Podium delight (again!) for both Paige and Drew at ‘home’ event
Podium delight (again!) for both Paige and Drew at ‘home’ event
Both Paige and Drew Bellerby, supported by FUCHS Lubricants, survived the apocalyptic downpours which punctuated the British Rallycross Championship meeting at Croft circuit last Sunday to record podium finishes in their respective Finals.
Paige, now in her Honda Engined Lotus Exige again, had what she described as a character-building progression through the preliminary qualifying heats, including ‘sticky’ brakes in heat one, an ‘off’ into the gravel trap at Clerveaux when Ovenden missed his braking point on the opening lap of heat two, and a heavy downpour in heat three.
She had a clear run from second on the grid in her semi-final to an untroubled and excellent time to win her semi.
In the final she lined up in the middle of the front row between Ovendon (Renault Clio V6) and Scott (Citroen C2), and got a clean getaway to hold on to second. But, after being hit by Coney (Vauxhall Corsa VX) on the second lap, she briefly dropped down the order before fighting her way back up to secure a well-deserved second place at the flag.
Afterwards, a delighted Paige said: “This really wouldn’t be possible without generous team help from FUCHS Lubricants and my personal sponsors – thank you very much.”
Paige has now moved up to second place in the Supernational category in the British Rallycross Championship
Drew, meanwhile, seemed to get the fluffy end of every lollipop that came her way last Sunday.
In her FUCHS-supported BMW Mini Cooper S, she was on course for a good time in her first heat until she had to park up with a broken throttle pedal. Heat two she started on the last row of the grid in the middle of a downpour, but kept her nerve to finish a fine third.
Then heat three saw the heavens open as she made her way to the grid and turned the track into a skating rink.
Afterwards, she explained: “I just can’t get the grip, I’m understeering everywhere, and it hardly feels like my car!” In spite of which she finished third in the heat.
She got a blistering start in the Final which saw her moving up through the ranks, but it all came to nought when Kris Hudson crashed out from Pole position on the first bend when he misjudged the grip (or lack of it).
After the re-start, the race, which was run in the most appalling conditions (think Apocalypse Now meets Niagara Falls), was controlled from the front by David Bell, but a titanic struggle between Drew, Bradley Durdin and brothers Andrew and Martin Hawkes ensued with places swapping at nearly every bend.
Drew took control of third place on the penultimate lap, and she was able to retain her position for a fine podium.
After her Final, Drew said: “I’m so grateful to everyone for their help, especially FUCHS Lubricants, and also our mechanic Thomas who drove home from Mannheim where he is now working, to help us service our cars this weekend.”
This result now moves Drew up to fourth place in the BMW Mini category in the championship.
Williams tops Asphalt BHRC contenders on Epynt
Neil Williams and Peter James made a triumphant return to the FUCHS Lubricants MSA British Historic Rally Championship to take maximum points on round five, the Harry Flatters Rally on Epynt (Sunday).
The Ford Escort Mk2 crew used all their experience of the daunting asphalt stages over the Epynt ranges in Wales as testing weather conditions added to the challenge.
Paul Barrett, co-driven by Dai Roberts, strengthened his place at the top of the championship with an excellent second place despite limited prior Epynt knowledge.
Category victories went to Simon Tysoe/Paul Morris (Ford Escort Mk1) and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911).
Out early with fuel problem went Nick Elliott and Dave Price, while Steve Bennett/Osian Owen retired with a broken halfshaft on the driver’s first asphalt rally for many years.
It was Simon Webster and Jez Rogers who took third in Category D/K - but only narrowly from the Hillman Avenger of Ieuan Rowlands/Emyr Hall after a rare foray onto asphalt for Rowlands.
Class D3, for the Pinto-engined Escort Mk2s featured a monster battle as Stuart Egglestone and Brian Hodgson beat Josh Browne/Max Freeman by just two seconds as Browne shrugged of a run of problems to take a great result. Brothers Malcolm and Ronald Mounsey survived to take class D2 in their Talbot Sunbeam Ti.
A strong Skipton Ford Category 2 entry was convincingly topped by Simon Tysoe/Paul Morris (Ford Escort Mk1) after a tremendous performance that put them third overall among the BHRC contenders. They finished well clear of the similar car of Andrew Stokes/Adrian McNally.
The other class winners in Category 2 were local crew Mike Simpson/Dale Gibbons (C3 Escort Mk1), despite a rapid gearbox change at service, and leading C2 crew Ken Graham/Rory McCann in their Hillman Avenger.
As well as being the fifth of eight BHRC rounds, the Harry Flatters Rally was also the fifth round of the new BHRC2.
Topping the excellent REIS Category 1 field was the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride, who turned in a tremendous performance in tough conditions to win the category by over a minute from the hard-charging Ford Anglia of Malcolm Rich/Arwel Blainey.
Graham/McCann took third in BHRC2 while, despite some problems, Rikki Proffitt/Graham Wild (Porsche 911) salvaged third in the category from the class B2 winning Mini Cooper of Phil Harris/Richard Jones. Out of luck with a visit to a ditch were Bob Bean and Miles Cartwright (Lotus Cortina).
Results are at: https://www.ewrc-results.com/final/45790-harry-flatters-historic-rally-2018/?sct=453
Steve Brown returns to Flanders
FUCHS-backed Nissan Micra Kit Car pilot Steve Brown will make a return to the Flanders International Rally Challenge (FIRC) in Belgium this weekend after solving recent power issues in his newly rebuilt machine.
He will contest Les Boucles Chevrotines which forms round six of the series (4/5 August).
Brown has endured a tough start to the season after the Nissan took longer than expected to be ready after 12 months out of active competition due to development work.
After using a Historic specification Mintex backed Mini Cooper as a stand-in, the Rochdale driver was pleased to welcome the Micra back into the fold at the invite-only Rallye Festival Transmiera in Spain in April.
“It felt really good to be back in the car at Rally Van Wervik but at the same time it was a little frustrating that we didn’t have the power we hoped for,” said Brown.
“But the car had a good shakedown last week which is encouraging. Along with the other developments we have made over the last 12 months or so, this is the rally I’ve been looking forward to the most.”
It was a shocker - Adam Morgan
Adam Morgan finds himself 67 points behind the leader in the British Touring Car Championship after a “shocker” of a weekend at Snetterton.
Morgan finished a satisfying 10th in race one – but, sadly, that was as good as it got for the Lancashire racer as bumps and crashes forced him off track and out of contention in both races two and three.
Morgan told FUCHS: “I think it’s fair to say Snetterton was a bit of a shocker for me.
“It is so, so disappointing because at times I could tell the pace was in the car.
“All that said, there is no point dwelling on poor weekends. There are still 240 points left to race for and I’ll just being going out all guns blazing to get some podiums.
“We’ve had two consecutive bad rounds now, but one good weekend can turn things around. We’ll be going to Rockingham, a place where we know we can do well, full of optimism.”
Carl still battling it out at the top
Motorcycle ace Carl Vickers is still battling it out at the top echelons of Thundersport GB in the Golden Era Supersport category.
Vickers is currently eighth in the championship following a great weekend at Brands Hatch which saw P9 and P7 finishes.
FUCHS Silkolene ambassadors back on track for British Superbike Championship
There’s no let-up for FUCHS Silkolene’s top-level ambassadors, who return to action in the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton this weekend.
Leon Haslam is top of the pops after six rounds, while another of our sponsored riders, Glenn Irwin, is third and Peter Hickman is 10th.
Elsewhere, our main man Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is continuing his rehabilitation after his horror crash. Shakey’s ‘halo’ brace pinned into his skull has been removed. There is still a long way to go for the six-times champion – but we’re delighted to see him smiling.
