Rally reports
Single-seater driver impresses on the loose after dominant display
Organiser: West Cumbria Motorsport Club & Eden Valley Motor Club When: July 7 Where: Greystoke Forest, Cumbria Championships: ANECCC; ANCC; ANWCC; NHRC Stages: 6 Starters: 55.
Competing on his first ever gravel rally, Frank Bird and co-driver Jack Morton swept to victory, bringing their Ford Focus WRC07 home almost a minute clear of a trio of Subaru Imprezas.
It was last year’s winner Gary Tomlinson, co-driven on this occasion by Mark Fisher, who made the most of running first on the road to set fastest time on the opening stage. Their cause was helped when the second car, Steve Bannister and Callum Atkinson’s Ford Escort Mk2, spun and ended up broadside across the track with a rear wheel hanging over a ditch, creating problems for the following cars.
Michael Glendinning and Charley Sayerpayne’s Impreza was first on the scene and managed to squeeze past but not without inflicting some panel damage. With a couple of spectators trying to help move the stricken Escort, the following cars – headed by Bird – were forced to stop and lend a hand, collecting notional stage times for their good deed.
On the second stage, the eventual winners set the first of what was to be fastest time on all the remaining stages, despite clipping a bank at the crossroads. On the following stage, they secured a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, extending their advantage at each opportunity and forcing Tomlinson, who hadn’t competed since last December’s Grizedale Stages, to settle for the runner-up spot.
Completing the podium were Daniel Hiorns and Chris Purvis who were making the most of their Impreza’s new engine. Their only issue came from a blocked intercooler water spray hose that was a victim of the dusty conditions. A problem with the centre differential had left Glendinning in ninth place after stage two but once that was sorted he made strides up the standings to finish fourth.
Nick Dobson and Phil Sandham had BTRDA stalwart Ian Joel to thank for helping them finish fifth. When they arrived in service following stage three with a broken exhaust manifold, Joel came to their rescue with a welder. With that fixed they moved their Escort Mk2 three places up the order, only grabbing fifth on the final test.
Marcus and Helen Noble had a trouble-free day to bring their Escort Mk2 home sixth, two seconds behind Dobson but 2s ahead of the Impreza of John Mcilwraith and Heather Grisedale. They had started the final stage in fourth place but a combination of power steering issues and brake failure meant they visited a ditch and slipped to seventh in the final standings.
Martin Craik and Richard Wardle enjoyed a clean run to finish eighth in their Impreza ahead of Class 2 winner Barry Lindsay/caroline Lodge who had a lucky escape following a visit to a stage three ditch.
George Hewick and Ashley Young had an overshoot in stage two and an issue with a sticking carburetor spindle that required attention between stages. In the end the Escort Mk2 pilot was happy to take a top 10 finish, the first of his career.
Results
1 Frank Bird/jack Morton (Ford Focus RS WRC07) 39m36s; 2 Gary Tomlinson/ Mark Fisher (Subaru Impreza) +56s; 3 Daniel Hiorns/chris Purvis (Impreza); 4 Michael Glendinning/charley Sayer-payne (Impreza); 5 Nick Dobson/phil Sandham (Ford Escort Mk2); 6 Marcus/helen Noble (Escort Mk2); 7 John Mcilwraith/heather Grisedale (Impreza); 8 Martin Craik/richard Wardle (Impreza); 9 Barry Lindsay/caroline Lodge (Peugeot 206); 10 George Hewick/ashley Young (Escort Mk2).
Class winners: David Barr/neil Mitchell-hunter (VW Polo); Lindsay/lodge; Dobson/sandham; Timo Kennish/di Stevenson (BMW M3 Compact); Glendinning/sayer-payne.