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Bulletin – 02/10
The first round of the 2010 SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship, the Jack Frost Stages, took place at a remarkably mild Croft circuit on Sunday; although it was mild the track was very slippy with very few competitors being able to say they didn’t spin.
For the 3rd year running Richard and Edwin Cook were driving the SG Petch Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 9 they had won the use of by winning the previous years ANECCC Stage Rally Championship. In 2008 they finished 5th overall on the Jack Frost Stages, in 2009 they were 4th, so their aim in 2010 was a podium position. After a cautious start with 20th fastest on the first stage they pickup the pace and moved up the leader board and got into that podium position on the penultimate stage, and in the final stage in the dark they snatched 2nd overall, and highest placed SG Petch ANECCC championship competitor, to start the year with a maximum points haul. The battle for 2nd place ANECC points was very close with three crews swapping seconds and positions all day, all of them reporting spins at some point in the day. At the finish Christopher and Katherine Singer (Mitsubishi Evo 9) grabbed 2nd place points, in 8th overall, by 3 seconds from Michael Glendenning/Andrew Roughead (Ford Escort MkII) with Alistair Hutchinson/St John Dykes (Renault Clio) a further 4 seconds back in 10th overall.
5th place ANECC points went to Barry and Michael Lindsay (Peugeot 106) despite clutch problems, they were 12th overall and second 1600cc car. 6th place points went to the second Historic car in the rally the Ford Escort MkI of Malcolm Davey/Paul Slinsby. The remaining ANECCC points scorers were John Bainbridge/Giles Dykes (Subaru Impreza) who had a close call with a bale while travelling backwards on the first stage, Geoff Harness/Caroline Lodge (Vauxhall Corsa) who were just glad to make the start after failing to start the Christmas Stages because of the snow. Last ANECCC finishing crew were Neil Ayre/Kevin Garthwaite (Mitsubishi Evo 9) who after being 22nd on the first stage, only 3 seconds behind the Cooks, did an extra lap on the second stage and dropped to 74th position, they pulled themselves back to 44th overall, and would have had a top 20 finish but for this error, but they were pleased to have a clean run and learnt a lot about the car. Two co-drivers, not in with their usually driver, Josh Davison and Chris Williams also scored points.
Retirements among the ANECC competitors were confined to the Thompson family, with Mark and Matt (Peugeot 206) retiring on stage 1 with gear selection problems, and Tony Thompson/Chris Thirling (Mitsubishi Evo 9) retiring after stage 7 with turbo failure, which was disappointing after they were leading after the first stage.
For round 2 of the championship it is into the North Yorkshire forest for the Riponion Stages Rally on the 14th February, as with the last couple of years the rally is based at Thirsk Auction Mart, full details and regs are available at www.riponian.co.uk
For round 3 it is the turn of the Lake District forests with the Malcolm Wilson Rally on the 6th March, details and regs soon at www.malcolmwilson.co.uk Two weeks later, on the 20th March, it is into Keilder Forest for the Border Counties Rally, again details and regs available soon at www.bordercountiesrally.co.uk
On the 3rd of February Durham Automobile Club will hold the 4th in the series of Northern Motor Club get togethers at The Prospect Club in Willington. This evening is open to all competitors, organisers, service crews, marshals, fans etc. and a free buffet will be available. For those who have been to the previous evenings they are a great opportunity to get together with like minded people. There will be a guest speaker, Fred Henderson, who will give a brief talk on his experiences in motorsport, so if you are available please come along.
If anyone has any questions please contact.
Gordon Dundee
S G Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship Coordinator
Home - 0191 3773228
Mobile - 07799 140427
E-mail - gordon@dundee.fsworld.co.uk.
Posted in Bulletins on: January 21st, 2010