THE RETURN OF HISTORIC RALLYING’S STERNEST TEST
Paul Lawrence looks at the reborn Roger Albert Clark event, which starts this week
After a wait of two years, it is here. The Roger Albert Clark Rally is the rally of the year for many competitors, marshals and fans. Five days of action across Wales, Northumberland and southern Scotland kick off tomorrow (Thursday) and finish in Carlisle late on Monday afternoon.
The 13th edition of the Roger Albert Clark Rally is the biggest and toughest yet, with 300 stage miles over 32 stages on classic Mid-wales gravel, daunting tests in Kielder and famous Scottish stages like Twiglees and Caste O’er. Fittingly, the event has drawn its biggest and most competitive entry ever, with a gaggle of contenders in a field of 130 cars.
This is far more than most modern one-day forest sprints. It represents a full
BTRDA season in one rally, with long days and lots of miles in the dark. The stages in legendary forests have an unrivalled atmosphere and it is a proper adventure for everyone involved, including the fans.
The success of the rally is down to one man and his hugely supportive family. Colin Heppenstall, his wife Nicola and their teenage children Victoria and Thomas, run this rally. Sure, lots of volunteers play key support roles, but without the sheer dedication of the Heppenstalls, there would be no rally.
At the head of the action will be a horde of full-spec Ford Escort Mk2s and our sidebar looks at the prospects for the top five seeds. But the quality goes way, way down the order and anyone in the top 30 has a realistic shot at finishing in the top 10.
The 2019 British Historic champions Simon Webster and Jez Rogers were fifth two years ago, while a quality-packed top 10 also includes Adrian Hetherington/
Andrew Grennan and Alan Walker/john Connor, who took a fabulous fourth overall in 2017. Henri Grehan, Ben Friend and Rudi Lancaster are other members of the rapid Escort Mk2 pack.
Christophe Jacob is among the
European visitors, while Swedish ace
Arne Backstrom is expected to fly in his Volvo 240. From Belgium is Ghislain de Mevius in his Nissan 240RS and adding variety are Phil Collins (Opel Ascona), Andrew Siddall (Fiat 131) and Wayne Sisson, who brings his newly-prepped Mitsubishi Galant to class F2.
The leading Pinto-powered Escort Mk2s in class D3 include Stuart Egglestone, Guy Woodcock and Josh Browne. Meanwhile, in Category 2 (for the pre ’75 cars) 2010 winner Stefaan Stouf heads the field.
Event veteran Jeremy Easson (Datsun 240Z) tops class C4 while Josh Carr goes up against Tony Shields in class C3 for the Pinto-powered Escort Mk1s. The 1600cc historics run in the first pack of cars and in class D2 the Escort Mk2s of John Mennell and David Goose should set the pace, while class C2 is topped by the Mk1 Escorts of David Bennett and Stuart Cariss.
The pre ’68 cars in Category 1 also run at the front of the field, led by the legend that is Bob Bean in his Lotus Cortina. Other contenders in Category 1 include Paul Mankin (Porsche 911), Drexel Gillespie (Volvo Amazon) and Malcolm Rich
(Ford Anglia).
The concurrent Open Rally is for twowheel-drive cars of any age, topped by former WRC driver Gregoire de Mevius in his Toyota Celica. Former Open winners Dave Hemingway and Simon Ashton are back to maintain their 100% starting record in their Ford Escort Mk2 and go up against 2017 Open winners
David Hutchinson and Jeff Garnett, who have swapped their Escort Mk2 for a Toyota GT86.