Joel, Gray are headline act in Yorkshire forests

The Trackrod Rally on 30th September proved a happy hunting ground for FUCHS supported teams and drivers last weekend on the final round of the BTRDA rally championship and also the MSA Historic gravel championship.

Kim Gray in her FUCHS supported 1600cc Ford Escort was running in the historic class D2, which meant her event (together with new co-driver Steve Pugh) started on Friday evening with a night time run at the 11 mile Dalby complex stage. Normally this would not have been a problem – except that on the stage start line, the car suffered what Kim called “a bit of a moment”, by which she meant complete lights failure. There was no alternative except to carry on – but with Kim driving on the headlamp flasher, this meant that every gear change and hairpin handbrake was completed in darkness as this meant using the same hand as that which was holding the light stalk. In spite of this, Kim and Steve managed to stay in front of their minute man for the 11 mile run. Later, experienced co-driver Steve said “The phrase ‘driving like a girl’ will never be the same again, as being on the rev limiter in top gear on Langdale and Dalby proves!”

Saturday dawned bright and clear, which matched the mood in the car. The crew then had an almost trouble free run for the rest of the 4 stages, only suffering a minor 20 second indiscretion into a ditch on the last stage of the day which was a rerun of the previous evenings Dalby stage. The pair were delighted with their 18th overall, and first in class D2.

Also running in the Trackrod Historic rally, Steve Magson with co-driver Steve Bielby delighted the crowds of spectators with a rare appearance in his immaculate Mercedes 190E 2.3 16V, running in class Z2. Unfortunately their event ended on SS3 when first the front brake master cylinder failed, then the handbrake master also went down at Spiers House on the Cropton stage, causing not only their instant retirement, but also causing the marshals to seek safety up the banking (‘sorry!’ said Steve afterwards).

Sharing Steve’s bad luck was Bob Bean (with Malcolm Smithson) in the Ford Escort RS, which Bob rolled in a rare accident on the long Friday evening stage.

Meanwhile, FUCHS Lubricants supported crew Ian Joel/Graeme Wood in Ian’s beautifully prepared Ford Escort Cosworth had a trouble free run through the fast but angular stages to finish a stunning 8th overall and 2nd in class B13. This controlled drive was sufficient to ensure they won the B13 class on the BTRDA rally championship. The pair had had to pick and choose their events within the championship calendar this year, due to work commitments, so were delighted to finish the season in prime position. Afterwards, Ian commented “we knew what we had to do to win our class in the championship so we kept it neat all day, and were really pleased with such a good run, Thanks to our sponsors at FUCHS Lubricants and MRF for their support during the year”.

Tom Preston and Stuart Loudon finished 3rd overall after a trouble-free run in their Skoda Fabia R5 behind Charlie Payne/Carl Wiliamson (Ford Fiesta ) and Steven Petch / Michael Wilkinson (Ford Fiesta). CA1 Sport boss (supported by FUCHS Lubricants) Martin Wilkinson was quietly pleased after the podium celebrations saying “ Tom had a short test session on Thursday, then today he had a drama free day, driving tidily to a podium place”.

Image: Terry Cree & Richard Shores, courtesy of Paul Lawrence