FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA BHRC & BTCC Close for 2018
FUCHS LUBRICANTS MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis reigned supreme on their home event in the Trackrod Historic Cup – the sixth and final round of the FUCHS Lubricants MSA British Historic Rally Championship.
Meanwhile, Brian Hodgson was confirmed as champion co-driver in this year’s MSA BHRC. With champion driver Paul Barrett using several co-drivers through the season, Hodgson became the top co-driver after a superb campaign alongside Stuart Egglestone in their Ford Escort Mk2. Chris Skill was crowned as Category 2 champion in his Ford Escort Mk2.
FUCHS-supported driver Bob Bean with co-driver Miles Cartwright claimed the Category 1 title and the inaugural BHRC2 crown after coming out on top of the division for Category 1 and 1600cc cars in their Lotus Cortina.
Full report here: https://www.FUCHS.com/uk/en/company/news/motorsports/news-entry/1633-home-rule-for-robinson-and-collis-in-bhrc-final/
Chris Skill collected the award for the ‘Best Improvement on Seeding’, The ‘Spirit of the Rally’ product award from FUCHS Lubricants went to Matthew Robinson and co-driver Sam Collis and Paul Barrett won the ‘Hard Charger’ gong.
Three top 10 finishers for FUCHS Lubricants on Trackrod rally
Meanwhile, in the Rally Yorkshire BTRDA event, three FUCHS backed crews celebrated finishing fourth, fifth, and sixth overall.
FUCHS backed team CA1 Sport were looking after Tom Preston and co-driver Dai Roberts in Tom’s Skoda Fabia R5, the crew finished an excellent fourth overall, and taking the award for first in class B14.
Fifth placed overall and less than a minute behind Preston after 45 miles of stages in the North Yorkshire forests were Ian Joel and Graeme Wood in their Ford Escort Cosworth. The pair had been lying ninth after the morning stages, but then charged hard on the afternoon loop through Staindale and the blindingly fast Langdale to move into fifth position at the finish. This excellent result secured the BTRDA class B13 title for the pair, as well as the Heart of England championship title.
And finishing in sixth place, after a troubled run on the last two stages which included two spins before losing the clutch on Langdale, were N4 crew Pat Naylor and co-driver Ian Lawrence in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 . This placing did, however, clinch third overall for the pair in the Gold Star BTRDA championship as well as second in class N4 in the BTRDA championship.
Freddie earns world championship wild card
Karting supremo Freddie Housley has been handed a wild card place on the grid for the IAME International Finals in Le Mans next week.
Freddie will be racing for the PSR International Motorsport Academy as this is the team he will be running with for the European Championships next season.
Freddie’s dad Dave said: “The wild card came as a real shock and brings being thrown in at the deep end to another level.
“This is an amazing opportunity which will be more about gaining experience than the results.
“I had to peel Freddie off the ceiling when I told him! He was concerned that he hasn’t even seen the kart let alone drive it as it is bigger and faster than the one he drives in the UK, but once I told him he has a full week of testing at Le Mans, he was happy to say the least.”
M&M Motorsport jump to second
M&M Motorsport headed to Northampton Shaleway for Round 4 of the 2019 World Qualifying Series – the first time the National Hot Rods have raced on shale since 1991, and the first time ever Gavin has raced on the dirt surface.
Just eight drivers booked on for the event.
Gavin started race one in P8 but found his way up to third before losing the spot five laps from the end and crossed the line in P4.
Gavin went one better in race two to come home in third before a fine P2 in the final outing after a cracking battle with Dick Hillard, the only driver in the field that raced at the last shale meeting 27 years ago.
Gavin concluded that shale is something he’d love to try again.
The official points standings after round four haven’t been released but the team expects to have jumped nine places to second ahead of round five at Hednesford Hills Raceway on October 14.
Mixed fortunes for Morgan in final round of 2018
FUCHS-backed Adam Morgan finished the 2018 BTCC season in seventh place overall after an up and down final round at Brands Hatch GP.
Morgan stayed out of trouble in race one to bring his Mercedes A-Class home in 13th.
Problems hit in race two as Morgan suffered a puncture and had to drop out. Team-mate Tom Oliphant, who had finished 19th in race one, was also hit with engine failure and did not finish.
A brilliant drive from Morgan earned him P11 in the final outing of the year, while another solid drive from Oliphant saw him cross the line in 20th.
Ciceley Motorsport finished the season 17th in the team championship – and fifth in the independents.
Irwin brothers impress as Haslam tightens grip on title
Be Wiser Ducati’s Glenn Irwin put in a pair of solid performances in the two Bennetts British Superbike Championship races at Assen to finish in fourth and fifth places to remain well in contention for third place overall in this year’s series.
Younger brother Andrew also took a fine sixth place in race two to make it a brilliant weekend for the Irwin family.
Leon Haslam, also backed by FUCHS Silkolene, strengthened his vice-like grip on the championship trophy by winning both races – and with some style.
Haslam now has a 61 point lead over Jake Dixon heading into the final round at Brands Hatch GP.
Meanwhile, Peter Hickman, another of the FUCHS Silkolene stable, closed to within eight points of third overall after the Smiths Racing BMW rider put in two superb rides to finish third and fourth.
Disappointment for champions Kershaw Racing
There was rare disappointment for British Sidecar Championship champions Kershaw Racing in Assen.
After qualifying in pole and setting a new PB lap time, Steve Kershaw and Stuart Clark had to pull out of race one with an electrical fault – and then a blown engine saw the team retire from race two as well.
“That’s racing,” said a philosophical Kershaw.
Final round for RNRMMXT
The final event of the year for the Royal Navy Royal Marines Motocross Team came at the Acerbis Amateur Nationals final round at Pontrilas.
Adam Figgins and Nick Carbury competed for the team. Adam has missed most of the year through various injuries and was chasing points, while Nick has competed throughout most of the year and was the leading Royal Navy rider.
On a difficult track, Adam and Nick came home 21st and 22nd respectively in race one. A rear tyre puncture ruined Adam’s second race, easing the bike over the line in 31st. Nick managed 17th.
There was a delay while the track was watered, after which Adam recorded an excellent P8, while Nick settled for 25th. That was enough to secure the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines Championships for Nick.
Nick kicked off day two by holding his teammate at bay for 14th by a few tenths of a second, while Adam was place behind.
And the season finished with a 22nd for Nick and a 13th for Adam.
Adam passed Nick in the Inter-Services Championship and secured second place, while the efforts of both riders were enough to secure the Inter-Service victory for the Royal Navy.
WALES RALLY GB next event for CA1 Sport
Martin Wilkinson and his CA1 Sport crew are heading to north Wales for this weekend‘s round of the World Rally Championship, starting from Deeside on Friday and finishing in Llandudno on Sunday. The team are supporting two crews on the event – David Bogie and John Rowan are competing on the international event, and Tom Preston with co-driver Carl Williamson. Both crews are competing in Skoda Fabia R5s.
Also taking part in the National event is FUCHS backed driver Bob Bean, with co-driver Malcolm Smithson, in Bob’s immaculate Lotus Ford Cortina.
More information at https://www.walesrallygb.com , and various stages on the event will be on terrestrial TV this weekend on Channel 5 and Eurosport (see listings for times and channels).
