Drew dominates at Lydden to top the standings

Bellerby / Brown take 1-2 podium in BMW Final at Lydden

Winner Drew Bellerby (Pictured centre) shared her win on the podium with second placed Steve Brown (Pictured right) at the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday Monday. The updated points table from the British Rallycross Championship shows Drew now leading the BMW Mini championship with 131 points, and Steve only 8 points behind Bell (117) on 109 points.

 

Drew Dominates at Lydden

Drew Bellerby had a dream day at Lydden Hill rallycross circuit on Bank Holiday Monday – right up to the last two laps of the six lap final!

In the three morning qualifying heats, Drew placed 1^st, 1^st, and then 2^ndin the third heat.  “I just don’t know where my head was in that third heat,” she explained afterwards; “I really should have been able to get past Brad (Durdin) but I just couldn’t make it happen”.  In spite of this momentary lapse, the FUCHS supported driver nevertheless made it on to pole position for the afternoon’s six lap Final.

The BMW Mini final was the penultimate race of the day, but the whole event was in danger of being halted early when the Stewards of the Meeting expressed their concern about the state and safety of the loose sections of the track, which had become deeply rutted during the exceptionally hot and dusty day.  After consultation, the Stewards decided that the Finals could take place.

Drew took full advantage of her pole position, and shot off the line into an immediate lead which she consolidated with 3 more fastest laps.  However, during the fourth lap, Drew started to feel her tyres going off, which left her fighting an increasingly desperate battle over the last two laps to make it to the finish line but her tyres held up in the extreme heat of the 6 lap race. Her last throw of the dice was to leave taking her joker lap until the end, by which time she had built a sufficient lead to ensure that she returned to the main circuit still in the lead.

“That was so hot and the track was chewed up, it made the race really hard work” said an elated Drew after taking the top step on the podium, “now I can start looking forward to Pembrey at the end of September”.

Later, Drew appeared on social media:-

P1 in BMW Mini final! I am on cloud 9 after a very hot day of Rallycross! Thank you so much to the team, dad and sponsors for continued support, I wouldn’t be where I am without you all! 
Also a huge congratulations to Steve Brown, my team mate for 2nd place! Dream team!!

 

Steve storms to second in BMW Mini final.

This was FUCHS-supported Steve Brown’s first repeat visit to a circuit in his maiden rallycross season, following the second round on Easter Monday at the Kent circuit, so he was looking forward to being immediately on the pace in the opening heat.  Unfortunately that plan went out the window on the first corner of the first lap of the first heat when he was shoved off the track by Ward into immediate retirement with the entire front offside corner of the car stoved in, plus assorted panel and wheel damage as he cannoned off the track.

“I think the roof and the back window are ok,” was all a stunned Brown commented after.

Once the car was recovered to the paddock, mechanics Kevin, Dave and Alan set to work, and were able to replace the front shocker, the front upright, two wheels, and then straighten the various bent panels before the second and third qualifying heats.

Only five BMW Minis took the start line for the Final after other competitors in the class suffered various heat-related problems with their engines.  

Brown started on the second row of the grid for the six lap Final, and off the start line he opted to take his joker straight away, as he was already on the outside line of the track.  Then he kept his cool, and picked off opponents one by one as they each took their joker lap with him close to their boot lid over the start/finish line.  He passed Durdin on the sixth of six laps to record a career best 2^ndplace in his first season.

After the prize presentation he posted on social media;

A storming run through the British Rallycross Championship BMW MINI final saw the day improve dramatically...finishing second and a 1-2 for Bellerby Motorsport

Huge thanks to the team for getting me back in the fight again after this morning and to all my supporters in getting us here again.
What a roller-coaster of a Lydden Hill Race Circuitweekend!

 

Paige suffers mechanical failure at Lydden Hill

FUCHS supported driver Paige Bellerby didn’t much enjoy the dirty, dusty conditions in her Lotus Exige in either heat 1 or 2, as she was behind Ovenden (Renault Clio) on both occasions.

As she went out for heat 3, she lost drive when a drive shaft pulled out on the way to the start line.

This was quickly remedied for the semi-final, but again, as she went to the start, she suffered another mechanical failure when the diff failed and this meant her day was over.

However, the day was not wasted as her times in the first two qualifying heats were fast enough for her to collect 17 championship points, keeping her in 2^ndplace in the Supernational standings.

 

Woodpecker Rally preview

The sixth round of the BTRDA Rally Series takes place this coming weekend, on Saturday August 31^st,and FUCHS backed drivers Ian Joel and Patrick Naylor are both seeded in the top ten of the 160 car entry.  Joel will be reunited with regular co-driver Graeme Wood in the immaculate Ford Escort Cosworth in the B13 class, whilst Ian Lawrence is again reading the notes for Naylor in the class N4 Mitsubishi Evo 9.  Both crews are hoping for good results to keep them in the hunt for their respective classes in the overall BTRDA championships.

In the FUCHS Lubricants BTRDA 1400® Championship things are, to put it mildly, finely poised.  The top four drivers in the table - Chris Powell (Talbot Sunbeam), Steve Black (Suzuki Swift), Dominic Hodge (Nissan Micra) & Noel Lappin (Ford Escort MkII) - have all maintained 100% finishing records to date, while 5th-placed Callum Black (MG ZR) missed the first round but has since scored three maximums and a third.... Indeed, he can count himself very lucky to have finished the last round as, by the time he and Michael Gilbey arrived back in Builth Wells, the oil pressure warning light had been glowing for far too long!

All the 1400cc cars will leave Ludlow Racecourse (at the head of the large entry, as is usual in this championship) in pristine condition but, as to the order in which they return, your guess is probably as good as anyone else’s.

 

Vickers back in action at Wales

Carl Vickers was back in action in the sixth round of the Thundersport GB Championship at Anglesey Circuit.

Carl rode to 10^thin class in race one and sixth in class in race two, which was dropped to nine laps due to an incident on track.

 

Belgium calls for JSR Racing

JSR Racing travelled to Belgium for the next round of the IMBA championship.

James Dodd was in imperious form on a rough track, finishing twice on the podium (first and third) to come home third overall.

Ashley Thomas managed fifth overall with a P6, P5 and P5 and Andy Smart was sixth overall.

It means James is top overall in the IMBA standings, while Smart is third and Ashley is fifth.

The team is off to the last round of the AMCA Championship at Long Lane this weekend.

 

Tough weekend for Murray Motorsport

Ipswich on Bank Holiday Monday was a tough one from towards the back of the grid for Gavin Murray and Murry Motorsport.

For race one Gavin lined up 23rd and, after getting blocked in by a stalled car on the start line, he got back in the mix and raced his way to 13th.

Race two saw Gavin start 22nd, and after narrowly missing two big accidents worked his way up to fourth before having a little skirmish himself and eventually crossing the line in 10th - but getting docked two places for contact, resulting in a 12th place finish.

A cylinder head issue meant Gavin would not race in the meeting final.

The engine and now been changed and the team now have a short week to get the car ready for Round Four at Aldershot Raceway on Sunday.

 

Hudson shows solid progression

Karter Marcus Hudson travelled to Cumbria for round four of the British Championship.

The FUCHS Silkolene-backed driver showed good progression to finish P9, P7 and P6 in the heats before crossing the line in fifth in the final, with an average speed of almost 50mph.

 

Fantastic Third Overall For Scott Beaumont

The final round of the 2019 4X ProTour was held in a town called Szczawno Zdroj in Poland.

Recently back from serious injury, Scott Beaumont won his early rounds and looked comfortable out on the track. In the quarter final he again made a great start and won the race start to finish. In his semi-final, Scott took gate two, Tomas Slavik in one, Stefano Dolphin in three and Denny Tischendorf in four. Scott made a great start and sat in second all the way to the finish line.

Scott was ecstatic to make the final. Again, defying all the odds and doctors’ advice, he was chasing a great overall position in the 2019 series.

In the final it was the top four riders from qualifying who made it all the way to the final. Qualifying fourth it meant Scott was on the outside. The gate dropped and Scott grabbed the holeshot. 

He was flying down the first straight and looked like he was on for the win, until the rider in gate three tagged him going into turn one and forced Scott off the track. 

It was a racing incident but left Scott with nowhere to go and, unfortunately, he had to limp down in fourth. It was a cruel end to his night, but the fantastic news was that Scott had done enough to finish third overall in the 2019 4X ProTour.