Fun in the sun for Bellerby Motorsport
Fun in the sun for Drew and Paige
FUCHS-backed rallycross driver Drew Bellerby scored her first win of the season at Pembrey on the second day of a scorching double header at the Welsh circuit.
Drew got off to a flying start on the first day with an assertive but controlled drive to second place in her first heat and followed it up with steady, learning-the-lines drives in her second and third heats to progress safely to a front row grid slot in the first semi-final. A slowish take off from the start line saw her drop briefly down the order but then she upped her pace to pick off Durdin and Hawkes on the next three laps. She took her joker on lap five then on the last lap had a titanic battle with eventual winner Kris Hudson to finish less than half a second behind him.
For the Saturday Final, Drew found herself fourth on the grid, behind the Hudson brothers Kris and Keifer, and David Bell, with Durdin and the Hawkes duo behind her. A stunning joker run on the second lap brought her back onto the track in front of Keifer Hudson, and she then set about a fascinating duel with Bell, which ended after six laps with him in second behind Hudson, but a mere 0.3 sec in front of Drew.
After the podium Drew said: “I’m pleased with the way I’ve improved today, and I’m driving with more confidence, the car feels fantastic. Thanks to Dad, Kev, and Thomas for their hard work!”
Sister Paige meanwhile, was returned to her Lotus Exige after its engine upgrade and she started the learning curve from Supercharged to normally aspirated with the new Honda engine. Her confidence (and speed) improved throughout the three qualifying heats, and she started the Super National Final in fourth place on the second row of the grid. Unfortunately, a small off on the second lap dropped her down the order, and she finished in sixth.
On Sunday, the track was reversed to run anti-clockwise, which is a unique feature within the British Rallycross Championship.
Both Drew and Paige like the circuit in this configuration, and it was obvious throughout the day as first Drew, then Paige, stormed through the heats to their respective Finals, and took podium places.
Drew took her place on the front row of the grid, sandwiched between Keifer Hudson on pole and David Bell making up the third place, but Drew got a blistering start straight off the line, and was able to put Hudson immediately onto his joker lap. From there, Drew took the lead and drove a controlled race to the winning line.
Afterwards, Drew could hardly contain her excitement; “Overwhelmed, on cloud nine and thankful are a few emotions which come to mind as I finish 1st in BMW Mini class, Round 5 at Pembrey circuit. I’m so grateful to my crew, and to my sponsors FUCHS Titan Race, Procter’s Coaches, Mad4Mini, 710, Yokohama, Ripla. This would not happen without you!!”
In her final, Paige was fifth on the grid, but another assertive race saw her take both Coney and Corner because of her superb lines out of the corners, and she was satisfied with her drive to a well-deserved third on the podium.
FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Paul Barrett and new co-driver Will Rogers fought back from early delays to scoop maximum points in round four of the FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Red Kite Stages.
Rallying returned into the forests of South Wales for the first time in four years.
A fabulous battle raged for BHRC points with just 42 seconds covering the top seven championship finishers.
In the end, Barrett/Rogers scythed ahead of Simon Webster/Jez Rogers to record a last stage victory. In a dramatic finish, Steve Bennett/Osian Owen edged Webster back to fourth by a single second, while only one second down on Bennett was another Escort Mk2 in the hands of Ryan Barrett/Paul McCann.
Category victories went to Chris Skill/Tom Murphy (Ford Escort Mk1) and Malcolm Rich/Arwel Blainey (Ford Anglia) on a day when high speed stages and hanging dust made conditions challenging. However, the little used stages drew rave reviews from the crews, many of whom were tackling these forests for the first time.
It was an important result for Paul Barrett in the championship after a non-finish on the previous rally. “We’ve had so much help to get here after the fire on Carlisle,” he said.
The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from FUCHS Lubricants went to Barry Stevenson-Wheeler who had worked flat out to repair his Ford Escort Mk2 after an off on the Carlisle Stages two weekends earlier.
The Red Kite Stages was the fourth round of the new BHRC2.
The value and status of BHRC2 was ably demonstrated as the top three cars were covered by just 11 seconds after a glorious battle at the head of class C2.
Eliot Retallick and Tim Tugwell (Hillman Avenger) badly wanted a finish and battled back from a cautious start to grab the class over the similar car of Ken Graham/Rory McCann and the Escort Mk1 of Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead.
The result of Category 1 changed within sight of the end of the final stage when Rikki Proffitt and Graham Wild were nearly a minute ahead until a damaged ball joint allowed a front wheel to work loose. With just three corners of the final stage to go, their rally was over.
Instead, Malcolm Rich and Arwel Blainey swept by to win Category 1 after an attacking drive in the Ford Anglia. Bob Bean and Miles Cartwright (Lotus Cortina) were half a minute adrift after a slightly off-colour rally, but still clear of the Volvo Amazon of Ken Davies/Alun Jones.
Mixed fortunes for CA1 Sport drivers Ypres rally in Belgium
Last weekend saw the third round of the British Rally Championship running on the Ypres rally in Belgium.
FUCHS-supported rally team CA1 Sport had two entries on the event – David Bogie/John Rowan and Rhys Yates/Elliott Edmondson, both driving Skoda Fabia R5s.
Rhys was pleased with the way the first day’s stages went, but then unfortunately had to retire before the start of day two when Elliott was taken seriously ill overnight.
David Bogie was pleased with his ninth overall on the event, which he described as top class, and he collected points for second place In the BRC standings. He has now moved up to fifth position, after his non-finish earlier in the season.
Ciceley Motorsport
It turned out to be a disappointing weekend for Ciceley Motorsport in the BTCC.
Adam Morgan managed just three points after struggling with the 57kgs of ballast and qualifying in 22nd.
More frustration followed as he was clipped twice in race one and had to retire with a broken rear suspension.
Morgan then was hit with a drive-through penalty in race two, forcing him to the back of the pack. He managed to climb back to 19th by the end of the race, before coming home in 12th in the final outing.
Morgan is down to sixth in the championship, but told FUCHS he still believes he is in title contention.
Tom Oliphant, meanwhile, was amongst the points by finishing 16th, 13th and 14th.
Kershaw Racing
There was quadruple success for Kershaw Racing at the Cadwell Sidecar Revival – and Steve Kershaw / Stuart Clark are now running away with the British Sidecar Championship.
Once past Gary Bryan, Steve Kershaw never looked back in race one and stretched the lead to win comfortably.
This was a reverse grid format in race two after a big crash, and the new race ran over five laps. It gave Gary Bryan and Phil Hyde the chance to really build a lead, but eventually the flying Scotsmen Kershaw and Clark overhauled them.
And Kershaw/Clark completed an amazing weekend with first place in races three and four as well to open up a 75-point lead at the top.
Murray & Meede Motorsport
Gavin Murray and Murray & Meede Motorsport were in action again in the National Hot Rods.
Gavin didn’t make it out for the first heat after discovering that the gear stick had snapped clean off!
After much work, Gavin lined up in 12th for the second heat, the Thunder 500, and brought the #95 home in seventh.
The team has plenty of work to be done in readiness for the 2018 Championship Of the World in two weeks’ time.
Gavin said: “The team will then go through every nut and bolt on the car, checking and replacing where necessary.”
Vitus Pro Cycling Team
The FUCHS Silkolene-backed Vitus Pro Cycling Team took on the Tour of the Reservoir in the North East on the weekend.
Spaniard Julio Amores top-performed for the Vitus team by finishing 53rd with a time of 7:35:17.
And finally…
Ashleigh Morris heads to Knockhill this weekend for the next round of the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup.
MinI #77 is getting back to being race fit after sustaining some serious damage at Anglesey last time out.
