NEW SEE DING DE BUT SIN CUMBRIA FOR BTRDA

Running order change is tested for the first time on carlisle stages

Last weekend’s Carlisle Stages Rally was the first to run under new seeding rules, which have allowed lower-powered cars to return to the front of the running order for the first time since 2015.

The Motor Sports Association and its chairman David Richards implemented the change to allow events to split into two groups, with the ability to reverse the running order or seed by class, to combat the falling number of historic and two-wheeldrive entries in gravel rallying.

Before the change, lower-powered cars were running at the back of the field, in ruts created by the more powerful cars further forward. This meant they received rough roads with rocks often pulled onto them, causing damage to the cars.

The Carlisle Stages was the first round of the BTRDA Rally Series to benefit from the new rule, and it ran 1400 and Rally First cars at the front.

The British Historic Rally Championship ran as a separate event, and put the oldest cars first with Paul Mankin’s Ford Lotus Cortina seeded first. The Historic event started on Friday night, whereas the BTRDA event ran exclusively on Saturday.

The event did feature tricky weather conditions after a midday downpour, and competitors reported some of the stages being rough in places. But the 1400 competitors relished the opportunity to run first.

“It’s great to be running at the front as it is a lot smoother on the car,” said 1400 overall winner Tommi Meadows.

“It’s a good thing for our finances. Our cars aren’t as strong as the main guys and if we hit a big rock, then we have to fork out the money to repair the damage from it. That could mean missing the next round.”

It wasn’t just the 1400 and Rally First competitors praising the changes. Any alteration to running order is likely to be met with discontent from whichever group of cars it disadvantages the most, but there was a support and willingness to back the change for the good of the health of entries.

“Going first will be good for them because they don’t have to deal with stages that are being cut up,” said Ford Fiesta R5 driver Sacha Kakad. “The bigger cars throw a lot of rocks onto the line and that doesn’t help the smaller ones, which aren’t as strongly built.”

The event did yield a disappointing number of 1400 and RF entries – with 10 and one respectively – although the event had to announce its change of seeding just over a month before it went ahead.

Neil Cross, chairman of the BTRDA forest rally committee, believes patience is needed and an instant fix is not realistic.

“It’s going to take a bit of time to filter through,” he said. “On the Nicky Grist we have four or five [entries], which is obviously not as good as it’s been in the past, but a good number. The timing of the announcement didn’t help as the event didn’t have time to put its media machine behind it.

“I thought it worked really well. I know some of the competitors were moaning, some of them were happy, you’ll never please everybody.”