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.
