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nickygristmail@ekmsend.com Nicky Grist Motorsport & RallyingUK - Launch Joint Newsletter 6 September 2010 18:15:49 BST steve@silverbackmedia.co.uk RallyingUK are please to announce a new partnership with Nicky Grist to bring you your own newsletter Having trouble reading this email? Click here for a web version.
Issue: 1
In This Newsletter Dear RallyingUK Members We hope you enjoy the new newsletter from Nicky Grist for RallyingUK. "Nicky Grist has been a valued supporter and sponsor of RallyingUK for a number of years now and when we read his news letter, we felt that this would be a great way of adding value to you our members and providing you with not only something interesting to read each month, but also an opportunity for you to let us and Nicky know what you think, what you would like to hear about, technical or general news." Simon - RallyingUK. "RallyingUK has been a valued source of customers to Nicky Grist Motorsport and I have had the pleasure of getting to know some great people too. It has always been important for me to be able to give our customers and motorsport competitors the right advice on what they need. I am really excited about working with Simon and the RallyingUK team and be able to give his members something interesting to read and hear your thoughts about our industry. Each month we will look to offer you some exciting prizes and exclusive offers that are normally only available to my customers." Nicky Grist. We do want to hear from you? Are you competing or just enjoy track days, are you wanting to become a rally or race driver and looking for advice? Do you have a story to tell? The more we know about you the more we can give you what you need. so please write to us at news@nickygrist.com and quote 'RallyingUK News' in the subject box.
Thoughts of the month Back to Work
Motorsport & Driver News Phil Mills retires from WRC Petter's driver standing strikes a cord 6th anniversary for Rally Finland
New Top Story The MSA Rallies Committee have.... New Regulations instigated by the Forestry Commission Tree Disease in the Welsh Forest
This Months Competition Two Unique money can't buy prizes
Products features & special offers
Dear customer With the bank holiday now over and many of you having only a few more races to enter, the end of the season is approaching fast. The weather in the first half of the season made sure we all got the most from our rallying, but the recent poor weather has been more challenging for competitions. Some of you have also been saying the weather has helped spectator numbers at events. Let's hope the recent rain will not dampen their enthusiasm. I have heard a number of interesting thoughts for both this season and for the future, which I thought would share with you - one being an upcoming new ruling by the MSA and the other an interesting development from the Forestry Commissions, who give their land to a number of rallies around Britain. I also have a competition, and prizes from the Rally de Portugal, which I hope will entice you to enter! They are ‘more can't buy' prizes, so I have made the question for the competition a little more challenging. I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter and good luck with your season.
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Nicky Grist
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Back to work! As many of you now know, Juha and I had a phenomenal time in Portugal at the Rallye de Portugal revival and I watched his progress at the Rally Finland with great interest and pleasure at seeing him come in 8th. We have teams that would like to run us but they are in the same boat as many of you, with trying to find a sponsor, so at the moment I am not planning any further rallying with Juha. I recently entered into the recent Neath valley stages with my landlord and friend Phil Collins, and we won the historic rally in Opel Escona 400, being fastest on all six stages. It was a fun rally and it was great to co-drive for Phil again. I am now back in the rhythm of the office and planning next season's ‘must have's' and budgets. With this in mind, are there are particular areas you are wanting me to explore for 2011? I am hoping to have everything in place soon, so now is the time to tell me what you are wanting from NG Motorsport. news@nickygrist.com I have had chance to make use of the weather and indulge in my other passion of golf. Recently, I have been taking lessons again - yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks! I needed to work on my swing, and the lessons have involved re-structuring my swing totally. As with anything having to be learnt, the results are good, but for awhile my overall performance has dropped and I have to be patient, as I know the improvements and better overall performance will show through soon.
Phil Mills' retirement from WRC After 11 years as Petter Solberg's co-driver, my good friend Phil Mills has left the team and WRC. I know just how hard a decision that was for him, and wish him all the best in the future. When questioned recently Phil commented - "It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make but I feel the time had come to concentrate on other parts of my life. We competed on 152 WRC events together over the past 11 years and I will miss the whole WRC scene very much. I know Petter is in good hands with Chris, and so I wish Petter and the team very great success in the future." When asked how he felt about Phil's decision to leave Petter said - "When Phil left the team I was very sad. We have been together for so many years, in fact I've had him by my side through most of my career. Looking back on what we have achieved together, I feel especially sorry as I was sure our next win would happen this season and I was hoping to have Phil by my side when it happened. He has been the one that has meant the most for me through my career. Our relationship must have been the strongest relationship between driver and co-driver ever!" Just before the start of the Rally Bulgaria, Chris Patterson joined Petter Solberg as his co-driver. Chris at 41 yrs, has been co-driving since 1998, competing with drivers such as Kris Meeke. The relationship between Chris and Petter has been excellent from the start, with Petter now lying 4th in the driver's standings and Chris already in 8th in the co-driver's standings. Their results in both the Rally Bulgaria and Rally Finland showing how quickly their relationship has developed. Chris commented "It felt like such a big task to be asked to replace a co-driver like Phil Mills, but when the offer came from Petter I knew I just had to do it. I've been a co-driver for 12 years, and so have enjoyed the challenge to codrive for him in the WRC!" Rally Bulgaria put Chris in the deep end, with long asphalt stages, some 30km, but he proved Petter's faith in him by supporting Petter to three stage wins and a third overall. Being Chris's first WRC stage win, getting three in one rally was a great achievement. To add to the celebrations Chris was awarded the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally trophy, for his outstanding team debut. The gauntlet was picked up again at the Rally Finland with the pair coming in 4th overall. Sadly the recent Rally Duetschland was not such a great success from then due to the car sustaining two punctures, which the guys had to sort, resulting in too much loss of time to get onto the podium. "This feels so great", says Petter Solberg. "Three rallies ago we didn't even have a co-driver, so being so strong at this stage feels like a big achievement. What Chris has done is absolutely amazing. Sadly, the last rally was hard with not one but two punctures - but that is behind us now and we can look forward to Rally Japan"
The Revitalisation of Petter's Driver Standing Strikes a Cord with Dani Sordo Works team driver and wearer of the Stilo Carbon Piuma helmet, Dani Sordo, started the Rally Deutschland with a new co-driver after a five year partnership with Marc Marti. With increasing pressure from team mate, SĂŠbastien Ogier, who won his first WRC rally in Portugal this year, and has beaten Dani five out of the eight rallies, Dani saw the way Chris Patterson revitalised Petter's driving and decided, that with his place within the
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Citroen works team becoming vulnerable, he would see if a replacement co-driver would give him a similar revitalization and his boost his ability to win a rally. Marc had joined Dani in 2005, following the retirement of his previous driver Carlos Sainz from WRC. Marc and Dani won the J-WRC that year and joined the full works Citroen in 2006. However, although the pair have gained 26 podium finishes since then, Dani and Marc had never won a rally together. "I need a change in the car," explained Dani. "Marc has been an excellent partner for all these years. He's someone I am grateful to and with whom I have learned a lot, but I finally concluded that the best thing for me is to come out of my comfort zone and take a chance, so I have decided to take on a new co-pilot." Diego Vallejo, chosen by Dani as his replacement co-driver, is a seasoned competitor in Europe and has guided his brother, Sergio, to victory in the 2009 Spanish asphalt rally championship. This year, he has worked as part of Dani's gravel note team on the asphalt rounds of the WRC, so is already familiar with the way Dani works. Sordo said that Vallejo had been chosen for several reasons: "I know him personally for a long time, so the relationship is already very good. Furthermore, he did a test for me to check his work and how it fitted with my needs. I am convinced he will be a good co-pilot for me at this crucial juncture of my career" The results from the Rally Deutschland seem to suggest that this decision was a sound one, with Dani and Diego coming in a close second to Sﾃｩbastien Loeb and Dani Elena, with a 51.3sec difference between them by the end of the rally. It will be interesting to see whether this new found pace can be maintained at the rally Japan on the 10-12 September, with the Sapporo Dome being a great place to view them in action.
60th anniversary for Rally Finland - A Tribute When I rallied in the WRC this was called the 1000 Lakes, and now is the Neste Oil Rally Finland and has always been one of the most popular rallies on the circuit, not only because of the stages but also the spectator support we always received. The spectators love the high speed jumps and tree lined gravel roads, that show off the skill of the co-driver and 窶話allsy' courage of the drivers. Based around the student town of Jyvaskyla in the centre of the country I always found the rally to be one where you needed nerves of steel and total concentration - with each stage quick to take any who slipped in their technique or commitment. Colin and I always had a lot of fun in Finland. The Scandinavians always dominated here, having grown up on roads just like these, and buoyed up by the support of the spectators. This year was no exception. Jari- Matti Latvala, with co-driver Miikka Antila took the lead on stage seven and drove to their second win of the season, and their first win on home turf, making Jari-Matti the youngest winner of the high speed gravel rally. "It's a dream and I can't even imagine it yet, It's something I've been dreaming of since I was a small boy. The fans in Finland are fantastic and I've won in front of my home spectators. Our team has worked really hard and this victory is for the team." Commented Jari-Matti after the rally. Sﾃｩbastien Loeb, while trying for his seventh world title, came in 3rd place in his Citroen C4. I have very fond memories of the stages in Finland with my first experience being with Juha in 1995, driving the Toyota Celica, although we ended up retiring due to suspension failure, if I remember right. I hope Rally Finland gives many more a few decades of fun to both competitors and spectators.
MOTORSPORT REGULATIONS
New Ruling by the MSA The MSA rallies committee have just ruled against the supply of DVD's with the organisers pacenotes. This is to stop people writing their pacenotes purely off the DVD's rather than working from the organiser's notes. The true perspective of a rally can only be determined from going over the actual stages of the rally with the organiser's pacenotes and even the best DVD's are limited in what information you can gather to support your driver. The fear from the MSA is that people will make mistakes from working off the DVD's only, missing vital conditions that may appear since the DVD was filmed, resulting in the potential for unnecessary and dangerous accidents. Obviously, this will affect quite a few of you, When this is to come in is still unknown but I will announce when this will be effective as soon as I know.
New 2011 Regulations Instigated by the Forestry Commissions The Forestry Commissions cares for 827,000 hectares of sustainably managed woods and forests around the whole of Great Britain and welcomes over 50 million visitors a year to their land. The Commissions mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment. As part of this the Commissions give over large parts of their land to a number of rallies for competitions at all levels. Each year they re-lay the tracks and roads with gravel that the passing traffic has spat to the edge of the roadside. However, when a rally takes place on Forestry Commission land the rally cars speed and pliable mud flaps mean the gravel is not spat to the side of the track, but into the adjacent woodland. This means that the gravel is unable to be recycled back onto the track and the Forestry Commissions are having to bring in new gravel in to replace that lost from a rally event, making the costs to put on a rally unsustainable. With this in mind, there is to be a new regulation, effective from 2011 which dictates that any vehicle rallying on Forestry Commission land will have to have 4mm thick mud flaps. By using thicker mud flaps, which are less pliable, the aim is to make sure the gravel stays far enough onto the trackside to allow the Commissioners to recycle it. So, if there any of you considering purchasing new mud flaps and are likely to enter any rally next year on Forestry Commission land you will need to think about the 4mm thick version. I would also be interested to hear your views on whether this new regulation will succeed in keeping the gravel on the track. news@nickygrist.com. I have ensured that my shop has a good stock of the new regulation 4mm thick flaps, so that no one gets caught out.
Tree Disease in the Welsh Forest At the beginning of this month the Welsh Forestry Commission and the organisers of the Rally GB confirmed that the 2010 Rally would still be able to go ahead in November, despite finding a highly infectious tree disease in the Resolven Woods, in June of this year. Sadly, the Swansea Bay Rally, which was planned for the 17th July has had to be postponed, as it also covered the Resolven area. The disease was first found in the south west of England in woodland in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The discovery of the disease in Wales, is concerning to the Forestry Commission, as it destroys all trees in the larch family and devastating large swathes of woodland, with the spread of the disease being discovered through aerial surveys. The Government has just committed £25 million through DEFRA to manage and control the disease, with local landowners having access to £600,000 initially to support them in managing the spread of the disease. The main concerns over the GB Rally was that the final day's stages ran through the main area that has been affected. However, the Forestry Commission and the rally organiser's have decided that spectators will be given specific instructions asking them to stick to the paths and to take care they haven't picked up needles on their shoes and clothes before they leave the last stage for the ceremonial Cardiff finale. Competitors will need to wash their cars down with disinfectant at the end of this stage before entering Cardiff. I appreciate it is irritating to have to think about disinfecting your car and shoes, but our woodland gives us many exciting and spectacular rallies, and so, I am sure you will do everything you can to ensure this disease does not spread to other areas of Wales.
COMPETITION
During my entry to the Rallye de Portugal Revival I was able to bring a number goodies back that are unique to this event. One is my co-drivers bag, which is marked up with the Rally logo and which I used on the rally. Only the co-drivers of the rally got these and so, is particularly special. I will be giving this away as first prize. The second prize consists of Juha's Rally cap, which he has signed. Again, this is a cap that was only give to the competitors, so is not something that can be purchased
The question for this month is - Who was my driver for my very first ever professional rally and in what year? By professional, I mean where I was paid to co-drive? To be submitted for the prizes, you will need to answer both parts correctly. I realise that this is a more challenging competition, but I felt this to be suitable, as the prizes are very special. Send your answers to news@nickygrist.com I will announce the winner in next months newsletter. Good Luck
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I think that is about all for this month . I was hoping I would be able to get to chat to Piers Dowell about the designs he does for our helmets, but he has been so busy this past month, we have not had a chance to sort this out, so I hope to bring this to you next month. He is our preferred designer and has over 20 years experience painting incredible designs on helmets. I hope all goes well with you over the next few weeks and your season is a successful one. I am preparing to join Peter Lloyd, in his S14 Subaru in the Jersey rally at the beginning of October. Peter's Subaru was one of the last of its kind to leave the Prodrive garage and I am looking forward to returning to the rally, after last year, co-driving for Peter.
If you want to see the car in action Peter will be in the Epynt Mewla Rally, where his co-driver will be Graham Handley. Yours in Motorsport
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