ANECCC - Hexham & DMC : Northern Dales Classic Geoff & Maggie Bateman : West Cumbria MSC - SD34 ...
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ANECCC
Association of Northern Car Clubs
Geoff & Maggie Bateman : West Cumbria MSC
Hexham & DMC : Northern Dales Classic
18th July 2021 Photo Courtesy of Tony North
Volume 12 : Issue 8 : August 2021 : Maurice Ellison
Contents Front Cover : Northern Dales Classic Pg. 2 Contents Pg. 45 Classic Nostalgia Pg. 3 SD34MSG Contacts Pg. 46 Classic Nostalgia Pg. 4 Member Club Contacts Pg. 47 Duke Targa Rally Pg. 5 Chairmans Chat Pg. 48 Duke Targa Rally Pg. 6 ANWCC : Dave V. Thomas Pg. 49 Gemini Communications Pg. 7 Northern Dales Classic Pg. 50 Gemini Communications Pg. 8 Northern Dales Classic Pg. 51 Grumpy Old Git Pg. 9 Northern Dales Classic Pg. 52 Inside the Industry Pg. 10 Northern Dales Classic Pg. 53 Inside the Industry Pg. 11 Mach 1 Stages Rally Pg. 54 Inside the Industry Pg. 12 Mach 1 Stages Rally Pg. 55 HSCC Donnington Pg. 13 Trialling Times Pg. 56 HSCC Donnington Pg. 14 Trialling Times Pg. 57 HSCC Donnington Pg. 15 Trialling Times Pg. 58 Coast to Coast Pg. 16 Barbon Hill Climb Pg. 59 AutoSOLO & Fire Training Pg. 17 Barbon Hill Climb Pg. 60 Silverstone or Blackburn ? Pg. 18 Barbon Hill Climb P9 61 Autotester Pg. 19 Wilson for BRC Pg. 62 Autotester Pg. 20 Argyll Rally Pg. 63 MSUK Covid 19 Update Pg. 21 North Yorkshire Classic Pg. 64 MSUK Covid 19 Update Pg. 22 North Yorkshire Classic Pg. 65 MSUK Covid 19 Update Pg. 23 North Yorkshire Classic Pg. 66 PR Update (Fred Bent Cumbria RLO) Pg. 24 North Yorkshire Classic Pg. 67 Ian Tullie Pg. 25 BXCC : Sweet Lamb Pg. 68 Ian Tullie Pg. 26 BXCC : Sweet Lamb Pg. 69 RIP John Wadsworth Pg. 27 BXCC : Sweet Lamb Pg. 70 Rotating Wheels Rally Pg. 28 East African Safari Rally Pg. 71 SD34MSG 2021 Championship Tables Pg. 29 East African Safari Rally Pg. 72 SD34MSG Road Rally Dates 2021 Pg. 30 East African Safari Rally Pg. 73 Championship Registration 2021 Pg. 31 East African Safari Rally Pg. 74 Championship Registration 2021 Pg. 32 East African Safari Rally Pg. 75 Championship Classes 2021 Pg. 33 East African Safari Rally Pg. 76 SD34MSG 2021 Calendar Pg. 34 Tom Dooley Pg. 77 Seats Pg. 35 M-Sport Stages Rally Pg. 78 ANWCC Championship Tables Pg. 36 M-Sport Stages Rally Pg. 79 ANWCC Championship Tables Pg. 37 M-Sport Stages Rally Pg. 80 NESCRO 2021 Calendar Pg. 38 JRT Enville Stages Rally Pg. 81 Events & Classified Pg. 39 JRT Enville Stages Rally Pg. 82 Events & Classified Pg. 40 JRT Enville Stages Rally Pg. 83 Events & Classified Pg. 41 North West Racers Pg. 84 Events & Classified Pg. 42 North West Racers Pg. 85 Events & Classified Pg. 43 North West Racers Pg. 86 Events & Classified Pg. 44 Classic Nostalgia Pg. 87 & Finally - Credits & Forthcoming Meetings
Comprising the following 10 Clubs
Blackpool South Shore Motor Club
www.bssmc.com
Clitheroe & District Motor Club
www.clitheroedmc.co.uk
Ecurie Royal Oak Motor Club
Contacts www.eromc.co.uk
President : Alan Shaw Garstang & Preston MC
U18 Championship shawalan555@gmail.com www.gpmc.org.uk
Marshals Compiler 01282-602195
Safeguarding Officer High Moor Motor Club
www.hmmc.co.uk
Vice President : Les Fragle Preston Motorsport Club
les.fragle@gmail.com www.facebook.com/prestonmotorsportclub
01772 690520
Stockport 061 Motor Club
Chairman : Steve Johnson www.stockport061.co.uk
steve.amsc@gmail.com
07718 051 882 Warrington & District Motor Club
www.warringtondmc.com
Secretary : James Swallow
jamesswallow87@gmail.com Wallasey Motor Club
www.wallaseymc.com
07807 211829
2300 MC
Vice Chairman : Bill Wilmer www.2300club.org
Safety Radio MSUK Radio Co-ordinator Website : www.nwstages.co.uk
Gemini Communications Mark Wilkinson - secretary@nwstages.co.uk
07973-830705
w.wilmer@btinternet.com
Treasurer : Steve Butler
ADVERTISING
Road Rally steven.butler9@btinternet.com in ‘SPOTLIGHT’
Lancashire RLO : Chris Woodcock
MSUK Rallies Committee pdschris@aol.com Readership in Excess of 15,000
Chairman of ANCC 01254-681350 1/4 page (ish - we are very flexible) advert
for a full 12 issues (1 year) for just £100
Sprint /Hillclimb : Steve Price
sp.sales739@gmail.com Sent to all 25 member clubs and then
forwarded to club members + another 7000+
League Compiler : Steve Lewis on the distribution list
Individual Compiler slewisbb1@gmail.com (25 X 100 + 7000 = 10,000+ readers)
None Race/Rally : Tracey Smith And sent to all SD34MSG,
& Stage Rallies tracey.amsc@hotmail.com
ANWCC, ANECCC and ANCC clubs
Website www.sd34msg.org
All advertising revenue helps to fund SD34MSG
Registrations : David Barratt Contact either Les Fragle, Maurice Ellison
davidpbarratt@gmail.com or Steve Johnson for more details
` 01254-384127
Steve Johnson steve.amsc@gmail.com
Newsletter : Maurice Ellison Les Fragle les.fragle@gmail.com
sd34news@gmail.com
07788-723721 Maurice Ellison 07788-723721 sd34news@gmail.com
SD34MSG
Member Clubs & Contact Details
Accrington MSC Longton & DMC
Contact : David Barratt Contact : John Coole
Email : davidpbarratt@gmail.com Email : jcoole@btinternet.com
Tel. : 01254-384127 Website : www.longton-dmc.co.uk
Website : www.accrington-msc.org
Airedale & Pennine MCC Liverpool MC
Contact : John Rhodes Contact : John Harden
Email : rhodesj3@sky.com Tel. : 0161-9697137
Tel. : 07497285339 Email : lmc-chairman@liverpoolmotorclub.com
Website : www.apmcc.co.uk Website : www.liverpoolmotorclub.com
Blackpool South Shore MC Manx AS
Contact : Dave Riley Contact : Chris Woodcock
Email : rileydavea@virginmedia.com Email : pdschris@aol.com
Website : www.bssmc.com Tel. : 07973-830695
Bolton-le-Moors MC Website : www.manxautosport.org
Contact : Jack Mather
Email : jackmather95@hotmail.co.uk Mull CC
Website : http://blmcc.co.uk/ Contact : Chris Woodcock
Email : pdschris@aol.com
Boundless by CSMA (NW) Tel. : 07973-830695
Contact : Paul Kelly Website : www.mullcarclub.co.uk LIMITED
Email : pmk@autosolo.co.uk
Tel. :
Mob. : Pendle & DMC
Contact : Ray Duckworth
Clitheroe & DMC Email : raymond.duckworth@btinternet.com
Contact : Maurice Ellison Tel. : 01282-812551
Email : sd34news@gmail.com Mob. : 07484161972
Tel. : 01524-735488 Website : www.pendledistrictmc.co.uk
Mob. : 07788-723721
Website : www.clitheroedmc.co.uk
Preston MC
Garstang & Preston MC Contact : Terry May
Contact : Les Fragle Email : telden46@blueyonder.co.uk
Email : les.fragle@gmail.com Tel. :
Tel. : 01995-672230 Website : www.prestonmotorsport.club
Website : http://gpmc.org.uk/
High Moor MC U17MC-NW
Contact : Gary Heslop Contact : Chris MacMahom
Email : gary.heslop@btinternet.com Email : chris.macmahon@virginmedia.com
Tel. : 0161-6430151 Tel. :
Mob. : 07973-816965 Website : www.u17mc-northwest.org.uk
Website : www.hmmc.co.uk
Stockport061MC
Hexham & DMC Contact : Mark Wilkinson
Contact : Ed Graham Email : markwilkinson81@icloud.com
Email : : edgraham01@sky.com Tel. : 07879-657580
Tel. : 0161-2919065 Website : www.stockport061.co.uk
Website : www.hexhammotorclub.co.uk
Wallasey MC
Knowldale CC Contact : Steve Price
Contact : Stephen Broadbent Email : sp.sales739@gmail.com
Email : sbroadbent402@hotmail.com Tel. : 07814 953346
Tel : 07745 934895 Website : www.wallaseymc.com
Website : www.knowldale.co.uk
Knutsford & DMC Warrington & DMC
Contact : Jeff Gray Contact : Ann McCormack
Email : jeff.kdmc@talktalk.net Email : annmccormack13@yahoo.com
Website : www.knutsfordmotorclub.co.uk Website : www.warringtondmc.co.uk
Tel. :
Wigan & DMC
Lightning MSC Contact : Steve Booth
Contact : Andy Rhodes Email : sbooth2@sky.com
Email : andy.rhodes@btinternet.com Website : www.wiganmotorclub.org.uk
Tel. : 01772-632820
Lancashire A.C. 2300 Club
Contact : Chris Lee Contact : Neil Molyneux
Email : info@lancsautoclub.com Email : 2300@fcs-uk.com
Tel. : 07831-124417 Website : www.2300club.org
Website : www.lancsautoclub.com
Chairman's Chat Meeting Highlights
August 2021 July 21st 2021
The first weekend of July was an exceptionally busy MSUK – All club chairman’s have received a survey
weekend for motorsport in the North West. Marshals form from MSUK.
and clubs were helping to run events from the lakes dis- Warning, IT IS NOT a 10 minute job!!!
trict to Anglesey. Hillclimb, British Championship at Bar- It’s 50-60 detailed questions long! This survey has come
from the counsel who it appears; don’t know what goes
bon, Autotest, British Championship at Wrexham , on when it comes to a club running! The matter of equal-
Stage rallies Lee Holland and SMC Stages, all run by ity was raised and it was agreed that in our sport, every-
SD34MSG member clubs; also many marshals went to one competes as an equal.
Steve Johnson strongly recommended that all clubs re-
the Greystoke Stages, The major problem that clubs spond.
now face, is the band of organisers and marshals is A competitors has emailed regarding a result from the
starting to dry up, most clubs need outside help to run recent Barbon Hillclimb and an anomaly in the results.
Les stated that he, Gary and Bill as championship
its events..... stewards were looking into the manner and will be
Answers please, on how do you get new volunteers? coming to a decision.
Tracey Smith received an invoice for the Sprint and Hill-
Place send your event reports to Maurice at Spotlight climb Challenge for £62, despite us not needing to
sd34news@gmail.com with not being a championship. Steve Johnson is
challenging this as it is a mistake with MSUK.
SD34 has a unique job Maurice has stated that at the Jan 2023 AGM he will
be stepping down from producing Spotlight. Ste-
opportunity for a volunteer; ve Johnson offered his thanks to Maurice. These
thanks were echoed by Steve Butler, who asked
Do you wish to get involved and help North West
that all delegates return to their clubs to help find
Motorsport? a new editor, as the publication has proven to be
Have you a flair for writing and organising, or do you a fantastic and vital publication.
Note from Mark Wilkinson that he is now RLO for Staf-
wish to improve them? fordshire & Peak Park. A note of congratulations was
Do you wish to gain skills? given to Mark from the group.
Gary brought up trophies – Brian Wragg has been in
Do you wish to increase your potential earnings? touch about the trophy he won last year. There are 3
Extra skills = extra earnings.... still to be awarded. Gary stated it would be best to
award glassware at the 2021 awards night, whilst get-
Are you will to work in a team? ting the annual trophies to award winners at the earli-
Work to a monthly deadline? est opportunity now we can go places.
With mention of the awards presentation, Steve asked if
Work with clubs and their members throughout the all clubs got their thinking caps on for suggestions as
North West. to where/how the presentation is held. We are looking
to combine the 2020 and 2021 awards to the one
Flexible working, time commitment will be less once evening.
you have the experience and practice. A plaque has been erected in memory of Tom Dooley at
the Fogarty Moss Centre at Oulton Park. He was a
Opportunity to learn over 12 months about what is key person in the preparation of Oulton Park for rac-
required. ing.
Applications to sd34news@gmail.com for more in- U17MC 4th December autosolo has been cancelled.
formation. Scammonden hillclimb is getting tired, so the 14th
August event has been cancelled so resurfacing work
We are looking for a 12 month training period start- can be considered.
ing December 2021. Accrington 5th December Autosolo cancelled.
The Heroes Stages at Weeton has had to be post-
Spotlight and SD34 Needs You! poned due to not getting a confirmed date since March.
A date later in the year is being considered, but nothing
The July SD34MSG meeting was a very productive to be confirmed at this stage.
meeting and the some of the main notes are below for The Plains Rally has been cancelled in August due
all club members to read. If any member of a SD34 to tree disease in the forests. There is a provisional date
for May 2022.
clubs wishes to ‘Zoom in’ to the meetings and see what Regarding 2022 dates, if any clubs have theirs already,
goes on, please let James Swallow know. - jamesswal- can they please email Les Fragle with them.
low87@gmail.com The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 15th
September 2021, starting at 8pm, joining the Zoom
Steve Johnson, Chairman SD34MSG meeting from 7:45pm.
AUGUST NOTES
After what seems like an eternity things are now really moving with over 20 events in the past month, no less than
three stage rallies at Trac Môn, Anglesey and all with full entry lists.
Our Forest Championship got under way with the Nicky Grist that had 170 starters and no spectators – but I sat at
home watching two complete stages on You Tube, as well as having up-to-date results and also being able to track
my son competing in car 110 (the bright yellow Subaru) – there was a worrying moment when the car was shown as
having stopped mid-way through the third stage, but when I looked at the results they had completed the stage! This
happened again later on, but the tracking system did seem to be working well in an area not noted for good recep-
tion. The event qualified for both BRC and BTRDA so competition was hot.
Historic rallies got under way with 6 ANWCC competitors now on the scoreboard, but that should improve. Our Tar-
ga championship has yet to start.
Autotests, Autosolos and PCA’s continuing apace but where we seem to really be going well is in the Sprint Champi-
onship with no less than nine events completed, the Hillclimb series also not doing too badly but the latest round has
been cancelled due to the state of the track, hopefully funding can be found to get that sorted for 2022.
As I write this, one Yorkshire trial was held yesterday and another today and then in a couple of weeks time we
have a Welsh double-header – ideal events to have a go at in a standard car. The Cymru Trial, with me as clerk-of-
the-course will be the first Car Trial held in Wales since Covid struck – the last planned event was the same event
back in March 2020!
Our Marshals Championship continues to have claims – if you do go out officiating just go to the website
www.anwcc.co.uk and click on the Claim Marshals points link on the left-hand side. There is a monthly cash prize
but how do we decide who wins that?
At the end of the month all claims are listed and checked – the first claim received is given the number 21, the next
22 and so on. To date this month we have 45 claims – so that’s 21 to 65. The first one then gets allocated number
66, and through to the 45th getting 110, and so on. After doing that the list is sent to the ANWCC committee so that
there can be no “fixing”. The next Lottery’s six numbers are then added up, and the total compared to the list. The
marshal with that number gets the prize-money! Why do we start at 21 – work it out for yourselves!
It was great to get out on a rally after so long, I was at the Enville Stages, and hope to catch up with more of you on
other events very soon, with a little less social distancing! Stay safe.
Dave V Thomas e-mail anwcc@talktalk.net
Championships Co-Ordinator - Association of North-Western Car Clubs
www.anwcc.co.uk
Visit the ANWCC Website and Register for the 2021 Championships
Hexham & DMC
Northern Dales
Classic
Eastgate
th
18 July
Geoff & Maggy Bateman
West Cumbria MSC
After a break in 2019 due to the inevitable, the Hexham
and District Motor Club once again ran their Northern
Dales Trophy event as a PCA at the Eastgate Cement
Works venue on the 18th July. We had decided, some
time before the event, to enter it in the MGBGT which I
have been slowly working on for the last 3 years. I have-
n’t got round to fitting the cage yet and we thought the
possibility of rolling the thing would be remote at this
venue!
The recent spell of hot and dry weather had been fore-
cast to extend over the weekend and they were certainly
correct. The sun was up and the temperature already
rising as we left home in North Cumbria at 6 am for the
tow over to Eastgate. It’s never an easy journey with the
trailer as we have to go over through Alston, then
Nenthead and past Killhope just to get there and the
MG6 struggles a bit with the trailer in tow over the hilly
and twisty roads which are much more fun in the MGF
or TF.
We arrived on site not long after opening at 7-45 and got
unloaded in the trailer park and moved our cars over to
our allotted space in the paddock. Maggy had a bit of a
wander round and found the documentation and started
marking up the diagrams whilst I had the job of fitting the
largest rally stickers that we have ever had to the doors
of the car. With that all done I got breakfast rolls for us
both and left her to get on with her diagrams. With a late
start at 35 I had a chance to watch a few cars go
through tests 1 & 2 from the spectating area on top of a
large bank of rubble and it was fairly obvious that test 2,
which looked the most complex, was already causing
people problems.
With diagrams marked up and checked we made our
way to our place in the queue for the start of test 1 and
watched as the cars in front kicked up clouds of dust as
they went round the test.
Test 1 was at the west end of the site which is pretty
much all on loose surface and I had no idea of how the
BGT would handle on it so when we got the “off” it was
all a new experience.
Continued on Page 8
Northern Dales Classic
Continued from page 7
A bit of a tight left-right around A & B then a short blast
up to C for a 90 right and the back end swung out nicely
on the loose and that was it. I’d forgotten how much fun
front engine, rear wheel drive tail happy cars could be. I
was brought up driving cars like this in the 1970’s and
80’s and it was just like riding a bike – it came flooding
back. A nice blast round a quadrangle then exiting via a
90 right to a 90 right through a gate at H-H to 90 left
round I, easy left of J and a tight left -right past K and L
to finish. Got round, no cones and the car was still go-
ing so happy days. The time of 63 secs was not going
to set the world on fire but it had been fun.
On to test 2 which was to prove testing. Off the line and
a 90 left to go to the right of a 4 cone roundabout and
do a 360 round it anti clockwise, through a gate then 90
left, 180 right then a 270 left and out through a gate be-
fore passing the “roundabout” hooking left and tight 90
right out. Quick straight to a 90 right, right of G to left of
H followed by a 90 right through a gate for a 180 right
round J. Back out of the gate, left of H to right of G, an-
other 90 right through gate H to do a long 360 round L
and M which incorporated a ramp to add a bit of inter-
est. Over to left of N, right of O to left of P and a hard
90 right and we were blinded by our own dust! I couldn’t
see the cones in front until the dust cleared a bit and
then we’d lost the plot. It was a fairly simple manoeuvre
around a block of 4 cones but I went wrong side of R
and passed U which was only about 5m from R before I
could stop. That’s life I suppose. I knew we’d get a WT
for it but I had no issue with that as we were giving the
“new” toy a bit of a good work out and it was still going.
Test 3 followed immediately on from the end of 2 with
only a minute to check the diagram before the “off”. It
was a pretty simple test though without the “cone densi-
ty” of test 2. A 3 cone slalom led to a 90 left to the right
side of D for a tightish 360. The back end came round
wonderfully under power and we got round it with much
greater ease than we would have in the 205 and no
need for the handbrake. A short run to F with valve
bounce starting at around 5750 before making the 90
right to the right of G for another 360, tyres squealing
and kicking up dust before a 90 right round H for anoth-
er drifting 360 around I, again easier than in the 205.
Left of J (bit of a squeeze with the wall) and right of K to
finish. We were having fun, the times were just inci-
dental.
Straight out of 3 into 4 where the marshal was a little
concerned that the bonnet had become unlatched but it
was not a problem and would wait until we finished.
Continued on Page 9
Northern Dales Classic
Continued from page 8
Out of the start and over the weighbridge to the left of C
for a 4 cone slalom finishing with a 180 round F and a
straight return to the right of G-G before 90 left, 90 right
to go back over the weighbridge to a 180 right to hook
back 90 left though a gate at H-H. Left to right through I-
J followed by left to right through K-L to left of M for a
180. That’s where something went wrong, I can’t re-
member what but we had to stop and try and work out
what we were supposed to do. We did what we thought
was correct to then exit via 4 gates on loose to a really
tight 90 left where we had to reverse before exiting the
test. We thought there was a good chance of a WT and
we were not mistaken.
A short break followed until the next run started at 11.
We had a coffee and looked again at the notes for 2 and
4 and came to the conclusion that we’d over complicat-
ed the notes and there were more instructions than
Maggy could shout out in the time available so we did a
bit of an edit whilst sitting in the 6 with the engine run-
ning and the aircon on before getting back out in to the
heat for the second run.
The second run was a repeat of the first 4 tests and as I
was getting more familiar with the car and the notes had
been edited, we got round all 4 tests clean. With im-
provements of 5 seconds on test 5, a not too shabby
116 on test 6, 2 seconds improvement on 7 and a de-
cent enough 64 on test 8.
The second round had gone well and the car was han-
dling better than I expected and my rebuilt engine was
running sweet as a nut, so as a shakedown things were
going OK. With our late start we had over an hour for
lunch, a luxury compared to recent events, which al-
lowed plenty of time to revisit the notes for the after-
noon’s runs based on our morning’s experiences. Modi-
fications made and lunch eaten, we relaxed in the 6 with Photos Courtesy of Tony North
the aircon running to try and cool down a bit. Neither of
us is particularly good with heat and the dust was also getting in the throat a bit.
The afternoon session started at 1pm and we lined up for our 1-35 start time for test 9 which was a modified version
of tests 1 and 5. This time the right-left was replaced by a circuit of A-B followed by the run up to C with a hook to the
right and left up to D to go round the quadrangle clockwise this time. This gave a straight run out allowing a faster
run down to gate H-H which had to be taken with care pulling back hard right to get round I clean and back out
through H-H. Then a 90 right followed shortly by a hairpin left up on loose to a left-right-left combination through gate
K-K, before taking the left side of L as wide as I dared to in order to do a 180 whilst avoiding the adjacent building. A
run back then through K-K as a right-left for a straight run before a sharp, tight hairpin right to the finish. Unfortunate-
ly I couldn’t get the back end to come round as well as I would have liked so we did a bit of “off piste” resulting in
some minor damage to the front valance but it’s fibre glass so at least I won’t need the welder to fix it. It was a good
run and we had got round better that we expected.
Continued on Page 10
.
Northern Dales Classic
Continued from page 9
Straight in to test 10 with a couple of minutes to check the notes. The first part had been revised quite a lot with a
pretty much reverse run through gate F-F round C, D and E out through gate B-B to go to the left of the
“roundabout” and do a clockwise 360 round it before exiting 90 left, up the straight for a 90 right to the left side of G
this time. Right of H and right through gate I-I to a right 180 around J before exiting to right of H and left of G which
gave a better line for the 90 left through K-K. This time to the left of L and a clockwise trip round L and M before go-
ing left of N, right of O, left and 90 right past P to a 180 right past R to go through a narrow run between kerbs, a
couple of 90 rights to end up doing a 180 left around T before a 90 left, 90 right then narrow between kerbs, outside
of V, W and X to go narrow between kerbs before the 90 right to finish. It was a bit tight and complicated but no pen-
alties were incurred and we were getting used to the car, although the three point harnesses I’d fitted (ex 205) were
not much fun for Maggy who kept slipping out of it. (ladies will understand!!)
Test 11 followed immediately and was a re jigged version of test 3. A three cone slalom preceded a 90 left for a 90
right around D, right of E and down to the left of F. Valve bounce again, too short to change up, too far for 1st gear.
A clockwise 360 round F and then left of G, H and I to return to a 90 right at G, left of H to the right of I and another
360 twirl. A 90 left took us to the right of J thence to left of K before stopping astride the finish. Again no penalties
and all was going well.
A short run to test 12, modified from test 4 but looking less complex and quicker. Left of the weighbridge this time
before doing a 180 to take us back over it to do a 180 right out of it to to take us to the left of G. A straight run to the
right of C, D, E and F with a 180 left round F to go left of E and D before switching to the right of C. Going left of G
gave a nice line through gate H-H and then a simple pass to the right of I and J and to the left of K and L led us to a
right 180 round M. Going back through L and K as a gate entered from the left and J and I as a gate entered from
the right allowed that to be done as a single turn and lined us up well for the exit gate N-N to go down the loose be-
fore reaching our nemesis, the final cone, which had been changed to a left entry 360. I thought I could drift around
the cone on power, I was wrong. I needed to stop and reverse which cost us a bit but other than that we’d had a
good run.
It was getting really hot by the end of test 12 and we retreated to the 6 with the aircon on again to cool off a bit. The
car was still running well with no overheating, despite only having a 3 bladed belt driven steel fan, and, no fuel va-
pour locking despite the heat, which was also quite pleasing.
The final set of tests started at 2-30pm and was a repeat of tests 9, 10, 11 and 12. Our performances were very
similar, including the nemesis cone at the end of test 16. We a 3 second improvement on test 13 over test 9 (not so
far off piste and I guess I’d cleared all the big stones out of the way on test 9!), a 6 second improvement on test 14
over test 10, a 1 second improvement on test 15 but the biggest surprise was 10 seconds improvement on test 16
over our first run of 65 seconds.
We thought it was all over and suddenly it was.
With no need to stay and food booked at one of our local pubs, we set about getting the trailer loaded up for the re-
turn haul home. It’s quite amazing how quickly people leave a venue and despite not wasting much time we were
still among the last few crews to leave. Our return trip through Weardale and on to Alston is always very scenic but
a bit testing with the trailer and by now I realised I needed to adjust the trailer brakes, as we were getting pushed
down a few of the steeper hills, which is never a good feeling. However, we got back in one piece and even had
time to unload the trailer and put it away before having a shower and off up the pub for steak and kidney pie and a
couple of pints followed by a couple more when we returned home as the local was open as well. Perfect end to a
good day out.
A big well done to C of C Ali Procter and to all his team for their efforts prior to the event, on the day and afterwards
as they cleared up. It all went very smoothly, like a well oiled machine! Well done to you all. Hopefully everybody
kept well hydrated and all went away and slaked their thirsts in an appropriate manner on Sunday night.
It took a while for the results to be finalised but we ended up 10th overall and 4th in class so we were well pleased
with that when we found out. Perhaps we need to use the BGT more often!!
Geoff and Maggy Bateman, Saltire RC and West Cumbria MC, car 35 1974 MGBGTDunfermline Car Club
Mach 1 Stages Rally
July 13th
Kevin Jeffray
After what seemed like forever, it was time to dust off the
overalls and put a new battery in the intercom ready for
the MACH 1 Stages Rally at Machrihanish just outside
Campbelltown
With 2 days, and over 100 miles of single venue rallying.
This is one must do event.
With my normal co driver having a year out, it was either
find someone new or look through the box of decals I have
to see if I could find any old name stickers.
Step up one Linda Thomas. Big sis, legal secretary and
Mavis all rolled into one.
With a new helmet and intercom from Rob Brook, bor-
rowed suit and Hans and away we go.
Leisurely 5 hour drive south on Friday afternoon and we’re
there. With Tara unloaded and noise check done, we just
had a quick walk round part of the stage to get some idea
of what was ahead. I did the rally 2 years ago and this
years event was much the same.
Saturday morning dawns bright, sunny and hot. Just what
you need with a 3 layer suit on, and a car with plastic win-
dows that don’t open far.
Eight stages planned for today. Loops of 2 done twice,
( one about 9 miles then a short 1 mile blast ) then slight
change for last 4. With cars starting at 30 seconds it al-
ways makes for a exciting first stage. Hitting a truck tyre
on first chicane put us up onto 2 wheels. Luckily my diet
hasn’t worked to well and we came down right way up.
Rest of stage was ok, even catching and passing a couple
of cars before finish. SS2 is just a short one mile blast
round the old bunkers.
Back to service for a 45 minute break, giving us plenty of
time for a quick spanner check and a brew.
Next two stages were fine ( missed tyre on chicane this
time ) apart from coming over flying finish backwards on
SS3.
The Long stage after lunch break had same start and fin-
ish with just a few junctions altered . It seemed to catch
out quite a few judging by the amount of bales and tyres in
all the wrong places.
After the eight stages we were lying 43rd o/a, and ready
for Sunday’s 4 mammoth stages at over 13 miles long
each
Continued on Page 12Mach 1 Stages
Continued from page 11
Early start and it was a bit overcast, but still quite warm as
crews readied themselves for the final day
New front tyres was all Tara required after Saturdays
abuse. Stages ran in the opposite direction today, and
were 3 laps not 2 like the day before. Clitheroe & DMC
Clitheronian
With around 30 cars on stage at any one time, it can get a
bit manic in places. Looking out for quicker cars catching
you and you catching slower ones makes for eventful ride.
On the second stage we were caught an passed by an Road Rally
Impreza who then proceeded to spin in front of us on the 25/26th September
next corner. As he tried to correct his error he rammed into
some round bales, sending some straight into our path.
Despite trying to take avoiding action it flattened the front Regulations Available
wing and broke the mirror. I managed to pull most of it
back into shape as Linda couldn’t open her door.
Final stages went without a problem to leave us 37th o/a
August
and 13th in class. clitheroedmc.co.uk
All we used was fuel and four tyres all weekend
Thanks to Dunfermline Car Club for putting on another 160 (ish) miles of all
great weekend of sport.
Tarmaced Roads on
Great to be back out there having fun and loads of laughs .
Looking forward to next year already Maps 97, 98, 102 & 103
Despite big sis being super nervous at the start, she was
soon back into the swing of it and enjoying every minute. Start & Finish
Kevin Jeffray Darwen Services
Junc 4 M65
Marshals Needed
Contact
Maurice Ellison
sd34news@gmail.com
Tel. 07788 723721
G&PMC + PDMC
Heroes Stages
Weeton
POSTPONED
The organisers are sorry to have to confirm that the
Special Offer
Heroes Stages will not run on it's original August
date as the MOD have not confirmed venue availa-
bility. We are looking to see if a suitable date be-
All Adam and The Ants comes available later this year. If not we hope to see
sheet music just £5.00. you all again in 2022.
They'll even throw in a stand and deliver.Trialing Times
Rupert North : A&PMCC
Wyre Forest Car Trail
13th June 2021.
The van I normally use to tow the trailer was old....low
mileage but old...with the impending doom of a £9 a
day emissions charge coming to Bradford it's days
were numbered and once it started to fail the deci-
sion was taken to replace it rather than throwing money
at it. This process took nearly a month for one reason
or another which now meant my car, a 993cc 21 year
Alto, was going to have to do all my motoring, work and
back, fetching and carrying kids going to the shops and the two national car trails which were in June.
The first one was South of Kidderminster 154 miles each way, plus the day competing. The starter motor packed in
during the couple of hours I was playing poker at the pub the week before, managed to source another unit just in
time which was a plus.There were a few knocks and bangs here and there but I reckoned the old thing was upto the
journey. Up at 5.30 and the day starts, in a FWD car you want as little fuel in the tank as possible, keeping unhelpful
weight out the car. so put 3 gallons in the tank and 2 more in the fuel cans I carry with me.
A steady 60mph drive to the venue took about 3 boring hours, the MPG that the car returns was brilliant!! too good,
thinking I would be topping it up near the venue with the fuel was a misjudgement, still had just under 1/4 of a tank
left! After swapping the tyres on the front to the trialling tyres and the normal pre event formalities we were off.
I never go well at this venue, in the Mini at least, half of it is run under the trees with the venue being an orchard and
the other half is steep and lumpy. There's a section at the far end of the land which I fail on round 1 every year......the
9 strong class 1 had started on hill 4 and after the first 3 sections I was doing OK trading the odd mark with the "top"
2 class 1 front runners. But my hopes were dashed on hill 8, again, the Mini never had the grip on the passenger
side to maintain the long off camber climb, the Alto didn't have the engine to pull us past the first corner.(notice the
driver isn't a factor!!!) and massive 9 lost to the top two.
This was a disaster!!! 9 bloody 9....normally the winning margins are less than that after 32 or more hills, not after 4.
And after struggling on the last event things were not looking all that good.In your head the days competi-
tions ruined...never going to pull that back...doesn't look good for the national championship crap crap crap...(funny
what runs through your head!) might as well enjoy the rest of the day, finishing round 1 third in class ,10 behind the
class leader only 4 the second placed man.
4 , I can make four up, let's go for second in class then, time to pick my game up! The hills were harder versions of
round 1. Watching others struggle and make mistakes while I seamingly breezed through gave me cheer and
pushed the Alto hard. There were a few section ends where I was throwing the car at them, and for once I was gel-
ling with it, in sync it you will, picking a line and finding grip.By the end of round 2 I was now second in class only 2
behind the class lead,dropping 6 less than even the guys who were ahead of me, happy with that.
Round 3....dryer..harder and steeper, not really any big gains or losses, the top 3 in class 1 now we're 64, 66 and 68
marks dropped all to play for in round 4, if only I had passed that corner on round 1! But that's motorsport for you.
Round 4 some small adjustments to the hills but really a case of trying not to make a mistake, certainly keeps you
focused, trading the odd mark here and there with the others at the front of the class, until one of them dropped a 9
on a hill which was offering up a 2 if you got it right, as on my hill 8 round that's a massive loss and with 3 hills left to
go there wasn't much coming back from that....a bitter pill...didn't like the taste of it on round 1.
I slipped up a little on the last hill of the day, losing a mark and a clear class win which left me tied on marks dropped
with the other driver in front of the class. I came out ahead of him on the tie breaker rule which is who has the most
zero's or "cleans" on the day. With my 10 to his 8.(lucky!!)
In car trials there a complex scoring system which is used to get a class average between the 3 classes, so winning
your class on the day is really the best you can do, after that other factors come into play, the size of the class being
one them followed by how close to you the other drivers making up the class were to you on dropped marks. We had
the biggest class of the day and I had done enough to get first overall.
Continued on Page 14Trialling Times
Continued from Page 13
This was certainly a big surprise, it was only by 3.33%
on index, a mark here or there and it could have gone
the other way.Its been a good few years since I won an
event, no real joy since the 2017 season if I'm honest! I
suspect it's the first time a Suzuki Alto has won a car
trial at national level, I do know of a 1.1 5 door that won
a targa rally outright, not sure old Altos are going to be
the next hot prospect for up and coming drivers anytime
soon!
A great day out and an outright win on an event I don't
normally do well on, this result gave me the lead in both
national championships, plenty of time to mess that up!
Heading home the car wasn't all that happy, any non-
sense about taking it easy on the car if your not trailer-
ing it and have to drive it home again doesn't work with
me, it got some right stick during the event, got a
noisy wheel bearing....if you read the previ-
ous reports unsurprisingly it was was the one in the sink
hole...and both driveshafts didn't sound to jolly, alright on the road but at full lock on sections they getting very
knocky.
Pulled it apart on Friday after driving it to work all week, sourced 2 wheel bearings and drive shafts have the week-
end so should be OK time wise. That didn't go to plan , the pressed-in wheel bearings were too small and needed
some alternatives, these didn't arrive till Tuesday, got my friends at the local garage to fit them in record time and got
it back together Thursday evening and did about 100 yards up and down the road.Bit of overtime at work Friday so
drove it there, loaded the car Saturday afternoon ready for the Sunday event with 8 miles on the clock...fingers
crossed it will be OK.
Wye Valley Car Trial
27th June 2021
This venue is even further away than the last one 198
miles according to Google, a group of us normally turn
this into a camping trip with a meal and a good few
drinks in a lovely old world pub just round the corner
from the trials site. Breaks the long drive each way up it
a struggle both ways in one day. And it's nice to make
more of a social thing out the weekend.
Another event I don't normally go well on, the grass al-
ways seems to be lush and green and it's a steep ven-
ue. Off we set again with the promise of a tough day
competing ahead of us. I was second on , not a great
starting position, and with the guy who was going to be
first on running late I was first on the sections, this means you get to show everyone else where the slippery or grippy
parts are. There might be a choice of line and you get to act as the fall guy for one which works or not.The starting
order is picked by ballot and generally you will have to be first or early on the hills a few times a year.There is also a
degree of flatting to the ground once 30 odd cars have taken the same route all the lumpiness gets flattened down.If
its raining you want to be first on before it all gets chewed up and when it dry you want to get middle or towards the
back.
The first hill of the day went badly and didn't make the second corner costing me a 7 to the 1 dropped by a single
competitor...not a good start. lost another 3 on one of the following hills and by the end of round 1 I was 10 be-
hind....not the best of starts.Made plenty of mistakes putting power on when there's no grip and one laughable cock
up was acclerteing before some big bumps only to have the car fly off like a rocket sending me crashing over the
lumps all out of shape to fail by the 6.
Continued on Page 15Trialling Times
Continued from Page 14
Kikkby Lonsdale MC
Round 2 went a lot better, once I finished driving like a
clown, started pulling a few back again but coming from Harry and Ivy
Road Rally
behind...again...at lunch I was a 7 behind the class
leader.
Lunch and while the competitors filled their faces , the
clerk of the course got busy moving the sections.
Round 3 and the running order in the class get re-
NEW DATE
versed so now I'm second to last on which does have a
bit of advantage. After the disasters of round 1 I ended
this round 1 mark adrift of the class lead.This really
21/22 August
A brief update on the KLMC Harry and Ivy Road Rally.
leaves you focused, it's literally who's going to blink We spent bank holiday Monday doing a reccé of the
first.We were running next to each other to a 1.0 Alto route, and even though I say so myself, we shall be using
with no passenger verse a 1.6 Corsa B with a passen- some cracking roads, some of which have been seldom
ger, the cars and the crew couldn't of been farther from used, like the one in the photo.
each other other yet we were match on another almost
However, we have come across a bit of a problem - the
mark for mark, cracking competition.
date for the Appleby horse fair has been moved to the
I pulled ahead briefly but lost the advantage soon after- second week in August, so there is every likelihood that
wards....another event and another tie!!! To be decid- on the proposed date of the event all the back lanes and
ed again on the number of zeros dropped, this time the open spaces will be occupied by Travellers. Not wanting
margin was even narrower with me on 5 and second in to clash with them or make trouble for the locals, we are
class on 4. looking at moving the event back a fortnight to the 21/22
I must point out that's twice I've been lucky twice in a August but this needs to be agreed with the RLO, MS
row..and feel either suprised or grateful the deci- UK and the various championships the event was going
to be part of.
sion went my way...it will not always. No overall this
time, but enough to hang on to the championship leads We were having a bit of a technical glitch downloading
by 1 point. the Regs. from the KLMC website, it does work but
The long drag home was clear, a couple of good re- there's a time delay, we will get it sorted
sults for the month of June, I'm Clerk of the Course on
the next round in Yorkshire on the Saturday 24th of Ju-
Entries open 7 pm August 1st
ly. Hopefully all this Covid stuff will be behind by then. Nick Townley, Clerk of Course
Rupert North
Airedale & Pennine MCC
2021 Events
Rounds 5 & 6
3 & 4th September The Tour of Flanders
MARSHALS
Roesleare, Belgium
www.omloopvanlaanderen.be
Round 7
16th October Wydean Stages We need plenty of marshals,
Forest of Dean
www.wyedeanstages.co.uk so any help will be much appreciated.
Round 8 Contact Katy Mashiter by email at
24th October Cheviot Stages Rally
Otterburn Ranges, Nothumberland info@mediachoices.co.uk
www.cheviotstages.org.ukLiverpool MC
Kirkby Lonsdale MC
BARBON
HILLCLIMB
6th July
Keith Thomas
Barbon in July
Another Superb Speed Hillclimb
The second Barbon meeting of the year which was also a
round of the British Hillclimb championship had an an over-
subscribed entry list like most events this year and like the
June meeting it was a fantastic event although the superb
June weather must have forgotten to put Barbons July date
in its diary !
The threatening sky in the morning did materialise into a few
really heavy downpours occasionally but the event was
mainly dry, in fact at times it was so hot the tarmac dried out
rapidly and it was a welcome sight to see stream rising from
the track surface and the gazebos and awnings.
Once again because of MSUK rules no spectators were al-
lowed, this was a great pity because the competition among
the top guys in the British Hillclimb Championship was really
intense, current Brithish champion Wallace Menzies and Current Champion : Wallace Menzies
second place guy Alex Summers were pushed hard all day
by the other championship contenders as well as each other
and at the end of some fantastic committed driving they
were only separated by a fraction of a second unbelievably
Alex Summers was only 0.18 from equalling the hill record
set in 2015 by Jos Goodyear.
Wallace had his 3300c, reputedly 700BHP Gould with loads
of grunt and torque, Alex was in his 2650cc DJ Firestorm a
car with much smaller engine but just as quick.
The event was also a round of the Austin 7 Bert Hadley
championship so lots of Austin 7 based cars taking part alt-
hough looking a rather different breed of animal than the
cars that left the Austin factory in the 1920s and 30s.
As usual Liverpool Motor Club did a fantastic job organisa-
tionally, the marshals from many clubs did a superb job too
as did the medical team who had to attend to Dalbeattie
resident Allan McDonald when his 2.4 litre 4 wheel drive
Morris Mini Evo attacked the Armco. Fortunately a quick
thumbs up showed he was ok and without damage to the
driver but same cannot be said of the Mini, this is a real wolf
in sheeps clothing and it is unbelievably quick.
Continued on Page 17Barbon in July
Continued from Page 16
When the debris had been swept up the recovery vehicle
brought them back to the paddock, the bits were loaded
into Allan's trailer with the jovial Allan still smiling and
promising to be back on the hills very soon. We look for-
ward to his return just as much as him but a bit of mid-
night oil will be needed before it's ready so good luck and
God speed with the rebuild.
What a shame there were no spectators to witness such
a well run event and such a competitive event where de-
spite the showers at times the hill record was so nearly
broken by very the brave efforts of the championship run-
ners.
Organising a speed hillclimb that constitutes a round of a
national championship on what was 24 hours earlier a
road that is part of a livestock farm takes a lot of extra
work than venues that have permanent facilities. Bringing
timing gear, timekeepers caravan, secretary's office and
toilets and pegging out the paddock with competitors
numbers and even their names was a mammoth task.
Four hours or so after the event was finished everything
was removed and cleared off the field and the pastoral
landscape that is Barbon reverted to its normal state with
cows peacefully chewing the cudd whilst gazing down at
the picturesque little church of St Bartholemew whose
foundation stone was laid by Lady Shuttleworth in 1892.
It's the Shuttleworth estate on which the hillclimb is held
so we are very grateful that so long ago they designed
the road with various bends and a hairpin with a future
hillclimb in mind !
The equally famous Barbon inn has provided food and
accommodation for the last two or three centuries and of
course it was full again at the hillclimb weekends with
competitors and officials, the event bringing welcome rev-
enue to the local community.
Long may this unique event continue and a very sincere
thank you to all that have made it possible by working
tirelessly, overcoming everything thrown at them by the
Covid epidemic, it was really appreciated and bodes well
for the future.
Keith ThomasSprint and Hillclimb Report
Nigel Fox : Clitheroe & DMC
The year seems to be flying by and we are already at the end
of July. It’s been a busy month with 5 events to cover.
The first event of those events was the Barbon Manor hill-
climb organised by Liverpool Motor Club. Whilst checking over
the Caterham the day before, I found that the battery was flat
which turned out to be a short circuit on the alternator. With no
time to obtain and fit a replacement I decided to disconnect the
alternator leads and run with no charging system. I also took
the big battery on a trolley that I use for starting my Formula
Ford to start the Caterham engine.
As the weather was warm and sunny, I decided to take my
camper van to Barbon the night before and enjoy the glorious
Cumbria scenery. I was woken up by heavy overnight rain how-
ever and Saturday morning was grey and wet. The first prac-
tice was wet and I took a very careful run up the hill. The fore-
cast for the afternoon was much better so with a still wet track
and no alternator I decided to miss second practice altogether.
By the time lunch was over the track had indeed dried out. On
my first timed run I was shown a red flag after the first corner,
and I rolled up to the next marshal’s post and stopped. Appar-
ently Matty Bramhall had made contact with the Armco at the
final hairpin. I was turned round and returned to the start line
for a rerun. My two timed runs went without incident, not partic-
ularly quick on the recently wetted track but enough for first in
class. The final work for the event recovery crew was to tow
my camper and trailer off the wet grass and on to terra firma.
On the way home just as a final blow, my angle iron battery
trolley fell over and smashed the camper glass oven door into a
million pieces.
Next up it was off to Blyton, the airfield circuit located near
Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Two separate events one Satur-
day, one Sunday run by the Westfield Sports Car Club. I’d fitted
a new alternator and everything was working nicely. I was in a
class of 11 cars and I spent the day battling for the win. On the
seventh and final timed run of the day I set my fastest time but
so did others and I slipped to a disappointing 4th place. On
Sunday the competition was on the outer circuit and I managed
to get in front on the first timed run and remained fastest after
each of the 8 timed runs, a much better day.
Scammonden hillclimb by the M62 near Huddersfield was
next, run by the Mid Cheshire Motor Racing Club. Scorching
hot weather and just over 30 entries meant plenty of time on
the track. Just two cars in my class, I managed to win by a sec-
ond and was 5th overall. The bad news from Scammonden was
that the track surface is breaking up leaving some potholes and
quite a bit of loose material. As a result, the next event there in
August has been cancelled.
Finally, we were back to the Three Sisters circuit at Ashton in Makerfield near Wigan, run by Longton and District
MC on the single lap course. Seven timed runs, my “straightline” route through the esses did prompt the Clerk of the
Course to install additional cones mid event. Nevertheless, my fastest time came on the last run of the day. The result
was a class win and seventh overall.
August should be a little quieter with just two events, Curborough and Harewood.
Nigel Fox : Clitheroe & DMCWilson gets M-Sport
call-up for BRC title charge
Matthew Wilson will make a thrilling return to the British Rally
Championship in 2021, driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta
Rally2.
As M-Sport Chief Test Driver, Director and former World Ral-
ly Championship ace, Wilson is arguably one of the most ex-
perienced drivers in the country and will make his first ap-
pearance in the BRC since a one-off outing in 2016 and bol-
sters the M-Sport squad with co-driver Stuart Loudon.
Wilson will kick start his BRC campaign at this weekend’s
Nicky Grist Stages and will head to the Builth Wells based
event fresh from an impressive performance at the M-Sport
Stages, taking the firm’s all-new Fiesta Rally3 to sixth overall,
running inside the top-three for most of the event.
“I had a great weekend at the M-Sport Stages showcasing
the new Ford Fiesta Rally3 and I’m very much looking forward to competing in the Rally2 at the Nicky Grist Stages in
this year’s British Rally Championship” says Matthew.
“It will be my first BRC Rally since the Pirelli Rally back in 2016 and I’m looking forward to getting back on to these
iconic Welsh stages. The Nicky Grist Stages has a somewhat sentimental value, due to my dad [Malcolm Wilson]
claiming victory in the Metro 6R4 in 1985, and me taking my first overall victory back in 2004 when it was the Quinton
Stages Rally.”
As well as the M-Sport name being synonymous with British and World rallying, Managing Director Malcom Wilson
OBE has also stamped his mark on the prestigious British Rally Championship trophy.
“M-Sport has always had a rich involvement with the British Rally Championship over the years, a championship
close to my heart having won it outright in 1994” said Malcolm.
“In 2017 we entered an M-Sport team for the first time and took the title, 2021 sees us once again enter a team, we
had a strong start on the opening round with good results from Rhys [Yates] and Seb [Perez].”
“We thought Matthew would be a great addition to our selec-
tion of drivers eligible to score points on this event and give
us the maximum chance of another great result. The Nicky
Grist Stages, which was known as the Nicolet Stages when I
was competing, is a rally that I for one very much enjoyed
back in 1985, claiming victory in the Metro 6R4. It holds a lot
of memories for me personally and I look forward to watch-
ing the results come in, from what is an incredibly strong
field of entries.”
Updated 2021 Motorsport UK
British Rally Championship Calendar
Round 3 14 August Grampian Forest Stages,
Banchory
Round 4 24/25 September Trackrod Rally Yorkshire,
Scarborough 2
Round 5 8/9 October Beatson’s Building Supplies
Mull Rally, Isle of Mull
Round 6 30 October Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally,
Llandudno
Round 7 20 November Today’s Ulster Rally, NewryMull Car Club
Dunoon presents
Argyll Rally
25/26th June
Thompson Wins Class
On Argyll Rally
For AMD Motorsport
Following on from a superb debut ride by Irishman
Richard Kerr at the opening round of the Pirelli Na-
tional Superstock Championship last weekend at Oul-
ton Park, another branch of AMD Motorsport were al-
so in action on four wheels at the same time.
Stephen Thompson, who is the General Manager at AMD Con-
tract Services, the Dumfries-based company owned by Fraser
and Mary Dykes, where they run a plant hire and contracting
Photos courtesy of Eddie Kelly
business servicing the construction and forestry sectors
throughout the UK, was contesting the Argyll Stages Rally.
Based at Dunoon Stadium with closed road stages around various locations of the Cowal Peninsular, this years’ Mull
Car Club event started on Friday night with five stages throughout the evening followed by another eight stages
throughout Saturday.
In the two-litre AMD Ford Escort Mk2, Stephen, from Kirkcudbright and co-driver Larry Higton from Newton Mearns
were seeded at 23 in the 120-car field and got off to a steady start on the two short opening stages around Dunoon
town centre before upping the pace out in the lanes to set 16th fastest time on the final stage of Friday night to main-
tain their 23rd position overnight.
Saturday saw two loops of four stages and the pair continued their good form with top twenty stage times in the morn-
ing to move up to 13th overall before moving up the leaderboard in the afternoon stages to set some impressive times
which culminated in a superb 12th place overall at the finish.
As a result, they won Class 7 and were second two-wheel drive car home behind Irish champion Damian Toner out of
the 79 finishers in a field which included many top international drivers in semi-works machinery.York Motor Club
North Yorkshire
Classic Rally
3rd July
Sam Spencer : Malton MC
Four cones too far….
A mere 16 months after we should have been tackling
the North Yorkshire Classic Rally Andy Beaumont and I
finally got a chance to pair up for our first attempt at a
regularity event together. Now running in July instead of
March York Motor Club had decided to revert to a more
traditional one day format rather than the two day format
with regularities in the dark that they had originally
planned. The event started at the Hawkhills Centre near
Easingwold and featured 15 tests and 7 regularities on
maps 94 and 100. All but one regularity was pre-plot with
some given out at signing on and others during the event
to be plotted for use later on. I collected the paperwork
on Friday afternoon then met Andy early on Saturday
morning to set the trip and scrutineer before we set off at
8am. Regularity events are far from my forte and I hadn’t
competed on a regularity event since May 2019 (Berwick
Classic) and my last HRCR event was a short lived Dev-
ils Own in October 2018. I was therefore surprised to be
seeded at 7 but decided that my goal was to try and
keep IRTC penalties in single figures and aim to finish in
the top ten.
Reg 1 was issued as we left Hawkhills on the run out to
MTC1 in Easingwold marketplace. A series of gridlines
took us round familiar 12 car roads through Crayke and
Stillington to East Moor Airfield. In the marketplace there
was already hot debate over where one of the speed
changes would be (see photo). Did “joining the y road”
mean A. when we joined the yellow off the brown or B.
when we joined the small yellow from the large yellow?
Opinion seemed to be split but I opted for option A, sadly
this was wrong and penalties for the reg were 1s, 1s and
52s. This wasn’t the end of the world as the event did
have a “joker” system where each crew dropped their
worst IRTC penalty so the pressure was on not to make
any further mistakes. From Reg 1 is was straight into two
tests on East Moor Airfield, a good loose surface/old
concrete venue that afforded plenty of oversteer as Andy
set 6th fastest time (3s off fastest) and 2nd fastest time (1s
off fastest). Reg 2 was next which took us past Sheriff
Hutton bridge, through Stittenham, Bulmer, Ganthorpe,
Terrington Woods and along the sheep walk to Slingsby.
Penalties on this were 1s, 1s and 2s with the final IRTC replaced by a codeboard as Nick Pullan thought the event
was on Sunday so didn’t get to the control in time. Continued on Page 22North Yorkshire Classic Rally
Continued from page 21
After a short neutral we tackled Reg 3 and we were
now properly on my home turf as it started on one of
my regular cycling routes. From Barton le Street we
went through Butterwick, Salton, Normanby, Great Ed-
ston and up to Welburn with a 0s, 5s and 3s it seemed
like I was getting the hang of regularities and knowing
the roads certainly made avoiding wrong slots much
easier. A very brief coffee stop took us to Spaunton
Quarry for 5 tests in quick succession. We had a slight
advantage here as I had recently marshalled on a
comp-safari in the quarry which included helping to set
out the course so I knew the lay of the land quite well.
The tests were a mixture of quite quick blasts with the
odd slalom and tighter sections, hairpins and 360’s all
on either gravel or very slippery tarmac. These are the
sort of tests where Andy really excels as he is superb
at throwing the car around, changing direction quickly
and keeping momentum between cones. The result
was three fastest times, a second fastest (1s off fast-
est) and a tenth fastest (5s off fastest).
Reg 4 followed, the longest of the day, that took us
North onto map 94 and a few roads I wasn’t as familiar
with. Luckily we had been given this section to plot the
night before so I had done a quick recce on Google
Streetview to make sure there weren’t any funny junc-
Photos Courtesy of Tony North
tions to catch us out. This section was on some more
demanding roads where it was easy to hide a control
to catch crews out and a few codeboards also kept us
on our toes. We suffered slightly at IRTC4.4 where we
followed Howard Warren into the control and had to
wait until he moved for the marshal to stop the clock,
but compared to many others we had a relatively clean
run with penalties of 3s, 12s, 3s, 12s, 4s, 1s and 10s.
After lunch at the Moors Inn, Appleton le Moors, we
were back to Spaunton for a re-run of the same 5 tests
where we set four fastest times and a second fastest
(1s off fastest). We had a few minutes to kill as we left
the quarry which gave me time to plot reg 7 before we
headed to the only plot and bash regularity of the event
that started north of Kirkbymoorside. Starting on the
road to Fadmoor and ending south of Carlton it was
obvious we would be using Cockayne loop so I had a
quick guess as to which way we would be going to get
to Cockayne as once on the loop there is only one
junction to decipher. The handout was a short all roads
herringbone which meant I got it on the map nice and
quickly so I could then focus on the speed tables. With
plotting to do and quite a few slots early on I suspected
there might be a control just after the 2 mile limit to
catch crews out but in fact it was quite a long way into
the section before we saw anyone.
Continued on Page 23You can also read
