Roger Albert Clark 2010 Event Programme by Steve Higgins

Event Officials: Stewards MSA David Lucas MSA [Kall Kwik] Joss Horne Club Steve Stringwell Club Roy Brader Clerk of the Course & Rally Manager Colin Heppenstall

The Roger Albert Clark Rally 2010 26th – 29th November Promoted by Roger Albert Clark Motor Club Ltd Organised by De Lacy Motor Club Ltd This event is held under: The General Regulations of the Motorsport Association [Incorporating the provisions of the International Sporting Code of the FIA] and the Supplementary Regulations. It will comply with the provisions of The Motor Vehicles [Competitions and Trials] Regulations 1969, as amended and The Motor Vehicles [Competition and Trials [Scotland] as amended. Permit Number: Event Start Pickering Showground 18:30hrs Friday 26th November Event Finish Carlisle City Centre, Ceremonial Finish 13:30hrs Monday 29th November Prizegiving Carlisle Racecourse 17:00hrs Monday 29th November The Roger Albert Clark Rally incorporates the following events: The Roger Clark Open Rally 26th – 29th November Kall Kwik [Bradford] Rally 26th -27th November Dalby Night Rally 26th November Roger Albert Clark Clubman‟s Rally 28th November Kielder Challenge 29th November

Deputy Clerk of the Course John Trevithick Assistant Clerk of Course & Assistant Rally Manager Graham James Assistant Clerk of Course Nicola Heppenstall Assistant Clerk of Course & Timekeeper [MSA] Lloyd Walker Clerk of Course Support Events Richard Hinton Secretary of the Meeting Malcolm Higgins Entries Secretary Bec Hinton Chief Safety Officer Brian Avery Spectator Safety Leonie Dykes Chief Communications Officer [Safety] & Staffing Chrys Worboys Chief Medical Officer Dr Chris Ruddlesdin Results Service Tynemouth Computers Competitor Liaison Officer Mike Sones Logistics Manager Ken Roberts Public Relations Officer Brian Heppenstall Event Media Officer Steve Higgins Chief Scrutineer John Cooper Environmental Scrutineer Pat Cunningham Coordinators John Smallwood [Yorkshire] Graham Whitaker [Pickering] Nigel Drayton [Oliver‟s Mount] Brian Marshall [Kielder] Peter Stanhope [Scotland] Steve Cowley [Passage and Time Controls] Margaret Heppenstall [Awards]

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Previous Winners Roger Albert Clark Rally 2004

Stig Blomqvist

Anna Goni

Ford Escort RS

Historic Motorsport

2005

Mark Higgins

Peter Martin

Ford Escort RS 1600

Historic Rallysport

2006

Jimmy McRae

Andy Richardson

Ford Escort RS 1800

Eddie Stobart Motorsport

2007

Steve Bannister

Kevin Rae

Ford Escort RS 1800

VK Vodka Kick

Malcolm Wilson

John Millington

Ford Escort RS 1800

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team

2009

Gwyndaf Evans

John Millington

Ford Escort RS 1800

Viking Motorsport

2010

2008

Previous Winners Roger Albert Clark Open Rally 2004

Steve Bannister

Kevin Rae

Ford Escort MKII

2005

Steve Bannister

Kevin Rae

Ford Escort MKII

2006

Steve Bannister

Kevin Rae

Ford Escort MKII

2007

Richard Hill

Patrick Cooper

Ford Escort MKII

2008

Dave Hemingway

Simon Ashton

Ford Escort MKII

2009

Marcus Noble

Brian Hodgson

Ford Escort MKII

2010

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Welcome Colin Heppenstall Rally Manager

nce again on behalf of the Roger Albert Clark Motor Club Ltd and De Lacy Motor Club Ltd, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Roger Albert Clark Rally. Whether you are a spectator, marshal or competitor, I am always heartened by the huge interest in this rally, which recreates the past; it makes the hard work worthwhile. I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who makes this event possible, from our sponsors to landowners and all the volunteers who turn out in often awful weather to make this event the undoubted success it is. This year we are lucky to have a record number of entries including a large contingent of overseas entrants. We particularly welcome Arnaud Clause, who finished 20th on the 2010 Boucles de Spa and is taking up his free entry courtesy of the tie up between the two events*. Additionally this year we also have a team of competitors from France with their Porsche 911‟s, together with a list of regular competitors on this event, many of whom have been supporting us since 2004. I am always pleased to see them at the start and thank them for their continued and valued support. As organisers, we are always looking at ways in which we can reinvigorate the event. Last year we founded the Roger Albert Clark Motor Club Ltd to support the event by including our supporters as members; this year I have managed to include the famous Dalby woodyard as part of the route on the Friday night. This should be an exciting spectacle especially under floodlights. For 2010, I have generally stuck with the familiar format, with a start in Yorkshire before moving north, where I have been able to secure a special stage in the Hamsterley Forest on Saturday evening; before the usual Scottish loop on Sunday and the renowned Kielder on Monday, with a ceremonial finish in the heart of Carlisle City Centre at 1.30pm the same day. This year I am sure many of you will know that it is 50 years since Jack Kemsley first introduced the idea of using Forestry Commission Land for rallying in the UK, with a two mile “special stage” at Monument Hill in Scotland; a move, which has made the sport what it is today. The RAC Rally that year was won outright by Erik Carlsson and Stuart Turner in a Saab 96. Erik went on to win again in 1961 and 1962. I am delighted therefore, to be able to tell you, that Erik and Stuart, will be joining us in Pickering to flag off a team of historic Saabs, brought together especially for our rally to celebrate this achievement. The last year has been very busy for all of the organising team but the time has now come for us to leave the talking behind and let the competitors do the rest. On behalf of my organising team, I hope that you all have an enjoyable and above all else a safe event. We look forward to seeing you all in Carlisle for the finish on Monday. * See article Page Number 13

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Erik and his Saabs -Simply the best An article by Graham Robson

've always been a huge fan of Erik Carlsson, and take any opportunity to tell the world of my feelings. This year, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of his first victory in the British RAC rally, I need no excuse to praise him yet again.

For more than a decade, Erik Carlsson was one of the world's most successful rally drivers. He always drove for Saab, and because he was a native of Trollhattan in Sweden, the home of Saab, this made him a PR man's dream. He was the big man for the big occasion. Yet Erik Carlsson never really looked like a rally driver. His Saab cars were small and under-powered - how on earth, then, could Erik have won so much? He was, of course, always ferociously fast, brave and spectacular. People seeing the way that two-stroke Saabs would shriek their way through a special stage were often struck dumb. No-one else, not at the time or probably in later years, ever seemed to command a car in this way. The magic was not in the Saab, but in Erik himself, who was unbelievably fast, fearless, with remarkable stamina. By the time he burst on to the European scene he had already started winning in Scandinavia: by 1959 he had won two Championship rounds, and two second places. Not, in fact, that he was a totally safe driver by that time. For some years there was the occasional roll, often when the car exceeded Erik's limits. Perhaps we can't blame the poor brakes (until the Saab Sport came along with front-wheel discs they were a bit of a joke...), but he had enormous faith in his own abilities, and the Saab's front-wheel-drive character: usually - but not always - the combination was effective. 'I like the drum brakes,' Erik quipped, ' because they don't work. That's why a Saab is so fast - there is no way of slowing it down. And downhill, there was nothing quicker. The road holding was just fantastic; you can do anything with it.' He never rallied anything except a front-wheel-drive Saab. The Saab 93/96 series of saloons were supreme rough-road machines, where Carlsson himself also excelled. Rivals didn't think the car was responsible. He demanded much from his co-drivers. Stuart Turner once complained that: 'Erik expected me to sit forward with my nose glued to the screen so that I could see further round the left-hand bends than he could, and to urge him on even faster!â&#x20AC;&#x; Of all his co-drivers, his long-term regular was Torsten Aman, though Walter Carlsson (no relation) was with him often in the early days. Another regular was Gunnar Palm, who went on to even greater things with Hannu Mikkola. Legend, incidentally, has it that Erik once borrowed a 'works' Austin-Healey 3000 to practice the Italian Dolomites sections of the Liege, at a quite disgraceful rate. Manager Stuart Turner was only told about this after the car was returned to Abingdon in one piece, it made him even more determined to get Erik into the BMC team, and it made him even more frustrated when he could not achieve that.

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There were many offers from other teams. BMC boss Marcus Chambers offered the Swede the still-secret Mini-Cooper and a 'Number One' position, but this never progressed very far. Ford got closer in l963. Pat Moss, already married to Erik, had completed one season at Ford. Walter Hayes and team boss Henry Taylor thought that the best possible marketing coup would be to have the Carlssons, man and wife, in the same team. The deal was very close. Erik recalled being offered a huge fee - a ÂŁ17,000 retainer - , which included a contribution from Castrol. When visiting Boreham, to find a contract waiting, he made one final call to Saab before committing himself. As we know, Saab persuaded Erik to stay on - telling him there would always be a job for him at Saab. This was enough for Erik, who carried on successfully for four years before persistent back trouble caused retirement. Thereafter he took a world-wide public relations or 'ambassador' job. At first Erik's size, and his weight, caused much hilarity in the sport, for neither could enhance the performance of the tiny-engined Saabs. But it rarely seemed to matter in a sport where bravery and car control counted for a lot. At the height of his fame there were several years where Erik seemed to lead almost every rally which he started. By the mid 1960s, though, the performance and the equal brilliance of the Mini-Cooper S overwhelmed the Swedish cars. Sometimes a regulations 'handicap' helped, but at other times it hindered. In 1961, for instance, the Monte organisers produced a formula which favoured heavy four-stroke cars. The Saab was two-stroke and light. Nothing daunted, Erik got the Saab 95 Estate car homologated, and was second fastest on all the stages.... Usually, though, the Carlsson-Saab combination didn't need a good handicap. In any event where road surfaces were loose and driving skills really mattered, Erik started as the favourite. Not just sometimes always. His RAC rally record from 1960 to 1965 - three wins in a row, a third, a seventh and a fourth in six years - tells its own story. It was on marathons where he, and the car's endurance, really shone. He ought to have won the East African Safari twice in the early 1960s, but once his car's transmission failed near the finish, and once his car collided with a large ant-eater which did no good to car and beast. On the fastest and roughest rally of them all - Spa-Sofia-Liege - he was second twice - in 1963 he had to give best to Eugen Bohringer's Mercedes-Benz 230SL, while in 1964 Rauno Aaltonen's Austin-Healey 3000 took the honours. Without the debilitating back trouble which eventually caused him to retire, Erik would surely have enjoyed the Marathons and World Cup rallies of later years. Here was the intriguing mixture of endurance, required cunning and necessary car reliability which he would have adored. Two forays to the Baja 1000 race in Mexico - 1969 and 1970 - ended in failure, once because the car broke down under him, the other time when his car stuck in wet sand on a beach while he was trying to take a previously practiced short-cut. For many years after he retired, Erik would occasionally have a blast in a modern Saab rally car, invariably proving that he was at least as fast as ever, and usually matching the times being achieved by the young bloods of the day. As with Juan-Manuel Fangio, the younger men always respected him, deeply, for the gracious way he did this. Erik, in fact, was never impressed by later claims that rallying had become more professional: 'The cars may be quicker, and the drivers may be quicker and better paid, but they don't try any harder than we did, they don't practice any more than we did, they don't think any deeper than we did.' In Scandinavia, for sure, and probably throughout Europe, Erik and his Saabs had a style, and an ability that few could match. Like later rallying heroes - Makinen, Alen, Walter Rohrl and Carlos Sainz among them - Erik always had an aura, the presence of a Superstar in his chosen sport. Everybody respected him, and Erik seemed to know everyone.

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But was there ever one really exceptional reason why he was so successful? Erik, honest and straightforward as always, once summed it up this way: 'I am bloody stubborn. I never liked getting beaten, not even in a slow car. If you were brave in a Saab you could do nearly anything in it. I always tried very hard, and I liked winning. If you're second rate, you shouldn't bother.'

Sitting alongside a legend

hat I was lucky enough to sit alongside Erik Carlsson when he won the RAC Rally in 1960 was entirely due to one organization - the Ordnance Survey. If they hadn‟t produced such wonderful maps, drivers on British rallies would not have been so dependent on the people sitting alongside them reading those maps. In those great days of plot-and -bash events, it was not unusual for a crew to be flat out all night, lose several minutes and yet still win. Er…we were flat out on public roads of course although in mitigation traffic was a lot lighter then, in fact there wasn‟t any on country roads in the middle of the night. But the system had a major fault: it meant that if overseas drivers wanted to compete over here they needed someone familiar with the maps. That was great for British navigators but crazy really because, for example, Gunnar Palm who was then Erik‟s regular co-driver (note: co-driver not navigator) was one of the all-time greats and would have been capable of holding his own as a lead driver for most teams - but he wasn‟t used to OS maps. Enter Jack Kemsley. By closing public roads for the first time (and I always thought it tactful not to enquire too closely into how that was done) he paved the way for future UK events that could be won on sheer speed . And of course if you were looking for speed, you couldn‟t find anyone better than the great Erik Carlsson. He was super-fast, he was determined, he had great stamina (as he proved on Liege rallies), he was easy to get on with, he was professional and he got the maximum support from a great bunch of Swedish Saab mechanics. Come to think of it, I really should have written to the Ordnance Survey to thank them for giving me the opportunity to sit with such a legend. Stuart Turner

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Where to see the action – Roger Albert Clark Rally With four days of spectacular action in some of the best forestry stages in the UK, the choice of where to watch is yours. Stage passes are available either for the entire event or on a daily basis. See page 11 for details. Plan your spectating with the aid of this guide. All times given are for 1st competitor. Please remember that there are a number of support events running alongside the Roger Albert Clark Rally. This means that there will be lots of action to watch, but there may be gaps between these various events, so please stay alert at all times when walking on the stages. Remember, Motorsport can be DANGEROUS, please take care at all times and enjoy yourself. Friday 26th November SS1 SS2 Service SS3 SS4 Halt

Showground Dalby 1 Showground Showground 2 Dalby 2 Showground

Saturday 27th November 18:37 19:12 19:52 20:38 21:16 21:53

Sunday 28th November

SS5 SS6 SS7 Service SS8 SS9 SS10 SS11 SS12 Halt

Oliver‟s Mount 1 Oliver‟s Mount 2 Langdale 1 Showground Oliver‟s Mount 3 Oliver‟s Mount 4 Langdale 2 Hamsterley Shepherdshield Carlisle *

09:49 10:13 11:02 11:52 13:20 13:44 14:33 17:26 19:19 20:44

Monday 29th November

Re-Start SS13 SS14 Service SS15 SS16 Service

Carlisle * AE 1 Twiglees 1 Dumfries Heathhall 1 AE 2 Dumfries

08:16 09:38 10:56 11:57 12:25 13:08 14:38

SS17 SS18 SS19 Service SS20 Halt

Heathhall 2 Twiglees 2 Newcastleton 1 Carlisle * Newcastleton 2 Carlisle *

15:06 16:04 17:28 18:49 20:17 21:38

Re-Start SS21 SS22 Service SS23 SS24 Finish

Carlisle * Rooken 1 Highfield 1 Kielder Rooken 2 Highfield 2 Carlisle City Centre

06:41 08:56 09:24 09:51 11:19 11:47 14:15

* Indicates Carlisle Racecourse HQ

Keep an eye on your speed, if you don‟t then the police will. Safety is paramount both on and off the rally tracks and the organisers of the Roger Albert Clark Rally rely on co-operation with the Police and local landowners to make this event happen. Therefore the Police have advised the organisers that they will be monitoring the motoring behaviour of both competitors and spectators alike. Please don‟t drive irresponsibly on the public road.



 PLEASE KEEP YOUR SPEED DOWN AND RESPECT LIMITS  ALWAYS ALLOW ENOUGH TIME ON COUNTRY ROADS  LISTEN TO MARSHALS INSTRUCTIONS

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Where to see the action - Roger Albert Clark Rally - Support events. Kall Kwik [Bradford] Rally Friday 26th November SS3 SS4 Halt

Showground 2 Dalby 2 Showground

Saturday 27th November 22:27 23:10 23:42

Dalby Night Rally

Showground Dalby 1 Showground Showground 2 Dalby 2 Showground

Oliver‟s Mount Oliver‟s Mount Langdale 1 Showground Oliver‟s Mount Oliver‟s Mount Langdale 2 Showground

1 2

3 4

12:03 12:27 13:16 14:06 15:34 15:58 16:47 17:27

Roger Albert Clark Clubman‟s Rally

Friday 26th November SS1 SS2 Service SS3 SS4 Finish

SS5 SS6 SS7 Service SS8 SS9 SS10 Finish

Sunday 28th November 20:20 20:58 21:35 22:21 23:04 23:36

Start SS13 SS14 Service SS15 SS16 Service SS17 SS18 Finish

Dumfries Ae 1 Twiglees 1 Dumfries Heathhall 1 AE 2 Dumfries Heathhall 2 Twiglees 2 Dumfries

10:51 11:29 12:47 13:48 14:16 14:59 16:29 16:57 17:55 18:56

Kielder Challenge Monday 29th November Start SS21 SS22 Service SS23 SS24 Finish

Kielder Water Rooken 1 Highfield 1 Kielder Rooken 2 Highfield 2 Kielder Water

09:51 10:44 11:12 11:39 13:12 13:40 14:07

Please help us by taking your litter home with you and leave the forests as you found them!

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SPECTATOR PRICES ROGER ALBERT CLARK RALLY 2010 ACCESS ALL AREAS PASS Friday 26th November to Monday 29th November 2010 A pass for the entire duration of the Rally that gives access to:  All stages including Scrutineering and Documentation on Friday Lunchtime  All car parks  Overnight Halt each night  Service Area on Saturday  Service Area on Sunday  Service Area on Monday  Ceremonial Finish on Monday afternoon in Carlisle

Price: £95 per car / £70 providing that one of the occupants of the car is aged 9-15 years. Children aged 8 or under are free. Each pack includes: 1 x Programme, 2 x New Rally Hats, 2 x Personalised ID badges, 2 x Rally Lanyard‟s, 1 x Rally Sticker, Stage Maps. Friday Passes - 26th November 2010: Scrutineering, Documentation, Service and Showground Special Stage: -

£10 per person

Dalby Special Stage: - Access to Floodlit Woodyard including Catering and Toilets

£20 per car

Saturday Passes - 27th November 2010: Oliver‟s Mount Special Stage: - Catering and Toilets available at this stage

£5 per person

Langdale Special Stage

£10 per car

Service Area Pickering Showground on Saturday

FREE

Hamsterley Stage Pass

£10 per car

Shepherdshield Stage Pass

£10 per car

Sunday Passes - 28th November 2010: Scottish Stages Pass giving access to all stages run in Scotland

£20 per car

Service Area Dumfries

FREE

Newcastleton Special Stage

£10 per car

Monday Passes - 29th November 2010: Kielder Stages Pass [Monday Stages only] access to all Kielder Stages

£10 per car

Kielder Service Area

FREE

All Passes will be on sale at Pickering Showground from 12.00 noon Friday 26th November 2010 where ticket prices will be reduced by the monies paid to access the venue. No refunds will be issued for any stages that are cancelled, whether in advance or on the day. Refunds equivalent to the price of the ticket and booking fees but excluding postage, will only be issued if the entire event is cancelled.

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The Europeans are coming… “Or, how we went to Belgium to see how they do it” Malcolm Higgins Secretary of the Meeting

s we have been reporting on the event website for some months now, this year is likely to see the largest group of overseas competitors since the rally was started in 2004.

The growing reputation of the event within the world of historic rallying has sparked record demand for information from outside the UK and the Rally Manager, Colin Heppenstall, says that interest from Europe has been very high this year. In fact in the run up to the Rally this November, Colin was very busy talking to at least 19 overseas crews [as we went to press]. Leading the visiting entry will be six cars from the Regnier Sport Organisation, led by team boss, Pascal Regnier in his Escort Mk2. More Escorts will be campaigned by Arnaud Clause, Julian Ellebout and Bruno Lacroix, while Jean Pierre Ansiaux (Sunbeam Lotus) and Andre Lausberg (Opel Kadett) will also line up in Pickering on Friday 26 November. Earlier this year, the Roger Albert Clark Rally media team were guests at the snowy Legend Boucles de Spa rally in the Ardennes Mountains and were witness to a spectacular event on the closed Belgian roads. Due to an agreement between this event and our own, the winner of the Boucles de Spa event qualifies for a free entry on the Roger Albert Clark Rally; a move designed to promote overseas interest for our rally. Our intention therefore, was that we visit Belgium and speak with as many competitors as possible to encourage European interest. Unfortunately, Bruno Thiry who claimed the spoils in Belgium with his Audi Quattro is not able to compete in November but his prize will not be wasted as his place will be taken by Arnaud Clause who stormed to a top twenty finish on that event. Also competing here again, for their third year, will be Stefaan Stouff and Joris Erard in their beautiful Ford Escort. When we spoke to them at the Legend Boucles de Spa earlier this year, Stefaan told us that their Escort Mk1 had been so badly damaged that it had needed re-shelling and was undergoing major rebuilding in a UK workshop. Luckily since then the car has been totally rebuilt and was competing on the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire in September, where they finished first ahead of David Stokes. They will be tackling the Roger Albert Clark Rally once again being supported by DCC Motorsport and the SMS-Team who ran the 1974 Opel Ascona course car for Ari Vatanen on the Boucles de Spa. By the way, he drove as if he had never been away. www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 13

In 2009, the event ran in very snowy conditions as it took in challenging sections around the town of SpaFrancorchamps and as of a few days prior to our departure, there was still almost two feet of snow in the area and the weather forecast promises a daytime high of minus five so we would be wrapping up warm! But back to the story; There was a “buzz” around the town of Spa, which reminded us of the days when the RAC Rally would descend upon towns up and down the UK and take over. Where else could you see the service area taking up the entire length of the main street of the town for at least a mile? Having met with the Organisers, where we received our passes for the weekend, we went to have a look around. The cars, which we saw took us back, there were Fiat Spiders, Simca 1000s, Volvo PV544s, Mazda RX7s, Porsche 911 and more Escorts than you could shake a stick at. We arose bright and early on Saturday; in fact we were woken by the sounds of the beer tent setting up at the entrance to the Clementine stage, which was only a couple of hundred yards from the hotel, RESULT! The rally itself would start at a civilised time of 10am, then tackling a couple of loops of stages in and around the town of Spa before returning to the finish in the early hours of Sunday. So it was then that we wandered amongst the cars in the pre start holding, we had forgotten how passionate the Belgian fans are about their motorsport and rallying in particular and to be drunk at 0930 is in itself a feat to be admired. After a morning out in the countryside we returned to the Clementine Stage and set ourselves up for an afternoon of spectating in the freezing cold. The crowds were huge and they were noisy enthusiastic and yes drunk mostly, the beer tent down the road assisting in this no doubt. We stayed into the gloom to see cars, it seemed like hundreds of them, [well actually there were. - Ed] racing past in a blaze of light, cheering on the Brits, Richard Lepley and Mark Solloway. The organisation of this huge event must be challenging. Think of over three hundred competing cars and crews being accommodated in the area for the duration of the rally besides coping with the entourage of enthusiastic fans who want to be in on the action. Then remember the work that goes into closing public roads and providing marshals for stages that remain open for twelve hours or more. This is a one-day rally but a marathon nevertheless. For the record, the event was won by Bruno Thiry in a Group 4 Audi Quattro, Bjorn Waldegaard in a Group 4 Escort Mk II was second and third place was taken by last year's winner, Patrick Snijers in his Group 4 Mk II. In the end, former European champion Thiry was one of the pre-events favourites, who neither had a WRC-title nor a Spa-victory. There was no real 'Quattro-weather', as the stages around Spa were mostly free of snow and ice and the temperatures hovered just above freezing point. It was only on “Ster”, the highest stage of the event, located 500 metres above sea level where snow properly covered the tarmac. After sunset there was a heavy snow fall and within minutes there were two inches of snow and one stage cancelled. From the beginning, Thiry took the lead, with the MkII Escorts of 66 year old Björn Waldegaard, Kurt Heckters and Robert Droogmans following. After Thiry got a puncture on SS 11, Waldegaard was heading the field. One stage later and the old order was restored and with seven out of fourteen possible fastest times, the Belgian was the dominant driver of the event. The first ever world rally champion, Waldegaard, took second spot ahead of eight times Spa-winner Snijers and Freddy Loix, who came home with a close-to-production Fiat Ritmo Abarth in a superb fourth overall. The Escorts of Kurt Heckters, Thierry Neuville and Stig Blomqvist followed. One of the crowd‟s favourites, Francois de Spa, finished at eight in a Mini Cooper S. Finland's Harri Rovanperä brought home a Porsche 911 in ninth. Pascal Gaban, former group N-world champion, in an Opel Kadett C completed the top ten ahead of JeanPierre van de Wauwer with the rare Lancia Beta Monte Carlo. Stefaan Stouff and Joris Erard came home in sixteenth place.

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The Legend Boucles de Spa was a magnificent event and possibly one of the best rally experiences we have ever had and we want to thank Joris Erard for suggesting that we make the trip; our hosts Pierre Delettre and Marie-Charlotte Leduc of the Royal Automobile Club de Spa for their help and hospitality and Colin Heppenstall, Rally Manager of the Roger Albert Clark Rally, for making it happen. Thank you all for the experience. We recommend that if you get the chance to go, then you take it!

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Photo Competition

he Roger Albert Clark Rally in conjunction with Britishrally.co.uk is pleased to announce the running of the 2010 R.A.C. photographic competition. This competition has been running since 2005 and has grown in popularity each year. Its aim is to capture the unique nature of this event and is open to anybody with a camera, be it point and click, fancy DSLR or even film….

Britishrally.co.uk will once again support this competition and Jon Petford who has helped to organise this competition over the last four years will once again cast his eye over all the received entries and has the unenviable job of selecting the winners. This year we have two categories: „Work Hard‟ and „‟Play Hard‟ Jon says “I wanted a way to capture the effort that goes into running this event. Without all the volunteers this rally would not have grown to be one of Britain‟s premier rallies”. So whether it be a group of marshals standing on a windswept hillside or a start crew, ensuring each competitor gets of the start line, we want your images. Of course the whole rally also aims to be fun as well; sometimes difficult to remember as the mist is swirling around you and the rain is lashing down. Jon says “It would be great to have images that capture the fun side of this Rally, whether this is a driver fully sideways, with a beaming smile, or spectators enjoying the spectacle on Olivers Mount”. The judge will pick three short listed pictures for each category and then pick a category winner, and eventually an overall winner. A selection of prizes will be available from the rally organisers. Jon says “I am looking for pictures which capture the essence of the theme; I will also look at technical aspects of the picture, but the theme and the story the picture tells are paramount this year”. So let your creative juices flow and good luck. As in previous years, photographs can be uploaded onto a thread on the Britishrally.co.uk forum, but new for this year will be the ability to upload photographs to the event Facebook and Twitter pages, and those shy types amongst you can email pictures direct to the event media officer at media@rogeralbertclarkrally.org Further information on the competition can be found on the Roger Albert Clark Rally website at http://www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org All the rules and terms and conditions can be found at: http://britishrally.co.uk/

Last year‟s winning picture from Paul Commons “Wow, I must admit I didn‟t expect to win...”

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Crew Profiles Car 1 - Gwyndaf Evans & John Millington Ford Escort RS 1800 Fresh from his recent win on the Rally Yorkshire, his third BRC win of the year, and with it a team victory for his JRM backed Mitsubishi EVO 10, last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x;s winner, Gwyndaf Evans is back for the Roger Albert Clark Rally in 2010. Once again he will be driving his Viking Motorsport entered Ford Escort RS1800, seeking to repeat last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x;s inaugural win with co-driver John Millington.

Car 2 - Mark Higgins & Ieuan Thomas Ford Escort RS1800 Mark Higgins, triple British Rally Champion and winner of the Roger Albert Clark Rally in 2005 will be aiming to replicate that result this weekend at the wheel of a Historic Rallysport Escort RS1800. Manxman Mark started karting as a child and early in his career spent some time learning the art of rally driving from the legendary Finns, Timo Makinen and Anders Kullang. During his career Mark has driven in teams with Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz and Markko Martin. His best rally results include several top ten overall performances on WRC events including 6th on Rally GB, 8th on Rally Greece and Sardinia His experiences include testing on the Safari and many other motorsport events. Mark is one of the busiest men in motorsport - renowned as one of the fastest privateers in the world. As well as his BRC titles he has had a multitude of outings in the WRC and has also been voted National Rally Driver of the year four times by readers of Autosport magazine.

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Car6 - David Stokes & Guy Weaver Ford Escort RS1600 Double British Historic Champions David Stokes and Guy Weaver return to this year's Roger Albert Clark Rally hoping that some of the luck that the pair have had on this year's British Historic Championship will rub off. The experienced pairing had a terrible start to their campaign retiring on SS1 of the Bulldog Rally. They again had to retire half a mile from the end of the Pirelli rally whilst leading and yet again they had to retire after three stages on the Mid Wales Stages Rally whilst leading. Because of this, for the six events that the pair have contested since June, they have had to finish and win them all in order to gain the British Historic Championship, the British Historic Tarmac Championship and the Welsh Historic Championship - eventually taking every Championship with a complete maximum score. On the back of this success, David and Guy hope that they can repeat or even go one better than their 2nd overall on the 2008 event.

Car 10 - Phil Collins & Nicky Grist Opel Ascona 400 Phil Collins and Nicky Grist have had nothing but hard luck stories from their Roger Albert Clark Rallies so far... “The first time it was three accidents, the first being caused by loss of brakes, the second just slipping off the road at a junction and the last of the three which did a lot of damage on the Sunday morning, going off on a fast right hander just after a crest. In 2009 we went off on the first forest stage which left us in a big ditch for almost half an hour. We recovered but then in Keilder we had a crankshaft pulley bolt shear, the oil pump drive lost and we had to pull over. This time, though, we have put more effort into the preparation, in particular by doing four Historic events- The Bulldog (3rd), Severn Valley (5th), Neath Valley (1st) and Cambrian (leading going into last stage but broke the halfshaft). The last two gave us a lot of pleasure because we were starting to go much better and putting up some very good times amongst the overall rally. On the second stage of the Neath Valley we were actually fastest overall and I am curious to know if that‟s been done before? After all the experiences that Nicky has enjoyed with Juha Kankunnen, Colin McRae and others this is all pretty low key. However he seems to quite enjoy this 'Back to Basics' activity which involves the challenge of reading from the map. This takes him back to his roots (or is it routes??) in the early 80‟. He is taking it so seriously that he is navigating in the Cilwendeg rally for a bit of map practice which should sharpen his act up from the start of the 2010 event”.

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Car 12 - Stefaan Stouf & Joris Erard Ford Escort RS1600 The Belgian team of Stefaan Stouf and Joris Erard are now becoming regulars on the Roger Albert Clark Rally, this being the third time that they have attempted the event. Away from the mainly asphalt surfaces of his home country, Stouf has shown that he and co-driver Joris Erard can mix it with the best on UK gravel. After a 12th place overall and 3rd in class on the 2008 Roger Albert Clark Rally, the pair had climbed back up the leader board last year following a second day engine problem in Langdale until they were side-lined by a coming together with the solid log piles in Kielder on the last day of the event. When we spoke to the crew at the Legend Boucles de Spa earlier this year Stefaan told us that their Escort Mk1 had been so badly damaged that it had needed re-shelling and was undergoing a major rebuild in the UK. That work has now been completed and the pair have had a couple of runs in the car before tackling the Roger Albert Clark Rally in the 'new' MkI, again supported by DCC Motorsport and the SMS-Team. The MkI was given its competitive debut on the Rally Del Corallo classic in Sardinia at the beginning of June and was in the Yorkshire forests again in September on the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire. Watch out for them and their enthusiastic army of supporters who followed their progress last November.

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Car 16 - Warren Philliskirk & Eurig Evans Ford Escort MKII Warren has been involved in rallying for many years having started out driving a MK2 Escort in the late 70's, progressing onto a MK3 Escort and then owning his dream car....a Metro 6R4. He has had a number of wins in the Metro but his greatest ever achievement was becoming BTRDA Champion in 1997 behind the wheel of this car. In recent years Warren has selectied just a few local events to use his Metro on and has recently completed a fresh MK2 Escort build with the help of Autosparks and Slights Rally Sport and has competed on three events so far this year with navigator Emma Slights. Warren knew nothing about doing the Roger Albert a month ago it was organised for him by as a 60th birthday present by his wife Hilary, BTRDA 1400 driver John Lowe who works for Warren, and his service crew member Garry Green. John Lowe adds “Warren is always helping me out to do my rallying and this was just something that we could do for him in return. The day after I told Warren he was taking part in the rally he went on holiday for three weeks, so it‟s been all hands on deck to organise and finalise everything for when he returned. Warren has always wanted to take part in the event since it started in 2004 but always put it off. It is a true testament to Warren that all his friends have jumped at the chance to help him over the last couple of weeks to make this happen. He is just worried about the amount of time that he has had in the car but we‟re sure that over the course of the event he will soon get into it.” Warren will be guided on the maps by Eurig Evans who he won the 1997 BTRDA Championship with.

Car21 - Pascal Regnier & Maryline Furnemont Ford Escort RS1800 Pascal, now forty-six years of age began rallying at eighteen with his father and has rallied a Ford Escort MkII ever since. For six years Pascal and his wife who shares his passion for motor sport have competed together and have been lucky in having some substantial success, including class wins, overall wins and championship leadership. Since the Roger Albert Clark Rally began in 2004 the husband and wife pair have visited the event to support their friends Phil and Mike Squires with the hope that one day they would also participate. And here they are! Their objective for the weekend is to finish in one piece and to enjoy themselves. The major difficulties they face are that they have no experience on special stages without pacenotes and their competitive experience in Belgium has been largely on tarmac. Another crew in for an interesting weekend then.

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Car22 - Eric Guinard & Serge Le Gars Porsche 911 SC The pairing of Eric Guinard and Serge Le Gars will be worth a watch during this year‟s Roger Albert Clark Rally. Eric, an experienced driver in European historic events, paired with Serge Le Gars („Sergio‟) an experienced co-driver in the WRC and IRC championships are contesting the RAC for the first time. Eric is another of our European drivers whose major experience is on tarmac so his aspirations for this event are modest. “We‟d like to finish without any mechanical problems” he says. Will they be there at Carlisle? We hope so.

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Car 28 - Dave Watkins & Paul Train Ford Escort RS1800 Dave Watkins, based in East Yorkshire, completed the rebuild of Mk II RS 1800 Escort LAR 801P throughout 2008 and early 2009. After a long association with Roger Clark‟s Mk1 Escort FEV 5H The car was successful with Timo Makinen, winning the 1975 RAC and was the car that took Ari Vatanen ton to win the 1976 British Rally championship. The car is accurate in every respect. Dave had access to a complete dossier of original photographs from when the car was originally launched in 1975 and even the sign writing is hand written as per the original. Chatsworth‟s Rally Weekend and the Trackrod were the build up to the 2009 Roger Albert Clark Rally with North Humberside‟s Paul Train as co-driver. A wet Friday night visit to a ditch in Langdale and the resulting bent wing and spot lamps put paid to a competitive finish with the resulting OTL. However, the open Rally experience was very useful car time to the East Yorkshire team. A bereavement and holidays have resulted in this year‟s Roger Albert being Paul and Dave‟s only competitive event together this season although Dave had a very enjoyable week in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and at Chatsworth‟s Rally weekend. Further work has been ongoing throughout the year on the car, all undertaken by Dave himself with the exception of engine and gearbox builds. Dave and Paul are really looking forward to this year‟s rally. The large entry with the strong presence from Europe along with the increased mileage should make it the best Roger Albert Clark Rally yet

Car 31 - Steve & Tony Graham Lancia Fulvia Steve and Tony Graham are stalwarts of the Roger Albert Clark Rally, having competed on every event since the inception of the rally. These days they are well known in historic rallying for their campaigning of the very pretty Lancia Fulvia, but the pair used a borrowed Peugeot 205 to compete on the first RAC in 2004, making it back to Sheffield, even if it was only in one of the trophy events. For the 2005 event they bought an MG ZR, which had been used by Gwyndaf Evans, coming second in class to Tony Jardine. They started campaigning theirl 1970 Lancia, in works-livery, and have consistently led their class year on year and hope they can do the same again in 2010. This year Steve and Tony have been trying to get the car out a bit more and their warm up to this year‟s Roger Albert included a run on the Historic Omloop van Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders Rally in September. Next January the team will fulfil another of their dreams by taking part in the historic Monte Carlo Rally.

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Car33 - Guy Woodcock & Iwan Jones Ford Escort Guy Woodcock & Iwan Jones will be competing on the Roger Albert Clark Rally for the third year. Hopefully things can only get better. The first year they managed to blow up two engines having the one that they replaced pinched from the service area in Carlisle, never to be seen again. Last year they managed to finish thirteenth overall and equal first in class D3 losing out on furthest cleanest to Adrian Young following them losing one and a half minutes in the second run through Langdale with a broken clutch cable. This year the pair hopes to go one better and win Class Three. Iwan is currently battling for the Welsh Road Rally Championship and by the time the event arrives following the Farrington Rally on 6 November theyâ&#x20AC;&#x;ll either have won the Welsh Championship or be very depressed! The car they are using is an original Mark II Escort which did the RAC Rally back in the late 70â&#x20AC;&#x;s was re-built approximately four years ago by William Onions and did the event in 2007 when it won its Class and finished sixth overall.

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Car36 - Stuart Clarke & Andy Ballantyne Ford Escort RS2000 After Stuart Clarke spectated on last year‟s event he decided to have a quiet season (only three rallies) to spend his budget competing on this year‟s Roger Albert Clark Rally. An RAC virgin, Stuart will team up with Andy Ballantyne, who has competed on this event twice before. The Class D3 Ford Escort RS2000 was last entered on the original RAC 32 years ago (as new!). Stuart is looking forward to the stages, all new to him and having to save the car for the four day endurance, whilst being as competitive as possible. The car will be looked after by a team of fourteen volunteers who are just as excited about being a part of this stunning rally as the crew are.

Car 37 - Peter Smith & Russ Langthorne Opel Kadett Peter Smith started rallying again in 2008 after a 23year layoff. Peter was a regular road rallying competitor in his earlier career, taking part in Motoring News events with John Millington sitting alongside him in his last event in 1985. Some research also show that Peter competed in that strangest of rallying disciplines, the caravan rally with a report from the 1976 Caravan Club International Road Rally describing how he obtained the joint fastest time for the track event along with professional rally driver Tony Pond taking the Esso Challenge Cup for best team performance. When asked about the rules of the competition Smith explained how competitors pushed them as far as possible in order to keep weights down. When asked to prove that the van was equipped with a toilet and food supplies he produced a shovel and tin of beans… Apart from his Triumph tow car, Peter was often seen behind the wheel of an Opel Kadett hence why he will be seen in one on this year‟s Roger Albert Clark Rally.

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Car 38 - Christophe Jacob & Isabelle Regnier Ford Escort Belgiumâ&#x20AC;&#x;s Christophe Jacob started rallying with an Escort MKII back in 1996 and became Belgian national class champion in 1998 a feat he repeated in 2004 in his first year on gravel. In 2005 Christophe took delivery of NUG 573V (ex Toivonen, Droogmans and Snijers Group 4 Escort) which was duly re-shelled and converted to historic specification by RallyXtreme. A visit to the Roger Albert Clark Rally in 2006 and a decision made somewhere in Dalby to come back some day and participate in this event has led to his appearance on the start line this year. On advice, he entered a couple of rounds of the BHRC in order to get the flavour of UK forest rallying ahead of the RAC. Being at the start of the Roger Albert Clark probably constitutes the ultimate goal for any rallying and Escort enthusiast, and Christophe is very thankfull to all those who have contributed towards making this dream happen. The goal now is to try and reach the finish line and learn as much as he can on this event, the crewâ&#x20AC;&#x;s first experience on maps!

Car 39 - Alex Sabater & Iain Tullie Ford Escort RS2000 Alex Sabater, 36, has been competing since 1993. Barcelona based Alex started his motor sport career in the Spanish regional circuit championship which he won in 1994 and 1995 with a BMW 2002. He continued circuit racing until 1999 when he switched disciplines and started rallying. From 1999 to 2004 he competed in the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship. His best result being second in the championship in 2004. In 2005 Alex competed in the MSA Gravel Rally Championship with a Mitsubishi Evo. He finished tenth overall in the Group N of the MSA championship. Returning to the Spanish championship in 2006 he competed in a Peugeot 206, winning all the events that he finished. Three years ago Alex started competing solely in historic Escorts taking in events in Spain, Italy and the UK. So far this year he has competed in two tarmac rallies in his home finishing first overall in one and second in the other. Alex is looking forward to competing again in the Roger Albert both from the point of view of personal satisfaction and as promotion for his historic preparation company, ASM Motorsport.

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Car 45 - Jean-Pierre Ansiaux & Laurent Joassin Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Jean-Pierre Ansiaux, the president of a historic car club in his native Belgium, has considerable experience of rallying in continental Europe with some impressive results to his name. Events undertaken include the Monte Carlo historic, three times, with his best resulkt being ninth in a Volvo Amazon; Legend Boucles De Spa , three times in a Talbot Lotus Sunbeam; the Neige et Glace in France, twice and Les Ardennes in Belgium six times. JeranPierre has never before rallied on gravel so this will be an entirely different experience for him!

Car 57 - Guy Smith & Patrick Walsh Ford Escort RS2000 Guy Smith is probably best known for taking the chequered flag of the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 2003 driving car number seven, the Bentley Speed 8 but he is a professional racing driver who occasionally veers to the dark side… Rallying! This is what he has to say of about his Roger Albert foray. “In theory I should have been a rally driver instead of a racing driver. I grew up thrashing a home-made go kart with slick tyres between the trees around the orchard at home. My dad would come along with the hose pipe and wet the grass which made for some pretty hairy moments, but it was a great way to learn car control and control slides. I have a lot of happy memories following dad in his early rallying days and it‟s nice that we can now compete together and have a lot of fun doing so. As I race professionally I love what I do and I am very fortunate to be able to do it but it‟s nice to come and take part in a few rally events as it‟s so much fun and I really enjoy challenging myself totally out of my comfort zone. I think as a circuit racer the rallying is making me a better driver, a more complete driver and while I treat the rallying as a bit of a busman's holiday I still want to do well. I guess it‟s the competition that we all love so much about the sport. I find the camaraderie between the drivers, co drivers mechanics etc. amazing and the support from the various motor clubs, volunteers, and spectators is a real credit to the sport. I hope to get to the finish of the Roger Albert Clark Rally and if I can pick my pace up throughout the event I will be very happy. - Rally on!”

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Car 59 - Colin Hope & Nick Patrick Saab 96 V4, 1974, Class C3 Colin manages a local building block works, while Nick is a partner in a Veterinary Practice. Both their families live in the same village of Great Heck in North Yorkshire and they have been rallying together for 10 years.

stages, maps and long events is too strong though.

They have used Novas, a Corsa and now a Proton Satria for mostly forest rallies. They do most of the car maintenance themselves, in Colin‟s garage, and used the Proton on the last two Roger Alberts entering the open class. While they have done plenty of modern stage rallying, the lure of night

“We both have a road rallying background and loved the old Lombard RAC event as spectators”, says Nick “so an event like the Roger Albert Clark Rally is too good to miss. Our Proton is a brilliant car but we felt that a more „historic‟ vehicle was appropriate for the RAC, so saw a Saab 96 for sale and bought it to do this year‟s event. At the time of writing, the car is in a lot of small pieces and 26th November feels very close!”

Car 65 - Bob Bean & Don Griffith Ford Lotus Cortina Bob Bean and Don Griffiths are true rally veterans having first rallied together fifty years ago in Bob‟s mother‟s Hillman Minx convertible. The combined age of crew and car is 189 years! Bob has been rallying more or less continuously during the last fifty years scoring many victories mainly in Fords. Don, however, had not sat in a rally car in a forest for at least fifteen years until this month‟s Malton Stages event which he and Bob used as a shakedown for the car and re-education for Don of what it is like to map read as the car slithered and skidded at 90mph down 45 miles of forest track. The event resulted in a class win and a respectable overall position. Bob and Don‟s first international rally was the 1965 Welsh in a Cortina GT and on this event, despite an uncomfortable ride due to losing their windscreen on the first night and finishing very wet and very muddy, they finished well inside the top twenty and gained the award for best crew on their first international rally. They both took part in the 1966 RAC Rally and are now looking forward to the 2010 version almost exactly 44 years later. The pair, both members of the prestigious Ecurie Cod Fillet, have taken part in quite a few internationals over the years, Bob always as a driver and Don as both driver and co-driver, but whereas Don is considering this event as a swansong Bob is determined to carry on into his nineties!

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Car 66 - Richard Simpson & Debby Myers Saab 96 V4 1967, Class B4 “Team Torreador” Part of the Saab team celebrating Eric Carlson and Stuart Turner‟s 1960 RAC victory, Richard and Debby are doing this year‟s Roger Albert Clark in memory of Richard‟s father Les Simpson. Les was a skilled engineer and worked on the family‟s cars with Richard and also co-drove for his son in another Saab and also their unique Skoda. He died at the end of last year after a battle with cancer and his name is still on the side of the car. The team are fund raising for Cancer Research UK, please visit their „justgiving‟ page at http://www.justgiving.com/Saab-Historic-Rally-Team. A young engineer from Sheffield, Richard is known for his hard driving style, getting remarkable stage times out of his Saab and the little Skoda. Debby often competed against Richard, when co-driving in her husband Hugh‟s Datsun 240Z on Historic events. The Datsun had to go when Hugh‟s Danish employers went bankrupt in 2009, so she and Richard agreed to “team up” at this year‟s HRCR Open Day with the Roger Albert Clark Rally as their goal. Both are accustomed to rallying on the tightest possible budgets!

Car 68 - Jim Valentine & Andy Harris Saab Sport 1962, Class B1 Jim has contested the RAC Rally four times. He demolished the car on his first attempt but returned to win his class in 2007, 2008 and 2009. No one quite knows why his navigator Andy Harris earned the nickname Paddington, some say it‟s for his ability to follow marmalade smears on the map, others because he‟s always lost and needs someone to care for him. Jim has been organising this year‟s team event and is planning to bring a 67-foot long Scania Truck and drawbar trailer along as a service barge for the team. “As plans develop I am getting more excited”, says Jim, “It will be a major achievement if we get all the cars round, and who knows, if it snows we might even come home with the team prize.”

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Car 69 - Nick Pinkett & Mark Casey Saab Two Stroke, 1962, Class B1 Nick has long been a contender in historic rallying, his White Longnose Two-Stroke has been a familiar sight on many events, notably at Chatsworth Rally Show this year. But Nick, as any gentleman should, also runs a 96 V4 in which he became class champion in 2008 and 2009. To mark the 50th Anniversary of Erik Carlsson‟s first of a hat-trick of RAC wins Nick felt it would only be appropriate to enter the event in a Bullnose Saab. So earlier this year, he decided to build one from scratch, which he has. Doing all the work himself is proving a challenge, as Nick says: “It‟s coming along slowly, a mixture of pain and pleasure, a bit like giving birth.” We‟ll expect to see the offspring of his efforts on the start line of the Roger Albert Clark Rally at Pickering Showground on the evening of 26th November.

Car 72 - Malcolm Mawdsley & Kevin Bardon Subaru Impreza 2WD Malcolm Mawdsley took part in the Roger Albert Clark Rally last year where he was set for a brilliant class win and third overall in the Open class, but crashed out within sight of the finish. Malcolm was going to retire after the 2009 event, as he was disillusioned with the sport but the event was so brilliant he decided to carry on with his two wheel drive Subaru Impreza in 2010. For last year's event Malcolm had the diff locked but he was concerned the crew wouldn't be able to get out of a stage if a drive shaft broke. After the Roger Albert the team eventually reverted the diff back to "limited slip" mode to aid handling - only to break 15 drive shafts and not finishing a rally or test session to date throughout 2010...! Malcolm and his team have now designed and had manufactured bespoke shafts and they were installed for Cambrian rally in mid-October. The new drive shafts performed well and didn't break but some stages were so rough that the gearbox housing cracked and the gear box seized two miles from the end! Throughout 2010 Malcolm has been working towards getting the car ready for the 'big one' (the Roger Albert Clark Rally) and the build-up has been far more intense due to the nature of the struggle to get the car perfect to compete this year. Without sponsorship Malcolm has prepared, tested and entered into events relying only, he says, "on a measly pension!"

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Yorkshire Independent Grocers wish all competitors a safe and successful rally. Retailers looking to join Y.I.G.A. please contact Geoff Cox on 01484 300076 or Andrew Wilby on 01924 828773

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The Roger Albert Clark Rally The story so far An article by Paul Lawrence

n the six years that the Roger Albert Clark Rally has run, it has become firmly established as a highlight of the rallying season. The 2010 rally is now set to be the best yet, with an entry that boasts both quality and quantity.

There is much about this rally that makes it special, most of all that it recreates the flavour and atmosphere of the classic RAC Rally. But rallying has changed over the years, and Wales Rally GB is, through necessity, a different beast. For those who recall the 'gold old days', the magic isn't quite there. That's why the Roger Albert Clark Rally has filled a real gap in the hearts of so many enthusiasts, whether competitors, service crews, spectators, officials or marshals. The 2004 entry was modest but at the head of the rally, a fine battle developed between Malcolm Wilson and Stig Blomqvist as electrical dramas on Monday evening cost Hannu Mikkola around seven minutes. Richard Tuthill could have topped the Escorts in his Porsche 911, but dropped five minutes when the throttle cable broke in Ae as dawn broke on Monday morning. Wilson's spectacular charge finally came to an end up a Kielder firebreak on Tuesday morning. Now, Blomqvist had a big lead but you'd never have thought it as he threw the car around the final stage on the race circuit at Croft. Blomqvist, like his fellow legends, signed autographs every time he stepped out of the car. "It is no different to 1983! This is the way the rally is supposed to be," he said, part way through the Kielder leg on Tuesday. A year later the 2005 Roger Albert Clark Rally was a real toughie, as fog and ice covered 29 stages in some of Britain's most challenging forests. "It's just like a proper RAC Rally," said Mark Higgins after dominating the 2005 rally. Partnered by Peter Martin and driving a Mk1 Escort from Historic Rallysport, the reigning British Rally champion won the four-day classic rally by over four minutes. It was a crushing performance. What the event did once more was capture the hearts of the spectators. Freezing fog and pre-dawn starts failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the thousands of fans that turned out to see the type of rallying many of them remembered from the 1970s. Right from the opening two stages at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield, Higgins was on it. By the time he arrived at Carlisle on Sunday evening, he had a 15s lead over the Mk2 Escort of Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni, and that margin would steadily increase over the next two days. Chasing them was the Porsche 911 of Jimmy McRae and Campbell Roy, but they dropped a lot of time with an off in Ae on Monday morning and eventually retired with engine problems on Tuesday morning. Blomqvist held second as a typically neat and tidy run from Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook put their Escort Mk1 into third. It was Easson and Cook who were central to the dramatic conclusion to the 2006 event, when they seemed set for victory as they headed into the final stage of the rally.

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The stages in Ae forest on Sunday morning proved some of the toughest of the rally as overnight snow and patches of ice caught out several leading crews. But Easson drove a fine rally and took a 15-second lead into the final stage at Croft as Jimmy McRae and Andy Richardson continued to chase in their Escort Mk2. Unbelievably, the rally was decided in that final mile when Easson's throttle linkage came apart and he lost victory while fixing the problem as McRae swept ahead to score a dramatic win. McRae was part of the titanic lead battle that was the highlight of the 2007 event. In the Prepfab-entered Escort Mk2, Jimmy went head to head with Steve Bannister. Having been unbeaten in the Open section in previous years in his non-historic Escort Mk2, 'Banner' arranged a late deal to borrow the historic spec Mk2 of Steve Perez and went into a fabulous battle with McRae. The result was only decided in the final leg in Kielder on Monday morning when McRae punctured and Bannister went decisively ahead. But for many fans, the revelation of the rally was young Irishman Martin McCormack, who threw his Escort around in the style of Ari Vatanen 30 years earlier and regularly posted the fastest stage times. However, a time consuming off into a ditch in Greystoke on Saturday evening left him no chance of victory, even though he fought back to third. Two years ago, Ford's World Rally Championship team boss Malcolm Wilson turned his attention away from state of the art rally cars to climb back behind the wheel of a Ford Escort MK2. The result was a resounding victory on the 2008 Roger Albert Clark Rally. Kielder had caught him out back in 2004, but this time there were no slips and Wilson and co-driver John Millington emerged from the final 18-mile stage in Broomylinn to score an emotional victory. "It's so sweet to win my hero's rally," said Wilson, who was an ambitious teenager when Roger Clark was at the top of the game. Although he went into the final day of the rally with a handy lead, life had not been so simple for Wilson on day two as the crews tacked classic stages in the forest of Ae, Twiglees, Castle O'Er, Newcastleton and Craik. A stunning charge from young McCormack in his Ford Escort Mk2 had eaten into Wilson's lead. Starting the day with a deficit of 1m42s after two offs on day one, McCormack pulled back 50s until a deceptive righthander in Craik ended his rally after he slid into a ditch and bent the back axle. Instead, it was David Stokes, a rival to Wilson 30 years ago, who moved into a superb second place with codriver Guy Weaver in their Ford Escort Mk1. In the Open rally, Dave Hemmingway and Simon Ashton scored a memorable victory in their faithful Escort Mk2 So to the 2009 rally, which was won by a crushing display from Gwyndaf Evans in the Escort Mk2 built and prepared by the Viking Motorsport crew of Phil Mills. Evans was initially wary of competing on maps rather than notes, but with Millington alongside, he dominated the rally to take a resounding victory. By the time they sprayed the champagne in Carlisle City Centre on Monday afternoon, Evans and Millington were four minutes clear of Jeremy Easson and Alun Cook. Once again, Easson's incredible form on the Roger Albert had netted a top result as they pipped Paul Griffiths and Sam Collis for second, while Marcus Noble and Brian Hodgson were resounding winners of the Open Rally. Now comes 2010, with one of the best entries to date and a very welcome influx of crews from Europe. It has all the ingredients to be another fabulous instalment of this remarkable event.

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Entry List HISTORIC No 65 66

67 68 69 31

Driver/ Entrant Bob Bean

Town

Co-Driver

Town

Cleckheaton

Don Griffiths

Swanmore

Richard Simpson Saab Historic Rally Team Stuart Cariss

Stocksbridge

Debby Myers

Southampton

York

Linda Cariss

York

Jim Valentine Saab Historic Rally Team Nick Pinkett Saab Historic Rally Team Steve Graham

London

Andy Harris

London

Bath

Mark Casey

Mere

Tony Graham

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Ford Lotus Cortina Saab 96 V4

1598 White/Green 1740 Red

Ford Escort Sport Saab 96 Sport

1298 White 841 Red

York

Saab 96 2 Stroke

850 Red

Coleorton

Lancia Fulvia

1300 Red

POST HISTORIC / CLASSIC

Driver/ Entrant Gwyndaf Evans Viking Motorsport Mark Higgins Historic Rallysport Nick Elliott

No 1 2

Town Machynlleth

Co-Driver John Millington

Town Wigton

Dale Furniss Cheltenham

Dave Price

Cheltenham

Geoff Jones

Machynlleth

Phil Clarke

Will Onions

Pontesbury

Paul Wakely

Church Stretton Llangennech

David Stokes

Nr Dursley

Paul Griffiths

Chester

Sam Collis

Chesterfield

Rob Smith

Towcester

Shaun O'Gorman

Newton

Darren Moon

Leeds

Malcolm Smithson

Skipton

Guy Weaver

Oken

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Ford Escort

1975 Red

Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort Ford Escort MKII RS Ford Escort RS1600 For Escort RS1800 Vauxhall Chevette Ford Escort RS1800

1975 White

1975 White 1998 White 1998 White

1975 White

1998 Black

2279 White 1998 Red

D5 D5

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Driver/ Entrant Phil Collins

Connor Corkill

12 14

Town

Co-Driver

Town

Nicky Grist

Abergavenny

Abbeylands

Andrew Edwards

Aberystwyth

Stefaan Stouf Atlantic

Belgium

Joris Erard

Belgium

Steve Perez Kick Energy Drink Tim Mason

Chesterfield

Paul Spooner

Raglan

Bradford

Graham Wild

Isle of Man

Warren Philliskirk Andrew Haddon

Green Hammerton Pleshey

Eurig Evans Mark Crisp

Newcastle Emlyn Llanelli

Steve Magson

Pickering

Geoff Atkinson

Pickering

Arnaud Clause

Belgium

Nicolas Gilsoul

Belgium

Herve Guignard

France

Didier Meffre

France

Pascal Regnier

Belgium

Maryline Furnemont

Belgium

Eric Guignard

France

Serge Le Gars

France

Belgium

Jean-Noel Gregoire

Belgium

Sebastien Cuvelier East Belgium Racing Team Charlie Taylor

Leeming Bar

Steve Bielby

Pickering

Phil Squires

Stoke - on Trent

Mick Squires

Stoke - on Trent

David Greer

County Down

Brian Crawford

Neville Jones

Stone

Ian Capewell

Stoke on Trent

David Watkins

Beverley

Paul Train

Driffield

Andrew Siddall Siddal & Hilton Products Limited Russell Morgan

Almondbury

Captain Thompson

Gomersal

Ribchester

Martin Kenyon

Clitheroe

15 16 17

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Ope Ascona 400 Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort RS1600 Lancia Stratos

2400 Red 1975 White/Blue

1975 White

2418 Multi Kick

Porsche 911 RS Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort RS1800 Opel Ascona 400 Ford Escort MKII Porsche 911 SC Ford Escort RS1800 Porsche 911 SC Ford Escort RS2000

2998 Red 1997 Red/White 1998 White/Bue /Yellow 2420 White/Yellow 2000 White 2994 White 2000 White

2994 White 2000 White

Ford Escort Ford Escort RS1800 Opel Ascona 400 Ford Escort Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort

1998 Wht/Blue 1998 Red

2410 White 1998 Red 1799 White/Black

1998 White

Ford Escort RS2000

2000 Orange

D5 D5 D4 D5 D4

D5 D5

www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 35

No 32

Driver/ Entrant Leigh Armstrong

Town

Co-Driver

Town

Brighton

Chris Amrstrong

Crawley

Nr Mold

Iwan Jones

Oswestry

Guy Woodcock Kumho Tyres/ CES UK LTD Ricky Evans

Dosthill

Ian Butcher

Adrian Young

Narberth

Gwynfor Jones

Sutton Coldfield Llandyssul

Stuart Clarke

Usk

Andy Ballantyne

Totnes

Peter Smith

Etton

Russ Langthorne

Hansfield

Christophe Jacob Alex Sabater

Belgium

Isabelle Regnier

Belgium

Spain

Iain Tullie

Cockermouth

Wardington

Francis Tuthill Tuthill Porsche Pierre Bonnardel Stephane Modini Paul Chieusse

39 40 41

France

Bruno Ceccarelli

France

Robert Jaudel

France

James Bocognano

France

Julien Elleboudt

Belgium

Lul Joassin

Belgium

Jean-Pierre Ansiaux

Belgium

Laurent Joassin

Belgium

James Slaughter Peter Egerton

Maidstone

Phil Peak

Burley

Howard Pridmore

Newton-LeWillows Derby

Robin Eyre Maunsell

Co Down

Peter Scott

Leeds

Terry Nowlan

Kettering

Ben Giles

Mark Barnett

Co Tyrone

Dylan Jenkins

Swansea

Barry Jordan

Newark

Chesterfield

Thomas Hewick

York

James Gratton Smith Mick Johnston

Kettering

Thirsk

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort

1993 Silver/Orange

1998 Red

Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort RS 2000 Ford Escort RS2000 Opel Kadett Gte Ford Escort Ford Escort RS2000 Porsche 911

1998 White 1998 Blue/Black

1998 White/Orange

1998 Black/Yellow 1998 White/Yellow

2993 Grey

Porsche 911 Porsche 911 SC Renault R5 Turbo Ford Escort Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Ford Escort Mk1 Ford Escort MK1 Talbot Sunbeam Lotus Ford Escort RS 1600 Ford Escort RS1800 Ford Escort MK II Ford Escort MK ll

2994 Red/White 2994 White 1995 Yellow/Black 2000 Black/White 2200 White

2000 White/Blue 1993 White 2194 White

1998 White

White

1997 Red 1998 White/Blue

D5 C3

D4 D3

C3 D5

www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 36

Driver/ Entrant Gary Edgington

Corwen

Jane Edgington

Corwen

Ian Drummond

Northampton

Yvonne Coppin

Bradford

Gerald Braithwaite

Stainton

Steven Martin

Seascale

Tony Ginns

Northants

Tim Hobbs

Telford

Guy Smith

Kilnwick

Patrick Walsh

Aberystwyth

59 60

Colin Hope Saab Historic Rally Team Mark Tugwell

Town

Co-Driver

Town

Nick Patrick Tim Tugwell

Rex Ireland

Market Harborough Bridport

Adrian Scadding

Market Harborough Bridport

Chris Blake

Nothallerton

Tony Walker

Barnard Castle

Bernard Nolan

Hull

Richard Wardle

Pickering

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Hillman Avenger Ford Escort RS 2000 Lotus Talbot Sunbeam Ford Escort Mexico Ford Escort Saab 96 V4

1598 Yellow 1998 White/Red

2172 White

1600 White/Black 1998 Blue 1700 Black

Hillman Avenger Ford Escort Mk1 Ford Escort Mk1 Ford Escort Mexico

1598 White 1598 White 1639 Red 1600 White

C3 C3

C2 C2 C2

OPEN

Driver/ Entrant Marcus Noble

Penrith

Brian Hodgson

Penrith

Jeremy Nolan

Ilkley

Paul Nolan

Malcolm Mawdsley Richard Warne

Bradford

Kevin Bardon

Burley in Wharfedale TBC

Hertford

Stanley Graham

Essex

Ripon

Michael Gilby

Northallerton

South Elmsall

Simon Ashton

Sweden

Matthew Robinson Dave Hemingway John Dixon

Hull

Gavin Heseltine

Hull

Kevin Jeffray

Pickering

Joe Parsons

Keighley

Andy Madge

Wellingborough Pat Cooper

Kettering

Phil Jobson

Carlisle

Parkmill

73 74 75

Town

Co-Driver

Ken Bowman

Town

Car Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort MKII Subaru Impreza Sti Ford Escort Mk IV RWD Ford Escort MKII Ford Escort 1600 Ford Escort MK II Subaru Legacy Toyota Corolla Ford Escort MKII

CC/Colour

Class

1998 White 1998 Blue 1990 Red 1598 Red

2500 Red 1598 Black/White 2300 Blue 2200 Red/White /Blue 1598 White 1598 White/Blue

E3 E4 E2

E2 E4 E4 E2 E2

www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 37

No 80 81 82

Driver/ Entrant Barry StevensonWheeler Chris Melling Magic McCombie Saab Historic Rally Team

Town

Co-Driver

Town

Car

CC/Colour

Class

Syston

John Pickavance

Bingham

Ford Escort RS

1998 Blue

Poulton Le Fylde Duns

TBC

TBC Kerriemuir

1998 White 1998 Black

Craig Wallace

Vauxhall Astra Saab 900

Key to Classes: Historic Category 1 - Cars registered before 31.12.1967 Class B1 Cars up to 1000cc Class B2 Cars 1001cc to 1300cc Class B3 Cars 1301cc to 1600cc excluding twin cam engined cars Class B4 Cars 1601cc to 2000cc including twin cam cars, but excluding Porsche 911â&#x20AC;&#x;s Class B5 Cars over 2000cc and all Porsche 911s Historic Category 2 - Cars registered between 1.1.1968 and 31.12.1974 Class C1 Cars up to 1300 cc Class C2 Cars 1301 cc to 1600 cc Class C3 Cars 1601 cc to 2000 cc Class C4 Cars over 2000 cc Class C5 All twin cam multi valve engined cars Historic Category 3 - Cars registered between 1.1.1975 and 31.12.1981 Class D1 Cars up to 1300 cc Class D2 Cars 1301 cc to 1600 cc Class D3 Cars 1601 cc to 2000 cc Class D4 Cars over 2000 cc Class D5 All twin cam multi valve engined cars ROGER ALBERT CLARK OPEN RALLY Class E1 Cars up to 1300 cc Class E2 Cars 1301 cc to 1600 cc Class E3 Cars 1601 cc to 2000 cc Class E4 Cars over 2000 cc KallKwik Bradford Rally = Class F; Dalby Night Rally = Class G; Clubmans Rally = Class J; Kielder Challenge = Class K

www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 38

De Lacy Motor Club Where Motorsport Matters The Roger Albert Clark Rally is organised by members of De Lacy Motor Club. The Fully licenced clubhouse, a converted school, is just 500 metres off the old A1 at Brotherton, just north of its intersection with the M62 and is open every Friday evening. Prospective members are welcome to come along on any clubnight when they will be made most welcome. For membership details please write to the club secretary at the following address: The Membership Secretary Rallyhouse De Lacy Motor Club Ltd Old Great North Road Brotherton Knottingley WF11 9EF

Website: www.delacymc-online.net

www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org 39

Acknowledgements The Organisers of the 2010 Roger Albert Clark Rally would like to thank all those individuals and Organisations who have helped so much with the running of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x;s event. It is impossible to list everyone who has helped and if we have forgotten anyone, then we apologise but thank them for their help anyway. We would particularly like to thank, The Forestry Commission in England and Scotland All Private Landowners All our Sponsors and Business Partners, including, Kall Kwik Bradford Ltd [Printing and Stage] / Global Brands [Kick Energy] / Dunlop [Service Area] Renault [Stage and Vehicles] / T H White Land Rover [Vehicles] / Lookers of Sheffield [Vehicles] YIGA Conveniently Local [Stage] / Airshelta [Facilities and Stage] / Trailerlift [Facilities and Stage] All Local Authorities and Public Bodies, All Local Authorities along the route All the Chief Constables and Police Authorities through whose areas the event passes Carlisle City Council for the provision of Finish facilities Carlisle racecourse for the provision of HQ and Service facilities All Private Companies who have made land and facilities available amongst these are; Cropton Brewery for the use of the Showground facilities at Pickering All Hoteliers along the Route All the Motor Sports Associations involved. It would not be possible to run this event without the help of all the volunteers who give their time and energy to turn out in all types of weather, to make this event the huge success it undoubtedly is. We would like to thank: Doctors / Rescue and Recovery Units / Timekeepers / Marshalls / Radio Operators Also thanks to all the photographers who have donated their work to illustrate this programme.

Event Support Sponsors