BTRDA Trackrod Full Report
With two rounds to go in the MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally Series there is everything to play for and with dropped scores now starting to count as the battle for the various 2021 titles continues.
FUCHS LUBRICANTS BTRDA 1400 (Bronze Star) CHAMPIONSHIP
FAMILY TIES!
So far this season, 2019 BTRDA Bronze Star Champion Callum Black has taken two maximum scores and suffered two retirements as he battles for Gold Star glory while, concurrently, Steve Black has done exactly the same – and on the same events! – as he seeks to make the 2021 FUCHS LUBRICANTS BTRDA 1400 Championship® his own! On the Trackrod, Steve and co-driver Paul Morris guided their Suzuki Swift to a category victory from Dave Brick’s Vauxhall Nova and the MG ZR of Richard Jordan/James Gratton-Smith – all three finishing within half-a-minute of each other!
In the points, Jordan/Gratton-Smith hold sway by dint of their three finishes to the others’ two. However, Aaron Rix/Abi Haycock (Escort) and 1400C winners Edward Wain/Noel Murphy (MG ZR) are also three-time finishers and their dogged determination is bound to see them there, or thereabouts, come Judgement Day!
Both tackling their first event of the season, Paddy Homan’s Puma returned home having opened its account in fine style while, on the other side of the coin, Chris Bush’s Corsa arrived back in Derbyshire without visiting the finish after its gearbox cried ‘enough’ in Gale Rigg!
MRF TYRES BTRDA GOLD STAR® RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
BLACK & JACK PLAY ANOTHER ACE!
Having retired from their last two MRF Tyres BTRDA Gold Star® Rally Championship outings, Callum Black/Jack Morton are faced with the prospect of requiring finishes from each of the remaining rounds if they’re to end the season with a fighting chance of the title. So, taking their Fiesta to an outright win on the Trackrod Forest Stages – a position which they inherited on the final stage of the event – keeps them in contention as the BTRDA Series moves remorselessly on towards its conclusion.
2nd on the day were George Lepley/Tom Woodburn who put up their customary storming performance in their Lancer EVOX. Loss of the rear diff. on SS4 slowed them until it could be replaced at service but, from then on, normal service was resumed. This result not only moves Lepley/Woodburn to the top of the Gold Star points table but also gives them their fourth consecutive maximum in Class B13 and, as such, it becomes the first ‘result’ of the season as, with just two rounds remaining, they can no longer be caught.
Missing from the Woodpecker line-up, Tom Llewellin returned to take 3rd overall, a mere three seconds adrift of Lepley, in his Mitsubishi Mirage while early leaders Ian Bainbridge/Will Atkins brought their Fabia back to Filey in 4th place. Fastest on three of the five stages, they’d lost 15s in Staindale with an overshoot and then another 45sin Dalby when they hit a bank and thought they’d damaged the radiator. Bainbridge was quite candid in admitting that he felt nervous leading a BTRDA event for the first time and was ‘over-driving’… No matter – a point has been made that will not have gone unnoticed among the opposition.
Erstwhile Gold Star leaders Garry Pearson/Niall Burns (Fabia) have had better days, losing more than two minutes to the leaders over the closing stages. Although they already have two maximums to their credit, they currently find themselves trailing Lepley/Woodburn by a couple of points. Consequently, from now until the conclusion of the Rallynuts Stages in mid-November will be a nerve-wracking time for all concerned!
As mentioned above, B13 has now been won but that hasn’t dimmed the competitive edge shown by the remaining pretenders to the crown!... The Lancers of Richard Hill, Russ Thompson and Matthew Hirst/Declan Dear finished line astern on the Trackrod, with Hugh Brunton’s Fiesta R5 (B14) sandwiched between them and Ian Joel/Graeme Wood (FUCHS supported Escort Cosworth) and Ian Baumgart/Dave Robson (Impreza).
Pat Naylor/Ian Lawrence’s FUCHS supported Group N Lancer was just outside the Top Ten but those not classified as finishers included a trio of Fiestas – Elliot Payne/Patrick Walsh (sensor), Phil & Simon Pickard (alternator) and Trevor Gamble/Ron Roughead (stopped after TC2).
After a busy September, contenders now have the luxury of a five-week break before their attendance in North Wales will be required for the Cambrian Rally.
MRF TYRES BTRDA SILVER STAR® CHAMPIONSHIP
OWEN COMES INTO HIS OWN!....
Owen McMackin became the fourth different driver in four events to take maximum MRF Tyres BTRDA Silver Star® Championship points on the Trackrod Forest Rally and, in a break from current tradition, his Escort wasn’t eligible for BTRDA Historic Cup points! Even so, it was a close-run thing with Ashley Davies/Sam Fordham’s similar car arriving back at the finish a mere 1.1s in arrears after 45 miles of stages. Ioan Lloyd/Sion Williams (Peugeot 208 R2) were 3rd and, naturally enough, took maximum BTRDA Rallye R2 and Junior Rallye R2 Cup points, ahead of Sam Bilham who posted his best result of the season to date.
Paul Street/Ian Jones maintain their lead in the Silver Star Championship but, when their Escort suffered a puncture in Staindale, they had to stop and change the offending wheel which did nothing for either their stage or total time for the day! Barry Jordan/Arwel Jenkins are just one point behind them after a good run over the Moors which saw their Avenger take maximum Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Historic Cup® points. So, with two rounds still to run, Baz is one point ahead of Paul Street in the Drivers’ table while Ian Jones is a similar margin in front of Arwel as they duck and dive on their way to eventual Historic Cup glory.
Robert Gough and Simon & Alistair Crook also muscled in on the Historic action on the Trackrod by bringing their Escorts home to good advantage.
Rob Wright/Mark Fisher’s Escort suffered a snapped propshaft on SS5 while the Historic spec. Escorts of David Dobson/Steve Pugh, Terry Pankhurst/Jamie Sparks and Mike East all had their personal tales of woe to impart – but, unfortunately, not at the finish!
MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally First® Championship
The Fiesta ST of Tom Naylor/Tom Bishop once again triumphed over Simon Double/Jessica Mitchell’s MG ZR but, even so, it’s still too close for comfort! Two points between 1st and 2nd is all very well but one slip from either party on the Cambrian or Rallynuts could significantly alter the eventual outcome!
MOTORSPORT UK 2021 ENGLISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP IN ASSOCIATION WITH SEACON UK
FIRST AMONG EQUALS!
Following the Trackrod Forest Stages, George Lepley (Lancer EVOX) is the stand-alone leader of the Motorsport UK 2021 English Rally Championship in association with Seacon UK, having maintained a ‘full house’ with three maximum scores from the three events so far. With just the Grizedale Stages at the beginning of December to go, each competitor’s three best scores will count but, should this result in a tie, any fourth scores will be taken into consideration. Ioan Lloyd (Peugeot 208 R2), Owen McMackin (Escort) and defending champion Steve Black (Suzuki Swift) have each scored two maximums so far and success on Grizedale could elevate them into the reckoning for the title. Interesting times ahead!
As a class-based series, it’s always interesting – as an outsider, that is! – to monitor competitors’ progress as they pit their skills against others in cars of similar power outputs. Hence, it’s not necessarily the most powerful or fastest car that comes out on top, as exemplified by Steve Black’s 1400cc Suzuki that beat all before it last time.
