Press release –
20 September 2015
Pritchard
and Clarke clinch MSA BHRC title
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke secured the 2015 Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship crown after rounds six
and seven on the Rally Isle of Man Classicagh (September
17-19).
Although Pritchard and Clarke only finished fourth in the
final overall results, they scored enough points across the
two parts of the championship double-header to put the
matter out of reach of their rivals with one round to run.
“It’s a brilliant feeling,” said Pritchard. “I’m very lucky
to have Phil Clarke as a co-driver. He’s brilliant fun in
the car and I can trust him 100%.” However, there was a late
scare for Pritchard when clutch problems on stage 20 forced
a rapid gearbox change at final service. “That could have
been game over,” said Pritchard.
Once again the annual charge around the island roads lived
up to its impressive reputation with over 170 miles of
flat-out action across two and a half days. All the crews
who made the finish knew they’d completed a challenging
rally.
The event started with a spectacular stage on the Douglas
sea front and concluded with an 18-mile stage that finished
outside the TT Grandstands. The pace at the head of the
rally was ferocious and a tremendous performance from Rob
Smith and Alun Cook sealed victory in their Ford Escort Mk2.
They also won the Holton Homes Category 4 for cars running
to FIA Appendix K regulations. “I’m chuffed to bits,” said a
justifiably elated Smith, who elected not to score BHRC
championship points.
The title contest was a straight battle between
Pritchard/Clarke and Richard Hill and Iwan Jones and it was
Hill who set the early pace on Thursday evening. But it all
went wrong for Hill on Friday when a high-speed off through
a gate cost them a lot of time. They fought back to take
maximum points in the second part of the BHRC event, but
their overall title hopes were over.
Maximum points in the RSR Historic Rallying Category 3 in
round six went to the hard-charging Guy Woodcock and Graham
Dance (Ford Escort Mk2). This was a first rally for Woodcock
with BDG power and he turned in a massively impressive
performance but was denied an overall podium finish with
propshaft dramas just seven miles from the end of the rally.
Instead, the recovering Hill/Jones took final victory in
Category 3 in seventh place overall.
Overall Walker Diecastings Category 1 winners were Dessie
Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911), while John Perrott and
Keaton Williams (Ford Escort Mk1) had a tremendous rally to
win the Capital Construction Category 2 and move up to
second place overall in the championship. With one of the
drives of the rally, island debutant Perrott took sixth
overall as well as Category 2 over Ernie and Will Graham.
“It’s a tough rally and only my second asphalt event,” said
Perrott.
Chris Skill had a tremendous introduction to Manx rallying
with Former Island resident Graham Wild co-driving in the
1600cc Escort Mk2. The new partnership worked extremely well
and they romped to class D2 victory. “I’ve had a really
serious lesson on tarmac rallying from Graham,” said Skill.
Category 2 class winners included Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie
Roughead (Ford Escort Mk1) and Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins
(Ford Escort Mk1). Changing a puncture on Thursday night
cost Jobson a maximum, but he fought back into contention on
his Manx debut. “Fantastic: a brilliant event,” said Jobson,
who finished clear of the BMW 2002 of Terry Cree/Richard
Shores. A stage maximum on Friday evening for a wrong split
cost Cree a chunk of time.
Meanwhile in class C2, Shuttleworth struggled home with a
failing clutch over the final loop of stages. He needed a
push start after an overshoot at Brandywell Cottage on the
final stage. Second in C2 was the Escort Mk1 of Dave
Watkins/Tom Jordan, but they dropped time on the opening
night when a halfshaft flange broke.
Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride took a clear win in the
Walker Diecastings Category 1 with their Porsche 911,
finishing over two minutes clear of the similar car of Rikki
Proffitt/James Whitaker. Nutt had a scare on Friday when the
throttle stuck wide open at Brandywell Cottage while
Proffitt had a remarkably trouble-free run to make up for a
start line retirement on the previous event on Epynt.
Two false start penalties earned Bob and Dale Gibbons two
minutes of penalty and dropped them behind Proffitt in the
final results. However, the father and son Ford Cortina GT
team still won class B3 from the rapid Ford Anglia of
Malcolm Rich and Jonathan Hawkins. “It’s a stunning little
car and we’ve had no issues at all,” said Rich after his
second asphalt rally in 25 years. Gibbons was grateful to T2
Motorsport for keeping the Cortina running through brake,
distributor and starter motor dramas.
In class B1 of the BHRC, Phil Walker and Jez Rogers scored a
famous victory as they both made their Manx debuts in
Walker’s Mini Cooper. “The clutch was on the way out on the
last stage, but it’s a great event,” said Walker after his
sixth finish from six events.
Category winners in round six were:
Category 1: Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911)
Category 2: John Perrott/Keaton Williams (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Guy Woodcock/Graham Dance (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category K: Will Onions/Dave Williams (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category winners in round seven were:
Category 1: Rikki Proffitt/James Whitaker (Porsche 911)
Category 2: John Perrott/Keaton Williams (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Richard Hill/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category K: Jason Pritchard/Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2)
Provisional championship points after seven rounds:
1 Jason Pritchard 409
2 John Perrott 322
3 Richard Hill 318
4 Ernie Graham 273
5 Malcolm Rich 251
6 Nick Elliott 247
Day 3 - Rally Isle of Man
A beautiful start to the day watching watching the crews come into the start of SS17.
There were a few very focused faces at the start of SS17 as cars set off into the morning sunshine.
Unable to grab a word with the top crews, who wanted a few private moments. Understandable in the circumstances. We did manage to grab a few words with some crews. Nick Danks told us that they had done the last two stages last night with a failing alternator, which in his words was "interesting". they managed to limp home to Douglas and as they entered the in control, it stopped working completely.
Malcolm Rich in the Anglia was not going to say anything about his performance for fear that he would jinx things.
Phil Jobson, Ford escort was having a great time.
Day 1 - Rally Isle of Man
Beautiful morning in the Isle of Man where scrutinnering for the 2015 Rally Isle of Man is under way
Crews who haven't yet finished their "reccy" go back out to finish. Then they will be doing the shakedown stage which starts just after 11am.
The event itself starts with a spectator stage along the seafront at 7pm.
...
Competitors tackle 4 stages tonight, these making up leg 1. Tomorrow , Leg 2, sees cars doing another 11 special stages. Championship crews will score points at the end of legs 1 and 2, the final day, leg 3, will also count for separate points.
As it stands it is feasible that Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke could wrap up the Championship this weekend.
Despite the fact that he must be feeling the pressure, he was quite chatty in the service area ahead of scrutineering.
Press
release – 21 August 2015
Changes to
asphalt tyre regulations
The Motor
Sports Association (MSA) has announced regulation changes that
widen the range of eligible tyres for use on asphalt events in
historic stage rallying. The changes take effect immediately,
ahead of the next round of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship, the Rally Isle of Man Classicagh (17-19
September).
The issue
of the availability of tyres meeting existing regulations
instigated a meeting of the chairmen of Historic and Rallies
Committees, the Stage Rally Tyre Working Group, representatives
from the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, tyre
manufacturers/suppliers and the MSA Executive. Proposals from
that meeting have now been approved for immediate
implementation.
Rob Jones,
MSA Chief Executive, said: “This regulation change will give
competitors a wider choice of suitable and eligible tyres, and
will make the administration and application of the regulations
easier to understand and apply. Mindful of the need to address
this fundamental issue, we have expedited this for immediate
implementation ahead of the final asphalt round of this year’s
Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Rally Isle
of Man.”
BHRC
championship manager Colin Heppenstall said: “We are delighted
that this situation has been resolved for the good of the
competitors. I’d particularly like to thank John Cooper and Alan
Walker from the BHRC team for all their work on this. We can now
look forward to some great competition on the asphalt roads of
the Isle of Man next month.”
The new
regulations are as follows:
Wheels,
Tyres and Brakes
49.10.1.
Wheels and tyres must be fitted in compliance with L3., 49.6.
except as follows, 48.5.1., 48.5.2., 48.5.4., 48.5.6-8. and
48.5.10.-14. and;
49.10.2.
For Categories One, Two and Three the diameter of wheel may not
differ from that originally fitted by more than 10%.
49.10.3.
For Categories One, Two and Three the complete wheels (flange +
rim + tyre) are free providing that they are housed within the
permitted bodywork and that they do not exceed the following
widths in relation to the cubic capacity of the car:
Up to 1150
cc: 7in
Over 1150cc
and up to 1600 cc: 8in
Over 1600
cc: 9in.
49.10.4.
For Category Four, and vehicles competing under 49.2., wheels
and tyres must comply fully with FIA Appendix K Regulations for
Cars in Rallies.
49.10.5.
The fitting of a dual master cylinder or any other type of
device providing a simultaneous action on all four wheels and
divided action on two wheels is permitted, provided the original
brake pedal and pivot point are used and they cannot be adjusted
to affect brake balance by either the Driver or the Co-Driver
when normally seated in the car.
 
Loss of Service -
29 July 2015
Those of
you, who follow the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally
Championship, will know that sadly it recently lost one of its
greatest supporters in Steve Higgins.
Steve sadly
passed away in June very suddenly and this has left the event
trying to fill the void left behind.
He was
responsible for editing and updating the website and as such we
have been struggling to obtain access to all the required
information in order to keep the service working. This has
inevitably led to a loss of service for a while, but we hope
that we are able to have the site back to something like normal
shortly. In the meantime we are attempting to keep all updates
on our official Facebook page
Malcolm
Higgins
Press release
– 28 July 2015
BHRC Harry Flatters award winners announced
The special
award winners in the fifth round of the 2015 Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship, the Harry Flatters Rally (Sunday 26
July) have been announced following the rally that also featured
the fifth round of the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge and the
final round of the Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge.
The Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge is for crews using a maximum
of six tyres per rally. The top overall finishers from the
Clubmans Challenge field were Phil and Mick Squires in their
Ford Escort Mk2.
New overall championship leaders Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke
are confirmed as winners in the Motorsport Auctions Welsh
Challenge. This is their first award for the 2015 season and
they will now be hoping that bigger awards will follow at the
end of the season. While Jason is from Builth Wells, Phil lives
just over the border near Church Stretton in Shropshire.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from Fuchs Lubricants
went to Bob and Dale Gibbons for the second event running. After
a major effort to get the engine in their Ford Cortina Mk2
rebuilt, they led Category 1 all day until a broken driveshaft
put them out with just one mile to go.
Malcolm Rich and Jonathan Hawkins (Ford Anglia) had a great
rally on home ground and collected the award for the ‘Best
Improvement on Seeding’, which is a set of axle brake pads from
Mintex.
Finally, Neil Williams won the ‘Hard Charger’ award of a
20-litre jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. He
scored his best BHRC result to date with a fine run to third
overall on the rally and second only to Pritchard among the BHRC
contenders.
Press release
– 28 July 2015
Pritchard beats the Epynt rain for BHRC victory
Jason
Pritchard and Phil Clarke claimed an important victory on round
five of the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship on
the Harry Flatters Rally (Sunday 26 July).
Persistent and heavy rain made the Epynt ranges a tough place to
go rallying, but Pritchard and Clarke rose to the challenge of
five long stages on the asphalt roads of the famous venue and
were clear victors as the sun finally came out in time to
welcome the finishers back to Brecon.
Pritchard’s Ford Escort Mk2 also won the Holton Homes Category K
for cars running to FIA Appendix K regulations and took a useful
33-point overall lead in the championship as a result. Second of
the BHRC contenders was the Escort Mk2 of Neil Williams/Peter
James with their best result to date while Richard Hill/Iwan
Jones were third and winners of Category 3 over rivals Nick
Elliott and Dave Price.
Local driver Malcolm Rich and co-driver Jonathan Hawkins took
over Category 1 in their Ford Anglia after a broken driveshaft
cruelly sidelined the Ford Cortina Mk2 of Bob and Dale Gibbons
with barely a mile to go. Category 2 also changed late in the
day when driver illness forced David Stokes and Guy Weaver (Ford
Escort Mk1) to retire. Father and son Ernie and Will Graham took
over to score maximum points.
Although his father and uncle have been regular competitors on
Epynt for many years, Jason Pritchard had limited previous
experience of the daunting asphalt roads while Clarke is also
far from being an Epynt expert. With conditions very wet for the
opening stage, Pritchard measured his pace perfectly and soon
edged clear in what proved to be a remarkably trouble-free day.
“No dramas, no moments, kept the car straight and sensible,”
said Jason at the finish. “The car has been perfect and that
result is very important for the championship.”
Williams and James had a strong run to finish second among the
BHRC contenders but had a big scare on the road section after
the penultimate stage. “The wheel bearing failed and it locked
the wheel. We had to dismantle it and fix it to get back to
service,” said Williams.
On a day when the FIA specification cars were able to exploit
their asphalt tyre advantage, the best of the RSR Historic
Engineering Category 3 cars were those of Hill/Jones and
Elliott/Price, with Hill ahead by half a minute. “Not bad at
all: nice to get a finish here,” said Hill. “When I could see
where I was going it was okay,” said Elliott of the tough
conditions. Between Hill and Elliott in the overall results was
the FIA car of Terry Brown and Den Golding. For 72-year-old
Brown, it was his first full Epynt event for seven years. “He
drove like an old man on the first stage but was okay after
that,” reported his co-driver.
Seventh overall and class D3 victory was an excellent result for
Ian Jones and Iestyn Williams in their Meirion Evans-prepared
Ford Escort Mk2. “Fantastic!” said Jones. “Plenty sideways and
the car has been perfect.”
Until late in the day, Stokes was in control of the Capital
Construction Category 2, but he was feeling progressively unwell
and was finally forced to retire with one stage to go. It was an
unfortunate end to a typically strong performance and is also a
blow to his overall championship bid.
Instead, top championship points in the category went to Ernie
and Will Graham in their Escort Mk1. “We started a bit slow and
speeded up,” said Ernie. “The car has been absolutely lovely and
it’s a shame to beat David that way.” Just two seconds adrift of
the Grahams were class C3 winners Neal James and Kevin Jones
after a superb performance in their Pinto-powered Escort Mk1.
“We managed all day on four forest tyres,” said James after one
of the drives of the rally.
Sadly, both Porsche 911s in the Walker Diecastings Category 1
hit early trouble. Rikki Proffitt and James Whitaker didn’t even
get off the startline of the first stage before electrical
problems put them out, while Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride
lost more than four minutes stopped in stage two when the
carburettor linkage fell apart. They later continued and
finished the event as a shakedown ahead of the Isle of Man in
September.
Meanwhile, The Gibbons father and son crew headed the class
until almost within sight of the end of the rally only to be
stopped a mile from the end of the final stage by a broken
halfshaft. After a late rush to get the engine rebuilt and then
a big scare on Sunday morning with the alternator, it was a
tough way to finish the rally. Instead, Rich moved the Anglia
ahead to win the category on his first Epynt rally for 25 years.
“That’s wonderful,” said Rich as he arrived back in his home
town.
Notable retirements included class pacesetters Chris
Skill/Captain Thompson (Ford Escort Mk2) with a broken halfshaft
and Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead (Escort Mk1) who clouted
a big rock on the Burma Road.
The Harry Flatters Rally was organised by Brecon Motor Club.
Press release – 22
May 2015
BHRC contenders head back to Wales
 Overall championship leaders Nick Elliott and Dave Price will
bid for a hat-trick of wins and the Ford Escort Mk2 crew will
lead 70 historic crews away from Builth Wells on Saturday
morning. The event has attracted another excellent historic
field despite the Category 1 entry dropping to only six cars
after the recent changes in event running order.
Taking the battle to Elliott and Price will be former
championship leaders Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford
Escort Mk2). They compete in the Holton Homes Category K for
cars running to Appendix K specification and Clarke will be
eager to score his third major co-driving victory in less than a
month.
Up against Pritchard are two more very quick Escorts running to
FIA specification. Meirion Evans and Steffan Evans are overdue a
big result after showing excellent pace this season, while Tomas
Davies and Eurig Davies will be right in contention.
Ranged against the Category K cars will be a host of
front-running Escort Mk2s in the RSR Historic Engineering
Category 3, topped by title contenders Matthew Robinson/Sam
Collis, Joe Price/Chris Brooks and Richard Hill/Iwan Jones. Back
in the field after missing the trip to Kielder will be strong
contenders Terry Brown/Den Golding and Ben Llewellin/Ross
Whittock. The quality of the D5 field is outstanding and
includes more rapid crews like Rudi Lancaster/George Gwynn, Tim
Freeman/Paul Williams, Steve Bennett/Paul Wakely and Simon
Webster/Jez Rogers. Taking the fight to the Escort pack in class
D5 are Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh in their Opel Kadett.
Class D3 will be headed by flying Irishman Paul Barrett and his
Welsh co-driver Dai Roberts. Barrett has set some incredible
times this season and will be right up among the class D5 cars
in his Pinto-powered Escort. Barrett will be chased by Ben
Friend/Sean Kennedy and Ian Jones/Iestyn Williams. In class D2,
Chris Skill and Captain Thompson should set the mark in their
1600cc Escort Mk2.
Another strong entry will contest the Capital Construction
Category 2, with David Stokes and Guy Weaver currently heading
the points in their Escort Mk1. Stokes will again be the
Category 2 benchmark, but the opposition in stronger than ever
in 2015 with a number of Escort Mk1s chasing the current BHRC
champion. It was very close last time out in Kielder as Stokes
hit clutch problems and the chasing pack is certainly getting
closer.
Ernie and Will Graham and John Perrott/Keaton Williams are the
main threats to Stokes on the Severn Valley and have already
enjoyed some mighty contests over the opening events.
The class C3 battle is also hotting up nicely as the BMW 2002 of
Terry Cree/Richard Shores goes up against the Escorts of James
Slaughter/Keegan Rees and Nick Danks/Martin Corbett.
The fierce three-way battle among the 1600cc cars in Category 2
will continue as the Escort Mk1s of Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie
Roughead and Dave Watkins/Tom Jordan take on the flying Hillman
Avenger of Barry Jordan/James Gratton-Smith.
Sadly the entry in the Walker Diecastings Category 1 for pre ’68
cars is smaller than expected as these cars can no longer run at
the head of the field and just six cars will contest the
category. Welsh crews Bob and Dale Gibbons (Ford Cortina GT) and
Malcolm Rich/Jonathan Hawkins (Ford Anglia) should be to the
fore along Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina), while Mike
Barratt and Elliott Retallick field their Ford Cortina GT. In
class B2, Phil Harris and Paul Price (Mini Cooper S) will take
the MG Midget of championship newcomers Robert Seager and Simon
Hannam.
Finally, running in the Jondel Engines Category 4 is the MG
Metro of Trevor Hancock/Jody Watson.
The rally will be based at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth
Wells. The first car will start at 8.30am and return to the
finish at around 3pm.
The Severn Valley Stages is organised by Midland Manor Motor
Club. For more details about the event please visit
www.severnvalleystages.co.uk
Press release – 18 May
2015
Next TV date for British Historic Rally Championship
 The
TV coverage of the third rounds of the Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship and the West Wales Rally Spares
R.A.C. Rally Championship will first be screened on Friday 22
May at 9pm on Motors TV.
The 90-minute programme on Motors TV will cover the full story
of the Pirelli Carlisle Rally, the third round of both
championships, as crews tackled the daunting challenge of
Kielder forest.
Once again overall BHRC victory fell to Nick Elliott and Dave
Price (Ford Escort Mk2), while Phil Burton and Mal Capstick
headed the R.A.C. Championship contenders.
After the initial broadcast on Friday at 9pm, the programme is
due to be repeated several times in the days following the
initial broadcast.
Olly Dickinson is leading the BHRC TV project and will present
the programmes and on-event interviews. Each championship round
will be covered in detail in a 90-minute programme on Motors TV
with multiple repeats to give the championship around 50 hours
of TV coverage. The programmes will also be available via the
championship’s YouTube channel.
Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders,
JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and
Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines,
Skipton Ford, Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.
Championship Newsletter 6/2015 – 30 April 2015
Welcome
Welcome to championship
newsletter number 6 for the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship.
Congratulations go to
Nick Elliott and Dave Price for taking their second overall win
in a row on the Pirelli Carlisle Rally to move into the overall
championship lead. We also congratulate the other category and
class winners and commiserate with those who did not reach the
finish. It is clear that the weather led to stage conditions
that were not usual for the Kielder region. Our thanks are due
to Brian Kinghorn and his team for a warm reception in Carlisle.
Obviously the recent
cancellation of the Neath Valley Stages has given us a longer
summer break than expected, but we still have some superb events
to look forward to over the balance of 2015, starting with the
Severn Valley Stages on 30 May.
Of course, the whole
issue of running order is a major topic in historic rallying at
the moment. I do not think there will be any change for 2015,
but I am in regular dialogue with the MSA to see what is
possible for 2016 and beyond.
If any BHRC contenders
would like to contest the DMACK Carlisle Stages (Saturday 13
June), we’d be pleased to see you. However, entries are filling
fast, so please don’t delay in you want to secure a place.
Best regards
Colin Heppenstall
Friday 30 April 2015
E-mail: colin@historicrallying.org
Championship
website:
www.historicrallying.org
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newsletter in full
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in Adobe PDF format. |
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Press release – 30 April 2015
1600cc historic cars to chase major end-of-season award
One of the biggest prizes in club-level rallying has been
announced for drivers in 1600cc cars competing in the 2015
Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the West
Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship.
The best performing 1600cc car from across the season will win a
free entry on the Roger Albert Clark Rally (27-29 November) in
the award presented by Jordan Road Surfacing. The prize will
have a value of approaching £2000.
“We want to encourage people to come out and compete in 1600cc
cars,” said Barry Jordan, who is rallying a 1600cc Hillman
Avenger this season. “It is really cost-effective rallying and
we’re having a lot of fun in our Avenger.” Jordan will not be
eligible for the award.
Drivers will score points based on their overall finishing
position on each round of the two championships and the highest
scorer for the season will win the award. The award is open to
any 1600cc car from Category 1, 2, 3, 4 and K.
To date, 16 eligible cars have competed over the opening two
events of the season and the contest for the award is finely
balanced between the Ford Escort Mk1s of Robin Shuttleworth,
Stuart Cariss and Dave Watkins, the Escort Mk2s of Grahame
Standen and Chris Skill, the Talbot Sunbeam of David Hopkins,
the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin and the Ford Cortina GT Mk2 of
Bob Gibbons.
“There is a lot of interest in 1600cc cars at the moment and I
know of several more cars being built,” said Jordan. “I thought
it would be a good to help attract more 1600cc entries.”
Press release –
28 April 2015
BHRC Pirelli Carlisle Rally award winners announced
The special award winners in the third round of the 2015 Mintex
MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Pirelli Carlisle
Rally (Saturday 25 April) have been announced following the
rally that also featured the third round of the Holton Homes
Clubmans Challenge.
The Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge is for crews using a maximum
of six tyres per rally. The top overall finishers from the
strong Clubmans Challenge field were once more Tim Freeman and
Paul Williams in their Ford Escort Mk2. They finished a superb
fifth overall among the BHRC contenders.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from Fuchs Lubricants
went to Rudi Lancaster who scored his best BHRC result to date
with fifth overall. It was his first visit to Kielder for 20
years and he made the long journey north from Devon worthwhile
with a great result.
Philip Harris and Alan Walker collected the award for the ‘Best
Improvement on Seeding’, which is a set of axle brake pads from
Mintex. Despite some tough conditions, they battled their Mini
Cooper S up to 44th place after starting as car 98.
Finally, Paul Barrett won the ‘Hard Charger’ award of a 20-litre
jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. He took his
Pinto-powered Escort Mk2 to third overall on his first
experience of the Kielder stages.
Championship Newsletter 5/2015 – 27 April 2015
Welcome
Welcome to
championship newsletter number 5 for the 2015 Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship.
The sole
purpose of this newsletter is to confirm to everyone that,
sadly, the Neath Valley Stages has been cancelled for 2015.
Best
regards
Colin Heppenstall
Monday 27 April 2015
E-mail:
colin@historicrallying.org
Championship website:
www.historicrallying.org
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newsletter in full
here
in Adobe PDF format. |
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26 April 2015
Neath Valley Stages 2015 Cancelled
It is with
deep regret and after much deliberation that I have to announce
that the Neath Valley Stages, which was due to run on August
15th, is now cancelled.
The rally was
a qualifying round of the following championships:
Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship (Nat “A”)
RAC Rally
Championship (Nat “B”)
Welsh Forest
Clubmans (Nat ”B”)
GwynneSpeed
Rally Challenge (Nat “B”)
FMP Rally
Challenge (Nat “B”)
The main
contributing factor towards the cancellation was the MSA’s
announcement that split fields will not be allowed on multi
venue stage events. This ruling is already having an impact on
Cat 1 Historic cars.
In my opinion
running a single field will not solve spectator safety issues.
People always have and always will move about between cars. This
is not a new problem but a problem that is impossible to police.
I believe that
a Nat “A” British Historic Championship event should be a stand
alone event and not inter-seeded with modern cars which will be
running under a Nat “B” permit. For this year we had planned a
shorter, more affordable event for the Nat “B” Clubman
competitors. Inter-seeding these competitors with the Historics
will make this logistically impossible.
The final nail
in the coffin was the MSA’s latest Multi Venue Stage Rally
Safety Requirements which was released on 24th April and are to
be implemented from the 1st June. We are a very small organising
team and feel that too much responsibility is now being placed
on the shoulders of organisers and volunteers.
I would like
to take this opportunity to thank all of our past sponsors for
their generosity, officials - especially members of the Forest
of Dean Motor Club, Ross & District Motor Club and everyone that
has played their part on the day in the safe running of the
Neath Valley Stages over the last eight years.
Finally, I
would like to express my sincere apologies for any inconvenience
that the cancellation will cause.
Den Golding
Organiser/Clerk of the Course
Press release – 25 April 2015
Elliott flies to BHRC victory on Pirelli Carlisle Rally
Nick Elliott and Dave Price made it two wins from three rounds
of the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship on the
Pirelli Carlisle Rally today (Saturday 25 April).
As truly testing conditions hit the demanding Kielder stages,
Elliott drove a superbly judged rally after heavy overnight on
previously dry and dusty stages left everyone searching for
grip. Just eight seconds split Elliott/Price from rivals Matthew
Robinson and Sam Collis at the finish as other leading crews
faltered. Former championship leaders Jason Pritchard and Phil
Clarke were sidelined by clutch problems and Kielder ditches
claimed Meirion Evans/Steffan Evans and Richard Hill/Iwan Jones.
Paul Barrett and Dai Roberts turned in another starring
performance to take third overall in their Pinto-powered Escort
Mk2 while Tomas Davies and Eurig Davies (Ford Escort Mk2) took
victory in Category and David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort
Mk1) and Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina) also won their
respective categories.
Category winners were:
Category 1: Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina)
Category 2: David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Nick Elliott/David Price (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category K: Tomas Davies and Eurig Davies (Ford Escort Mk2)
The Pirelli Carlisle Stages was organised by the Cumberland
Sporting Car Club. A more detailed event report will be
published during Monday (27 April).
Press
release – 21 April 2015
More awards for the BHRC and R.A.C Championships
Four competitors from
the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the West
Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship will each win a
£500 discount on the entry fee for this year’s Roger Albert
Clark Rally (27-29 November).
The Roger Albert Clark
Rally Motor Club will present the winners of Category 1,
Category 2 and Category 3 in the BHRC as well as the overall
champion in the R.A.C. Rally Championship with a £500 voucher to
be used against the entry fee for the November event.
The vouchers will
significantly reduce the entry fee for the 12th running of the
Roger Albert Clark Rally and underline the strong links between
the championships and the rally.
Championships and rally
manager Colin Heppenstall said he was pleased to confirm the
awards: “The club wants to recognise the leading crews from both
championships,” said Heppenstall. “This award will give four
crews a significant discount on the entry fee for this year’s
Roger Albert Clark Rally.”
Full details of the
2015 Roger Albert Clark Rally will be announced shortly.
Press
release – 20 April 2015
Kielder challenge next for BHRC contenders
The outstanding gravel roads of Kielder forest will be the
setting for round three of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship, the Pirelli Carlisle Stages (Saturday 25
April).
After an eight-week break since round two, BHRC crews will
gather in Carlisle for a new-look event that packs nearly 50
competitive miles into four and a half hours of intense
competition. Once the run out from Carlisle is complete, crews
will tackle six special stages and just 25 road miles before the
rally finish at Kielder Castle.
The event has attracted its biggest ever historic field despite
losing some Category 1 entrants due to the recent changes in
event running order. A superb field will assemble, headed by
current overall BHRC leaders Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke
(Ford Escort Mk2). They compete in the Holton Homes Category K
for cars running to Appendix K specification and will be the
first historic car on the road, only running behind three modern
crews.
Ranged against Pritchard, who scored his first major historic
victory in this region last year, are two more very quick
Escorts running to FIA specification. Meirion Evans and Steffan
Evans have little or no knowledge of the region, but have
demonstrated superb pace on recent events and are overdue a big
result. Meanwhile, Tomas Davies and Gwynfor Jones will be right
in contention.
Ranged against the Category K cars will be a host of
front-running Escort Mk2s in the RSR Historic Engineering
Category 3, topped by title contenders Matthew Robinson/Sam
Collis, Nick Elliott/Dave Price and Richard Hill/Iwan Jones.
Meanwhile, Joe Price/Chris Brooks will be on unfamiliar stages,
but will surely be very quick along with crews like Rudi
Lancaster/George Gwynn and Tim Freeman/Paul Williams. The
gorgeous Toyota Celica of Ben Mellors/Alex Lee offers variety to
the Escort pack.
Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh top class D4 in Category 3 in
their Opel Kadett, while class D3 is headed by flying Irishman
Paul Barrett and his Welsh co-driver Dai Roberts. Barrett, who
will be pretty new to Kielder, set a fearsome pace on the Mid
Wales Stages and will be chased by Ben Friend/Sean Kennedy and
Ian Jones/Iestyn Williams. In class D2, Chris Skill and Ken
Bills should set the mark in their 1600cc Escort Mk2.
Another tremendous entry will contest the Capital Construction
Category 2, with David Stokes and Guy Weaver currently heading
the points in their Escort Mk1. Stokes will again be the
Category 2 benchmark, but the opposition in stronger than ever
in 2015 with at least half a dozen Escort Mk1s chasing the
current BHRC champion.
Ernie and Will Graham, Rupert Lomax/Rich Jones, John Perrott/Keaton
Williams and Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell-Browne are all battling
hard in class C5 and have already enjoyed some mighty contests
over the opening two events. One small slip for Stokes could let
one of at least four crews in for victory.
Local driver Phil Jobson and Welsh co-driver Arwel Jenkins top
class C3 in their Escort Mk1 and go up against the similar car
of championship returnee James Slaughter, with Welsh co-driver
Keegan Rees. The BMW 2002 of Terry Cree/Richard Shores is a
potential class winner while more variety comes from the Saab 96
of Colin Hope/Nick Patrick.
The 1600cc battle in Category 2 is a fierce three-way battle
between the Escort Mk1s of Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead
and Dave Watkins/Tom Jordan as well as the Hillman Avenger of
Barry Jordan/James Gratton-Smith.
The entry in the Walker Diecastings Category 1 for pre ’68 cars
is smaller than expected as these cars can no longer run at the
head of the field. However, the competition will be strong as
Rikki Proffitt/James Whitaker bid for a third straight win in
2015. Rivals include Welsh crews Bob and Dale Gibbons
(Ford Cortina GT) and Malcolm Rich/Jonathan Hawkins (Ford
Anglia), while local crew Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus
Cortina) and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911) are
other leading contenders. In class B2, Phil Harris and Alan
Walker pit their Mini Cooper S against the challenge of Kielder.
Finally, supporting the Jondel Engines Category 4 is the MG
Metro of Trevor Hancock/Jody Watson.
The rally will be based close to junction 43 of the M6 in
Carlisle and the service area will be in the close to Kielder
Water. The first car will start at 10am on Saturday and finish
at 3.30pm.
The Pirelli Carlisle Rally is organised by the Cumberland
Sporting Car Club Ltd. For more details about the event please
visit
www.pirellicarlislerally.co.uk.
Championship
Newsletter 13 April 2015
Welcome to championship
newsletter number 4 for the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship.
The sole purpose of
this newsletter is to update you with regard to the running
order/split field issues arising from the recent MSA ruling that
it would no longer give authorisation for split fields.
As I said in the last
newsletter, we have been in dialogue with the MSA to see if
anything could be done to allow Category 1 cars and 1600cc cars
to remain at the head of the field on our gravel events.
I have now had a final
response from the MSA and I’m afraid that there will be no
change to the ruling – for 2015 at least.
I know that this will
come as a great disappointment to many crews, and may impact
upon your plans for the rest of the season. However, it is very
clear that the very future of gravel rallying is currently at
stake.
I will, of course,
maintain dialogue with the MSA on this matter to see if any
changes are possible in the future. However, for the balance of
2015, at least, rallies will run in one block with the fastest
cars at the head of the field.
Best regards
Colin Heppenstall
Monday 13 April 2015
E-mail:
colin@historicrallying.org
Championship website:
www.historicrallying.org
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Press
Release - 9 April 2015
Spectacular spectating on stunning stages
The Pirelli Carlisle Rally
takes place on Saturday 25th April, the cars leave the start
ramp in Carlisle city centre at 10:00am with all the rally’s
“Special stages” located in the Kielder Forest complex. The
first car is x to cross the finish ramp, outside Kielder Castle
just after 3:00pm. For further information visit the event
website at:
www.pirellicarlislerally.co.uk
Press release – 23 March 2015
Next TV date for British Historic Rally Championship
The TV coverage of the second rounds of the Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship and the West Wales Rally Spares
R.A.C. Rally Championship will first be screened on Friday 27
March at 9pm on Motors TV.
The 90-minute programme on Motors TV will cover the full story
of the Mid Wales Stages, the second round of both championships.
The programme reports on a fiercely competitive rally contested
over the superb stages in Pikes Peak, Myherin and Hafren in some
truly challenging weather conditions.
Overall BHRC victory fell to Nick Elliott and Dave Price (Ford
Escort Mk2) as they made it five wins from six in the historic
section of the event. In the R.A.C. Championship, brothers Simon
and Alister Crook were top finishers in their Opel Manta.
After the initial broadcast on Friday at 9pm, the programme is
due to be repeated several times including at 9am on Monday 30
March and at 3.15pm on Good Friday, 3 April.
Olly Dickinson is leading the BHRC TV project and will present
the programmes and on-event interviews. Each championship round
will be covered in detail in a 90-minute programme on Motors TV
with multiple repeats to give the championship around 50 hours
of TV coverage.
Alongside the TV coverage, the programmes will again be
available on iRally. The free iRally App is available for the
iPhone, iPad and Android devices and offers an incredibly
popular rally video channel. The programmes will also be
available via the championship’s YouTube channel.
Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders,
JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and
Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines,
Skipton Ford, Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.
Championship
Newsletter 13 March 2015
Welcome
to championship newsletter number 3 for the 2015 Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship.
Once again crews faced tough conditions on round two, the Mid
Wales Stages, and I’m pleased to report that the event ran
smoothly without any major incidents despite some wet and
slippery stages. Congratulations go to overall winners Nick
Elliott and Dave Price as well as the other category and class
winners.
Conditions in Sweet Lamb were also tough for the service crews
and they all deserve credit for carrying on in wind, rain,
sleet, snow, thunder and lightning! Finally, I’d also like to
thank the organisers and marshals for keeping the even running
so well despite the weather.
Now we have a little breather before round 3, the Pirelli
Carlisle Rally on Saturday 25 April. Full details of this event
are below and we’re really pleased with the format of the rally
and the very compact route. Regs will be out within the next
week for this event and round 4, the Severn Valley Stages on
Saturday 30 May. Updated championship points should be available
on the website by the time this newsletter arrives.
Best regards
Colin
Heppenstall
Friday 13 March
2015
E-mail:
colin@historicrallying.org
Championship website:
www.historicrallying.org
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newsletter in full
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Press
release – 9 March 2015
Opening BHRC coverage on YouTube
The
TV coverage of the opening rounds of the Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship and the West Wales Rally Spares
R.A.C. Rally Championship is now available via the BHRC’s
dedicated YouTube channel.
The programme covers the full story of the Red Kite Stages, the
first round of both championships. The programme reports on a
very tough event after overnight snow and a hard frost made
conditions really testing over the early stages of the rally.
The footage can be viewed from our home page or from our
dedicated channel by clicking on the YouTube icon at the top of
any page of this website.
Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders,
JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and
Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines,
Skipton Ford, Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.
Please note that, due to last minute TV scheduling issues, this
programme was trimmed down to one hour instead of the intended
90 minutes. All future programmes for the 2015 season will be
run over an hour and a half as originally planned.
5 March
2015
Pirelli Preview
Brian Kinghorn, Deputy
Clerk of the Course the Pirelli Carlisle Rally writes:
On behalf of the
Cumberland Sporting Car club may I offer our congratulations to
all the category and class winners on the Mid Wales Rally, but
whether you were a winner or not, I hope that you enjoyed the
event. We are now the next event in the BHRC and RAC, that
concentrates the mind, so I thought I would take this
opportunity to bring you up to date with our plans for this
year’s rally.
We are delighted to be
part of the Mintex MSA BHRC and the West Wales Rally Spares RAC
Championship, along with the Motoscope Northern Historic
championship we hope to see a mouth-watering display of historic
cars gather
in Carlisle on April 25th.
Our format has been designed to make competing as convenient and
as cost effective as possible, we are very aware that a lot of
our
entries will come from the
south, be that Wales or England, we have tried hard to design
the rally to reduce time away from home and work to as little as
possible.
Read the preview in full
here
Press release – 3 March 2015
BHRC Mid Wales award winners announced
The special award winners in the second round of the 2015 Mintex
MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Mid Wales Stages
(Sunday 1 March) have been announced following the rally that
also featured the second rounds of the Motorsport Auctions Welsh
Challenge and the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge.
The Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge is being contested over
the four gravel rallies and one asphalt event based in Wales and
the early lead is held by Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford
Escort Mk2). The Welsh Challenge resumes on round four of the
championship, the Severn Valley Stages on 30 May.
The event was also the second round of the Holton Homes Clubmans
Challenge, which is for crews using a maximum of six tyres per
rally. The top overall finishers from the strong Clubmans
Challenge field were once more Tim Freeman and Paul Williams in
their Ford Escort Mk2.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from Fuchs Lubricants
went to Paul Barrett who drove a storming rally to win class D3
and finish seventh overall. It was his 2015 debut after plans to
contest the Red Kite Stages were wrecked by a disastrous ferry
journey that entailed over 30 hours on a ferry from Rosslare to
Fishguard.
Mark Holmes and Craig Simkiss collected the award for the ‘Best
Improvement on Seeding’, which is a set of axle brake pads from
Mintex. They took their Ford Escort Mk1 up to 30th place after
starting as car 50.
Finally, Joe Price won the ‘Hard Charger’ award of a 20-litre
jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. On his first
BHRC event, Price was instantly on the pace and finished a
tremendous third overall with Chris Brooks alongside in his Ford
Escort Mk2.
Press release – 2 March 2015
Elliott tops BHRC on Mid Wales Stages
Nick Elliott and Dave Price were the big winners on round two of
the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Viking
Motorsport/Links Electrical Mid Wales Stages (Sunday 1 March).
Despite some truly demanding conditions on some classic gravel
stages, the Ford Escort Mk2 crew made it five wins from six in
the historic section of the event.
On a day when strong winds, heavy rain, sleet and snow made
conditions very tough, Elliott drove a faultless rally to finish
28s ahead of Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis and impressive
championship newcomers Joe Price and Chris Brooks.
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2) took fourth
overall and Category K to retain their early championship lead,
while David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) and Rikki
Proffitt/James Whitaker (Porsche 911) also won their respective
categories.
This was the second event of the BHRC’s new five-year term under
the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club. Once
again a fine entry assembled in Newtown with a total field of 82
cars covering 14 marques and 19 models. The outstanding effort
and commitment of the organisers and marshals ensured a safe
day’s rallying despite the dreadful conditions.
Four superb stages made up the route, including a mighty 16-mile
stage that started in Sweet Lamb and then ran in to Hafren
forest. The rally opened with the fabulous climb up the Pikes
Peak stage followed by the second stage in Myherin and after
those two stages Elliott had built a slender lead over Price
with Pritchard and Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis packing out the
top positions.
A big attack on the 16-mile Hafren stage set the seal on
Elliott’s victory as rain, wind, sleet, snow, thunder and
lightning made conditions very tough. However, Meirion Evans and
Steffan Evans ran Elliott close and were only two seconds behind
after more than 17 minutes of rallying to move into second place
with one stage remaining.
The rally finished in spectacular style on the descent of Pikes
Peak and Elliott made sure of victory with a strong final stage.
However, Evans hit trouble when he picked up a puncture with six
miles of the stage still to run. He battled on, but the time
lost cost him second place and dropped him to fifth.
“Brilliant!” said Elliott as he arrived back in Newtown. “We
just seem to go well on these stages.” He also claimed the RSR
Historic Engineering Category 3 spoils.
Robinson took second place, but only just. Price started the
last stage four seconds behind and the gap was down to
four-tenths of a second by the finish. “We’re pleased to be up
there on pace,” said Price of his impressive BHRC debut. Only
four seconds adrift of Price in fourth was Pritchard who won the
Holton Homes Category K for cars running to Appendix K
specification from Evans, who finished the rally understandably
disappointed with fifth.
Youngsters Ben Llewellin and Ross Whittock went well in the
tough conditions to take sixth, despite dropping a chunk of time
in Hafren with a misted screen. Equally impressive in seventh
overall and dominant winner of class D3 was the Pinto-powered
Escort Mk2 of Paul Barrett and Dai Roberts. After a nightmare
ferry trip trying to get to the Red Kite, this was just reward
for Northern Irish driver.
Behind Barrett in class D3 were Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy, one
of several crews to be held up when another car slid off in
Hafren. Close behind were Ian Jones and Iestyn Williams in their
Pinto-powered Escort Mk2.
Stokes/Weaver made it two out of two this season in the Capital
Construction Category 2 despite having to change a gearbox at
the first service. Stokes had half a minute in hand over a
mighty Escort Mk1 contest for second in class C5 and it was
Rupert Lomax and Rich Jones who took the position from John
Perrott/Keaton Williams and Ernie Graham/Will Graham.
Robin Shuttleworth and Ronnie Roughead (Ford Escort Mk1) turned
in a storming performance to win class C2 and beat a gaggle of
more powerful cars in the process. They headed Baz Jordan/James
Gratton-Smith (Hillman Avenger), while Terry Cree/Richard Shores
(BMW 2002Ti) made a winning return in class C3 after a day-long
battle with Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk1). Cree
really won it on the Hafren stage on his return to competition
after rolling the BMW on the Neath Valley Stages last August.
In the Walker Diecastings Category 1, Proffitt/Whitaker had to
contend with a misfire after the Sweet Lamb water splash and
then slush on the high ground in stage four as they ran first on
the road. But it was still an accomplished performance that gave
Proffitt his second Category 1 win of the season.
However, it was never easy for Proffitt as Bob and Dale Gibbons
(Ford Cortina Mk2 GT) flew through Hafren to take a seven-second
lead into the final stage. Trying just too hard to hold his
advantage, Gibbons slid off the road and lost five minutes
before spectators got them going again. Meanwhile, as well as
winning class B4, Ian Beveridge/Paul Price (Volvo PV544) gave
spirited chase to the winning Porsche and were only 18s down at
the finish.
The Gibbons father and son pairing still won class B3 as Philip
Harris/Alan Walker (Mini Cooper) took B2 despite spending
several minutes off in Hafren. Luckily, four burly chaps were
there to manhandle the Mini back on to the road.
Finally, Trevor Hancock/Jody Watson (MG Metro) scored a personal
victory for the driver by winning the Jondel Engines Category 4
on Hancock’s return to competition after a stroke.
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship
continues with round three, the Pirelli Rally on Saturday 25
April.
The Mid Wales Stages was organised by the Newtown and District
Automobile Club. Full results are at:
www.amcrallyresults.co.uk
Issued by Paul Lawrence, tel: 01952 510382 (e:
paul@tfmpr.com)
Press release – 1 March 2015
Elliott flies to BHRC victory on Mid Wales Stages
Nick Elliott and Dave Price were the big winners on round two of
the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Mid
Wales Stages today (Sunday 1 March). Despite some truly
demanding conditions on some classic gravel stages, the Ford
Escort Mk2 crew made it five wins from six in the historic
section of the event.
A big attack on the 16-mile Hafren stage set the seal on
Elliott’s victory as rain, wind, sleet, snow, thunder and
lightning made conditions very tough. Into a strong second went
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis, while championship newcomers
Joe Price and Chris Brooks were an impressive third overall in a
top quality 82-car field.
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2) took fourth
overall and Category K to retain their early championship lead,
while David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) and Rikki
Proffitt/James Whitaker (Porsche 911) also won their respective
categories.
Category winners were:
Category 1: Rikki Proffitt/James Whitaker (Porsche 911)
Category 2: David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Nick Elliott/David Price (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category 4: Trevor Hancock/Jody Watson (MG Metro)
Category K: Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2)
The Mid Wales Stages was organised by the Newtown and District
Motor Club. A more detailed event report will be circulated
during Monday (2 March).
Press release – 23 February 2015
Stellar entry for BHRC on Mid Wales Stages
A
fantastic entry has been assembled for round two of the 2015
Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Viking
Motorsport/Links Electrical Mid Wales Stages (Sunday 1 March).
With at least 10 potential winners in an entry that is packed
with quality and quantity, the BHRC will deliver a mighty
spectacle on one of the most popular events on the calendar. The
Newtown-based rally offers crews the chance to tackle superb
stages in the Myherin and Hafren forest complexes, including the
magnificent climb and later descent at Pikes Peak. Britain’s
leading championship for historic cars has recently started a
new five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert
Clark Rally Motor Club.
First on the road in the main historic field will be Nick
Elliott and Dave Price (Ford Escort Mk2). They have dominated
this rally in recent years with four wins out of five and they
will surely set the benchmark again this year.
Leading the chase of Elliott will be early championship leaders
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke. Pritchard runs his Escort Mk2
in the Holton Homes Category K for cars running to Appendix K
specification and as well as being the early BHRC leader he is
also setting the pace in the Motorsport Auctions Welsh
Challenge.
Currently heading the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3 is the
Ford Escort Mk2 of Richard Hill and Iwan Jones, who had a fine
start to the season on the recent Red Kite Stages. Meanwhile,
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis had a fairly modest start to
their BHRC campaign but will be out for a big result this
weekend. Four very rapid Welsh Ford Escort crews pack out the
rest of the top 10 and all of them are at least podium
contenders: Meirion Evans/Steffan Evans, Tomas Davies/Eurig
Davies, Terry Brown/Den Golding and Ben Llewellin/Ross Whittock
show the depth of quality in the championship.
Evans and Davies join Pritchard in running in Category K, as
does the glorious Fiat 131 of Julian Reynolds. Meanwhile,
historic newcomers Joe Price/Chris Brooks will make their BHRC
debut and could be real dark horses. So, too, could Daniel
‘Lwni’ Jones and Gerwyn Barry after Jones was fastest of all on
the first stage of the Red Kite.
In the Category 3 classes there is a big battle shaping up in D3
as Ben Friend/Sean Kennedy take on Paul Barrett/Dai Roberts and
Ian Jones/Iestyn Williams in a fight between the Pinto-powered
Escort Mk2s. In class D2 for the 1600cc cars, Chris Skill/Colin
Thompson will be setting the pace.
The pacesetter in the Capital Construction Category 2 will once
more be the Ford Escort Mk1 of Red Kite victors David Stokes and
Guy Weaver. However, the strongest class C5 entry for a long
time includes plenty of opposition for the reigning BHRC
champion and the stage times on the Red Kite point to there
being some great battles this season.
Father and son crew Ernie and Will Graham, Rupert Lomax/Rich
Jones, Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell-Browne and Warren Philliskirk/Nigel
Hutchinson are all contenders, along with series newcomers John
Perrott/Keaton Williams who showed great potential first time
out on the Red Kite.
Down among the Category 2 classes, there will be plenty more
competition. The Escort Mk1s of Nick Danks/Martin Corbett, Simon
Pickering/Colin Jenkins and Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins will
contest class C3, but taking the challenge to the Escorts will
be the rapid BMW 2002 of Terry Cree/Richard Shores, back out for
the first time since an accident last summer.
The class C2 1600cc crews run at the head of the rally with Dave
Watkins/Tom Jordan aiming to make it two wins on the trot as
Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead chase hard in Escort Mk1s.
Joining the contest are Barry Jordan and James Gratton-Smith in
their rapid Hillman Avenger and Barry will be keen to finish
ahead of his co-driving son Tom.
In the Walker Diecastings Category 1, Porsche crew Rikki
Proffitt and James Whitaker start as favourites after Proffitt
took maximum points on the opening round. However, five crews
are lining up to challenge them and fresh from a mighty
performance on the Red Kite come Ian Beveridge/Paul Price (Volvo
PV544).
Malcolm Rich/Jonathan Hawkins (Ford Anglia) showed great pace on
the Red Kite while the sideways Ford Cortina GT of Bob and Dale
Gibbons will be right in the mix along with Dessie
Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911) and Paul Mankin/Desmond
Bell (Lotus Cortina). Heading class B2 will be Mini Cooper pilot
Philip Harris and Alan Walker, another crew to shine on the Red
Kite.
Finally making its debut in the Jondel Engines Category 4 is the
MG Metro of Trevor Hancock/Jody Watson.
The rally will be based in Newtown with Rally HQ at The Hafren
and the central service area will be at Sweet Lamb. The first
car will start at 9am on Sunday and return to the finish just
before 3pm.
The Viking Motorsport/Links Electrical Mid Wales Stages is
organised by the Newtown and District Motor Club. For more
details about the event please visit
www.newtown-mc.co.uk.
Press release – 22 February 2015
TV date for opening British Historic Rally Championship round
The TV coverage of the opening rounds of the Mintex MSA British
Historic Rally Championship and the West Wales Rally Spares
R.A.C. Rally Championship will first be screened on Friday 27
February at 9pm on Motors TV.
The 90-minute programme on Motors TV will cover the full story
of the Red Kite Stages, the first round of both championships.
The programme reports on a very tough event after overnight snow
and a hard frost made conditions really testing over the first
stages of the rally.
Then, as the day progressed the battle for overall BHRC victory
came down to the dramatic last stage as a mighty charge from
Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke took them from fourth to first
in the final run through Caeo. In the R.A.C. Championship, Phil
Burton and Mal Capstick took an impressive debut win.
After the initial broadcast on Friday at 9pm, the programme is
due to be repeated several times including at 9.30am on Saturday
28 February and at 11.30am on Monday 2 March.
Olly Dickinson is leading the BHRC TV project and will present
the programmes and on-event interviews. Each championship round
will be covered in detail in a 90-minute programme on Motors TV
with multiple repeats to give the championship around 50 hours
of TV coverage.
Alongside the TV coverage, the programmes will again be
available on iRally. The free iRally App is available for the
iPhone, iPad and Android devices and offers an incredibly
popular rally video channel. The programmes will also be
available via the championship’s YouTube channel.
Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders,
JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and
Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines,
Skipton Ford, Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.
Championship Newsletter
5 February 2015
Welcome
to championship newsletter number 2 for the 2015 Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship.
We were all delighted with the opening
round, the Red Kite Stages, which delivered a true challenge in
some tough conditions. I’d like to record a big vote of thanks
to all the team at Amman and DMC as well as the marshals, radio
crews, timekeepers and rescue and recovery crews for coping with
all the challenges thrown at them. To their great credit, we
were all able to enjoy a fine day’s sport.
Best Regards
Colin Heppenstall
E-mail:
colin@historicrallying.org
Championship website:
www.historicrallying.org
| |
Read the
newsletter in full
here
in Adobe PDF format. |
|
|
Press release – 4 February 2015
BHRC Red Kite award winners announced
 The special award winners in the opening round of the 2015 Mintex
MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Red Kite Stages
(Sunday 1 February) have been announced following the rally that
also featured the opening rounds of the Motorsport Auctions
Welsh Challenge and the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge.
The Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge will be contested over
the four gravel rallies and one asphalt event based in Wales and
so the early lead has gone to rally winners Jason Pritchard and
Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2). Builth Wells-based Pritchard was
on one of his home events, while Clarke is based just across the
border near Ludlow. Pritchard only flew back into the UK on
Saturday morning after spending a week working with the Viking
Motorsport team on the Classic Rally South Africa, so their last
stage victory was even sweeter.
The event was also the first round of the Holton Homes Clubmans
Challenge, which is for crews using a maximum of six tyres per
rally. The top overall finishers from the strong Clubmans
Challenge field were Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy, who had a
great run in their Pinto-powered Ford Escort Mk2 to win class D3
and finish 16th overall. Just one second behind them was the
Ford Escort Mk2 of Tim Freeman and Paul Williams while Richard
Lane and Frank Richer were next up.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from Fuchs Lubricants
went to Bob Gibbons who made a popular return to rallying in his
Ford Cortina Mk2. Co-driven by his son Dale, this was Bob’s
first rally since the tragic death of his wife Di last summer.
He got back into the swing of rallying and gave the fans a show
with his usual sideways style.
Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh collected the award for the ‘Best
Improvement on Seeding’, which is a set of axle brake pads from
Mintex. They took their Opel Kadett up into tenth place overall
after an excellent performance.
Finally, Terry Brown won the ‘Hard Charger’ award of a 20-litre
jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. Despite losing
third gear on the opening stage, Brown and Den Golding battled
on and narrowly missed overall victory with a mighty charge.
Press release – 2 February 2015
Pritchard takes opening BHRC victory on Red Kite Stages
The
2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship got off to
an incredible start on the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February)
as early ice and snow delivered truly challenging conditions.
Then, as conditions improved, Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke
flew through the final stage to jump from fourth to first as
just 15 seconds covered the top five crews.
It was a sensational start to the new season and the fact that
the rally run at all is testament to the hard work and
professionalism of the organising team at Amman and DMC as well
as all the marshals and officials out on the stages.
The uphill access road to the Crychan South stage was impassable
first thing for the marshals and safety crews, so only Crychan
North ran on the first loop. Two stages in Caeo stage were
interspersed by another lap of Crychan, this time with a
shortened version of Crychan South as conditions improved
notably in the middle of the day.
Despite the conditions, a big crowd of fans turned out to see
the action and they were not disappointed as the BHRC started a
new five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert
Clark Rally Motor Club.
Team mates Daniel ‘Lwni’ Jones/Kevin Lewis and Meirion Evans/Steffan
Evans set a searing the early pace but neither Escort Mk2 was
destined to finish. Jones’ massively impressive BHRC debut was
halted by gearbox problems and Evans slid off in Crychan when
looking good for a very big result. Instead, David Stokes/Guy
Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) took the lead as Stokes used decades of
experience to make the best of the conditions.
Meanwhile, Pritchard was clawing back time after a steady run
through the ince-bound opening stage and went into the final
Caeo stage in fourth place overall behind Stokes, Richard Hill/Iwan
Jones (Ford Escort Mk2) and Terry Brown/Den Golding (Ford Escort
Mk2). In just nine miles, the results were turned on their head
as Pritchard won from Hill, Brown and Stokes, while Matthew
Robinson/Sam Collis grabbed fifth as they also charged back into
contention following a troubled opening stage.
It had been one of the most dramatic final stages in the BHRC
story and Pritchard had produced the perfect start to the new
season. “The conditions this morning were the worst I’ve ever
driven in,” he said. Hill was pleased with a strong result to
start the season, and was quick to congratulate Pritchard on the
result.
Brown’s performance was one of the drives of the rally, for he
had lost third gear on the opening stage. Co-driver Golding
reckoned that the struggle between second and fourth on the long
climb in Caeo could have cost them victory. Stokes, meanwhile
had driven just as well and shown that experience counts when
the conditions are tough.
In the Walker Diecastings Category 1, Rikki Proffitt/Graham Wild
slithered through the morning ice in Crychan to lay the
foundations of victory in their Porsche 911. “Absolutely
fantastic,” said Proffitt. “We couldn’t have gone much quicker
this morning without going off.” After a long break from
rallying Malcolm Rich, with co-driver Jonathan Hawkins, had a
mighty run in his Ford Anglia to win class B3 and headed the
chase of Proffitt.
Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell survived to win class B4 in their
Lotus Cortina despite a time-consuming first stage off while
Philip Harris and Alan Walker were delighted to get Phil’s
immaculate Mini Cooper to the finish of its first rally and
claim class B2 spoils.
Stokes/Weaver won the Capital Construction Category 2 with
Rupert Lomax and new co-driver Rich Jones second after two years
away from his Escort Mk1 for the driver and no testing before
starting the ice-bound Crychan stage.
Just outside the top 10, in what is shaping up for the best
class C5 battle for many years, John Perrott/Keaton Williams,
Ernie and Will Graham and Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson
were split by just two seconds, with Perrott taking the place on
the final stage.
In class C3, Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk1) spent
the day struggling to find gears but still managed to win the
class, while Class C2 featured a fine contest as Dave
Watkins/Thomas Jordan (Ford Escort Mk1) clawed back the 40s they
lost to Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead on the first stage.
Hill/Jones claimed the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3 from
Brown/Golding and Robinson/Collis, while next up were Rudi
Lancaster and George Gwynn, who finished only three seconds up
on Nick Elliott/Dave Price. The wrong tyres and a first stage
spin and puncture cost Elliott dear, but he was on the pace
again once conditions improved.
One of the drives of the rally came from Pinto-powered Ben
Friend and Sean Kennedy in their Ford Escort Mk2 as they won
class D3 at a canter with an outstanding sixth fastest overall
on the opening stage. “The ice was a good power leveller,” said
the rapid youngster.
First on the road in the ice was a big handicap for Chris Skill
and Garry Middleton (Ford Escort Mk2), but they kept it going to
win class D2. “It was a lot of fun, but very tricky,” said
Skill.
Pritchard won the Holton Homes Category K for cars running to
Appendix K specification and was followed home by the
crowd-pleasing cars of Julian Reynolds/Ieuan Thomas (Fiat 131)
and Steve Perez/Paul Spooner (Lancia Stratos).
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship
continues with round two, the Mid Wales Stages on Sunday 1
March.
The Red Kite Stages was organised by the Amman and District
Motor Club. Full results are at:
www.amcrallyresults.co.uk
2 February 2015
Perez battles against the Red Kite ice
Steve
Perez and the ‘Amigos Tequila Flavoured Beer’ Lancia Stratos
claimed third in class on the opening round of the Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship, the Red Kite Stages (Sunday
1 February).
The first major rally of the 2015 season proved to be a massive
challenge for everyone as ice and snow made the opening stages
in Crychan forest incredibly slippery. One of the stages had to
be cancelled as marshals could not get into the forest and the
rally proved very demanding for Chesterfield-based Perez and
co-driver Paul Spooner.
However, they battled to the finish and clinched third in class
for cars running to FIA Appendix K regulations, only headed by
rally winner Jason Pritchard (Ford Escort Mk2) and former BHRC
champion Julian Reynolds (Fiat 131).
“Unfortunately we spun and got stuck on the first corner of the
first stage and lost maybe 45 seconds,” said Perez at the rally
finish in Llandovery. “Our times then got better as the day
progressed and the ice and snow cleared away, but we struggled
to get the right tyres for the car in these conditions.
“It was a tough day to get through as the ice really doesn’t
suit the car because it just wants to swap ends all the time! It
is very difficult to drive on ice and snow. It was much better
later in the rally and we were getting onto the pace.”
Once again, the Stratos ran reliably throughout the rally and
Steve and the team will now look ahead to round two of the
championship, the Mid Wales Stages on Sunday 1 March when,
hopefully, the conditions will allow them to show the car’s real
pace.
For more details about Steve Perez and the Amigos Tequila
Flavoured Beer Lancia Stratos, please visit
www.steveperez.co.uk
or go to
www.facebook.com/steve.perezrallying
For more information on the company and its products, including
Amigos Tequila Flavoured Beer, please visit
www.globalbrands.co.uk
Press release – 1 February 2015
Pritchard takes BHRC cliff-hanger on Red Kite Stages
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship got off to
an incredible start on today’s Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1
February) as early ice and snow delivered truly challenging
conditions. Then, as conditions improved, Jason Pritchard and
Phil Clarke flew through the final stage to jump from fourth to
first as just 15 seconds covered the top five crews.
It was a sensational start to the new season and the fact that
the rally run at all is testament to the hard work and
professionalism of the organising team at Amman and DMC as well
as all the marshals and officials out on the stages.
Pritchard (Ford Escort Mk2) went into the final Caeo stage in
fourth place overall behind David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort
Mk1), Richard Hill/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort Mk2), Terry Brown/Den
Golding (Ford Escort Mk2). In just nine miles, the results were
turned on their head as Pritchard won from Hill, Brown and
Stokes, while Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis grabbed fifth as they
also charged back into contention.
With one of many outstanding drives on the rally, Stokes/Weaver
won Category 2 and with Pritchard winning Category K, it was
Hill who claimed Category 3 spoils. Rikki Proffitt and Graham
Wild slithered through the morning ice in Crychan to win
Category 1.
Category winners were:
Category 1: Rikki Proffitt/Graham Wild (Porsche 911)
Category 2: David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1)
Category 3: Richard Hill/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort Mk2)
Category K: Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2)
Press release – 27 January 2015
Great start for the 2015 BHRC on Red Kite Stages
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship will get
off to a flying start on the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February)
with an entry that is big on both quality and quantity.
Nearly 60 BHRC-registered crews will gather in Llandovery to
tackle some classic Welsh gravel stages as Britain’s leading
championship for historic cars starts a new five-year term under
the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.
Leading the main historic field away will be 2014 Red Kite
Historic winner Richard Hill in his Ford Escort Mk2. Hill will
be co-driven by Iwan Jones after a little co-driver shuffling
over the winter and they are among the crews from the RSR
Historic Engineering Category 3 who should stand out at the head
of overall action. After winning the 2014 R.A.C. Championship
title, Nick Elliott and Dave Price are another of the absolute
pace-setting crews, and they were leading the 2014 Red Kite
until a last stage accident.
Roger Albert Clark Rally winners Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis
have the BHRC as their 2014 target, while Jason Pritchard and
Phil Clarke also showed winning pace last season. Pritchard will
run his Escort Mk2 in the Holton Homes Category K for cars
running to Appendix K specification.
A gaggle of rapid Escorts will be giving chase to the top four
seeds. Notable names to watch include young duo Ben Llewellin/Ross
Whittock, the spectacular Meirion Evans/Steffan Evans, Terry
Brown/Den Golding, Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies and historic
newcomers Joe Price/Chris Brooks. Price could be a real
darkhorse as he makes his debut in the BHRC.
Lining up against the Escort pack will be the stunning Fiat 131
of Julian Reynolds/Ieuan Thomas on an event were Reynolds has
enjoyed a great deal of success. The gorgeous Toyota Celica of
Ben Mellors/Alex Lee is another rival to the Escort runners,
along with the crowd-pleasing Lancia Stratos of Steve Perez/Paul
Spooner.
Among the Pinto-powered Ford Escort Mk2s in class D3 it is
Irishman Paul Barrett and Welsh co-driver Paul Wakely who should
set the mark, but young charger Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy will
be chasing hard along with Neal James/Kevin Jones. Ranged
against the Escorts is the Saab 96 of Colin Hope and Nick
Patrick. Meanwhile, the boom in support for 1600cc cars
continues and the D2 class is topped by the Escorts of Chris
Skill/Garry Middleton and Grahame Standen/Jane Edgington.
The pacesetter in the Capital Construction Category 2 will be
the Ford Escort Mk1 of David Stokes and Guy Weaver, but the
Gloucestershire driver has plenty of rivals including father and
son crew Ernie and Will Graham, rallying returnee Rupert Lomax
with co-driver Rich Jones, Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell-Browne,
Roger Matthews/Jack Walby, Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson
and dark-horse John Perrott with Keaton Williams. It is one of
the strongest class C5 entries for some time.
Down among the Category 2 classes, the competition will be just
as fierce. The Escort Mk1s of Nick Danks/Martin Corbett and
Simon Pickering/Colin Jenkins and the Opel Ascona of Peter
Smith/Patrick Walsh will battle for class C3. The class C2
1600cc crews run at the head of the rally with Robin
Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead and Dave Watkins/Tom Jordan to the
fore in Escort Mk1s.
In the Walker Diecastings Category 1, Porsche stalwarts Rikki
Proffitt/James Whitaker and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride should
lead the way against the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin/Desmond
Bell and the very rapid, and usually sideways, Ford Cortina GT
of Bob and Dale Gibbons.
Variety for Category 1 comes from rallying returnee Malcolm Rich
with co-driver Jonathan Hawkins (Ford Anglia) while Bill Douglas
and Dave Tearl field a rare BMW 1800. Finally, on his first
gravel rally for over 20 years will be Mini Cooper pilot Philip
Harris who has regular Escort Mk2 driver Alan Walker alongside.
Flying the flag for Toyota in the Jondel Engines Category 4 is
the 1600cc Corolla of Will Midgley and Geoff Maybank.
The rally will be based in Llandovery with Rally HQ at the
Castle Hotel and the central service area at the adjoining
Llandovery Mart. The first historic car will start at 8.30am on
Sunday and return to the finish just after 2pm.
The Red Kite Stages is organised by the Amman and District Motor
Club. For more details about the event please visit
www.redkitestages.co.uk.
Press release – 26 January 2015
TV partners confirmed for British Historic Rally Championship
The line-up of TV partners for the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship has been confirmed ahead of the opening round
of the championship, the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February).
The 90-minute programmes on Motors TV will cover the full story
of both the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and
the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship.
Olly Dickinson will lead the project and will present the
programmes and on-event interviews, and the coverage will start
with the Red Kite Stages, which is provisionally scheduled for
broadcast on the evening of Friday 27 February. Exact schedules
will be confirmed nearer the transmission date.
Each championship round will be covered in detail in a 90-minute
programme on Motors TV with multiple repeats to give the
championship around 50 hours of TV coverage. Initial broadcasts
will run in prime-time slots, typically three or four weeks
after the rally.
Alongside the TV coverage, the entire Championship will again be
available on iRally. The free iRally App is available for the
iPhone, iPad and Android devices and offers an incredibly
popular rally video channel. The programmes will also be
available via the championship’s YouTube channel.
Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders,
JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and
Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines,
Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the
West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship start on the
Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and more details are
available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
24 January
2015
Championship Newsletter 23 January 2015
Welcome
to championship newsletter number 1 for the 2015 Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship. We are very pleased to
welcome Mintex as our title sponsor for 2015 and hope that it
will be the start of a long and fruitful partnership.
We are less than two weeks away from
the opening event of the 2015 season and we are absolutely
delighted with the response for the opening round, the Red Kite
Stages (Sunday 1 February). With over 50 contenders due out for
this event, we have a number of crews who plan to start their
season at round two, the Mid Wales Stages (Sunday 1 March).
I look forward to seeing you in
Llandovery!
Best Regards
Colin Heppenstall
E-mail:
colin@historicrallying.org
Championship website:
www.historicrallying.org
| |
Read the
newsletter in full
here
in Adobe PDF format. |
|
|
Press release – 23 January 2015
British Historic Rally Championship partners confirmed
 The
full line-up of commercial partners for the 2015 Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship has been revealed as support
for the championship runs at a very high level ahead of the
opening round, the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February).
More than 50 registered crews are already entered for the Red
Kite as Britain’s leading championship for historic cars starts
a new five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert
Clark Rally Motor Club.
With Mintex already confirmed as title sponsor for the
championship, the four major tyre suppliers in the historic
arena have all continued as tyre partners: DMACK, Dunlop, Kumho
and Pirelli.
Category sponsors for the coming season are Walker Diecastings
(Category 1), Capital Construction (Category 2), RSR Historic
Engineering (Category 3), Jondel Engines (Category 4) and Holton
Homes (Category K).
The newly-announced Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge is a
sub-set of the BHRC and runs over the five Welsh events in the
2015 schedule. As well as outstanding gravel rallies, the
programme includes the unique asphalt challenge offered by the
Epynt ranges.
Meanwhile, the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge will also run as
a sub-set of the BHRC and is for competitors using no more than
six tyres per event. The Clubmans Challenge is designed to
appeal particularly to the crews in less powerful cars and is an
important step towards the reduction of tyre use on gravel
rallies.
Specific product awards on each event will be provided by Fuchs
Lubricants (Spirit of the Rally Award), Mintex (Best Improvement
on Seeding) and the ‘Hard Charger’ award of a 20-litre jerry can
from Green Valley Industrial Supplies.
Special end of season awards are supported by Martin Jones
Transmissions (most entertaining driver), Weir Laundry Equipment
(best under 25 driver) and Rally Xtreme (best over 55 driver).
“Each one of our partners is warmly appreciated for their help
in making the championship a success,” said championship manager
Colin Heppenstall. “I am confident we will reward them with a
fine season of rallying in Britain’s leading historic rally
championship.”
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship starts
on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and more details are
available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
Press release – 22 January 2015
Motorsport Auctions partners with British Historic Rally
Championship
 Motorsport
Auctions has partnered with the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic
Rally Championship and will be the title sponsor for the BHRC’s
Welsh Challenge.
Motorsport’s leading dedicated online advertising sales site
unveiled its support as Britain’s leading championship for
historic cars prepares for a new five-year term under the
management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club. The site
is at:
www.motorsportauctions.com
Launched only in November 2013, the motorsport website has grown
rapidly. The team behind the site uses the latest technology to
provide the most efficient sales website for the motorsport
industry and competitors. Uniquely, it also offers a personal
service to help individuals design the best advert to maximise
their chances of a sale. Already, it has more UK-based visitors
than any other internet motorsport advertising site.
The Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge is a sub-set of the BHRC
and runs over the five Welsh events in the 2015 schedule. As
well as outstanding gravel rallies, the programme includes the
unique asphalt challenge offered by the Epynt ranges.
The events in the Challenge are:
|
Sunday 1 February: |
|
Red Kite
Stages |
|
Sunday 1 March: |
|
Mid Wales
Stages |
|
Saturday 30 May: |
|
Severn
Valley Stages |
|
Sunday 26 July: |
|
Harry
Flatters Rally |
|
Saturday 15 August: |
|
Neath
Valley Stages |
 Graham
Lorimer the company's CEO said: "We have made great strides in
the last 15 months in developing the most advanced site to allow
both trade and privateer alike to sell everything from race and
rally cars, engines, equipment and transporters; indeed anything
connected with the day-to-day operation of a successful
motorsport team. I and the majority of my directors have had
long and enjoyable careers in racing and rallying and it is
great to be able to put something back into the sport. We hope
this will be the start of a long relationship."
Championship manager Colin Heppenstall said: "It is great news
for us to have enthusiastic new sponsors like Motorsport
Auctions wanting to work with us in support of the Mintex MSA
British Historic Rally Championship. It's a real vote of
confidence in our team and the future of the Championship."
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship starts
on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and more details are
available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
Press release – 21
January 2015
Barrett commits to BHRC campaign
 Northern
Irishman Paul Barrett has confirmed plans for a serious assault
on this year’s Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship.
Omagh-based Barrett, the 2006 BTRDA Silver Star champion, will
mount his first mainland title assault in eight years and will
field a fresh Ford Escort Mk2 Pinto in a full campaign with
Welsh co-driver Paul Wakely.
“The car was brand new last year and I’ve only done two rallies
in it,” said Barrett. “I broke my wrist in 2007 and I’ve only
done three gravel rallies since then.” The class D3 car will run
in famous Andrews ‘Heat for Hire’ colours and will debut on the
Red Kite Stages on 1 February.
“I’m really looking forward to it and it will be good to have a
co-driver with local knowledge,” said Barrett. “Historics is the
way to go and the big opposition is in the BHRC.”
A fresh Sherwood Pinto engine is due for round two, the Mid
Wales Stages, but while the new unit is completed Paul has hired
his old engine back for the Red Kite.
Barrett should be joined by younger brother Ryan in his BDG-powered
Escort Mk2 later in the season, notably for the Rallye Isle of
Man where Ryan has been an overall winner in the recent past.
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship starts
on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and more details are
available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
Press release – 16
January 2015
Mintex to be title sponsor for BHRC
 Mintex
will be the title sponsor for the 2015 MSA British Historic
Rally Championship as Britain’s leading championship for
historic cars starts a new five-year term under the management
of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.
The start of the 2015 season heralds a new era for the BHRC and
the partnership with Mintex is perfect as the company has an
outstanding heritage. Mintex brake pads are the most popular
choice within historic rallying, with many competitors enjoying
a long association with Mintex through distributor Questmead
Ltd. Mintex is a brand of TMD Friction UK Ltd.
Lawrence Bleasdale from Mintex said: “I’m very pleased to
confirm this partnership with the new-look BHRC. We are
delighted to celebrate our heritage by supporting the
championship in what seems certain to be a very well-supported
and highly competitive season.”
The new partnership renews some long-established links between
the two organisations. The origins of the Roger Albert Clark
Rally Motor Club are within the De Lacy Motor Club and Mintex
was title sponsor of De Lacy’s major international rally for
many years in the 1970s.
“We’re delighted to welcome Mintex as our key commercial partner
for 2015,” said championship manager Colin Heppenstall. “I hope
this is the start of a long and mutually beneficial partnership.
Mintex is already the brake pad of choice for many competitors
in historic rallying.”
Mintex has been at the forefront of braking technology for more
than 100 years and is the world’s leading supplier of brake
friction. The brand’s on-going success is based on technical
excellence, consistent quality and innovation through intensive
research and development. Mintex produces more than one million
products each day from manufacturing sites spanning four
continents.
The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship starts
on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and more details are
available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
Press
release – 12 January 2015
Big response to 2015 BHRC and R.A.C. at the NEC
 There
was a fantastic response to the 2015 MSA British Historic Rally
Championship and the 2015 West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally
Championship when they were unveiled at Autosport International
at the Birmingham NEC (8-11 January).
The Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club had a prominent stand
from which to launch its 2015 programme and a constant stream of
visitors across four days included current and potential
competitors, commercial partners, event organisers and fans.
The start of the 2015 season heralds a new era for the BHRC as
Britain’s leading championship for historic cars starts a new
five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert Clark
Rally Motor Club.
Championship registrations for the coming season flooded in and
there are already over 40 contenders entered for the opening
event of the season, the Red Kite Stages.
“We were delighted with the response at the show,” said
championship manager Colin Heppenstall. “There is a real buzz
about the coming season with many crews returning and a
significant number of new competitors set to join the historic
fraternity.”
Meanwhile, the DVD of the 2014 Roger Albert Clark Rally is now
available. The two-hour DVD of the rally, produced by Olly
Dickinson, was filmed from six cameras and numerous on-boards
cameras and is priced at £20. The DVD comes with a free on-board
DVD covering 100 minutes of action.
The 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the WWRS
R.A.C. Rally Championship start on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday
1 February and more details are available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
Press release – 19
December 2014
2015 BHRC and R.A.C. on show at the NEC
 The
2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the 2015 West Wales
Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship will be unveiled to the public at
Autosport International at the Birmingham NEC (8-11 January).
The Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club will be there with a major
presence on stand 6814 to take the wraps off its 2015 programme, which
has four major elements:
The nine-round 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship
The eight-round 2015 WWRS R.A.C. Rally Championship
The 2015 Roger Albert Clark Rally (27-29 November)
The 2015 Carlisle Stages (13 June)
The start of the 2015 season heralds a new era for the BHRC as Britain’s
leading championship for historic cars starts a new five-year term under
the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.
Organisers, headed by Colin and Nicola Heppenstall, will be on hand to
meet current and prospective competitors. “We are keen to talk to anyone
with an interest in the championships or the rallies,” said Colin
Heppenstall. “This is also a chance to meet the marshals and fans who
support our events.”
Championship eligibility scrutineer John Cooper will be there on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday to answer technical questions, and
championship registrations and club membership renewals will be
available to visitors.
Meanwhile, the DVD of the 2014 Roger Albert Clark Rally will be
available for purchase from the R.A.C stand. The two-hour DVD of the
rally, produced by Olly Dickinson, was filmed from six cameras and
numerous on-boards cameras and is priced at £20.
The 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the WWRS R.A.C.
Rally Championship start on the Red Kite Stages on Sunday 1 February and
more details are available from
www.redkitestages.co.uk
More details about the MSA British Historic Rally Championship can be
found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Issued by Paul Lawrence, tel
01952 510382 (e: paul@tfmpr.com)
High-resolution images available on request for editorial use.
Press release – 14 December
2014
Regs out for 2015 BHRC opener
 The
regulations for the opening rounds of the 2015 MSA British Historic
Rally Championship and the 2015 R.A.C. Rally Championship, the Red Kite
Stages (Sunday 1 February), are now available from event organisers
Amman and District Motor Club.
The first major gravel rally of the 2015 season will herald a new era
for the BHRC as Britain’s leading championship for historic cars starts
a new five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert Clark
Rally Motor Club.
The Red Kite has proved to be an extremely popular rally over the last
two seasons with outstanding special stages and a compact format,
covering 45 stage miles and around 80 road miles. The entry fee is £504
and the organisers are offering the facility to pay the entry fee in two
instalments.
The rally will, as usual, be based in Llandovery with Rally HQ at the
Castle Hotel and the central service area at the adjoining Llandovery
Mart. The first historic car will start at 8.30am on Sunday and return
to the finish at 2.35pm. Scrutineering and documentation will be held
from 1pm to 6pm on Saturday 31 January.
Regulations for the event are available from the event’s website:
www.redkitestages.co.uk
More details about the MSA British Historic Rally Championship can be
found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press release – 30
October 2014
BHRC and R.A.C. Championship Guide published
The Championship
Guide covering both the 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship and
the R.A.C. Rally Championship is now available as the BHRC begins an
exciting new era under the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally
Motor Club.
The 2015
Championship Guide includes:
The Championship
Guide has been designed and produced to give prospective competitors
comprehensive information about the coming season for both the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship and the R.A.C. Rally Championship
and includes data aimed at supporting competitors’ sponsorship
proposals.
The Guide is now
available in pdf format for download from the championships websites,
www.historicrallying.org
and www.racrallychamp.org,
and printed copies are available upon request.
| The Guide
can be downloaded in pdf format here: |
 |
Details of the
2015 championships are subject to MSA approval.
More details about the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship can be found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press release – 29
October 2014
Comprehensive media package for BHRC
 The
2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship will enjoy extensive TV and
media coverage as it begins a new era under the management of the Roger
Albert Clark Rally Motor Club.
Headline exposure
for the championship and its competitors will be through TV coverage on
Motors TV. Produced by Olly Dickinson, the coverage will include
hour-long report programmes on each of the eight rallies that make up
the 2015 schedule. In addition to the coverage of the BHRC, each
90-minute programme will then switch to a dedicated half-hour review of
the concurrent R.A.C. Rally Championship.
The really good
news for historic rallying is that Motors TV is now available on the
Freeview platform (channel 71) and this will make the coverage
accessible to many more viewers.
Supporting the
prime TV schedule will be extensive coverage on YouTube and via the free
iRally App, which is available for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices
and offers an incredibly popular rally video channel.
Hand-in-hand with
the TV coverage will be a comprehensive website and social media
campaign, led by Steve Higgins, which will cover both the MSA British
Historic Rally Championship and the R.A.C. Rally Championship.
Details about the
BHRC can be found at the new website:
www.historicrallying.org,
while the R.A.C. Championship will continue at
www.racrallychamp.org
The two
championships have dedicated Facebook pages at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and
www.facebook.com/RACrallychamp. Meanwhile, each championship has its
own Twitter feed: @MSABHRC2015 and @RACRallyChamp.
A comprehensive
print media package, run by Paul Lawrence, will supplement the on-line
activity and ensure coverage for the championship in a wide-range of
specialist and classic car publications. In 2014, the R.A.C.
Championship enjoyed exposure in titles including Motorsport News,
Autosport, Motor Sport, Pacenotes, Classic and Sports Car, Classic Car
Weekly, Octane, Retro Ford and Classic Car Buyer.
More details about the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship can be found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press release – 29
October 2014
Regional challenges confirmed for BHRC
 Two
regional challenges will be organised within the 2015 MSA British
Historic Rally Championship, with separate competitions based around
both the Welsh and Northern events.
As the
championship heads into a new era under the management of the Roger
Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, individual Welsh and Northern Challenges
will be aimed at giving the championship as broad an appeal as possible
and ensuring that crews with limitations on time or budget, or both, can
compete for end-of-season awards.
Welsh Challenge
The Welsh
Challenge will run alongside the MSA British Historic Rally Championship
but will have a different scoring system: it will be a class and
category-based challenge, allowing crews from any of the four categories
to be the Welsh Challenge champions.
The championship
runs concurrently with the BHRC and competitors can scores points in
both series. The Welsh Challenge will be contested over the spectacular
gravel and asphalt roads in Wales, the majority of which have featured
in past Lombard RAC and Wales Rally GB events.
The rounds of the
Welsh Challenge are:
Sunday 1 February,
Red Kite Stages (Llandovery)
Sunday 1 March,
Mid Wales Stages (Newtown)
Saturday 30 May,
Severn Valley Stages (Builth Wells)
Sunday 26 July,
Harry Flatters Rally (Brecon)
Saturday 15
August, Neath Valley Stages (Resolven)
Northern Challenge
With four rounds
in the North of England, the BHRC will incorporate a Northern Challenge.
The Northern
Challenge will run alongside the MSA British Historic Rally Championship
but will have a different scoring system: it will be a class and
category-based challenge, allowing crews from any of the four categories
to be the Northern Challenge champions. The championship runs
concurrently with the BHRC and competitors can scores points in both
series.
The rounds of the
Northern Challenge are:
Saturday 25 April,
Pirelli Rally (Carlisle)
Thurs/Fri 17/18
September, Isle of Man Classic (part 1)
Fri/Sat 18/19
September, Isle of Man Classic (part 2)
Fri/Sat 25/26
September, Trackrod Historic Cup (Pickering)
More details about the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship can be found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press release – 28
October 2014
Clubman Challenge to continue in BHRC
The 2015 MSA
British Historic Rally Championship will feature a Clubman Challenge for
crews using no more than six tyres on each round of the championship.
As the
championship heads into a new era under the management of the Roger
Albert Clark Rally Motor Club, the Clubman Challenge is an important
initiative to contain costs for competitors and help reduce damage to
forest roads.
To be eligible for
the Challenge, drivers must use no more than six tyres per rally. Any
punctured tyres will count as part of the six-tyre allocation. For each
car competing in the Clubman Challenge, six tyres will be marked at
scrutineering at each event and only these tyres may be used during the
rally. Any tyres from a previous event that the competitor wishes to use
must be taken to scrutineering and re-marked as part of the set of six
for that event.
The Clubman
Challenge will run alongside the main MSA British Historic Rally
Championship and will be a class and category-based challenge, allowing
crews from any of the categories to be the Clubman Challenge champions.
“We are very keen
to bring the Clubman Challenge into the BHRC as it brings a degree of
rallymanship into the equation as the type of tyres, compounds, tyre
pressures and driving style will all come into play,” said Championship
manager Colin Heppenstall. “Not only is it important in helping to
contain the cost of competing, but it also makes a very worthwhile
contribution to reducing the damage that rallying does to forest roads.”
More details about the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship can be found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press release – 28
October 2014
Category 1 and 1600s to the fore in BHRC
 Cars
from Category 1 and all up to 1600cc cars will run at the head of the
field in the 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship as the
championship starts a new era under the management of the Roger Albert
Clark Rally Motor Club.
Following a hugely
successful trial during the 2014 R.A.C. Rally Championship, the group of
pre ’68 Category 1 cars and 1600cc cars from other categories will run
first on the road on all gravel events. The move is designed to
encourage more cars from both groups to remain active on gravel rallies.
Whilst running the
oldest cars in Category 1 in the first group has been an accepted part
of historic rallying for many years now, the RACRMC moved the concept on
this year by bringing all the up to 1600cc cars to the fore, with the
group seeded on anticipated performance. Significantly, the fastest
Category 1 cars and the leading 1600cc cars proved to be very even in
terms of performance.
Based on the
success of this move on a number of gravel rallies this year, it will
now be standardised across all gravel rounds of the BHRC in 2015. There
has already been a resurgence of interest in 1600cc cars and more are
expected out next season now that they can enjoy the best road
conditions available.
Championship
manager Colin Heppenstall has also confirmed that the historic field
will run at the head of the event on all gravel rounds of the 2015 BHRC
and 2015 R.A.C. Rally Championship. Entries for the two championships
will be seeded on performance.
“We believe that
running first on the road is absolutely essential for the on-going
popularity of historic rallying,” said Heppenstall. “By putting the
Category 1s and 1600s at the very front, we believe we have the best
format. We had over 25 cars in this first group on some rallies in 2014
and that also makes it a more workable group for event organisers.”
In summary, the
first group on all gravel events will be the Category 1 and up to 1600cc
cars from both the BHRC and R.A.C. Championships. After a short gap,
usually 10 minutes, the second group will contain all other cars in both
the BHRC and R.A.C. Championships. Both groups will be seeded on
anticipated performance.
More details about the MSA
British Historic Rally Championship can be found at
www.historicrallying.org
Follow the championship on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MSABHRC
and on Twitter: @MSABHRC2015
Press
release – 27 October 2014
2015 BHRC schedule unveiled
 The
calendar for the 2015 MSA British Historic Rally Championship has been
unveiled as Britain’s leading championship for historic cars starts a
new five-year term under the control of the Roger Albert Clark Rally
Motor Club.
Six gravel rallies and three asphalt rounds, including a double-header
on the Isle of Man will make up a fresh new schedule for the
championship and two events, the Red Kite Stages and Neath Valley Stages
will run at British championship level for the first time. Many of the
events will retain successful formats, while the Pirelli Rally will
feature a significantly revised route with reduced road mileage.
The 2015 MSA British Rally Championship will be a National ‘A’ status
championship catering for cars from MSA historic Categories One (pre
’68), Two (1968-74), Three (1975-81) and Four (1981-85). Additionally
there will be classes for cars from the same periods prepared to FIA
Appendix K regulations.
Crews will count their best six scores from nine rounds, which will
allow those unable to commit to the Isle of Man trip to still mount a
serious championship bid. Championship manager Colin Heppenstall
believes that most crews will contest either the Isle of Man Classic or
the Trackrod as the deciding events run back-to-back in late September.
The Isle of Man will run as a double-header with a full set of points
for each half of the rally.
“We wanted to make sure asphalt was part of the championship and we’ve
added a great value one-day event in the Harry Flatters as well as a
major ‘sail-away’ event on the Isle of Man,” said Heppenstall. “We hope
the championship will go down to the wire in September.”
Heppenstall also paid tribute to the event organisers. “We’ve had
tremendous support from the events, both from those that have worked
with us over the last two years and from those that are new to working
with us.”
Competitor interest is already running at very high levels and 2014
R.A.C Rally Championship winner Nick Elliott was among the first to
confirm plans to contest the 2015 BHRC. “It’s a great calendar,” said
Elliott. “It’s a lot of the rallies I’d want to do even if I wasn’t
chasing the championship.”
The full BHRC calendar is:
| Sunday 1 February: |
Red Kite Stages
|
| Sunday 1 March:
|
Mid Wales
Stages |
| Saturday 25 April:
|
Pirelli Rally |
| Saturday 30 May:
|
Severn Valley
Stages |
| Sunday 26 July:
|
Harry Flatters
Rally |
| Saturday 15 August:
|
Neath Valley
Stages |
| Thurs-Sat 17-19 Sep:
|
Isle of Man
Classic |
| Fri/Sat 25/26 Sep:
|
Trackrod
Historic Cup |
Note: calendar subject to MSA
approval
|
