Solid Start for Bellerby Motorsport at Silverstone

The British Rallycross Championship opened with a round at the new Silverstone track on the weekend.

FUCHS-supported sisters Drew and Paige Bellerby were both in action in weather conditions which varied from horrible to merely cruel, with the icy, slippery track frequently hidden from view by icy cold winds blasting heavy snow flurries across from Siberia.

Nine times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb described the track as ‘disappointing – too slow, and nowhere to pass’, sentiments which were echoed by Paige and Drew.

Drew was first out to practice in her BMW Mini and, although it passed without mishap, she was not a happy driver. 

“There’s just no grip anywhere, and I couldn’t get a good start off the line and into the first corner,” she said.

“And that’s really important, because you need to be in front to get a good clear run as you can’t get a good corner exit line to pass anybody.  I’m a bit disappointed really, I thought it would be mega.” 

Her opinion did not however, prevent her from winning her third heat against strong competition.  This result was, however, only good enough for third row of the BMW Mini Final grid, from where she wasn’t able to make much progress on the slippery track.

Older sister Paige was driving a loan Vauxhall VX220, as her own Lotus had not finished its winter engine rebuild.  The car is heavier than the Lotus, and down on power, but she soon got to grips with the different handling characteristics and was setting decent times in the heats.

In her A Final, Paige was caught out on the first corner by the early hard braking of Craig Lomax in a Citroen C2. She tapped his rear and was thrown off into the tyre wall, bending the steering and damaging the suspension, knocking the front end out of line. 

It will now be a race against time to get the car ready for the second round of the championship at Lydden Hill on Easter Monday.  In spite of this set-back her times in the earlier heats meant that she picked up championship points for fourth in class – an encouraging start to the season.

Meanwhile, the FUCHS Lubricants MSA British Historic Rally Championship will get off to a flying start on Rally North Wales on Saturday.

Around 60 contenders have registered in the two-wheel drive category – and there is outstanding quality to match quantity.

As well as being the first of eight BHRC rounds, Rally North Wales is also the first round of the BHRC Forest Challenge.

The field is headed by the crew that came so close to taking the overall title last year. Nick Elliott and Dave Price (Escort Mk2) will return to the event they won the historic section of in 2017 in a bid to get a fresh title challenge underway.

Title rivals come in the shape of Joe Price/Chris Brooks, Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis, Paul Barrett/Dai Roberts and Ryan Barrett/Paul McCann in similar Mk2s.

The battle at the head of the historic rally is also sure to feature two more Escorts in the expert hands of Osian Pryce and Marty McCormack, but they may not be registered for the BHRC due to other commitments this season.

Classes D3, C3 and Category 2 both look strong also with the likes of Ben Friend/Cliffy Simmons, Stuart Egglestone/Brian Hodgson, Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell-Browne and Chris Skill/Tom Murphy.

The event’s new format has caught the imagination of those contesting the new BHRC2, which has been created to turn the spotlight on the Category 1 (pre-1968) and up to 1600cc cars in the championship.

Well over 20 cars will line-up for the inaugural round of BHRC2 and it is the class C2 Escort Mk1 of Adam Milner and Roy Jarvis that will be expected to set the pace.

The FUCHS Lubricants MSA British Historic Rally Championship will benefit from a major new media package.

There will be TV coverage on Special Stage Weekly on Front Runner, Sky Channel 468 and Freesat Channel 250, as well as YouTube highlights and live Facebook coverage.

Elsewhere, in the FUCHS Lubricants Historic Asphalt Rally Championship, the Bovington Stages have been re-arranged for August 11/12.

The next round of the Championship, the Salamandre Rally, takes place on April 21/22.