Weekly Round Up: Rallycross Final Round Preview
Rallycross
Silverstone revisited
This coming weekend sees the final round of the British rallycross championship at Silverstone, which hosted the opening event of the season.
Hoping to finish on a high is Fuchs-supported Drew Bellerby, in her BMW Mini, looking to improve on her current 4th position in the table as she is a mere 6 points away from a podium.
Sister Paige however, will not be able to defend her current 2nd position in the SuperNational class as she cannot get time off to go to Silverstone.
Instead, senior Bellerby Dad, Dave, is giving her Lotus Exige its final outing of the season, after a year’s competitive layoff. Dave competed at Croft last weekend in the BTRDA championship, and was pleased with the development and set-up work he was able to do, despite the horrible weather conditions, in the morning heats. In the afternoon’s Final, he started from pole, and was able to hold off hard-charging Tony Lynch (Ford KA) for a dominant win.
The final round is on Saturday November 3rd, further details are available from https://www.rallycrossbrx.com/
Freddie Housley
There has been more exciting news for young karting king Freddie Housley.
Off the back of his performance in the World Finals recently, Freddie’s team principle at PSR International Motorsport Academy has put together a package for him to race in The Asia Finals in Thailand on November 24-25.
What’s more, they have also allocated Colin Brown, who is a former karting world champion, to coach Freddie with testing in the UK in readiness for the race. Colin will also be by his side for the duration of the week in Thailand.
It is all part of giving him as much support and training as possible leading up to the European assault, which starts in February 2019.
Holden Racing
FUCHS-backed Holden Racing were back in action in the Quaife Modified Saloons Championship at Brands Hatch.
The team qualified in pole in dry but cold conditions. Unfortunately, the team’s winning run came to end in race one when, with Alex Sidwell pushing for second, the Holden Commodore 5000 spun off track, resulting in a DNF.
There was better news in the second race with Alex pushing from P8 to second on a wet track with slicks on. Another few laps and the team might have had the lead.
No Yorkshire leg for 2019 Roger Albert Clark Rally
The final draft of the route for the 2019 Roger Albert Clark Rally has been confirmed and will not feature a leg into Yorkshire.
The organising team had hoped to take the rally back into the Yorkshire forests during the Saturday leg of the November 21-25 rally, but the Forestry Commission Yorkshire Forest District has rejected the request on the grounds that the event is “too close to the Malton Stages”.
Rally manager Colin Heppenstall had always planned two options for the Saturday of the rally and will now press ahead with a leg based out of Carlisle and taking in some of the best stages across the southern fringe of Kielder forest in what promises to be one of the toughest days of rally. Current plans are based on over 100 stage miles in a tough 12-hour day.
Steve Brown
FUCHS Lubricants-backed Steve Brown was back in action recently in his Nissan Kit Car at the Hemicuda Rally in Belgium.
Taking place in Koekelare in the Flanders region of Belgium, the Hemicuda Rally is considered to be one of the most exciting of the series. The stages are fast and demanding, but on excellent tarmac between the flat fields of the plain, and with the added peril of the Belgian ditches waiting to catch out the unwary – of which there were apparently many!
With a start number of 112, Brown finished 34th overall and was quick to praise regular co-driver Paul Stringer on the notes. At the time of writing, the FIRC has not published their results from the 2-wheel drive category which they run in conjunction with each of the rally organisers.
Afterwards, Brown said: “It’s a rally we really enjoy doing at this stage of the season – the stages are good, and the organisation is spot on. There were loads of people off in ditches, but with Paul on the notes I kept it clean all day.”
Gavin Murray
Gavin Murray and Murray Motorsport head to their local track, Foxhall Raceway, for Round Six of the National Hot Rods World Qualifying Series.
Gavin had good pace in heat one and scored a sixth place from towards the back of the grid.
But things came to an abrupt end in the early stages of heat two when Gavin tangled with a back marker, lost the brakes and steering and hit the wall.
With too much to repair to get out for the final, the dejected team loaded up for the evening.
They now have one more week to get the car ready for Round Seven at Hednesford Hills Raceway.
Calum Beach Racing
Calum Beach revved up for the last race meeting of the year at Mallory Park, competing with EMRRA on the Aprilia 125.
The weather was stunning for late October and Cal got straight on it in qualification, coming in in 10th position for the race, which was second in his class.
Cal rode brilliantly in both races to get two second places with his best ever lap times round Mallory, feeling more confident with the bike every session.
Calum said: “That’s a wrap for us for 2018 on the race scene and upon reflection it’s been a good one. We found moving up to the big tracks difficult at times but now I’m loving it and knowing our plans for 2019, I’m really excited.”
CV Racing
Carl Vickers travelled to Snetterton for the final rounds of the Thundersport GB Golden Era Supersport / Steelsport championship.
Carl finished race one in a solid P8 and wrapped up a great weekend of hard-fought, close action racing with a P9 in the final outing.
Carl’s bike will be on show at the Motorcycle Live, NEC Birmingham on the Thundersport GB stand.
Glenn Irwin
FUCHS Silkolene-backed British Superbike ace Glenn Irwin won both races at the Sunflower Trophy – donating £4,000 to the family of William Dunlop in the process.
Irwin rode the B.E. Racing Kawasaki to victory in both Supertwin races at the County Down circuit, winning £400 in prize-money.
He matched that amount himself and his sponsors topped it up to £4,000.
William Dunlop was tragically killed while racing in July. The money will go to his family.
Adam Simmons drifting
Adam Simmons and Matt Stevenson might not have had a great season in the British Drift Championship – but Slide Motorsport still managed to get third place!
That was thanks largely to Jason Clark, who stepped up and smashed it all year to win the most improved driver award.
Adam said: “Massive thanks to all our crew and sponsors. Now the season’s done we have some massive changes ahead with new cars to build and maybe some new additions to the team for next year.”
Paul Culverwell
Cannock based rally driver Paul Culverwell took the long trip with Welsh co-driver Ryan Jones to contest the Roberts Garages Jersey Rally.
The stage rally, run on the largest of the Channel Islands, consisted of 260 miles 125 of which were competitive over 27 stages. A notoriously difficult rally due to the very demanding nature of the event. The rally consisted of two days of very narrow lanes, tight junctions, hairpins, night stages and many surface changes lay in wait for the 87 starters.
Culverwell and Jones were seeded at car 45 in their Darrian T9, supported by FUCHS Lubricants.
Opting for a steady approach on the opening two loops of stages, as both crew were new to the event, they were pleased to reach second service in around 35th place.
The car was performing perfectly so no changes were made apart from fitting the spotlight pod for the upcoming night stages. These too were completed without a hitch, as the crews returned late on Friday night to park ferme in 30th position.
The weather stayed kind to everyone as the rally restarted early on Saturday morning. The crew started the Saturday stages confidently with only a change of front tyres being necessary. The crew pushed on through the day climbing the leader board up into the early 20s.
With only three stages to go a noise and mechanical rattle started at the rear of the car.
With only a 10 minute service there was no time to effect a repair so they went into the last three stages nursing the car round trying not to lose too much time but get to the finish.
The driveshaft finally failed right at the end of the event with Culverwell and Jones just able to literally push the car into the final control. The resultant time loss dropped the exhausted pair down to 29th position. A very respectable result for a new partnership in the car and a new event for both.
