Forrest Estate in South West Scotland will be the setting for round three of the 2015 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship next weekend.
After two rounds it is 2014 champion Mike Moran who heads the leaderboard on 166 points, 24 points ahead of Andy Powell. There’s a very close battle for third presently with four crews separated by just five points. Mark Jacques is third going into round three on 139 points with Richard Green and Jason Sharpe on 137 and Ryan Cooke on 134.
Several crews will be hoping for better luck at Forrest Estate after suffering retirement at the previous round in Radnor forest. Paul Harris was forced out after a major gearbox oil leak but his Bristol Street Motors-supported GSR Maxilight has been repaired and is ready for Scotland. Ben Duckworth and Neil Davey, who finished first and third respectively at round one, both retired after the opening run at Radnor so they’ll be aiming to get their season back on track next weekend.
In the Freelander Challenge Ian Linford leads the way on 116 points. After a tough course in Radnor Linford has had a lot of work to do on both his own car and that of fellow Team Sheepie driver Louisa Felice who has finished both rounds so far to lie in fourth place.
“I’ve had to put a new bumper on Louisa’s car and fix the one on mine as well as repairing the exhaust and fitting a new engine,” said Linford. “Since round two we’ve also taken both cars to a local Beavers and Cubs evening and apparently the kids haven’t stopped talking about it since. Maybe one day some of them will be competing.”
Craig Bounds is in second place in the Freelanders on 98 points with Andy Price just behind in third on 96. Price is another driver who has been busy since round two.
“I was losing a lot of power at Radnor and the engine was boiling at the end of every run,” said Price. “I thought it would be the head gasket but I took the engine apart and it was fine but I only had compression on two cylinders. I’ve changed and reseated the valves and did the head gasket as a precaution so hopefully there won’t be a repeat of our Radnor issues.”
Alastair Moore-Myers and Brian Chase from championship technical partner Ravenol will be aiming for a finish after retiring their Freelander at Radnor.
The action at Forrest Estate will start at 10am on Saturday with a full day of competition. Day two will start at 9am with the event finishing early on Sunday afternoon. The venue will be arrowed from the A713 north of St John’s Town of Dalry. A public car park is available for spectators near the event service area. Please visit www.marches4x4.com for further spectator information.
