Lancaster’s Shelley Rogerson got her BTRDA rally championship bid back on track last weekend (25th April) after taking third place overall on the Somerset Stages rally.
Shelley was partnering Andrew Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth and after retiring on the previous championship round, the Malcolm Wilson rally, the aim was for a good finish in Somerset.
The rally started with five stages in the forests to the south of Minehead and Burton and Rogerson were second fastest on three of the stages and fourth fastest on the other two resulting in third place overall behind Will Nicholls in his Subaru Impreza and Hugh Hunter’s Ford Focus.
“Our rally got off to an ok start, we were a bit off the pace on the first two stages but things improved on the next three,” said Shelley.
“We were pleased that the engine was performing well after all the work undertaken on it after the Malcolm Wilson rally. Other than some issues with the brakes the opening stages were trouble free.”
After a service halt the rally moved on to the tarmac road of Porlock Hill for two stages. With the Peugeot not being as competitive on tarmac Burton and Rogerson dropped to fourth place overall after the two Porlock tests.
The rally returned to the forests for the remaining stages and the Peugeot crew pushed hard to take second fastest time in the Croydon stage and first fastest in Whits Wood to move back up to third place at the rally finish.
“We struggled a little on the Porlock stages, the car isn’t really suited to tarmac,” commented Shelley.
“The Croydon stage was excellent though, really fast and flowing, my favourite of the event. Our times on the last two stages were good and it bodes well for the next rally. It’s disappointing not to repeat the win we took on the event in 2006 but after the disappointment of the Malcolm Wilson rally it’s a relief to get a finish. I’d like to thank Co-ordSport, Nicky Grist, Gilletts Spar and Songasport for their support.”
The Somerset result means that Shelley has moved into 5th place in the BTRDA championship standings. The next round is the Plains rally in May.
For more information on Shelley’s rallying please visit shelleyrally.com.
