Weekly Motorsport Round-Up #5

Lara Small picked up a Snetterton PB as she tried her new bike for the first time in round two of the GBRacing British Military Inter-Services Championship.

Lara, a Reservist in the British Army, has swapped her Honda CB500 for a stunning new bike which boasts a twin Ducati Monster 796 engine and a 1198 exterior.

Lara said: “It is an amazing motorbike which Alan Knight of Knight Road Racing has brilliantly concocted in his garage. She is the perfect step up from my Honda.

“FUCHS SILKOLENE was as brilliant as always, keeping an air-cooled two valve engine very happy. I am looking forward to the oil sample results from this one as she runs hot, hot, hot!”

Lara was 17th (eighth in class) in race one, 15th (sixth in class) in race two, 16th of 29 riders in the military race, 14th (sixth in class) in race three and 16th (seventh in class) in race four.

Staying on two wheels, there was plenty of SILKOLENE interest in the MCE British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

The Gloucester-based Smiths Racing BMW team enjoyed third round success with Peter Hickman claiming a fifth place finish and Lee Jackson getting his first points on the board.

Hickman powered his way up to fourth in the first race but got pipped at the flag by Jason O’Halloran.

Hickman was again in contention for a podium finish in the second race but a slight mistake meant he had to settle for a solid P7.

Jackson, 21, meanwhile recorded a P15 and a P13, his best result of the season.

The big Superbikes story of the weekend was a historic one-two for the SILKOLENE-backed Be Wiser Ducati team.

After a disappointing opening couple of rounds, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne was back with a vengeance, scooping not only a pole position but also a superb second place finish in the opening race to kick-start his season.

And there was double job for the Ducati team as Glenn Irwin took the flag in second in the Oulton Park opener.

Phil Borley, Technical Director, said: “It was vital we had a strong weekend after a difficult start to the season and right from the outset both riders were on pace.”

At the Rallye Salamandre in Belgium, Rochdale’s Steve Brown took third in the two-wheel-drive category of the Flanders International Rally Challenge (FIRC).

It was a feat made all the more impressive by the fact it was achieved with his old, borrowed car.

With his usual Nissan Micra Kit Car out of action for the opening few rounds of the season, Brown had secured a deal to contest the overseas championship in a loaned Honda Civic. But disaster struck whilst on a pre-season test in Wales when the Honda was sidelined by transmission issues.

It looked like Brown would have to withdraw from the opening round of the Rallye Salamandre but, just days before the event, an opportunity arose to use the old Nissan Micra he last raced in 2015.

“It was pretty much a last ditch effort to be able to still go to Belgium,” said Brown. “It was a no-brainer as we really just needed to get some points on the board.”

Brown soon settled into the Micra again with regular co-driver Paul Stringer alongside, the duo stayed out of trouble and crossed the finish ramp in third in the 2WD section of the event after 100km of action.

Brown will now look towards the second round of the championship, the ORC Canal Rally at the end of May.

Elsewhere, Nick Elliott and Dave Price continued their impressive form in the 2017 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship with a third win in a row on the Pirelli Historic Rally.

The Ford Escort Mk2 crew finished with a winning margin of just 6.5 seconds over defending champions Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke after a day-long tussle in dry and dusty conditions in Kielder forest. Other category wins went to Phil Harris/Richard Suter (Mini Cooper) and Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk1).

The FUCHS LUBRICANTS ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award went to husband and wife Stuart and Linda Cariss, who bounced back from a non-finish on Rally North Wales to lead the chase of Eliot Retallick and Tim Tugwell in Class C2.

The Kielder forest proved a happy hunting ground for the FUCHS-supported drivers of the CA1 team, with successes in the international, historic and clubman’s events.

Leading the way home was number one seed Fredrick Ahlin with Norwegian co-driver Torstein Erikson in their Skoda Fabia R5. When early leader Tom Cave broke a rear suspension arm, Fredrick and Torstein were well placed to capitalise after eight long and gruelling stages.

David Bogie and Kevin Rae, also in a Skoda Fabia R5, struggled with brake problems on Saturday but flew through the Sunday leg of the event, moving from ninth to fourth.

Tom Preston and Andrew Roughhead were pleased with their eighth place finish, while Jamie Anderson and Ross Whitlock were happy with P9 after losing fourth and fifth gear on the seventh stage.

In the RAC Historic Rally, Kim Gray and Tom Murphy in their Ford Escort Mk2 ran into a ditch and had to be hauled out by spectators, losing seven minutes in the process. They came home in 28th place overall and first in class D1/D2. On the Sunday Clubman event, Kim co-drove for husband Andy in his Peugeot 205 GTi, and after a trouble free run the duo finished fifth overall.

FUCHS-backed Stanley Orr did not make it to the finish as he broke the steering on stage two. Bob Bean and Malcolm Smithson were pleased with their second in class C4/C5 in their venerable Ford Escort RS.