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Bulletin – 13/10
The 2010 SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship returned to the forests for the first time since the Tour of Hamsterley in May, when competitors took part in the MEM Malton Forest Rally in North Yorkshire. Overnight rain had left the stages very slippy, but they did not suffer from the floods of last year.
For the fourth round running the top SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship points scorers were Michael Glendinning/Andrew Roughead (Subaru Impreza), this was their first time in the forest with this car, and after a number of close calls on the early stages they settled into a close battle for second overall, but a storming drive on the last stage secured second overall. Second place points were taken by Jeff McNeil/Fred Roberts (Subaru Impreza), who had a scare on the 2nd stage when the rear end of the car got very loose and they nearly spun a couple off times, nothing was found amiss in service but the car behaved itself for the rest of the day. Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby (Escort MkII) were using maps instead off pacenotes in preparation for the Roger Albert Clark Rally in a couple of weeks, and found the stages very slippy in the morning but they improved in the afternoon, they finished 12th overall and 3rd historic car home.
John Bainbridge/Giles Dykes (Subaru Impreza) were using this rally as preparation for next weeks Wales Rally GB National B Rally but had a far from clean run. The car cut out on the 1st stage due to the kill switch coming out, on the 2nd stage they had a number of half spins, then the car started jumping out of gear and Giles had to hold it in gear, then a navigational error meant they nearly missed stage 4, but they were able to backtrack and did not loss any time. At the end of the day they were still smiling, with 5th place points, they are hoping for a quieter run next week. By contract the 6th place points scores Malcolm Davey/Paul Slingsby (Escort MkI) had a very quite run to their 1600cc class win, it was so quiet they didn’t even have to put petrol in the car all day. Having their second run out in the forests with their LPG powered Renault Clio were Alistair Hutchinson/St John Dykes, for Hamsterley they had forest suspension on the front and tarmac on the rear, for Malton the rear had been also upgraded to forest spec. Despite struggling for grip out of the up-hill chicanes they enjoyed their day and were pleased to finish 2nd 2000cc car home. Having there 1st forest outing in their newly built Ford KA, after two tarmac rallies, were Sian Beaty/Simon Martin, they had a close call at the flying finish on one of the early stages, and their only other problem was nearly getting swallowed whole on the second time through Langdale in a large hole. Also scoring co-drivers points was Ronnie Roughead who this week was navigating Robin Shuttleworth in his MkI Escort, despite suffering from the cold he guided Robin to a class win.
With one round to go this leaves the championship very tight, in simple terms whoever scores maximum points on the final round, the Grizedale Stages Rally, between Michael Glendinning/Andrew Roughead and Richard and Edwin Cook will win the 2010 SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship. Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby are confirmed as 3rd overall.
In the classes, Sian Beaty has won the 1400cc class, she was hoping for a good battle with Andrew Irving on the last rounds of the championship but unfortunately Andrew is currently in hospital with a blood condition, although he is making progress he is expected to be in hospital for sometime yet, we all wish him a speedy recover and look forward to seeing him back on the stages next year. Also on the mend is the over 2000cc class winner, Tony Thompson, after his unfortunately accident on the Trackrod Rally, we again hope to see him back competing again soon. The only other class to be decided in the championship at Malton was the 4WD class; this has been won by John Bainbridge/Giles Dykes. The 1600cc and 2000cc class awards have not yet been decided.
After ten rounds the current points standings are:-
Drivers
Michael Glendinning 107 pts, Richard Cook 105 pts, Charlie Taylor 66 pts, Barry Lindsay 44 pts, John Bainbridge 42 pts and Shaun Sinclair 40 pts.
Co-drivers.
Edwin Cook 105 pts, Andrew Roughead 104pts, Steve Bielby 72 pts, Giles Dykes 46 pts, Michael Lindsay 44 pts and Chris Hamill 40 pts.
For the final round of the 2010 is the Coppermines Grizedale Stages. The Grizedale Stages is, as usual, based in the Lakeland village of Coniston on 3rd/4th December 2010. This year GSR are offering in effect 2 different rallies; The “Full Fat” event starts with a 7-mile stage in the dark on Friday evening and then 6 stages on the Saturday making a total of 42 stage miles/56 road miles. Their “Semi Skimmed” event consists of just the Saturday stages totalling 35 stage miles/52 road miles. The format on the Saturday for those who have done the event before will be familiar with 3 pairs of stages in Grizedale and Dunnerdale forests interspersed with 2 service halts at the rather excellent Skelwith Fold caravan site. This is a very well organised event, with good paperwork and fantastic stages. Not cheap but forest rallying isn’t these days!! The night stage will give you even more of a challenge. All-in-all a great finale to your season. Regulations and details are now available on the rally website www.grizedalestages.co.uk
To enable championship competitors to compete in whichever version of the Grizedale Stages they want only the times on the Saturday stages will count towards points, irrespective of which ever rally you compete on.
Can everyone please put a note in your diary that the awards night for the 2010 SG Petch ANECCC Stage Rally Championship will be on January 5th 2011, venue will be confirmed later.
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: November 8th, 2010