Sykes aiming to get rally season off to a winning start

Stourbridge’s Richard Sykes will finally start his rally season next weekend when he contests the Pirelli Carlisle RB Foundation rally which, after Rally North Wales was cancelled, is the opening round of the British Rally Championship (BRC). Sykes will compete in the BRC Challenge category and, having won the championship in 2012 and finished second in 2013, he’s aiming to get his title campaign off to a flying start on the Carlisle-based event.

He will again use his Citroën C2 which will be supported by Bathams Brewery and G.I.Sykes Ltd. The car has undergone a major rebuild over the winter with extensive work being undertaken to develop the engine.

“M-Sport have developed the Fiesta R200 rally car making it into a 200 bhp racer, so we decided to do the same thing with my C2,” said Sykes. “We have built a completely different engine for the car, changing the cams, pistons, rods, induction system, flywheel and ECU. We’re hoping for 200 bhp but we may have to go through a little bit of development first which isn’t always nice but, fingers crossed, we’ll have a good run on the Pirelli.”

Emma Morrison will be in the co-driver’s seat of the Citroën. Morrison stood in for Sykes’ usual co-driver Simon Taylor at the end of last season following an injury sustained in a crash on the Ulster Challenge rally. With Taylor taking a sabbatical to get married, Morrison will continue her role this year.

“I have been racing with or against Emma for the last five seasons and she did a great job in the car last year. She was our first choice to take over from Simon. She is very experienced, excellent in and out of the car and, combined with her superior organising skills, make her an ideal co-driver. We are looking forward to the year ahead.”



“We are staying true to the BRC and again competing in the BRC Challenge class of the championship which suits us really well. Having won the championship in 2012 and finished runner up last year we are looking for another win this year.”

“The cancelation of Rally North Wales was a real blow and it delayed our championship start, we are gagging to go racing now and can’t wait to start.”

The rally starts on Saturday morning from Carlisle with the Challenge crews battling over six stages totalling 55 miles in and around Kielder forest.

Action shot courtesy raceandrally.co.uk 

Images from BCCC Pikes Peak

 

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Images from M-Sport Fiesta WRC test



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Images from the Devil's Own Rally 2014

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EMMU rescue to continue to benefit from MIS Motorsport support

Motorsport rescue service EMMU will continue to be supported by MIS Motorsport in 2014 after the Kent-based motorsport insurance provider funded the replacement cost of one of the unit’s patient monitors.

MIS Motorsport started their support last year when they sponsored the purchase of two cordless saws for EMMU. The saws are a vital tool in the process of aiding the extraction of casualties from crashed vehicles.

The new patient monitor will allow the EMMU crew members to monitor all the parameters associated with an injured patient including pulse rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation levels and temperature.

EMMU crew chief Stuart Westbrook commented: “The patient monitor plays a hugely important part in dealing with casualties, we can keep track of the main parameters and target our actions appropriately.”

“I’m very grateful to MIS Motorsport for their continued support. We are a voluntary service so help from businesses such as MIS Motorsport is vital in ensuring we can continue to provide the best quality motorsport rescue service.”

The EMMU rescue service is based in Morecambe and they cover events all over the UK including providing cover for the Ford World Rally Team test days. More information can be found on www.emmu.co.uk.