported Citroën C2 R2 Max.
“The first stage on the Trackrod was a disaster,” said Sykes. “We were first car on the road and we hit a log that was propping up a direction arrow. The log got wedged under the car and we dragged it down the stage for around four miles. It only got dislodged when we threw the car sideways on a corner.”
“Further on in the stage we went off the road and into a ditch. Fortunately a group of spectators were on hand to extract the car but we lost a lot a time and were right at the back of the leaderboard.”
“I drove as hard as I could for the rest of the event although the exhaust cat had got flattened by the log so the engine was at least 30bhp down on power. I was pleased to still finish runner-up in the class despite our problems although I would’ve liked to end our championship winning season with a another victory.”
After the forests of Yorkshire it is back to tarmac for the Mull Rally, the event being held on the closed public roads of the Isle of Mull. Sykes contested the event in 2010 and did well to finish after an opening stage off. He is hoping for a good result this year.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the 2010 event, the Mull Rally is a huge challenge as most of the competitive mileage is at night. The roads are very narrow and twisty with a lot of jumps to catch out crews. It’s a real achievement to get a finish there and hopefully we will achieve that.”
The Mull Rally starts on Friday night from Tobermory with the crew competing right through to the early hours of Sunday morning.
Image courtesy Simon Clarke
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