News from: The Irish Tarmac Championship The Kenyan National Rally Championship The Latvian Rally Championship The African Rally Championship The BTRDA Rally Series And The Gravel Rally Championship
Geoff’s gossip Hello and welcome to our fifth edition! The month of February has come and gone in a flash and a blur and already most major rallying championships are in full swing! In the UK the Welsh, Scottish, BTRDA and National Gravel Championships have all begun and Africa has already successfully run two events under the new 33mm Group N restrictor rules. And the results? Well podiums for production cars in every event and all drivers commenting on a noticeable increase in power and torque! The step up to a 33mm restrictor is an interesting decision by the powers that be. In the 80’s and 90’s a Production spec car was essentially a road car with a roll cage and slightly beefed up suspension. And yet nowadays the top spec cars have launch control, active diffs, dog boxes, hydraulic handbrakes and cost upwards of £100 000! I’m sorry, but why? Surely cars of this specification belong in Group A? (Remember Group A – the class between the fire breathing super cars of Group B and the ‘showroom specials’ of Group N?) I do believe that there is room for the cars that currently run in class N4, but maybe more should be allowed to be done to them – run them lighter and open the restrictors up to 34mm, but keep the ‘H pattern’ box. This should bring them even closer to the screaming S2000 brigade. Then take this class and call it ‘super production’ or Group A. This would allow Group N to go back to what it should be – a road car with a roll cage – no big brakes, no fancy gearbox and easily peg the price at a fraction of the current costs. Yes, no? Another issue I have is spectator and media safety! In the UK recently there have been discussions on forums about spectators standing in silly spots and media togs risking life and limb for “that” shot! Now a part of me (the ‘African’ part) feels like saying sod em – they know the rules. If they get flattened then it is their own damn fault! However the ones who would suffer in the long run are the crew of the car and the organisers! You can hardly blame the marshals as they are not properly trained and let’s face it, all they can do is ‘advise’ people not to do things – the joys of living in a free country prevents a marshal from forcibly restraining a drunk specie or ignorant photographer! A leaf could be taken out of the book from the African organisers. There they work side by side with the police and believe me when a man with an AK47 and an itchy finger tells you to get behind the tape, you are best advised to listen! I doubt this would happen but maybe the MSA should look at investing some of our money into training marshals and offering them incentives to attend events? I’m not suggesting we pay marshals but a mug or a cap or even a packed lunch would go a long way towards swaying someone’s mind about whether to go shopping with the missus or marshalling a junction on their local event! Anyway – enjoy the newsletter, be safe and have fun!
Hockridge halted by throttle issues in Ireland Galway Rally – Irish Tarmac Championship 6&7 February Andrew Hockridge’s hopes of another strong finish across the Irish Seas was stymied by a faulty throttle body on the recent Galway International Rally, the opening round of the 2010 Citroen Racing Trophy, but retiring whilst leading his class was small consolation for the rapid Welshman. Hockridge and co-driver Darren Garrod were back in action in their Geoff Jones Motorsport run Citroen C2R2 Max for the first time since the Fastnet Rally in October. Despite the lengthy layoff Hockridge was fast out of the blocks, with his Signature Cheese backed Citroen topping the scoreboards even though he thought he’d been too cautious in the foggy conditions! The positive start to the event soon disappeared though as Hockridge and Garrod came to a halt with a faulty throttle body failing to deliver fuel to the engine. Although the part was easily replaced their rally was over! The pair did return on the Sunday and were once more buoyed by their pace, regularly trading times with the top Citroen runners despite consistently catching slower cars. Hockridge took the decision not to contest the final loop in order to conserve the car. To lead early on was fantastic, especially considering how tricky the conditions were, but when we came to a halt I was pretty frustrated! The car handled perfectly and the tyres were just awesome! Once again the organisation was great and even though we ended the rally with a DNF we still enjoyed the experience. www.andrew-hockridge.co.uk As for the battle for the overall victory – seven world rally cars appeared on the entry list but both the 2008 and 2009 champions (Eamonn Boland and Eugene Donelley) were missing. Incredibly, it was a standard Production Car that led at the end of the opening stage – Keith Cronin was fastest in his Mitsubishi Evo 9 but his rally was soon over as he outbraked himself and had the choice between hitting spectators standing in the escape road or clipping the bank – he chose the bank and the damage was sufficient to end his strong run. From then on Gareth MacHale was the pace setter in his Ford Focus WRC07. Craig Breen, débuting his Ford Fiesta S2000, soon got to grips with the new breed of rally car and would take three fastest stage times en route to second overall. Aaron MacHale took third in his older spec Focus with Alastair Fisher fourth in his Evo 9.
Horsey and Matovu prove pace in Eldoret Eldoret Rally – Kenyan National Championship - 7 February Rising Kenyan rally driver Peter Horsey and his Ugandan based co-driver Moses Matovu enjoyed a positive start to their 2010 rallying season when the pair posted a number of top three times on the KCB Biashara Banking Rally in Eldoret before ultimately being sidelined with transmission problems. Peter was using the Eldoret Rally to try out a new pacenote system. The new system appeared to work well as Horsey and Matovu were immediately in the thick of the overall battle and by first service were comfortably inside the top three. A puncture mid way through the fifth stage forced the pair to stop and change the wheel which cost them precious time but ultimately it was all for nothing as the transmission would cry enough on the seventh test, ending their strong run! Peter; considering that this was my first muddy rally I am very pleased with my performance. The car was great to drive and you can certainly feel the difference that the larger restrictor offers! Moses; we worked on a new pacenote system this weekend which seemed to suit Peter well! We’ve narrowed the gap to the top boys and so that is also really pleasing, it’s just unfortunate that the transmission failed on us! Peter and Moses will now prepare for their trip to Scotland where the pair will attend a training camp to ready them for their six rounds in the World Rally Championship. Their first World Rally Championship appearance will be Rally of Turkey in April, but before that they will contest the KCB Safari Rally, the second round of the Kenyan National Championship. Reigning Champion Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo won the rally in his Evo 9, finishing nearly two minutes in front of Ian Duncan and his monstrous Nissan Patrol. Alastair Cavenagh was third in another Evo 9. This was the first rally in Kenya run with the new 33mm restrictors and most drivers reported that they could feel a noticeable difference in power increase!
Wyedean Forest Rally BTRDA Rally Series/ Welsh National Championship – 13 February The opening round of the BTRDA Rally Series always attracts a bumper entry and 2010 was no different. Blessed with chilly but sunny weather (two of the last four Wyedean Rallies have been snow bound) the 2010 event saw a capacity field of 180 cars gather in Chepstow for the seven stage rally. Amongst the entries were no less than five former champions and a number of quality machines. Steve Perez and his ex Marcus Gronholm Ford Focus WRC were just one of six World Cars on the entry list. Andy Burton was returning in his unique Peugeot 306 Cosworth for what might be the final year before the MSA outlaw the car and then there were also a number of modified cars (think Shaun Gardeners Mitsubishi Evo 5 with Evo 9 running gear and sequential box) and rapid Group N cars like Nik Elsmore – a two time winner in his production class Mitsubishi Evo 9 – and you had the recipe for an action packed day out. Perez had a great battle with fellow Focus pilot Andy Hunter before Hunter spun on the fifth stage and allowed Perez to cruise to a well deserved win. Burton’s rally ended early with a suspected broken engine whilst the reigning champion, David Wright, went out in the second stage with turbo problems. Sara Williams was having a strong run in her B13 spec Subaru Impreza and was inside the top three in class when her rear differential let go, ending her rally prematurely. Gary Kenna, on only his second event in the Geoff Jones Motorsport built Subaru Impreza N14 plus, had a couple of wild moments due to some communication problems but thankfully survived a wild fifth gear excursion into the undergrowth to bring the gorgeous looking Impreza home inside the top 30 overall. Tom Watson admitted to being very rusty after a four month break and hitting a large pothole and bending a front strut on the opening stage did not help matters. However the Swansea teenager quickly found his groove and ended the rally second in class and first Fiesta ST home. In the little pocket rocket 1400 class Matt Edwards quickly adapted to his hired MG ZR and finished third amongst the little screamers and ahead of Callum Black, the guy who he is hiring the car from! Final Results Steve Perez/ Paul Spooner Hugh Hunter/ Andy Marchbank Nik Elsmore/ Nige Gardner
Ford Focus WRC Ford Focus WRC Mitsubishi Evo 9
0:42:43 0:43:02 0:43:23
Pryce enjoys snow rally debut Rally Sarma, Lithuania – 14 February Welsh teenager Osian Pryce continued his steep learning curve when the 16 year old student stepped up to a new car on last weekends Rally Sarma, his first ever true snow rally, returning to the finish in an impressive eighth in class. Osian, who is rallying in Latvia and the surrounding countries, upgraded to an M-Sport built Ford Fiesta ST and immediately found the car to his liking. With two stages run in the dark on Saturday night, followed by another forty kilometres of action on Sunday, young Pryce and co-driver Craig Parry improved on their first runs through each test by a large margin and rapidly climbed the leader board. The Fiesta was incredible to drive and fair play to Vytaus at EuroConstruction Rally Team that the car never missed a beat! Driving in proper snow on studded tyres was amazing and I could not believe the amount of grip we had! www.osianprycerallying.webs.com
Watkins to contest F1000 rally championship Welshpool based James Watkins has confirmed plans to contest the highly popular and extremely competitive Formula 1000 Tarmac Rally Championship in 2010 and will use the very same Geoff Jones Motorsport run Nissan Micra with which he took a pair of class podiums in 2009. Watkins has secured backing from both Rally Marketing of Welshpool and Makefast of Newtown and it is thanks to this commitment that the 20 year old will be able to chase championship points for the first time in his fledgling rallying career. I am really excited about the forthcoming season now! I got on really well with the Nissan Micra last year and Geoff Jones Motorsport have offered me a brilliant deal for 2010. Thanks to Makefast and Rally Marketing I can just focus on my driving. The 2010 Formula 1000 Tarmac Championship begins with the Roskirk Stages, based at the Three Sisters Circuit in Makerfield. With over half of the field of sixty entries eligible for the same class awards as James the action with be fierce throughout the day. The Championship consists of nine rallies around the country with a driver counting his best six results towards the end of year positions. Whilst the Nissan Micra proves to be the mainstay of the series any car with less than 1000cc is allowed to compete, which makes this championship evenly matched and extremely good value for money. www.formula1000.co.uk
Moses Matovu Ugandan born Moses is one of the most popular co-drivers on the African continent and even boasts his own Facebook fan club, set up by a group of enthusiastic Tanzanians! Now based in Tanzania, Moses is highly respected and well versed in the rules and regulations of the sport and has held pretty much every role possible, including stage controller, marshal, rally auditor, safety delegate, Clerk of the Course and FIA steward. For 2010 Moses has an incredibly busy schedule lined up. After co-driving rising Kenyan star Peter Horsey to the African Pirelli Star Driver award at the end of 2009, Moses will now join Peter on a six round program in the World Rally Championship beginning in Turkey and ending with the Rally of Great Britain in November. Alongside this the pair will also contest most of the Kenyan National Rally Championship and a selection of British Rally Championship rounds in a Mitsubishi Evo 9. Moses will also co-drive former Ugandan Rally Champion Emmanuel Katto on selected rounds of the Ugandan and African Rally Championships, thus ensuring that pretty much every weekend of the year is spent either competing or preparing for the next rally! Despite this busy schedule Moses has high ambitions and makes no secret of the fact that he wants to compete abroad a bit more, with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, World Rally Championship and Middle East Rally Championships all high on his radar! I love competing in Africa as the fans and competitors are all very passionate but for shear magnitude and status the European and Middle East events look fantastic! A couple of random facts about Moses – his father, Shaban, was a servant in Shekha Mehta’s household and later went on to become a multiple Ugandan Rally Champion! As well as being a top notch co-driver Moses is pretty good behind the wheel too – he won his first ever rally as a driver, at the wheel of a Fiat 125! Let’s just hope that 2010 brings “the people’s champ” all the success that he deserves!
Whyte wins Kobil Rally of Tanzania Rally of Tanzania – 19-21 February - African Rally Championship Reigning FIA African Rally Champions Jamie Whyte and Phil Archenoul got their championship defence off to the perfect start with victory on the opening round of the 2010 Championship, the Kobil Rally of Tanzania. Whyte and Archenoul, both from Zimbabwe, experienced a misfire for the whole of Saturday morning but once this was diagnosed and resolved the pair were immediately the class of the field, ending the opening day 24 seconds ahead of the current Rwandan Rally Champion, Giancarlo Davite. This lead was then extended further on Sunday with the 2009 Champions returning to Mlimani City victorious for the second year in a row. Jamie Whyte: this is the perfect way to start our title defence. We had a misfire for the whole of Saturday morning which cost us a lot of time so we had to push quite hard in the afternoon but the car was brilliant and we look forward to carrying on our strong run in Kenya. This years Kobil Rally of Tanzania saw a heavy rate of attrition with only four cars reaching the finish of the 670 kilometre long rally, all of them manufactured by Subaru! Whilst a number of the crews suffered from mechanical gremlins Burundi based Valery Bukera and Nital Khetia suffered a massive crash in their Subaru Impreza, but are both reported to be okay. Zambia hopeful Mohammed Essa, a finalist in the 2009 African Pirelli Star Drive, was also an early retirement with a broken engine on his Subaru. Jas Mangat and Moses Matovu were on course for a podium position after overcoming handling issues on the Saturday when the radiator on their Subaru Impreza N12B was damaged frustratingly close to the end of the rally! This was the first ARC rally run to the new regulations allowing 33mm restrictors. Whilst a number of competitors reported a marked increase in performance there were also issues with a string of engine failures attributed to incorrect engine mapping ahead of the rally. Final results James Whyte/Philip Archenoul (Zimbabwe) Giancarlo Davite/Sylvia Vindevogel (Rwanda) Fitidis Christakis/Dekelver Guy (Belgium/Rwanda)
2:01:30 2:01:57 2:07:57
www.africanrallychampionship.com
Revolution Wheels wins in Belgium Rally Van Haspengouw – 26 February – Belgium Revolution Wheels supported Belgium Rally Driver Vincent Verschueren scored a shock Production Class victory on his debut in the new Symtech Racing built Subaru Impreza STR09 when he finished eighth overall on the recent Haspengouw Rally! 20 year old Vincent only completed a very brief test ahead of the rally but the reigning Historic Rally Champion acclimatized well to the modern four wheel drive and reveled in the tricky weather conditions. Despite a wrong tyre choice for the second loop of stages Verschueren managed to hold local favourite Bob Colsoul at bay to win the Production class by three seconds! Warren McKiernan of Revolution Wheels was pleased with how his new tarmac specification wheels had worked; there is always trepidation ahead of the debut of a new product but the new Millennium II (ALLU-LITE flow formed) light weight wheels worked brilliantly and withheld all the rigors that a rally such as this, which is renowned for being hard on the wheels, could throw at them! Vincent will be contesting the full Belgium Tarmac Championship alongside a selection of historic rallies in 2010 and also intends to compete on the World Rally Championship Rally Germany in August. For more on the Revolution Wheels Rally Team please visit www.revolutionwheels.com
Rallye Sunseeker Rallye Sunseeker – 27 February - Gravel Championship Local man, and defending champion, Marcus Dodd was in imperious form as he notched up his seventh win on the Bournemouth based Rallye Sunseeker at the end of February. Dodd, at the wheel of a Hyundai Accent World Rally Car, was only second fastest on the opening stage, beaten by 0.1 seconds by Steve Perez in his ex Marcus Gronholm Ford Focus WRC. Dodd retaliated with seven fastest stage times over the next ten special stages to return to the sea side ceremonial finish with a final winning margin off 33 seconds. The battle for the runner up spot was between Perez and Andy Burton, whose Peugeot 306 Cosworth had undergone a complete engine rebuild in a fortnight! The pair were separated by only a handful of seconds for most of the day, until Perez spun and accidentally knocked the master switch off on his Focus, costing precious time. Whilst the overall quantity of entries was down on recent years, with only 76 cars taking to the start, there were five former champions in the field and a respectable 12 world rally cars nestled in amongst them. The battle for the win may have been close but the Production Class saw an even more intense fight as Jonnie Greer (Mitsubishi Evo 9) went head to head with Dave Weston Junior (Subaru N16) and Daniel Sigurdsson (Mitsubishi Evo X). It was first blood to Greer but by only one tenth of a second from Sigurdsson whilst Weston was slow out of the blocks. The Evo X soon disappeared with transmission problems but by now Weston was up to speed and on stage three he took an astonishing 22 seconds out of Greer and moved into a lead he would hold to the end! This was the UK debut of the latest spec Subaru Impreza and bodes well for the season ahead! Final Results Marcus Dodd/ Andrew Bargery Andy Burton/ Josh Burton Steve Perez/ Paul Spooner
Hyundai Accent WRC Peugeot 306 Cosworth Ford Focus WRC
Production Class Dave Weston Jnr/ Ieuan Thomas Jonnie Greer/ Brian Crawford Tom Naughton/ Horace Saville
Subaru Impreza N2010 59.09 Mitsubishi Evo 9 59.40 Mitsubishi Evo 9 01:00:24
55.02 55.35 55.48
Forthcoming events This is a list of events that Geoff Mayes Media will have a representative on – please contact us in advance if you would like photos or video at one of those listed, to ensure we film you! â˜ş March 6 7 13 14 27
Malcolm Wilson Stages Roskirk Stages Race Retro Tour of Epynt Bulldog International Rally
BTRDA/ Fiesta Trophy F1000 Championship Slowly Sideways Group B National Tarmac Championship British/ Historic Championship
April 3 3 17-19 18 23-24 30
Safari Rally Circuit of Ireland Rally Turkey Red Kite Stages Pirelli International Rally Rally Uganda
Kenyan/ African Rally Championship Irish Tarmac Championship WRC/ PSD Welsh Championship BRC/ Gravel/ Historic African Rally Championship
May 1 2 7-8 15 15 28/29 28-30
Kilarney Welsh International Rally Manx National Rally Kisumu Rally Plains Rally Jim Clark International Rally Rally Portugal
Irish Tarmac Championship Epynt Challenge National Tarmac Championship Kenyan National Championship BTRDA/ Welsh Championship British Rally Championship WRC/PSD
Photo of the Month
Andrew Haddon entertains in the ex Ari Vatenen Ford Escort Mk II