Tuckman and Hughes end in style
LAST weekend saw a fantastic end to the season for local rally team Simon Tuckman and Shaun Hughes of the Autolink Motorsport Rally team, both from Macclesfield.
In the final rally of the British Trial & Rally Drivers Association National Forest Championship, the Trackrod in North Yorkshire, the team finished 25th overall and 2nd registered car in the B11 Class out of an entry field of 171 cars, which included Scandinavian rally legend Stig Blomquist.
The team completed all of the six rallies they entered, and have finished seventh in the prestigious Silver Star Class and will take second (out of 17) in the highly competitive B11 Class (only one point behind first) at the Awards Ceremony in Sutton Colefield in December.
Simon and Shaun rally in a 2-litre, 16 valve, normally aspirated Cosworth Mk2 Ford escort producing 278bhp with 240ftlb of torque.
The car is fitted with Proflex suspension similar to the suspension on the WRC cars and also has a competition sequential gearbox, enabling quick gear changes. Simon runs his own garage, Autolink Motor Repair Services in Holmes Chapel and builds and repairs the escort himself.
The crew is backed by a loyal service team, Andrew Wilson, Vicky and Megg Morgan, Ben Wright, Tom Oliver and Helene Simpson, all from Macclesfield, who provide assistance both at main service and with a chase car.
Aside from the rallying 2016 has been a busy year for both navigator and driver with Shaun getting married in June and Simon marrying Vicky, the receptionist at Autolink and chase car driver this month.
Simon has been rallying competitively in the forest since 1998 when he first bought the mk2, winning his class B12 in 2002 and 2004. He and Shaun have been competing together since Shaun was 16 and have successfully finished many rallies together.
The team are currently looking for a sponsor to help them compete in the 2017 Forest Championship, which consists of 8 stages around the Country – The Cambrian in North Wales in February, The Malcolm Wilson in the Lake District in March, The Somerset Stages in Minehead in April, The Plains in Mid Wales in May, The Carlisle Stages in Souhern Scotalnd in June, The Nicky Grist in SW Wales in July, The Woodpecker around Ludlow in September and The Woodpecker in North Yorkshire in October.
The BTRDA Rally has extensive TV coverage on Special Stage Review on Motors TV and You Tube. It is consistently the most popular in the UK and has a huge following with thousands of people turning up to watch throughout the year, so it is an ideal opportunity for any potential sponsor to advertise their company.
For further information contact Simon at Autolink on 01477 537040 or 07968 111845