Pirelli podiums for Fuchs-supported drivers and team in Carlisle
The Kielder forest used on the Pirelli rallies became a happy hunting ground for Fuchs supported drivers last weekend, with successes in the International, Historic, and Clubman’s events.
The CA1 team, led by Martin Wilkinson, put out 4 crews on the International rally, and showed both exceptional speed and reliability with all four finishing in the top ten.
Leading the way home was number 1 seed Fredrick Ahlin, with Norwegian co-driver Torstein Erikson in their Skoda Fabia R5. The pair kept in touch with early leader Tom Cave, but when Tom hit something large and solid on stage 3 breaking a rear suspension arm, Fredrick and Torstein were handily placed to keep up the pressure on the rest of the field and lead the way home after 8 long and gruelling stages to the champagne-spraying ceremonial finish in the small Cumbrian town of Brampton.
Faring less well on the Saturday stages was the next CA1 pairing of Scottish champion David Bogie with regular co-drier Kevin Rae, also in a Skoda Fabia R5, as they struggled all day with brake problems which couldn’t be rectified until the end-of-leg service on Saturday evening, but the crew then flew through the Sunday leg of the event, and pulled up from 9th at the end of leg 1 to a well-deserved 5th place at the finish.
Speaking at the finish, Bogie said ‘We had a great day, the car was really on form today and we won all four tough stages, we just kept out of trouble.’ Next up of the CA1 crews was Tom Preston with Andrew Roughead, also in a Skoda Fabia R5. Tom was pleased with his performance; at the finish of stage 8 he said "we had a much better day on the Sunday stages, and we’re pleased with our 8th place. Today is all about the championship points".
Jamie Anderson in his Ford Fiesta R5 with co-driver Ross Whittock had a more eventful rally when they lost 4th and 5th gear on stage 7, and were happy to finish in 9th place.
Competing in the RAC Historic rally, held over the same four stages as the international rally on the Saturday, was Fuchs supported driver Kim Gray, with co-driver Tom Murphy in the Ford Escort Mk2. After a relatively safe first stage over the 10 miles of White Sike, Kim said "On Black Fell (stage 2) I got a rush of blood to the head going into a square left just before the finish, and braked waaaay too late – and that ditch was deep! Thanks to the spectators who heaved us out and put us back on to the track, we were able to keep going, but we’d lost about 7 minutes."
After that, Kim backed off a touch, and made it safely to the finish in 28th place overall, and another Fuchs podium by claiming the class D1/D2 win. The Fuchs backed Stanley Orr in his Ford Escort RS1600 didn’t make it to the finish as he broke the steering on stage 2.
Image courtesy of: @msabrc.com
