Press Release WWRS R.A.C. Rally Championship Award Winners Announced & Crook readies Manta for R.A.C. Rally
Press release – 1 May 2013
Championship
The special award winners for the second round of the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship have been announced following the SG Petch Tour of Hamsterley (Sunday 28 April). John Everard and Mark Sharpley took the unfortunate accolade of posting the first retirement of the rally when they rolled their lovely Alfa Romeo Junior on the opening stage. The last retirement was the Ford Escort Mk2 of Barry Jordan/James Gratton-Smith, who went off on the final stage. Both crews will receive a £100 voucher from West Wales Rally Spares, as will Ford Escort Mk2 crew Mark Spencer and Steve Pugh after their number came out of the hat in the draw for a third voucher. Meanwhile, class C3 winners Terry Cree and Richard Shores will receive a cheque for nearly £250 from Holton Homes after their number came out of the draw for a refund of 50% of the event entry fee.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from Fuchs Lubricants will go to Matt Edwards. Despite devastating first-stage retirements on his previous two events in his Ford Escort Mk2, the North Wales driver worked tirelessly to be ready for Hamsterley and was finally rewarded with a strong finish in ninth place. In the midst of everything else, he also became a dad in recent weeks.
Alan Hughes and Richard Wardle won the Best Improvement on Seeding, which is a set of axle brake pads from Mintex. They started as car 144 and moved up 21 places to finish second in class D3 in their Ford Escort Mk2. Finally, Dylan Davies won the ‘Hard Charger’ award: a 20-litre jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. On his first rally in the area, the West Wales-based driver only knew he had moved up from the reserve list in the week before the rally. He duly romped to sixth place among the R.A.C. contenders and won Series Seven for open category cars.
Crook Readies Manta for R.A.C. Rally Championship Nearly 20 years after he rallied an Opel Manta, Simon Crook will return to a Manta to contest the open category of the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship. Crook, who ran his Manta in mid-90s BTRDA events with backing from Blakemans Sausages, has recently sold his historic specification Ford Escort Mk2 and is going back to his roots with a Manta 400 running with a Vauxhall 16-valve engine and Ford gearbox and axle. “I’m planning to join the R.A.C. Championship in June at the DMack Carlisle Stages and then do all the subsequent events,” said Staffordshire-based Crook. “In 1993 we upgraded from a Pinto-powered Escort to get 16-valve power. Our first event was the Wyedean and we finished seventh overall,” said Crook. “But we did find that the Manta is a lot longer than an Escort and we remodelled the back end through a gate! I’ve got a lot of fond memories of
the Manta. In 1994 there was a very fierce battle in the 2-litre class and a puncture on the last stage of the last event, the Crystal Stages in Yorkshire, dropped us to third in the class.” The latest Manta has most recently been used by Alistair Cunningham
from Scotland and Crook is now looking for a co-driver as his brother Alister has committed to sit alongside Aziz Tejpar in a Group 4 Escort Mk2 in the championship this season.
-ends Editor’s Notes More information can be found at www.racrallychamp.org or Follow the championship on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RACrallychamp and on Twitter: @RACRallyChamp. High-resolution images are available on request for editorial use. Details about the WWRS R.A.C. Rally Championship please contact: Paul Lawrence, tel 01952 510382 Email: paul@tfmpr.com) For more information on Rally Prep please contact: Neil Yates Rally Prep Ltd 07907 234787 neil@rallyprep.co.uk www.rallyprep.co.uk Twitter : @Rally_Prep FaceBook : Rally-Prep Rally Prep Ltd YouTube : RallyPrepUK Rally Prep specialise in the build and preparation of rally, race and high performance vehicles for road and track use. Their services range from full bare shell builds to basic servicing and parts supply. They also are able to supply a range of products which they have developed specifically for rally and race cars, alongside top quality equipment from some of the worlds most respected motorsport parts specialists. For more media information or imagery on Rally Prep please contact: Silverback Media Solutions Ltd rallyprep@silverbackmedia.co.uk @silverbackworld