Images from M-Sport testing

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Images from BCCC 2015 R6 Walters

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Walters win for Duckworth

Ben Duckworth took his third Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship win of the season at the final round of the season at Walters Arena in South Wales. Andy Powell finished second to wrap up the runner's up spot in the championship, which has technical support from Ravenol.

Heavy rain made the already slippery course treacherous as the crews made their first runs. An early victim was Richard Green who rolled his Bowler and, after suffering neck pains, decided not to continue. Duckworth set the pace from the first run in his Milner LRM-1 and he built up a lead of over three minutes at the end of the day. Ryan Cooke was second in his Milner with Powell third.

Day two got off to a bad start for Duckworth as he suffered a puncture on the first run but he continued to head the leaderboard until the end of the event.

"I'm very pleased with the result," said Duckworth. "It was a very wet and extremely slippery course on day one and it was difficult to push hard. We had a couple of moments and struggled with the radiator getting bunged up with mud. As the course dried our times improved and, despite a puncture on the first run of day two, we managed to take the win."

With Cooke retiring after clutch problems Powell took second place despite a weekend that had gone anything but smoothly, with a broken propshaft and flat battery amongst his many issues. Powell commented: "It was a tough event and a very testing course but those are the courses I like. The weekend wasn't without incident but we overcame the problems. Thanks to Phil Ibbotson for navigating and to all the organisers and marshals, it's been a great season all in all."

Mark Jacques finished third in his 3M Challenger after tying with Britpart's Paul Myers. Neil Davey was fifth in his GSR 206 after driving all of day two with no power steering. Steve Smith was sixth despite an ailing engine in his Clio and Jason Sharpe was the final BCCC finisher in the Isuzu D-Max.

Steve Anning took his Peugeot 206 M3 to victory in the BCC Trophy ahead of the Insanity Racing Tornado of Jon Damrel. Nick Pritchard was third in his Goka Buggy despite several issues including having to change the clutch on day one. The result was good enough for Pritchard to take the Trophy championship.

In the Freelander Challenge the Race2Recovery team of Grant White and Yanto Evans headed the leaderboard ahead of Alastair Moore-Myers and Ian Linford. Linford wrapped up his second Freelander Challenge title in his Team Sheepie machine.

Justin Birchall won the Clubman class in his Lofthouse Freelander in a time that would've placed him first overall had he been registered for the championship. Birchall's win came despite a trip to hospital after suffering a back injury early on day two.

Planning is already well underway for the 2016 championships with round 1 scheduled for 9th/10th April.

BCCC Results1. Ben Duckworth/Mathew Cook (Milner LRM-1)    02:05:46
2. Andy Powell/Phil Ibbotson (Simmbugghini)    02:14:26
3. Mark Jacques/Simon Last (3M Challenger )   02:17:03
4. Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado)   02:17:03
5. Neil Davey/Tony Barley (GSR 206 Evo 8)   02:17:57
6. Steve Smith/John Griffiths (JRG Indy Clio V8)   02:19:20
7. Jason Shape/Richard Lester   (Isuzu D-Max)   02:20:49

BCCC finale to be held at Walters Arena

The final round of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship, with support from Ravenol, takes place next weekend at Walters Arena in South Wales.

Warrington's Mike Moran wrapped up his second BCCC title at the previous round and, having sold his car, he will not be driving at Walters. Moran's car has been bought by Rob Bool who has entered the Walters event ahead of a possible championship campaign next year. Both Moran and his co-driver Tony Coid will be on hand at Walters to sit with Bool as he learns his new machine.

"It was quite sad seeing the car go to a new owner," said Moran. "We've used it in the BCCC for five years and it has served us very well. We finished third in  2012 when the car had a diesel engine, the best ever BCCC finish for a diesel racer. We had to drive it hard to keep the engine on boost and that meant we spent a lot of time narrowly missing big accidents!"

"After a huge party at the awards do a plan was hatched to swap to a 440bhp petrol Jaguar engine for 2013. We nearly finished second that year but cutting a corner too much at the final round broke both the steering rack and my finger."

"The car has been faultless in 2014 and 2015 and that has meant we have been able to take back to back title wins. I'm in my late 50s now but I've still got the competitive spirit so I'll be back next year in a new lighter car which will once again be prepared by Lofthouse Motorsport."

Walters should see a close battle for the remaining championship podium positions. Andy Powell is currently second on 347 points, just 10 ahead of Mark Jacques with Richard Green in fourth with 332 points. In fifth and sixth place are Ryan Cooke and Neil Davey respectively but with both those crews already having a retirement this season they will be able to count all the points they score at the weekend unlike the other drivers who have scored points in all the events so far.

Powell commented: "I'm looking to have a good last round, the car is almost ready, it just needs the diff rebuilt and fitted. I was not on the ball at Bovington and I didn't get a decent result. I like Walters, there's a good selection of routes. Once dropped scores are taken into account it is very close for second place so there should be a great battle."

Another driver looking to round of his season in style is Paul Harris in his Bristol Street Motors-supported GSR Maxilight. Harris is currently in 11th place in the championship standings after a few mechanical issues with his car.

"We're having the shockers rebuilt ahead of the final round," said Harris. "I'm looking forward to renewing the class battle I've been having with Richard Green and Steve Smith all season, it should be a great end to the season."

In the BCC Trophy Nick Pritchard leads the way on 332 points with Steve Anning in seconds on 247 and Sian Rogers in third on 231.

Ian Linford heads the Freelander Challenge battle with 299 points, 50 ahead of Andy Price. Louisa Felice in in third with 233. The Freelander crews will be joined by new entrant Richard Roberts for the final round.

Spectators are welcome at the event, the action will start at 11am on Saturday with Sunday scheduled to start at 9am. Further spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com/spectators.

The organisers are already hard at work planning the 2016 championships with a provisional calendar set to be announced shortly. Any crews interested in competing next year can register to receive regulations by contacting Lilian Turley at lilianturley@btinternet.com.

Images from the Beatson's Mull Rally

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