TEND RING EVENT TARGETS MORE MILEA GE FOR 2019

Rally Tendring & Clacton could return with more mileage in 2019, after a successful first running of the event.

The first event to happen under new closed-road legislation, passed in April 2017, ran with praise from competitors, featuring just under 45 miles in the Tendring Peninsula, around 80 miles north-east of central London.

Event director Tony Clements told MN that the event is considering a March date next year, and that plans are in the offing for additional mileage.

“If the key stakeholders are happy with how the event has gone, we would find it very difficult not to run an event next year,” said Clements.

“I have a number of ideas about things we’d like to do differently, I’d like to add more miles of stages – I’m a competitor, I’d want more miles – and I have a few ideas about that.

“I’d like a 60-mile event, that’s my target. What I have in mind, if we can make that happen, there’s another five miles of stages to come. It would be extending or joining [stages] together. There’s a lot of work involved with that.”

On the date, the event is dependant on bringing business to Clacton-on-sea outside of usual holiday periods. With an extended Easter break next year, the event will likely run in March.

“The date I’m looking at for next year is a bit earlier, the 31st of March, because it needs to avoid school holidays because here the idea is to bring in business to the area out of season.

“We don’t want to clash with the Pirelli either.”

The winner of the weekend’s event, Melvyn Evans, was one of the drivers calling for more mileage, although there’s an understanding with Evans and the other competitors that could have caused an issue for the event. Had a longer stage been included and then lost, the mileage from the event would have significantly decreased.

“Credit to the organisers because putting your neck on the line and doing it takes a lot,” said Evans of the pioneering move by organiser Chelmsford Motor Club. “There’s crowds of spectators and it’s great to see. The stages are fast, there’s hairpins and fast corners, it’s a good mix. It would be nice to have longer stages, but you have to start somewhere.”