Weekly Motorsport Round-Up

FUCHS Lubricants supported three of the 1st in class winners in the Roger Albert Clark Rally recently. Having not run for the past three seasons, the four-day rally attracted a 92-car entry.

The rally of almost 300 stage miles started in Leominster on the Friday morning before two attempts at the Shelsey Walsh hill climb, followed by the day’s stages on the gravel roads of the Welsh forests.

FUCHS-backed drivers Kim Gray and her husband Andy suffered a barrage of problems yet, quite incredibly, both managed to finish first in their respective classes – Kim with co-driver Tom Murphy in class D2 in her 1600cc Ford Escort MKII (Pictured) and Andy with co-driver Emma Morrison in class J3 in a Peugeot 205.

Kim said: “This is a proper marathon rally, the way rallies used to be. There was a huge part of me which could not justify the huge sums of money involved in entering the rally as a husband vs wife team, but we went for it and set about making memories.

“When Andy told me my engine had a potentially terminal problem on Friday, I cried in the service area and wished that I’d trusted my instincts and not invested in the event. Little did I know the magic that was about to occur within my team.

“I must be the only driver to have had, over the course of the four day event, an engine rebuild, a gearbox swap, an alternator repair and an axle rebuild yet still manage to complete every stage.

“For us to get two cars to the finish of the UK’s longest rally – and both as class winners – was incredible.”

Andy added: “The reception I received at the passage control after Falstone will remain with me forever! It was made even better at seeing that Kim made it to the finish too. There were hugs aplenty.”

Also celebrating was FUCHS-backed Bob Bean, who was 1st in historic category 1.

This was a fine four-day drive for veteran Bob and co-driver Malcolm Smithson in the freshly rebuilt Lotus Cortina.

The 79-year-old Yorkshireman drove as smoothly as ever, more than half a century after his first attempt at the original RAC Rally.

Elsewhere, FUCHS customer Colin Hope was able to bring out his four-stroke Saab 96 to play, together with co-driver Nick Patrick, following a last minute engine rebuild.

Despite an ignition switch problem, Colin caught his minute man during the last three stages – not once, but twice. He finished second in class C3.

Steve Brown’s next outing will be the Christmas Stages at Croft Circuit on December 30th. He will again be using the Mitsubishi Evo 9 whilst his own car is undergoing extensive upgrades ready for the FIRC challenge in Belgium next year.

In the meantime, he is traveling to Belgium this weekend to take part in the recce for the 6 Uren van Kortrijk rally and he will compete on this new event in 2018 as part of the FIRC challenge.

After a successful season in the BTRDA Rally championship, having won the B13 class against stiff opposition, FUCHS- supported Ian Joel is now re-prepping his Ford Escort Cosworth before next season’s BTRDA opener, the Cambrian rally.

Away from the rallying, it is still all to play for karting ace Freddie Housley.

Freddie headed back in Rowrah in Cumbria leading the championship by one point and was involved in a real tussle with his main rival Zac during the heats.

After some chassis set-up changes, Freddie went into the final in third place and the posted the fastest time on lap four, winning by 0.04 of a second with Zac in second.

Freddie’s championship lead is now three points heading into the final round in December, where there are 150 points up for grabs.

Finally, Smiths Racing BMW have announced that Peter Hickman and Sylvain Barrier will contest the 2018 British Superbike Championship for the Gloucester-based team.

It’s a second season with Smiths for 30-year-old Hickman, who finished an impressive fourth in the 2017 series.

French rider Barrier makes his BSB debut after a long association with BMW.