Round-Up: Great 2019 haul for Bellerby RX
Drew Bellerby wins British Rallycross championship title for 2019
Drew Bellerby clinched the 2019 BMW Mini title win with a nerveless display of controlled aggression in the final race of the last meeting of the season, beating long-time leader Dave Bell in the process.
Round 7, on Saturday, was notable principally for being the wettest day in living memory at Croft race circuit. The relentless downpour pounded the track into a miserable soup of sticky, claggy mud, which all the drivers had to deal with as best they might. The conditions definitely did not suit Drew, or her driving style, and she ended a miserable day of so-so times in the heats with a DNF in the Final, her car sunk up past it’s axles in mud just after the last corner of the last of the six laps, after shooting off the slimy track into the glutinous grass of the infield with a broken drive shaft. Fortunately, she was consoled by the fact that the regulations stipulated that only 7 scores out of 9 rounds should count towards a competitor’s season total, so having a second low score of 18 to drop could not be counted a disaster, as her next lowest score was a 27.
Sunday the 27th dawned a complete contrast to the previous day – fine, sunny, with a hint of drying wind, and the track was soon returning to a more normal consistency of gravel and tarmac instead of mud and sludge. In the first heat, Drew’s driveshaft again caused problems, but she recorded a time and the problem was rectified in the paddock by Kevin, Dave and Alan.
Qualifiers 2 and 3 then showed that Drew was relishing the change of track conditions, with a second then a first and a best lap quick enough to put her second on the grid for the final.
As the lights went green, Drew made a fantastic start and headed into Clervaux level with pole sitter Steve Brown. As the two cars headed round the track and side by side into the chicane, Drew held her line, and her nerve, to scrape ahead of Brown by virtue of being on the inside line of the second part of the chicane. From here, on a drying track, Drew was able to pull away on a clear circuit from Brown as he was busy defending against Osborne and she held the lead from there to the finish, and the Championship title, six laps later.
British Rallycross title podium for Steve Brown in rookie season
Steve Brown ended his debut year in the Toyo Tyres British Rally Championship with an impressive third place in the BMW MINI series standings after securing second place in the final round at Croft Race Circuit last weekend (26/27 October).
Brown overcame treacherous conditions on Saturday’s penultimate round and a demoralising fourth place, to bounce back to second in the final round on Sunday in the FUCHS - backed Mini. His career-best equalling result netted him third place in the hotly contested single-make series, ensuring he ended his season on both the race and championship podium.
What a great way to end a great year” beamed Brown at the finish presentation. “It’s been really tough to adapt my whole way of thinking from rallying to circuit racing this season and get used to other people around you. But once I`d got used to that and changed my driving style it became great fun and to have come away with third in the championship and so many race podiums was well beyond my expectations”.
"I have to thank all of my supporters, especially the people at FUCHS, for helping me get this result” he continued. “I certainly could not have been able to compete so closely with the regular rallycross drivers if it wasn’t for their backing. It’s been a super year and I`m looking forward to seeing what next season holds”.
Paige Bellerby clinches second overall in Supernational rallycross championship
Paige hasn’t had the best of seasons this year, but, even so, going into the last two rounds she was comfortably 2nd in the championship behind Ovenden in his Kit Car.
The atrocious weather conditions played into her hands in heat one, as Ovenden couldn’t translate horsepower into grip on the slippery mud, and she ran out a comfortable winner of the first qualifying round.
Her smile was short lived however, because going to the start line for the next heat, she felt something catch when she was changing gear. A rapid return to her pit and investigation by Dave and Kevin, revealed a chipped gear tooth. She made the decision to skip Q2 and Q3 as her Q1 time was fast enough to put her straight into the Supernational Final. She then drove a sensible, steady race to record 4th place and pick up valuable championship points.
A clear, sunny Sunday saw more of the same steady driving in the three heats for Paige, but enough to ensure she started on the front row of the grid for the Final. She held her position throughout the race, and finished on the podium in third place.
“IT was hard work having to be so super careful, especially on the surface changes, not to snatch at the gears. But I’m pleased to get on the podium this weekend, and I couldn’t really expect a better season result than 2nd in the Championship.”
CA1 Sport to take on two rallies in one weekend - preview
This coming weekend will be a busy end to their 2019 season as they attend 2 rallies on consecutive days to look after their customers.
Team owner Martin Wilkinson said” We’ll be busy at Oulton Park on Saturday servicing for Steve Simpson in his Ford Fiesta R5 on the Neil Howard Memorial rally, then from Cheshire we go to North Yorkshire for the Malton Stages rally on Sunday 3rd November to look after Tom Preston in his Ford Fiesta WRC in the forest stages around Pickering. We’re looking forward to both events – the tarmac at Oulton Park, then the gravel roads on the Malton rally. But I think we’ll have to skip the fireworks on Saturday evening to make it all fit!”
More information at https://oultonpark.msv.com/OP-19-Rally-fireworks
And https://maltonmc.co.uk/malton-forest-rally/
Double signing for Gearlink Kawasaki
Ben Currie and James Westmoreland have signed for Gearlink Kawasaki for a 2020 Supersport attack.
Westy will remain with the team he has had so much experience with on the ZX-6R, and will be joined by Australian Currie, who so nearly won the title in 2018.
RB crowned champion
FUCHS-backed Robert Burkinshaw maintained his place at the summit of the CNC Heads Sport/Saloon Class standings to triumph in his trusty Honda Integra.
In horrendous conditions at Oulton Park, Rob finished P2 in class (sixth overall) in race one and P1 in class (fourth overall) in race two.
That was enough to see Rob named Heads Sport/Saloon Class E and overall champion.
