News from: The BTRDA Rally Series The British Rally Championship The Belgium Rally Championship The Asphalt Rally Championship The Scottish Rally Championship And The F1000 Rally Series
Geoff’s gossip Jambo! (Hello in Swahili as I’m practicing for my forthcoming trip to the land of sun!) Well March has been flat out for us, with the Malcolm Wilson Rally taking us north to M-Sport to watch Steve Perez take his second win of the year. I then co-drove on my first rally of the year the very next day with slightly less success… we came last! A week later we were at Stoneleigh Park in the Midlands to watch the Slowly Sideways boys in action. Slowly Sideways is the brain child of Reinhard Klein (a world acclaimed photographer) and consists of owners of the now banned Group B rally monsters who still have a passion for demonstrating their cars. However what should have been a jaw dropping display of genuine works Audi rally cars turned into a bit of a damp squib as a falling out between the organisers and the owners of a selection of these rare beasts meant that nine cars refused to come and play and the much publicized 30th anniversary of the quattro (with a small “Q”!) saw only one replica put in an appearance! However the sideways antics of the Ferrari 308 GTB and V8 Firenza made up for the lack of 5 cylinder action! Some positive news from the FIA is the continuation of the Pirelli Star Driver scheme. However, for the third year in a row there is a different selection process and this is not ideal as it does not give the prospective competitors the chance to create a proposal to encourage external funding for their seasons. The latest scheme sees each country pick a driver to attend a regional shootout. The top two drivers from each region then contest a “world finals” with the top four drivers being awarded a five round program in 2011. This method is full of flaws, as it allows favouritism and with the overall pace in Europe being quicker than in Africa or South America it is entirely possible that the four quickest drivers will be from more developed countries… BUT it is still better than nothing at all and for this we should applaud the FIA! I recently attended a test to watch young Jason Pritchard put the first miles on his brand new Impreza N2010. He has a two year program in the car which represents a massive investment from his parents and whilst I am confident that Jas will do us all proud it would be nice to find him some external support – having seen five ‘Andrew’s Heat for Hire’ cars at Race Retro has renewed my determination to prove that rallying is a worthwhile investment and that it is a sensible choice for companies wishing to promote their products! Anyway – enjoy the newsletter, be safe and have fun!
Malcolm Wilson Stages BTRDA/ Fiesta Sporting Trophy – 6 March Round two of the BTRDA Rally Series saw the crews head north to Cumbria for the Malcolm Wilson Rally. Sponsored by the boss of M-Sport and based at the headquarters of the Ford World Rally Team the event is also the opening round of the Fiesta one make championships. Once again almost a dozen world rally cars appeared on the entry list, including Jonnie Greer, out in an M-Sport run Focus WRC02, finally taking advantage of his prize of a rally in a world car for winning the most number of stages in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy three years ago! The rally format saw the crews tackle seven stages in the Lake Districts and all but the north end of Grizedale had varying amounts of snow and ice on the roads. In fact over half of the opening test bore more resemblance to an ice skating rink than a gravel road! One corner in particular saw approximately a third of the field spin, overshoot or slide into the trees, much to the amusement of the gathered spectators. Fortunately no one was injured and only a few cars retired from their wounds! The similar spec Focuses of Perez and Bird were only separated by four seconds after the opening stage but then Perez dropped over a minute in Stage 2 with a spin and a stall and it looked like Birdie would take his fifth win on this rally. But two punctures in stage 6 signalled the end of the road for the lime green Ford and allowed Perez to throttle back and take his second win of the season. After a slow start Jonnie Greer soon got the hang of his older spec Focus and ended the rally second overall, with Roger Chilman taking the final podium position, and winning Group N in his Subaru Impreza N12. A special mention for Matt Edwards in the 1400cc MG ZR is required. Ignoring the conditions the Welshman loved every moment of the rally and disgraced a number of more powerful cars as he brought the MG home over a minute ahead of his class rivals and finished 16th overall! The rally was also the opening round of the popular Fiesta one make series, split for 2010 into two classes. Elfyn Evans, son of Gwyndaf, was returning after a year away from the sport, and won the category by a narrow margin. Fifth in class, but third in the Fiesta Sport Challenge, was John Pritchard who was returning to rallying after a decade away! John survived sliding backwards down a stage to bring his Fiesta home in 40th position. Geoff Jones Motorsport were running three cars but it was to be a day to forget as first Neville Jones retired with power steering failure, then Gary Kenna rolled the gorgeous N14 plus and Julian Jones, on his first ever rally in a four wheel drive, retired from a potential top ten on the final stage after clouting a bank and damaging the rear axle! Results Steve Perez/ Paul Spooner Jonathan Greer/ Jonny Hart Roger Chilman/ Andrew Skankey
Ford Focus WRC Ford Focus WRC Subaru Impreza N12
48:31 48:48 50:02
Watkins overcomes fuel feed frustrations to finish Roskirk Stages! Roskirk Stages – F1000 Championship – 7 March 20 year old Welshpool based James Watkins and co-driver Geoff Mayes recovered from fuel feed problems on the opening tests of last weekends Roskirk Stages to stage a spirited fight back, ending the 12 stage rally 39th overall from over 65 starters! Watkins and Mayes were fired up after a positive test session the week before but when the Makefast of Newtown and Rally Marketing of Welshpool supported Nissan Micra refused to rev cleanly on the opening stage the pair were forced to switch to survival mode and slowly limped around the stage and back to service. After the problem reoccurred on the second test Geoff Jones Motorsport descended on the car and replaced the entire fuel feed system. From then on the car ran sweetly and young Watkins was immediately on the pace, setting top six in class stage times, which, for a first-time assault on this ultra competitive championship was exactly what Watkins had been aiming for! Our rally basically ended on the opening stage. On such a short rally you can not afford to loose any time at all. But thanks to Geoff Jones Motorsport the Micra was soon running sweetly and at least we proved that we are competitive!
Revolution Wheels Rally Report Tour of Epynt – Nation Asphalt Championship – 14 March Revolution Wheels backed David Kynaston and Andy Russell retired their unique Audi A3 quattro from a top three overall position on the recent Fix Auto Swansea Tour of Epynt when the pair survived a high speed off road excursion before gearbox maladies ended their day. Kynaston, the 2006 and 2008 MSA Asphalt Rally Champion, had hoped to begin his 2010 season on a strong note but an incorrect tyre choice on the opening 12 mile stage of the rally cost the Devon driver 27 seconds! Two very quick runs later and the Revolution Wheels shod Audi was back on the fringes of the top three but would retire at the end of the very next run, soon after moving on to the podium. With the stage layout changed, the Quattro was caught out by loose gravel on the road and spun across the road in fifth gear! The pair were extremely lucky not to roll and continued to the end of the test, but with the gearbox making strange noises Kynaston and Russell opted to call it a day. David Kynaston, double Asphalt Rally Champion; there are not many places on Epynt where you can have a high speed moment and get away with it so we consider ourselves pretty lucky! Once again Revolution Wheels gave us brilliant wheels. When you know your product is this strong you can take the big cuts without worrying about a wheel failure!
Race Retro Stoneleigh Park – 13 March A gathering of historically important rally cars, marred slightly this year by a disagreement between the organisers and a group of genuine Audi quattro Group B owners which resulted in there being only one (replica) Audi in action!
Jason Pritchard 22 year old Jason is one of those sons of rallying fathers who literally breathes rallying and fortunately has the talent to go with the passion! After beginning his career in rally-cross the young Welshman began rallying as soon as he was old enough and, despite a few bumps during the course of his debut season, Jas still set some stunning stage times in his trusty Peugeot 106 Maxi. With less than a year of rallying under his belt Jason moved to the British Rally Championship in 2007, contesting the Citroen C2R2 Cup, promptly winning on his debut in the new car! A combination of mechanical issues on the still developing car and some unlucky problems cost him the chance to win the title. A second season in the Citroen in 2008 began in the worst possible way. A non rallying related road accident left Jason on crutches with a badly broken ankle and he was forced to skip the opening rally. Still hobbling around on crutches Jason managed sixth in class on the second round of the season. This was also the last time in 2008 that he did not stand on the podium as Jason hit a sweet streak, winning four of the next five rallies and taking the Citroen Racing Trophy title, along with a Class victory on Wales Rally GB, 2009 was a more character building year. A win on the opening round was brilliant but then a string of minor mechanical issues cost him points and he eventually finished second to Irishman Mary McCormack, but still doing enough to defend his British R2 title. Strong runs on a selection of European rounds suggested a possible career move to the continent but eventually, over Christmas, the decision was made to make the step up to the premier class with a 2010 specification Prodrive built Subaru Impreza N16. The faith and commitment that my family has shown has been amazing! To be offered an opportunity like this is a dream come true and with a guaranteed two year program ahead of me I have time on my hands to develop without pressure! The car is awesome and I am really looking forward to the season ahead! Random fact: Eian, Jason’s father, is a rapid rally driver in his own right, with numerous wins in his ex Richard Burns Subaru Impreza S6 WRC across the UK. He also owns an ex Roger Clark Ford Escort Mk II
Cronin king of the Bulldog Bulldog Rally – 27 March – British Rally Championship Defending champion Keith Cronin got his title defense off to the best possible start and also made history by becoming the first person in the UK to win a round of the British Rally Championship in the new shape Subaru Impreza on the recent Bulldog International Rally of Wales. Cronin’s task was made easier by the retirements of Gwyndaf Evans (Evo X), Craig Breen (Fiesta S2000) and Alistair Fisher (Evo 9) but after going an amazing 22 seconds faster than anyone else through the opening 17 miles Cronin was certainly in control from the very start! Breen was second fastest, the new age Super 2000 Fiesta looking every bit the part through Myherin. Gwyndaf Evans was third fastest but his gearbox was already rumbling. Breen was again second fastest to Cronin through Stage 2 but this was as far as the Fiesta would go as fuel pressure problems halted the car en route to service. This allowed young Alistair Fisher to chase Cronin down and a pair of fastest stage times hinted at a battle brewing. However a blown diff soon halted the Evo 9 and with the rally half over Cronin, in his Pirelli Star Drive prize Subaru N15 for the first time, had over a minute in hand and could afford to back off! Second overall was young Dave Weston Junior in the latest Prodrive spec N16 Impreza but despite being best of the rest he was still some two minutes behind Cronin at the end of the 8 stage rally! Former Pirelli star Driver Adam Gould impressed mightily and despite having no spares for his ageing N11 Impreza and the tightest of budgets the youngster ended the rally third overall. In fact Subaru’s made up the top four and there were seven Impreza’s within the top ten overall! Reigning two wheel drive champion Jason Pritchard quickly got to grips with his new N16 and was overjoyed to finish seventh overall on his first BRC rally in a four wheel drive! The highlight of his day was clocking a top speed of 135 mph during the final stage of the day! Jason and co-driver Robbie Durant also proved how important team work is with a 90 second wheel change when they noticed a soft tyre shortly before the final stage! Kenyan rally driver Peter Horsey only took delivery of his new Mitsubishi Evo X the day before the rally. Despite no prior experience of rallying outside of Africa, Horsey and co-driver Moses Matovu were happy to end the rally 16th overall. The pair had recently been training in preparation for their six scheduled WRC appearances and immediately after the Bulldog the pair were off to contest the Safari Rally in Africa!
Top two wheel drive on the rally, and doing enough to be awarded the Pirelli Star Drive yellow jacket was Welshman Elfyn Evans. The former Fiesta Champion has only recently returned to the sport and ninth overall, and a class win of over a minute was very impressive! 17 year old Osian Pryce made an impressive debut to his British rallying career by bring his Fiesta home eighth overall in the BRC Challenge, pretty impressive for a lad who only passed his driving licence a week ago! Geoff Jones Motorsport were busy this weekend. Running five cars spread over three rallies created a logistical nightmare but they were rewarded by some great results! Neville Jones overcame the loss of power steering and a small engine fire to take third overall on the Bulldog Clubmans Rally whilst Gary Kenna was also full of smiles at the finish, having hired a car from GJM whilst his Impreza N14 plus is being rebuilt. Wug Utting ended the National Rally third in class and fifth overall whilst Julian Jones retired with a broken wheel bearing and Andrew Hockridge ended his strong return to gravel when a water pipe broke on his Citroen C2R2 Max. The Bulldog Rally saw 180 competitors spread over five different events, counting towards five major championships contest a similar route over the same stages throughout the day, ensuring that spectators had plenty of action to keep them entertained! The amazing thing is that Nick Elliott, driving a thirty year old Ford Escort Mk II would have finished fifth overall in the International event, very impressive going by anybodies standards!
Revolution Wheels Rally Report Bulldog Rally – 27 March
Mixed fortunes for Revolution runners on Bulldog Revolution Wheels backed rally drivers Rob Swann and Max Utting both enjoyed strong runs on last weekends Bulldog International Rally of North Wales ending the rally in tenth and fourteenth positions overall in their respective Subaru Impreza rally cars. With the Bulldog counting as the opening round of both the Dunlop/ Wonago.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship a capacity field of 180 cars began the Welshpool based event and would face some of the finest stages in the United Kingdom throughout the day. Rob Swann and Darren Garrod spent the morning dusting off cobwebs and re-acclimatising to their Revolution Wheels supported Subaru Impreza N16 after nearly a year since their last gravel rally. Apart from picking up a puncture during the third stage the pair had a trouble free day. It’s nice to be back! I always enjoy the Welsh stages and once we had found the groove today went well. We picked up a puncture during Myherin 2 but continued on without changing it and did not loose too much time. Max Utting and Kate Blake were only contesting their second ever International event and enjoyed a strong and consistent run to fourteenth overall. Utting, renowned for being a fast learner, improved on his stage times over the first loop by nearly thirty seconds per stage! We are very happy with how our day went. We improved a lot on our second pass through the stages but we had a huge moment in stage 5 and decided to back off and focus on a finish after that! Young Irish talent Alistair Fisher had been second overall in his Revolution Wheels shod Mitsubishi Evo 9 until transmission gremlins halted his strong run on Stage 6 whilst former Historic Champion David Stokes retired his Ford Escort Mk I early on with a damaged radiator. Warren Mckiernan, Revolution Wheels Director; this weekend showed how unpredictable rallying can be as nearly half the cars failed to finish the rally, so hats off to Rob and Max for bringing their cars home. Alistair once again showed his talent and raw pace and I’m sure it won’t be long before it translates into the result that he deserves! Revolution Wheels manufacture all types of wheels for both historic and modern motorsport events, ranging from 10 inch all the way through the range to the new, ultra lightweight Millennium II 18 inch wheels which are suitable for everything from Production cars to Super 2000 and World Rally Cars. For more on Revolution Wheels please visit www.revolutionwheels.com or contact the sales office on +44 1827 64111/ 54422
Safari set for intense showdown 02-04 April – African and Kenyan Rally Championships The 2010 KCB Kenyan Safari Rally is set for one of the strongest entries in recent years as the best rally drivers in Kenya and Africa combine for a three day test of man and machine as a new route and recent heavy rains add to the adventure ahead! With the KCB Safari Rally counting as the second round of both the Kenyan National Rally Championship and the FIA African Rally Championship a field of over seventy entries are anticipated to take to the ceremonial start in Nairobi on Friday 2 April 2010. Defending African Rally Champions Jamie Whyte and Phil Archenoul, from Zimbabwe, won the opening rally in Tanzania and will be a strong threat in their Subaru Impreza N10. Reigning Kenyan National Champion and 2009 Safari Rally winner Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo and Tim Jessop won the Eldoret Rally in February in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 and will be keen to keep the Safari Rally winners trophy in Kenya. Others to watch out for will be rapid Kenyan Lee Rose, 2009 Pirelli Star Drive winner Peter Horsey, Rwandan Giancarlo Davite and the ever popular Ian Duncan in his monster Nissan 4x4 pick up truck! When describing the new route Clerk of the Course Dave Macharia explained; we believe the new arrangement will be thrilling to foreign and local drivers because Thika is quite smooth and fast while Kajiado is fairly rough and somewhat tighter. Add in the chance of the rain continuing and it could make things interesting for the crews! The FIA African Rally Championship will once again play a role in the highly popular Pirelli Star Driver scheme, although the format will change for this year. Each country within Africa will nominate one driver to attend a shootout. The top two drivers, chosen for their speed, driving ability, appearance, public relations and fitness, will then travel to the “world finals” to join representatives from the other regions around the world. The top four drivers from this shootout will have the opportunity to drive in five rounds of the 2011 World Rally Championship. For more on the KCB Safari Rally please visit www.motorsportkenya.com
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 April 3 3 10 17 17-19 18 23 23-24 30
Safari Rally Circuit of Ireland TAC Tielt Rally Granite City Rally Rally Turkey Red Kite Stages Rallye de Wallonie Pirelli International Rally Rally Uganda
Kenyan/ African Rally Championship Irish Tarmac Championship Belgium Tarmac Championship Scottish Rally Championship WRC/ PSD Welsh Championship Belgium Tarmac Championship BRC/ Gravel/ Historic African Rally Championship
May 1 2 7-8 15 15 22 28/29 30 28-30
Kilarney Welsh International Rally Manx National Rally Kisumu Rally Plains Rally Seizoenrally Jim Clark International Rally Jim Clark Reivers Rally Rally Portugal
Irish Tarmac Championship Epynt Challenge National Tarmac Championship Kenyan National Championship BTRDA/ Welsh Championship Belgium Tarmac Championship British Rally Championship Scottish Rally Championship WRC/PSD
June 5 5 12 19 20 25 26 26
Severn Valley Rally Rwanda Rally Dukeries Rally Donegal Rally, Mid Wales Stages Ypres Rally Nairobi Rally Scottish Rally
Gravel/ Historic Championships African Rally Championship BTRDA Irish Tarmac Championship Historic Championship IRC/ Belgium Championship Kenyan National Championship Scottish Rally Championship
Photo of the Month
John MacCrone having a small moment