Rally Podiums for FUCHS
FUCHS LUBRICANTS Classic Mini Challenge – Tour of Epynt
Jim Brindle secured top spot in the second round of the FUCHS Lubricants Classic Mini Challenge with an impressive performance in the Brecon Beacons.
The championship moved from the flat lands of Lincolnshire to the rolling hills of mid-Wales on the Tour of Epynt last weekend.
The difficult tarmac roads of the Army military ranges were rendered even more challenging than usual thanks to freezing winds and drifting snow.
With Sam Bould as codriver, Brindle (Mini 1275 GT) was fast out of the blocks and took the lead on the first stage from LLandello’r Fan Triangle down the Burmah Road with Peter Ellerby and Rick Ford (Mini Cooper S) close behind.
The next test was the 11.25 mile New Road Stage and both Ellerby and Ford overtook Brindle, who struggled to get things together.
In fourth spot close behind Ford was Steve Robinson but he was sidelined by clutch issues in service.
The next two stages were a repeat of the SS1 & 2 and Ford took the lead from Ellerby by three seconds with Brindle a further 11 seconds behind.
SS5 was stopped after an accident and this left the final two stages being a reverse run of the New Road and Burmah Road tests linked together making a 13.82 mile stage. The ranges then threw in another challenge in the shape of some hail and the leaderboard was turned on its head.
Brindle went 56 seconds faster than Ford but Ellerby met the scenery and damaged his oil cooler causing instant retirement.
The final stage proved Brindle was back in the grove, extending his lead by a further 21 seconds to take the overall win.
There were some worried faces as Barry Stenhouse arrived before Martin Melling reporting him parked up ok as he passed them. Melling had had a trip across the grass backwards hitting a rock and dislodging the fuel pump. Fortunately, he found the problem, only dropping 10 minutes in the stage but that dropped him to final spot overall, despite a solid consistent run all day.
Stenhouse proved consistency pays and another third overall finish sees him in third overall in the championship.
RESULTS: 1st Jim Brindle / Sam Bould 1 hr 17:34 ; 2nd Rick Ford / Neil Macdonald 1hr 18:34 ; 3rd Barry Stenhouse / Suzzana Whalley 1hr 32:40 ; 4th Martin Melling / Lewis Griffiths 1hr 38:40
The next round is on the 21st April on the Warcop Military Ranges in Cumbria.
Superb 2ndoverall for Joel / Wood on Malcolm Wilson rally
Ian Joel and co-river Graeme Wood defied the odds last Saturday to record a well-deserved second overall on the second round of the BTRDA national rally championship held in Cumbria.
The day started inauspiciously for the rally, with high winds, driving rain and occasional (!) blizzards forecast for the Cumbrian forests.
The first two stages in Hobcarton and Comb were high up in the fells, and both had a decent covering of snow, making the judging of speed vs risks-to-take tricky.
FUCHS-backed driver Ian Joel judged it to a nicety however, and came out of the first pair in the lead of the 90 car field.
The skill and experience of the Ford Escort Cosworth crew shone through in the next few stages, as they kept at the head of a field of WRC, R5 and N4 cars. Only on the last stage, when they knocked the front of the rear diff skid plate loose on an errant rock through the five miles of the Greystoke stage did they relinquish the overall lead of the event to Euan Thorburn / Paul Beaton in the Ford Focus WRC.
At the end of a difficult day, all the crews thanked the marshals, radio crews, timekeepers and all other officials for their hard work in extremely difficult conditions.
Naylor falls foul of a puncture
Pat Naylor / Ian Lawrence in the Mitsubishi Evo 9 were also competing on the Malcolm Wilson rally, and hoping to build on their magnificent third overall on the first round of the BTRDA championship.
Being aware of the conditions, the pair made a steady start, but were unfortunate enough to collect a front-wheel puncture less than half a mile from the end of the first stage. They feared their resulting time loss would have dropped them out of the top ten, so decided to push a little harder on stage two, Comb. Unfortunately, towards the end of the stage Pat misjudged the grip under the lying snow, and they slid off down a steep bank from which they could not recover the car onto the track.
FUCHS LUBRICANTS BTRDA 1400 championship
Twelve crews out of the 17 registered for the FUCHS Lubricants 1400 BTRDA championship made the long journey to Cockermouth for the Malcolm Wilson rally, with the MG ZR crew of Callum Black / Michael Gilbey taking the championship win from the Cambrian rally winning pair of Chris Powell / Jim Lewis in their Talbot Sunbeam. Both these crews were placed in the top 20 overall, an incredible result given the challenging weather conditions as well as the quality (and quantity) of the event’s entry list.
Podium start to the year for Team Green MX UK
FUCHS Silkolene-backed Team Green MX UK looked to build on the success of Greg Aranda winning the Arenacross UK 450cc class, Ben Clayton winning the Rookies and Raife Broadley the Supermini class, in the first major outdoor championship race of 2019 - The Michelin MX Nationals.
Team Green MX UK racers; Lewis Hall (Pro MX2), Keenan Hird (Pro MX2), Kacey Hird (MXY2 Youth), Raife Broadley (Big Wheeled 85cc) and Harrison Greenough (Small Wheeled 85cc) were all prepared and ready to get going after a solid winter of training.
Team Manager Jeff Perrett said: “Everyone has worked really hard this winter as we look to step up our programme. As a team we really want to go up a level this year. Our paddock set up is brighter and bigger and we’re going EMX250 racing with Lewis, Keenan and Kacey, so exciting times lie ahead.”
Kacey Hird has worked hard on his fitness and it showed with him topping his group in qualification before finishing second overall, winning a moto on the way. He is targeting the points lead after next weekend.
Broadley is a little bit behind the curve as he’s been competing in Arenacross and hasn’t had the same outdoor preparation as the others. He had a few small problems with his bike and crashed a couple of times when trying too hard and finished 11thoverall. It’s not the start he wanted but he now has more time to prepare for the next round.
Lewis Hall, in only his second year in the pros, qualified in second but then suffered a couple of bumps and had a do a goggle stop mid-moto and came home in 13thoverall. He will be encouraged by his qualifying pace, though.
Keenan Hird, meanwhile, finished 14thafter sitting out the second moto with an ankle injury, and Harrison Greenough came 10thdespite a big crash on the Saturday.
Royal Engineers Enduro Team
The Royal Engineers Enduro Team are gearing up for the second round of the British Enduro Championship in Devon this weekend.
The team enjoyed a successful first round recently in Dorset with Cameron Young (Expert E2) finishing 22ndand 13thin class and Jack Purcell (Expert E2) 29thoverall and 16thin class.
Jordan Young (Clubman E2) is riding a KTM 250 TPI this season after a few years on a Beta. He described his new bike as a “magic carpet” to ride. He’ll be looking to build on his P25 over and P10 in class in the next round.
Nathan Baggot (Clubman E1) started slow but improved to record a P8 finish overall, and P3 in class.
British RX 2019 Round One at Silverstone
The entry list has been confirmed for British RX 2019 Round One at Silverstone, including sisters Paige and Drew Bellerby, along with Bellerby Motorsport new recruit, Steve Brown.
The championship gets started on March 24.
Superbikes are go
Official British Superbikes testing gets underway today (Wednesday) at The Circuito Monteblanco in Southern Spain.
Good luck to our sponsored teams!
