Silverstone proves a happy hunting ground for Bellerby RX
British Rallycross Championship season opener at Silverstone is happy hunting ground for Brown and Bellerbys
The 2019 rallycross season opened at Silverstone at the weekend, and was in great contrast to last year’s opener when the ground was as frozen as the brave souls who made the trek to Northamptonshire in the teeth of the gale that was howling in from the east. This year the track was in great condition following remedial work over the winter to put it back to tip top condition.
Paige (Lotus Exige - Pictured) and Drew Bellerby (BMW Mini) are being joined this year in the championship by Steve Brown (also BMW Mini), and the trio enjoyed a successful, if a little mixed, opening round.
Paige was first up in her normally-aspirated Lotus Exige, and successfully negotiated her three heats, landing second, second and third, to put her straight onto the front row of the grid for the Supernational Final. In an extremely competitive field, Paige held her nerve to record a steady fourth place finish, behind Ovendon, Thorne and the rapid Irish driver McGarry.
“I know I’m down on power to the other guys, so I’m really pleased to hold them to such a close result,” was Paige’s take on the day. “But now I’m really looking forward to Lydden Hill at Easter, it’s such a good circuit to drive”.
Starting her first event of the year in her new build BMW Mini was sister Drew, who had a small problem in the practice session when the car lapsed on to three cylinders. Following that minor hiccup which was soon sorted, she settled down right from the off and finished second, second and fourth in her three heats. She started her semi-final from pole position and was untroubled on her way to winning her semi.
This was sufficient to place her on the front row of the BMW Mini Final grid, from where she was alongside Bell and Hawkes into the first corner before settling in behind that pair. She was able to stay close to Hawkes, and her persistence paid off when she was able to harry him into an overly wide approach to the first corner of the last lap. She didn’t need a second invitation, and simply slotted her car tidily up the inside and into a fine second place, which she held to the chequered flag.
“That was a great day’s racing,” said Drew after she collected her trophy. “I know Hawkesy has been a bit susceptible to pressure, so I kept him as close as I could, then after he took his joker on lap four, I took mine on lap five and gained a couple of seconds on the joker, so all I had to do was wait for a gap. He went wide on that first right hander and left the door way too far open for me.”
Steve Brown is better known as a rally driver (particularly in Belgium where his yellow Micro always draws crowds) but this year he has decided to try his hand at rallycross. “It always looks such fun, and it’s really good for family entertainment because you can see the entire circuit, so I’ve had a BMW Mini built, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Brown liked the circuit, and wasn’t fazed by the surface changes from gravel to tarmac and back again. “Just normal,’ was his take on that, and also the spectacular jump on the far side of the circuit. He found the handling of the car neutral (as he likes it) and was pleased with the way he dealt with the pressure of having other drivers around him in the heats. At his first meeting, he found himself qualified for the BMW Mini Final. But, after the semi-final, the starter motor failed, which affected the alternator too. As the Final started, he gradually lost all power steering input, but was delighted to come home eighth and get points on the board.
“I’m really pleased with the car and the way it drives so I was able to concentrate on the racing aspects of the circuit – having other people around me, taking my own line wherever possible and learning the different lines around the track,” said Brown afterwards. “It makes me feel I want to get straight on with Lydden Hill, but that’s not until Easter.”
Bellerby RX receives support from FUCHS LUBRICANTS.
Closed road rallying visits the Fylde coast
Friday and Saturday of last weekend was the first time that public roads had been closed for a motor rally in the north west of England. Large crowds took to the streets of Garstang to watch the 116 cars leave the ceremonial start for the first of three Friday evening stages at the Warton camp.
When Saturday dawned bright and clear, it meant that even more spectators were attracted to watch this unique event. FUCHS backed-CA1 Sport took the short trip down the M6 from Carlisle to look after Tom Preston / Carl Williamson in the Skoda Fabia R5, and Steve Simpson / Patrick Walsh in a Ford Fiesta R5. Preston and Williamson enjoyed a relatively trouble free run through the spectator-packed stages to finish seventh overall, whilst Simpson / Walsh had an electronic malfunction during the day which meant having to reset things several times during the day before bringing the Fiesta home in sixth position.
Mysercough College played host to the Legend Fires North West Stages
The campus hosted the service area, whilst Myerscough students were instrumental in the organisation of the ceremonial start in garstang, the finish podium and champagne spraying, as well as the prize presentation ceremony.
The college also had some competitng crews:
John Richardson and Eric Wilcockson, 78th overall - 12th in class
Mark Smith and Michael Clarke, 73rd overall - 4th in class
Ben Jones and Alistair Dodd, 3rd in class and took the Myerscough College Under 25 Award.
Well done on an excellent event!
FUCHS LUBRICANTS BHRC returns
The 2019 FUCHS Lubricants Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship will get off to a spectacular start on Rally North Wales this Saturday.
A stellar entry of historic cars spanning the 1960s and 1970s will tackle classic Welsh forest stages in the first of the seven-round calendar, which includes five gravel rallies and two asphalt events.
As well as being the first of seven BHRC rounds, Rally North Wales is also the first round of BHRC2 supported by Sherwood Engines, which puts the emphasis on the Category 1 (pre-1968) and up to 1600cc cars in the championship, and the first round of the BHRC Forest Challenge, supported by Rally and Competition Equipment.
The championship will feature regularly on Special Stage Weekly, the TV programme available on Front Runner, Sky Channel 468 and Freesat Channel 250.
The last car on the road of the two-wheel-drive section of the rally will be the Ford Escort Mk2 of Nick Elliott and Dave Price and they will fly over stages they know well. A BHRC crown is a notable gap in Elliott’s rallying achievements and a strong result this weekend could set him up for a serious title challenge. His chief rivals include local star Osian Pryce, though the WRC hopeful is unlikely to be a BHRC contender in this one-off outing, Irish ace Marty McCormack and Ludlow star Joe Price. Of course, all of them will be in Ford Escort Mk2s and they head a field that is packed with quality.
Category 2 is for the cars produced between 1968 and 1974 and is headed by welcome returnee Stanley Orr in his very quick Escort Mk1. After a couple of seasons away, the Northern Irishman is back for another crack at the BHRC and will be tough to beat in the Category as he also chases a strong overall result. Leading the pursuit of Orr will be John Perrott, who is back with his Escort Mk1 after a couple of seasons out of rallying. Warren Philliskirk, Chris Skill, BHRC newcomer Gary Smith and Andrew Stokes are more strong Category 2 contenders. Simon Pickering (Escort Mk1) should set the mark in class C3 for the Pinto-engined cars, while the 1600cc ranks are topped by the new pairing of Rory McCann and Tim Tugwell (Hillman Avenger).
Finally, the incredible Bob Bean tops Category 1 in his Lotus Cortina with Malcolm Smithson back from a brief retirement to read the route notes. Bob will have marked his 81st birthday earlier this month and the number on the side of the Cortina will celebrate that fact!
Difficult day for M&M Motorsport
M&M Motorsport made their way to Hednesford Hills Raceway for Round Nine of the World Qualifying Series.
It was a difficult day for the team. After suffering substantial damage in heat one, the team worked really hard to get Gavin Murray back out on track.
Gavin salvaged an eighth in heat two and fourth in the final to round out the day.
RBMotorsport up and away
RBMotorsport of their year up and running at Oulton Park in the CNC Heads Sports/Saloon Championship.
The team qualified first in class and 11thoverall from 38.
The team got blocked in at the start of the race and lost a place, but there was a big shunt behind and the red flag was raised and a restart ordered.
The re-run started better and the team led in class until another accident put the safety car out until the end. RBMotorsport finished first in class and seventh overall.
Royal Engineers Spring Series
Round one of the Royal Engineers Spring Series takes place this week (starts on Wednesday).
The first round is sponsored by FUCHS Silkolene on a freshly graded track.
There are seven riders registered in the Expert class, and a strong field in the Clubman class, also.
Freddie ready for Euro test
Karting wonderkid Freddie Housley has been bust testing his new Parolin Racing Kart ready for round one of the IAME X30 Euro Series.
The competition runs from Thursday to Sunday in Mariembourg, Belgium.
