Newsletter 2

C HAMPIONSHIP N EWSLETTER N O 2 - 2014 NO WORRIES ABOUT BOGIE BEING BEATEN!...

David Bogie

The REIS BTRDA Rally Series began in mid February with the traditional season-opener, the Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally, and, for the second year running, it was an ‘interloper’ who took the event by storm! In 2013 Connor McCloskey/Francis Regan stole a march on those more familiar with the stages in the Forest of Dean and, this time, it was David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Ford Focus WRC) who showed the rest how it should be done.

In theory, the five-times Scottish Rally Champions (2009-13) were only using the Wyedean for a bit of pre-match practice before beginning the defence of their current title on the Inverness-based Snowman Rally the following weekend. However, having registered for the BTRDA Series, they lead the table in some style - there were seven stages on the agenda and Bogie set FTD on six of them and was equal fastest on the remaining one!..

After 43 miles of competition, they arrived back at Chepstow Racecourse just over a minute in front of Paul Bird/Aled Davies whose Focus WRC had finished in a similar position last time it appeared on the event in 2011. Luke Francis/John Roberts have forsaken Group N for the new season and, first time out in their B13 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9, took a fine 3rd overall. In the absence of McCloskey, Euan Thorburn/Paul Beaton started the Wyedean with No.1 on the doors of their Focus WRC. They had been leading last year but retired before the start of the final stage and, this time, they were the closest to their fellow Scotsmen over the first couple of stages before strange noises emanating from under the bonnet of the Focus sent them heading back to the Borders to prepare for the trip to Inverness earlier than they had anticipated!

Having won their first BTRDA Series event towards the end of Paul Bird last season, Stephen Petch/ Ian Windress were another crew starting the year with high hopes. Unfortunately, dropping the rear wheels of their Focus into gulley on the opening stage of the day also reduced them to the rank of spectators.

Like Petch, Ollie Mellors had not contested a full season in 2013 but had exhibited considerable speed in his Proton on the events he did do. Out on the Wyedean in a Satria, rather than the Millington-engined version, he and Alex Lee were 3rd quickest Luke Francis through the longest stage, in Speech House, on their way to 4th overall and a good haul of points.

The Group N battle is without the aforementioned Luke Francis and also Jamie Anderson/ Ella Flynn who are taking some time out. On this occasion it was Russ Thompson/Andy Murphy (Lancer EVO9) who, in their first season in 4WD, stepped up to the plate with an excellent 5th overall, one place and a minute ahead of the similarly-mounted Roland Llewellin/Jamie Edwards.

The Malcolm Wilson Rally next and, apart from anything else, it will be Russ Thompson interesting to see just who takes the start!... MSA English Rally Championship

The 2014 MSA English Rally Championship is contested over 7 forest rallies, 6 of which are also part of the REIS BTRDA Rally Series. It is open to all two wheel drive cars up to 2 litre and is an ideal forest rally championship for crews on a limited budget. The Championship scoring is ‘class based’ so that competitors from any of the 5 classes have an opportunity of becoming the MSA English Rally Champion. More info and the latest championship points can be found at www.englishrally.co.uk

The Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally was the opening round and there were 63 English Championship crews were amongst the 135 cars that started the event. Class E1 for the Rally First cars up to 1400cc was initially led by Justin Fowler-Bishop / Tudur Rees (MG ZR) but they had a big accident on Sallowvallets and from then on it was Neil Andrew / Dominic Adams (VW Lupo) who were the fastest E1 crew on the remaining stages.

In the very hotly contested Class E2 for the 1400’s Mat Smith / Giles Dykes (Ford Ka) held a slender lead throughout the day just ahead of Mike Harris Dave Bennett / Alistair McNeil (Corsa) and they finished the event 11th and 12th overall. Mike Harris / Steven Davey (Ford Puma) won class E3 for cars up to 1600cc whilst Phil Morgan / Bryan Hull (Renault Clio) took the maximum points in Class E4.

Matthew Robinson / Sam Collis (Ford Escort Mk2) took up where they left off last year and were the fastest 2WD car on the event, finishing 7th overall and winning the large Historic category and taking maximum points in English class E5 ahead of Theo Bengry, Rob Dennis, Allan McDowall and Rex Ireland all driving similar Mk 2 Ford Escorts.

So the initial championship points table after round one shows the customary tie for the overall positions, but this will certainly change as the season progresses. In the Junior Driver category Bart Lang is the early leader with Ross Whittock heading the Junior co-drivers. Please note that scores for the Junior points are calculated on an index of performance to try and equalise the potential performance differential between the classes.

Next up on Saturday 8th March is the Malcolm Wilson Rally, based at the M-Sport HQ near Cockermouth which uses all the classic Lake District stages including Grizedale, Greystoke, Comb and Wythop. After that there is a five week gap until the Betta Somerset Stages. Please Support Our Sponsors The first round of the new Morris Lubricants 1400 Championship attracted a large and very competitive entry including several crews returning after taking a year Mat Smith off in 2013.

However the two leading crews just continued where they left off last year with Mat Smith / Giles Dykes (Ford Ka) having to work very hard to fend off Dave Bennett / Alistair McNeil (Corsa) in what turned out to be a very tight battle throughout the day with Bennett the fastest 1400 driver on 4 stages and Smith on 3 stages. Both had minor spins and overshoots which cost the odd 10 seconds and without that it could have been even closer that the final gap of just 14 seconds.

After a difficult first stage Dan Evans / Tom Marrott (Nova) were up to 3rd by the end of the morning Dave Bennett stages and right on the pace of the two leaders. However gearbox problems in the afternoon led to their eventual retirement. This left two of the experienced returnees Darren Pinchin / Karen Jenkins (Proton) and Justin Lawson / Paul Hargreaves (Nova) tussling over the third place. Pinchin had a brief trip into a ditch on Chepstow Park which left Lawson 3 seconds ahead at Service which was extended to 5 secs after stage 5. However in Speech House Lawson was maybe trying a little too hard and lost the front bumper and some 12 seconds whilst Pinchin finally settled this battle for the final podium spot with a very quick time on the last stage.

Darren Pinchin Another crew returning after a few years away were Gary Barlow / Nick Chapman (Corsa) but unfortunately their rally was very short lived with an accident on stage 1. At least Nigel Jenkins / Kevin Watkins (Nova) were able to set some good times on the morning stages before having to retire with clutch problems at Service.

Sam Davis took the lead in the 1400C class and held it until SS6, the long Speech House stage, when a puncture cost them 3 minutes and allowed David Martin / Richard Simmons (Astra) to take the class win. Further back in the battle for 3rd it was Lee & Sion Mathews (Ford Escort) being chased by Marcus Mullins / Andy Bull (VW Polo). The gap was down to just 1 second after SS5 but in the long Speech House stage it all went wrong for Mullins when he was forced to stop in stage resulting in a stage maximum and eventually going OTL. David Martin With four former Silver Star Champions and a Gold Star winner on the entry list an interesting tussle was in prospect as crews departed from the Racecourse on a wet and windy morning. Defending Champion Matthew Robinson with Sam Collis alongside was looking to lay the foundations for a third title, a feat last achieved by Jon Ballinger in 2010 to add to those he won in 2002 and 2003. 2011 Champions Allan McDowall and Gavin Heseltine have exchanged their Opel Kadett in favour of a Historic spec Escort and were looking to make a Matthew Robinson solid start, as to were 1998 Champions Theo Bengry and Les Forsbrook.

The first loop of stages totalled almost 21 miles and as the crews reached Service back at the Racecourse it was clear that it was business as usual for Matthew Robinson as he held a 42 second lead over Theo Bengry. Third after a circumspect start which saw him in sixth place, was 2013 championship runner up Rob Dennis, a further 23 seconds adrift and just three seconds ahead of 2013 Historic Cup runner up Rex Ireland. Jon Ballinger with Mike Wilding alongside and in his familiar Manta, had started well, holding third after the first two stages, but a journey up a firebreak on stage three cost them a maximum, dropping them to 72nd. This allowed Allan McDowall to move up to third after SS3, but Theo Bengry through the last stage of the morning, Chepstow Park, both Rob Dennis and Rex Ireland had demoted the former champion to fifth, although only four seconds separated the trio.

Elsewhere, 2010 Gold Star Champions Steve Perez and Paul Spooner, in the lovely rumbling Datsun 260Z, had started out at a steady pace wanting to avoid some some pre-event diff failures which had nearly scuppered their event participation and they returned to Service in eighth, just 4 seconds ahead of the rapidly recovering Ballinger who had pulled back up to 57th through the 6.2 miles of Chepstow Park. In the battle for the classes the exodus of the top crews from B12 to the Historic ranks had left the once popular class Rob Dennis somewhat depleted and it was left to just two crews to battle for the honours, Harry Pugh and Siobhan Pugh in the Talbot Sunbeam leading James Ford and Michael Gilbey in their Citroen DS R3 by 1m 52 secs. In B11 Jody Bowcott was making a return to rallying having spent several years circuit racing. With David Millard in the hot seat the pair had a comfortable lead over Ballinger, while Phil Morgan and Bryan Hull were the remaining crew in their Renault Clio, 19 seconds adrift of JB but struggling with suspension settings. The early pace setters in B10 were Mike Harris and Steven Davey in their steroid fed version of the Puma and they Jody Bowcott held the lead all morning with Nathan O’Connor and Jessica Rogan in the Citroen C2R2 holding onto second place by just ten seconds from Steve Deeley and Alan Proudman in their 205GTi. For David Poyser and John Orme in their N3 Honda Civic it was end of play in Stage 4, handing the half way class lead to Sacha Kakad and Andrew Price in their Fiesta ST.

The afternoon run started with a quick blast over the two miles of Yorkley after which it was non-stop action with a short run to Speech House where almost 14 miles awaited crews, followed almost immediately by 8 miles in Serridge. Once again Matthew Robinson dominated Phil Morgan proceedings, stretching his lead over Bengry by a further two seconds through stage 5, but it was through the monster Speech House where he put the hammer down. Bengry was by no means a slouch over the 13+ miles but Robinson was quicker by 33 seconds. He took another 17 seconds through Serridge to score an emphatic win while Bengry had to be content with the runner up spot. Meanwhile, Rob Dennis, who had been going along nicely having climbed up to third, suddenly found himself under pressure from Allan McDowall, the 2011 Champion upping his game in the afternoon by taking second fastest through Speech House and making a serious bid to depose Dennis from third, closing the Sacha Kakad gap to just one second. Dennis however was aware of the threat and took three seconds out of McDowall over the final stage to secure the final podium spot. For Steve Perez it was game over after Speech House, the Datsun breaking a second drive shaft and going no further. Speech House also claimed the Talbot Sunbeam of Harry Pugh after a fearsome off into the trees and rolling. Thankfully he and Siobhan clambered out a little bruised but unhurt however the roll cage was bent in the accident and with other associated damage the car is now in the process of being re-shelled.

James Ford In the classes James Ford took B12 in the DS3 R3, Jody Bowcott in his Mk2 Escort took B11 from Jon Ballinger, in B10 Mike Harris in the Puma triumphed over Nathan O’Connor in the C2R2 while Sacha Kakad in his Fiesta ST was the only finisher in N3.

As attention now turns towards the Malcolm Wilson Rally the Silver Star table has a familiar look to it with the reigning champ looking down on former champions occupying two of the next three places. With yet more to enter the fray it’s shaping up to be another good year. A good field of 20 Rally First crews started the Wyedean including for the first time a couple of cars the RF1.6 class. Justin Fowler-Bishop / Tudur Jones (MG ZR) were the fastest Rally First crew on stage 1, just 2 seconds ahead of Sion Ellis / Neil Andrew Peredur Davies (Micra), but neither crew got much further. For Ellis it was drive shaft failure on stage 2 but for the MG crew it was more dramatic when they left the track and hit a tree. Justin was OK but Tudur was taken to hospital for a precautionary check-up. Sadly the car will not make another event and re-shelling is already in progress.

So with the early leaders gone it was Neil Andrew/ Dom Adams (VW Lupo) who set the pace for the rest of the event followed by James West / Steve Eggington having their first drive in the Mazda 2. James West Just behind them were Rory Jones / Tom Hughes (MG ZR) and Philip Harris / Ross Whittock (Diahatsu Sirion) who had been swapping seconds throughout the day and both crews went into the last stage on the same total time, where the Diahatsu crew were 4 seconds faster to take third place.

In the one litre Rally First class it was Bart Lang / Harry Sims (Micra) who took maximum points despite incurring some lateness penalties, ahead of Claire Marsh / Yan Griffiths also in a 1 litre Micra. Bart Lang

MINTEX / QUESTMEAD BONUS SCHEME

The winners of the Mintex Awards on the Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally, each of whom receive a set of FREE competition brake pads from Questmead Ltd, were:-

Best Improvement on Start Number in GS / SS Championships: Ben Cressey - Subaru Impreza STi (B13) Best Improvement on Start Number in Millers 1400/MG/RF: David Martin – Vauxhall Astra Mk1 (1400C)

Alan Brown or Steve Brown from Questmead can be found in the Service Area at most events. To claim your reward we advise that you contact them in advance to arrange the required product. They can be contacted on 01706 860088. Wales Rally of Great Britain 2014 Road to Wales

For a second year the BTRDA Rally Championship and its competitors have again been offered two FREE entries by the Wales Rally GB organisers in the November Wales Rally GB National event. Won last year by our 2013 Gold Star Champions Euan Thorburn and Paul Beaton and Rally First Champions Joe Evett and Calvin Houldsworth, for 2014 the three-day National event entries will be awarded to both the 2014 Gold Star winners and the winners of the MSA English Championship, giving the chance to more competitors to win these fantastic prizes.

Even if you are not fortunate to take these awards then the Wales Rally GB organisers have previously offered very good deals to take part which we will keep you advised of as the year progresses. The event also takes place after our season close and on many stages that you will have competed on this year so is well worth considering.

WALESRALLYGB.COM MAKE A DATE IN YOUR DIARY!

WALES RALLY GB 13 - 16 NOVEMBER Compete against the best in the world on the classic Welsh forest stages. Incentives for British Amateur entries make it easier than ever to compete on your home WRC round.

WALES RALLY GB NATIONAL 14 - 16 NOVEMBER The hugely popular Wales Rally GB National, encompassing the best of the WRC stages, is the perfect end to the national rallying season.

WIN YOUR ENTRY WITH THE ROAD TO WALES The Road to Wales continues for 2014 with free entries to Wales Rally GB for the winners of the MSA British Rally Championship, as well as free Wales Rally GB National entries for the winner of each of the MSA English Rally Championship, the Pirelli MSA Welsh Forest Rally Championship, the ARR Craib MSA Scottish Rally Championship, the McGrady Insurance MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship and the BTRDA Rally Series.

@WALESRALLYGB

/WALESRALLYGB

WWW.WALESRALLYGB.COM/COMPETITORS Special Stage TV Programmes The Special Stage team will once again be out filming all nine rounds of the Championship for publication on the Motors TV channel No. 447. And as in 2013 there will be two programmes, an hour programme covering the 4WD and 2WD sections and a separate half hour programme for the Morris Lubricants 1400’s.

The first of these programmes featuring the Weir Engineering Wyedean Rally, will be shown on Friday 7th March at 9.00pm with the 1400 section following at 10.30pm. The programmes are repeated during the following week but you will need to check the Motors TV website for exact times, www.motorstv.com/tv-guide-uk. The complete schedule is shown below and we will have copies of this at signing on if you want to pin a copy to your wall at home.

Can we also make an appeal that you try to keep the Special Stage team updated with how your event went and if you have any video coverage that they may be able to use. This is very important in making the programmes interesting and informative. You can email them at [email protected] or complete their online form at www.specialstage.co.uk/ page4.htm.

EVENT EVENT DATE TV PROGRAMME DATE TIME Weir Engineering BTRDA - Friday 7th March 9.00pm 15th February Wyedean Rally 1400’s - Friday 7th March 10.30pm BTRDA - Friday 21st March 9.00pm Malcolm Wilson Rally 8th March 1400’s - Friday 21st March 11.00pm BTRDA - Friday 25th April 9.00pm Somerset Stages 12th April 1400’s - Friday 25th April 10.35pm BTRDA - Friday 30th May 9.00pm Plains Rally 17th May 1400’s - Friday 30th May 10.00pm BTRDA - Friday 20th June 9.00pm Dukeries Rally 7th June 1400’s - Friday 20th June 10.35pm BTRDA - Friday 25th July 9.00pm Nicky Grist Stages 12th July 1400’s - Friday 25th July 10.00pm BTRDA - Friday 12th September 9.00pm Woodpecker Stages 30th August 1400’s - Friday 12th September 10.00pm BTRDA - Friday 10th October 9.00pm Trackrod Rally 27th September 1400’s - Friday 17th October 10.00pm BTRDA - Friday 31st October 9.30pm Cambrian Rally 18th October 1400’s – Friday 31st October 11.30pm BTRDA – TBA TBA Season Reviews - 1400’s - TBA TBA Forthcoming Events

Malcolm Wilson Rally - 8th March Betta Somerset Stages - 12th April Just a couple of weeks away before we meet The Somerset Stages organisers have also made up again for the second round of the some changes for their 2014 event this year Championship on the Malcolm Wilson Rally. and the Regulations have just been published for the annual trip to the lovely parts of the The organisers have made some interesting Exmoor National Park. changes to the event this year partly and unfortunately through the Larch tree disease They have a new Rally HQ just off J24 of the and also the loss of the Town Centre start and M5 where scrutineering and documentation finish in Cockermouth. Some stages will run at will take place and will also be the finish of 30 second intervals so you will need to keep an the event. However the event start and eye on where these occur. We do have however servicing will be in Minehead so thats still the continued use of the superb premises of best place to secure your Friday night MSport for scrutineering and documentation as accommodation. well as an early 7.00am start on Saturday morning. Also new is the finish and awards Talking of which we have had contact from the presentation venue at the Rheged Centre near Exmoor Country House, which is between Penrith, which is just a short distance from the Minehead and Porlock offering accommodation M6 motorway. for competitors. Their website is www.exmoor- house.co.uk, Tel: 01643 863599. Contact is Entries are now open for the event and Steve Thompson and make sure you mention regulations and online entries can be found at the rally. http://www.malcolmwilson.co.uk. The Entries Secretary Ian Wright can be contacted on Regulations and on-line entry can be found at Email: [email protected] or Tel: 01524 www.somersetstagesrally.com and the Entries 824626. Sec Katie House details are Tel: 0845 095 1381 and Email: [email protected].

Championship Photographs

After 11 years of dedicated service to the BTRDA, attending every Championship round during that time, Simon Clarke has decided to let his camera cool down for a while and take a break from attending events, although he has promised he will be out on a few events this year. We naturally wish to express our very grateful thanks to Simon for his considerable commitment to the Championship over the years.

Taking over as ofcial Championship photographers will be the team of Ralliphoto Wales, led by Carwyn Lothian, who we are extremely pleased to welcome to the Series this year and whose photographs will be appearing in this newsletter and other publications. So if you see Carwyn, Alex Lothian, John Kendrick or Gary Jones please give them a good smile, or slide, so we get your best shots.

BTRDA® Competitor Tyre Incentive

In a bid to help ease costs for UK motorsport competitors, DMACK has teamed up with its newly-appointed UK dealer Mr Tyre Motorsport to offer an exciting incentive for crews in the 2014 BTRDA® Rally Series.

1st Rally GB National Rally 2013

The top three DMACK runners in the BTRDA® Gold Star will receive FREE tyres on each round of the series: 1st DMACK runner in BTRDA® Gold Star – FOUR FREE tyres 2nd DMACK runner in BTRDA® Gold Star – TWO FREE tyres 3rd DMACK runner in BTRDA® Gold Star – ONE FREE tyre Any DMACK runner who scores an overall event victory will be presented with an additional FOUR Free tyres.

The bonus scheme extends to the other classes with the top DMACK runners in BTRDA® Silver Star, BTRDA® 1400 and BTRDA® Historic Cup on each round receiving TWO FREE tyres.

more about DMACK’s range of rally-winning gravel tyres, please contact Mr Tyre Motorsport on 0121 551 8000 or [email protected] www.dmacktyres.com