News from: The African Rally Championship The World Rally Championship The British Rally Championship The Belgium Rally Championship And The Red Kite Stages
Geoff’s gossip So I’m back, finally – three rallies, three continents, four weeks – it’s a tough job but somebody has got to do it! No sooner had I finished my work for the Bulldog Rally than Zoe and I were off to Kenya for this years Safari Rally – during it’s heyday this marathon event was renowned as “the world’s toughest rally” and whilst it might only be a 2 and a bit day sprint it certainly is not a walk in the park! The 2010 running of the Safari reminded me of “the ol days”! Whilst the event is, in essence, run on closed roads, in reality the everyday traffic carries on as if nothing untoward was happening. On one stage the top cars were averaging 147kph for 18 kilometres, taking blind crests flat in top gear, with the potential for oncoming public traffic in cars, bikes and herding their livestock an ever present danger! From the thick mud and smiling faces of Kenya my next stop was sunny Turkey. Their disorganisation appeared to be balanced in proportion by their enthusiasm. We arrived to find Rally HQ still under construction, a quick visit to the stages showed the same state of disarray, and the ceremonial start and ferry ride, whilst a good idea, kept all of the crews, media and team managers on board a boat for five unnecessary hours the night before the rally proper! (If this ferry ride had signalled the end of the event then the party would have been awesome!) The weird thing was that, whilst the event was reasonably well promoted, there were virtually no spectators to be seen. We visited an average of three stages a day and on each saw very few people – something that surely can’t be good for the long term future of such an event? And then there was the fiasco of three stages on Sunday being cancelled because of rain – the official statement ruled that the conditions were unsuitable for rallying – eh? They should have seen Kenya two weeks before where the service park resembled a mud wrestling competition and yet the show carried on! Of course the rally would hardly have registered on the world radar as everyone was more concerned about how a volcano in Iceland was going to affect their lives! My own trip home was interesting. Along with Ben Gilbert and Rhodri Lewis, two passionate amateur photographers, we found ourselves stranded in Istanbul. We eventually resorted to a 48 hour road trip to Dusseldorf on a bus with no third gear or air conditioning and from there a plane ride to Heathrow! None of which would not have been possible without the help of my travel agent, Donna Harper (www.teamcoordin8.com)! Enough blabbering on – I’d like to say a massive congratulations to Jason Pritchard for winning the Red Kite Stages, only his second ever event in the Subaru N16 – hopefully the first of many, mate! Also to Peter Horsey – pole sana (very sorry) about the Turkish BBQ – never nice to see a car go up in flames – and scary that the in car fire extinguisher did not do anything and that it took the Turkish Fire Brigade over 20 minutes to attend the scene, which was less than 3 kilometres into a stage! Anyway – enjoy the newsletter, be safe and have fun!
Rose romps to sweet Safari success KCB Safari Rally – 02-04 April – African/ Kenyan Rally Championship With the Kenyan Safari Rally moving back to the Easter bank holiday weekend and the African rains continuing unabated, the 2010 Safari Rally was reminiscent of the Safaris of old - mud, mud and a bit more mud! In fact, such was the dire state of affairs that the super special stage on Friday was cancelled after only ten cars had slithered through, the second stage on Saturday saw almost half the field drop time in the sticky stuff, with the second running of that particular test actually being cancelled and the two wheel drive rally had the whole day shelved! But through all of this chaos came Lee Rose, his Mitsubishi Evo 9 displaying some semblance of control as the former champion opened up a 2 minute lead by the end of Leg 1. Second overall and with one eye on African Championship points was Jamie Whyte in a Subaru Impreza N10 whilst Alistair Cavenagh was recovering from a startling off, where he slid into a crowd of spectators, incredibly injuring nobody, to lie third overall! Reigning Kenyan champion, and defending rally winner, Flash Tundo was an early casualty with a broken engine whilst Ian Duncan, expected to shine in the mighty V8 Nissan Patrol, was actually at a disadvantage running further down the field as this was an FIA sanctioned event and the beast is not a homologated car! Day 2 saw the rally move from the muddy roads of Thika to the high speed sections around Kajiado. With Whyte, the reigning African Rally Champion, suffering from suspension problems he was forced to back off and concentrate on reaching the finish to claim maximum ARC points. This allowed Cavenagh through to second, but Rose continued to pull away and eventually won by over seven minutes! Incredibly, despite the two wheel drives having had a full day cancelled due to the mud, the historics ran as normal and suffered no apparent ill effects from the mud indicating that just maybe the organisers had been too hasty in their decision? 1. Lee Rose/Pier Daykins (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 2. Alastair Cavenagh/Gavin Laurence (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 3. Jamie Whyte/Philip Archenoul (Subaru Impreza)
2 hours 22.01 2 hours 29.14 2 hours 29.29
Peter Horsey 26 year old Peter Horsey is embarking on a year that most young rally drivers can only dream about. After winning the African section of the Pirelli Star Drive scheme, Kenyan born Peter will contest six rounds of the World Rally Championship at the wheel of a Ralliart Italy Mitsubishi Evo 10! Peter and co-driver Moses Matovu also plan to tackle a selection of British Rally Championship events and most of the Kenyan National Rally Championship, meaning that the pair have a very busy year ahead! Peter began competing in 2001, at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla RSi, sharing both the driving and co-driving with brother Alex. Aged 24, Peter won the two wheel drive section of the daunting Safari Rally and then finished second overall on his first event outside of Kenya, the MOSAC Rally in Uganda. In 2008 Peter narrowly missed out on the Pirelli Star Drive nomination after starting the season in the Corolla before upgrading to a Mitsubishi Evo 8 after the first round. This was then replaced with an Evo 9 for 2009. The Pirelli Shootout was held in Rwanda, with the person with the most fastest stage times to be declared the PSD winner. Peter led from the start and very nearly won the rally outright! The Pirelli Star Drive prize will see a massive learning curve for Peter as he had not even spectated on a World Rally Championship event prior to 2010. Peter, who manages the transportation division of Civicon Uganda, comes from a strong rallying background. His father, David, won the African Rally Championship at the wheel of a Group B Peugeot 504 pick up truck! As well as rallying Peter also competes in off road events at the wheel of a 1300cc turbocharged buggy and has recently become hooked on white water kayaking and mountain climbing! www.peterhorsey.com
Horsey scores best ever Safari finish Young Kenyan rallying talent Peter Horsey scored his best ever finish on his home event, the notoriously tough KCB Kenyan Safari Rally, when the 26 year old, co-driven by Ugandan born Moses Matovu, finished fifth overall in a Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9 recently. The crews were faced with heavy rain and treacherous road conditions during the Nairobi based Safari Rally, which counted towards both the FIA African and KCB Kenyan National Rally Championships, ensuring that this was truly a very tough event! Despite loosing nearly five minutes in the thick glutinous mud on day two and then having to nurse the car home on day three after loosing his sump guard two sections from the finish, Horsey was overjoyed with the result; this is by far the toughest Safari that I have ever tackled! Just to finish is a massive achievement but to finish it inside the top six is brilliant! With WRC Rally Turkey only a fortnight away this was the perfect preparation for my World Rally Championship debut! Fire halts Horsey in Turkey Peter Horsey and Moses Matovu retired from the recent WRC Rally Turkey in dramatic style when their Mitsubishi Evo X caught fire and was totally destroyed during the opening day of action on the Istanbul based event! Horsey and Matovu had a strong start to their World Rally Championship debut, setting the third fastest stage time amongst their peers on the opening test. However their impressive performance was short lived. The pair survived a slow roll mid way through the second stage but with the hot exhaust resting on dry grass the ground under the Mitsubishi ignited. The pair tried in vane to extinguish the flames but sadly within minutes Peter saw his hopes of a strong WRC Rally Turkey result, quite literally, go up in flames. Peter; I am speechless. We had a really good run on the opening stage, no heroics and I was happy with our performance. The roll on Stage 2 was just one of those things that happen. It was really slow and we did minimal damage to the car, but the grass underneath caught fire so quickly and once the car was burning there was nothing we could do! Phil Short, team principal; what happened to Peter and Moses today was really cruel! They had a good run through the first stage and then to lose the car that way is just awful! Of course we hate to see a car burn down but at least both crews are okay! Now we must prepare the spare car for them to use in Portugal.
Postcard from Turkey
Pritchard soars to Red Kite success Red Kite Stages – 18 April – Welsh Forest Championship Welsh rallying talent Jason Pritchard scored his second ever rally victory when the 21 year old powered his Subaru Impreza Group N rally car to a slim six second win over more powerful World Rally Cars on the recent Red Kite Stages. Pritchard and co-driver Robbie Durant were using the Llandovery based event as a test session ahead of the second round of the 2010 Dulux Trades MSA British Rally Championship and with their FSC Laser Mail, North Road Garage and Total Impreza Magazine supported Subaru N16 running faultlessly the pair won half of the stages to take the fantastic victory. Wow, this is so awesome! This is only my second rally in the car and to win in Wales is very special! Dust was a bit of an issue on some of the stages but Robbie was great and organised us a two minute gap which helped massively. The car was faultless and I enjoyed the whole day!
Jason survives punishing Pirelli to take sixth Pirelli Rally – 24 April – British Rally Championship One week later Jason survived punctures, severe dust and the infamous Kielder Forest to finish the Pirelli International Rally sixth overall and in doing so moved up to third overall in the 2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship! Jason endured a frustrating Friday night on the Carlisle based Pirelli Rally when hanging dust made visibility difficult, picking up a puncture in the first stage and then overshot a junction in the dust on the third test and ending the opening leg down in 14th position overall. A big push on Saturday, as Jason gained more experience with the North Road Garage, FCS Laser Mail and Total Impreza backed Subaru Impreza N16 saw Jason and co-driver Robbie Durant set top ten times all day, culminating with a stunning second fastest overall stage time on the final 12 mile stage of Bewshaugh which resulted in the pair returning to Carlisle in sixth overall! Friday night was very frustrating, as the hanging dust really knocked my confidence. I’m still getting to grips with the Subaru and am noticing that we are arriving at corners so much faster than I’m used to! There is plenty more to come from me and I just need more seat time. For more information on Jason please visit www.jasonpritchard.co.uk
Evans evades punctures to win punishing Pirelli Pirelli Rally – 24 April – British Rally Championship Killer Kielder lived up to its infamous reputation when the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, the Dunlop / Wonago.com - MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the MSA Gravel Rally Championship all visited the area for the Pirelli International Rally in April. Keith Cronin, by virtue of leading the BRC, was first on the road on Friday night and with no wind and thick dust hanging in the air, quickly pulled out an advantage he would hold until the very last stage. However, a puncture on his Pirelli Star Drive prize Subaru Impreza N15 would flay, damaging the wiring loom and bringing the car to a cruel halt within sight of the flying finish of the final stage! This allowed Gwyndaf Evans, a former champion, to take the first UK victory for the Mitsubishi Evo X. Whilst Evans might have benefitted from Cronin’s misfortune he kept his nose clean, avoided punctures and was there when it counted! Craig Breen had been dueling with Gwyndaf in his Ford Fiesta S2000 but similarly punctured on the final 12 mile test and dropped over two minutes limping out, eventually finishing third, behind a very surprised Johnny Greer who had begun the stage in no mans land, back in fourth position and ended the rally in second overall! A number of drivers had close and personal encounters with the deep ditches that are characteristic of this, the largest man made forest in Europe. PG Andersson, at the wheel of an M-Sport run Ford Fiesta R2, rolled on two consecutive stages, the second time calling it quits! Other high profile names to crash out included young Dave Weston Junior, Tom Watson (twice a visitor to the undergrowth!) and talented Finn Matti Rantenen! The Historic section of the rally were not immune to the attraction of the ditches either as both Nick Elliott and Tim Pearcey had high speed exits from the rally, fortunately without any serious injury! Punctures were another key element with almost everyone having at least one and a number of runners reporting bent and buckled wheels which begs the question – were the wheels bending and causing the tyre failures or were the tyre failures causing the bent wheels? Possibly a combination of both but young Jason Pritchard, who finished sixth after a couple of exciting moments in the dusty darkness on Friday night, had a wheel completely buckle on him! Hero of the rally was young Finn Mikko Pajunen who was the third two wheel drive home, beating all of the Citroens at the wheel of a little R1 Suzuki Swift and quite rightly being awarded the Pirelli yellow jacket for the event! 1st 2nd 3rd
Gwyndaf Evans/ Chris Patterson Mitsubishi Evo 10 1:27:58 Jonnie Greer/ Dai Roberts Mitsubishi Evo 9 1:30:31 Craig Breen/ Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 1:30:46
Revolution Wheels Rally Report Pirelli Rally – 24 March
Punctures punish Max on Pirelli Revolution Wheels supported Subaru Impreza rally driver Max Utting suffered a last stage puncture which dropped the personable 24 year old outside the top ten on a very difficult Pirelli International Rally, the second round of the 2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship. Utting, who was joined by Ken Bowman in the Subaru Impreza N12b for the first time, was one of many to struggle in the hanging dust on Friday night and ended the opening leg in 15th position, but was just relieved to have survived a high speed spin in the final test of the evening. A driveshaft breakage on Saturday morning cost more time but by mid afternoon Utting was on the fringes of the top ten when a puncture in the final stage forced him to stop and change the offending item. This was done with minimal time loss but then, caught in the dust from a slower car, Utting lost almost five minutes on his rivals and dropped down to 15th position once more! Max Utting; so frustrating, when we had a clean stage our times were really good but Kielder is well known for its fearsome reputation and so just to survive is a small victory! Ken and I got on really well and now we must look forward to the Jim Clark International Rally - my first taste of tarmac in a 4 wheel drive rally car! Talented youngster Alistair Fisher, driving a Revolution Wheels shod Mitsubishi Evo 9, had run as high as third overall on Friday night and by stage six had set a number of top three fastest stage times but was forced to retire before the halfway mark with a damaged gearbox. Former Historic Rally Champion David Stokes was another rapid Revolution Wheels backed driver, comfortably leading his class in a Ford Escort Mk 1 until mechanical gremlins halted him within sight of the finish of the Pirelli Historic Rally! Warren Mckiernan, Revolution Wheels Director; once again Kielder lives up to it’s infamous reputation, with over half the field succumbing to either mechanical woes or the lure of the ditches that lines these high speed stages! Both David and Alistair once again showed their pace and Max has learnt a lot from this weekend so we can be proud of their respective performances. The next round of the 2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship is the Jim Clark International Rally which takes place on the high speed tarmac roads around Kelso, Scotland over the weekend of 28 and 29 May. This will also mark the British Rally Championship debut of the ultra lightweight Millennium II 18 inch wheels. For more on Revolution Wheels please visit www.revolutionwheels.com or contact the sales office on +44 1827 64111/ 54422
Revolution Wheels Rally Report Rallye de Wallonie – 23-25 April – Belgium Rally Championship
Vincent bags points on Wallonie Revolution Wheels backed Belgium Rally Driver Vincent Verschueren and co-driver Lara Vanneste overcame a down on power engine in their Symtech Racing Subaru Impreza STR09 to finish the recent Rallye de Wallonie fourth in the production class. After retiring from the second round of the Belgium Rally Championship with engine failure Verschueren had replaced the engine in the Subaru but with engine mapping issues the car was down on power. Rather than admit defeat the reigning Historic Rally Champion adjusted his driving style and ensured that a decent haul of points was still collected! Vincent Verschueren; this rally was quite frustrating as the stages were very fast! Apart from the down on power engine the car was fine and we know already that we have the pace after winning Group N on the Haspengouw Rally! Warren McKiernan of Revolution Wheels; most people would have given up on Friday but fair play to Vincent for carrying on and collecting more points! To set the times he did with a car that was down on power once again shows his talent and pace and so now we look forward to the Seizoensrally in May!
Watkins takes sixth at Angelsey Lee Holland Stages – 25 April – F1000 Championship Welshpool based James Watkins enjoyed a clean run on the second round of the Formula 1000 Tarmac Rally Championship as the 19 year old hustled his Geoff Jones Motorsport run Nissan Micra around the Angelsey Race Circuit to finish the recent Lee Holland Stages sixth in class! When regular co-driver Geoff Mayes was stranded outside the country due to the Icelandic Volcano eruption Watkins enlisted Chris Evans to call the notes on board the Makefast and Rally Marketing backed Micra for the day. After a couple of lairy moments on the opening pair of stages Watkins tidied up his driving and concentrated on his lines and was pleased to move up the leaderboard as the day progressed, eventually ended the event in 27th overall and sixth in class. I’ve never competed at Angelsey before but after today I can see just how important smooth lines are at a place like this, especially in a little car like the Micra. Keeping your momentum up is really important and I learnt an incredible amount today. Many thanks to Geoff Jones Motorsport for giving me a faultless car and to Chris Evans for stepping in so late in the day! This result now moves James up to ninth overall in the Formula 1000 Rally Championship after two rounds.
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 May 2 7-8 15 15 22 28/29 30 28-30
Welsh International Rally Manx National Rally Kisumu Rally Plains Rally Seizoenrally Jim Clark International Rally Jim Clark Reivers Rally Rally Portugal
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
July 10 10 17 17 25 31 31 31
Isle of Man International Quinton Stages Swansea Bay Rally Zambia International Rally Coracle Stages WRC Finland Nakuru Rally Harry Flatters Rally
British/ Historic Rally Championship BTRDA Championship Gravel Championship African Rally Championship Welsh Forest Championship World Rally Championship Kenya National Rally Championship Welsh Tarmac Championship
Photo of the Month The only thing flying in Europe was this nutter!