Report from Old Stager of December 2002

Bulldog Rally

Report and pictures by Mike Hally

With just 3 points separating the top two crews, the Bulldog Rally was supposed to be High Noon in the season-long battle between Charles Golding/Preston Ayres and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride. Unfortunately a disastrous tyre choice on the very first stage put Nutt/McBride out of reach of the maximum point score they needed to put pressure on Golding/Ayres. Still both divisions gave us thrilling duels with David Stokes/Andrew Stokes getting the win they’ve threatened on only their 2nd forest event after that 22-year layoff, while John Keatley/Maurice Beckett just held off a sparkling late challenge by Steve Perez/Jonty Bolsover.

Historic Overall

Nutt/McBride brought their yellow Porsche first on the road through the 4- mile Sweet Lamb stage, “your chance to entertain” according to the road book. But there was obviously something wrong as they skated nervously down to the ford, and when Keatley/Beckett followed visibly much faster in their 911, the question was “what’s wrong with Dessie?” It’s some years since he did Sweet Lamb and he remembered it as hard and gravelly. This time icy patches and a muddy top layer meant Keatley made the better tyre choice and was 10 seconds a mile quicker - an unheard-of margin between these long-time rivals. Nutt/McBride decided there was “no way back” at that point and decided to drive for a finish that would assure them of the historic title at least.

Keatley/Beckett were delighted of course, but others were keen to take up the challenge. Chris & Hilary Green had new competition locking rings on the halfshafts, to stop them pulling out of the bearings as happened on the Trackrod. Unfortunately an excursion on the third stage saw one half-shaft break completely on the Mk 1 Lotus Cortina and they were out again (they later found the axle bent, probably from the Trackrod). James Stait/Marcus Cartwright believe they can win an historic round in the forest, with some justification. A wrong slot on Sweet Lamb got them off to a bad start, but after three stages they were second overall. However Steve Perez/Jonty Bolsover, who’d been sliding their 911 around a bit too much on the mud and were now on narrower rear tyres for more bite, were closing fast. Keatley/Beckett fitted new tyres for the long Dyfi stage and promptly lost it on the first bend which “spooked” the driver a bit. At the same time Perez/Bolsover were really flying and the result was a time 25 seconds faster than Keatley/Beckett. They repeated the trick on the last but the Irish crew still took the division by 12 seconds, while Stait/Cartwright finished third overall.

Post Historic Overall

Golding/Ayres knew the only way to be certain of the overall BHRC title was to win the post-histories outright, but Stokes/Stokes weren’t going to make it easy for them as fastest over Sweet Lamb made clear. And Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret’s 911 split the RS16OOs to show they were going to make life difficult too.

Golding/Ayres took the lead with fastest time over the first forest stage, Hafren North, but Stokes/Stokes grabbed it back again on the next. Both really went for it through Dyfi, the longest stage at 16 miles and the chance to land a killer blow. But just two-tenths of a second separated their times and the lead sat at 2.5 seconds. So it was all down to the last stage and Stokes decided “you’re really going to get it now” and flew over the last, even when the car was off the road in 4th gear and running parallel to the track at unabated speed. At the same time Golding/Ayres now knew Nutt/McBride couldn’t get the points they needed, and second post-historic would give them the title. Still Golding conceded he was unlikely to have caught Stokes/Stokes in that mood and they were deserving and popular winners. Third placed Rolt/Pomfret couldn’t match that pace, the driver still only in his first full season of rallying and unused to wet loose surfaces. Bizarrely they slid into a ditch between stages while moving over to let oncoming spectator cars through. Fortunately the spectators then stopped and dragged them out, without damage or penalty.

Historic Classes

The Porsche class went to Keatley/Beckett and Perez/Bolsover, with Nutt/McBride third and David McErlain/Andrew Merifield fourth, another to suffer with unsuitable tyres on the rear (and nothing to change them for). The 2-litre class was another lonely one, with only Peter Quinton/Andrew Turner starting and finishing in the 1800 Cortina GT.

One advantage of the Greens non-finishing is that it restores an element of uncertainty to the 1600s (otherwise known as the Cortina class). Keith Reed/Terry Wilson took the lead from the start and held it all the way to the final stage where a maximum dropped them down to 6th in class. Neil White/“Polly”, Gwilym Roberts/Bill Robertson and Peter Scott/Simon Bentley had a nail-biting three-way tussle which saw White/Polly enter the last stage with a lead of just 0.1 seconds over Scott/Bentley and five seconds over Roberts/Robertson. But on the last stage Scott/Bentley hit a gate-post on the right side of the track with their nearside wing (think about it!) and lost time getting back onto the stage. That dropped them to fifth, while White/Polly held on to win the class from Roberts/Robertson. Jim Clark/Simon Coates were third, with Tim Beall/Pete Dalton in fourth, ahead of an increasingly exuberant Don Simmons/Tony Jolly, while Keith Pettitt/Bernard Baker rounded off the finishers. Jonathan and Graham Gale retired on the second stage, Hafren North, with a broken u/j, infuriating as they’d changed its predecessor the day before as a precaution!

We’re used to seeing Stait/Cartwright punching above their weight in the 1300 class and they did it again this time. Often they’re joined by Kermode/Jordan but with their third overall in the championship at risk, and no chance of catching the leaders unless they retired, they drove for points, finishing a well-judged third in class. But Clive King/Bob Ward (on a rare outing, so they declined to register for points) were well up to the giant-killing role, finishing fourth overall and second in class with some spectacular driving in their Cooper S. Graeme Godfrey/Alan Hudson would have taken third in class but for problems in Hafren which dropped them to fourth. David Foster/Terry March punctured in Dyfi near the start and lost 5 minutes changing it, leaving them in 5lh, while Kevin Handley/Karon Wheeler brought their MG home 6th in class. Mike Barratt/Michelle Calvert were having a good run in their often troublesome Cooper S until they clipped a log on the final stage and bounced into a tree. Damage was minimal but it was another non-finish. Henry Hardiment/Chris Ramsey went out on the third stage.

Post Historic Classes

The over 2-litre class went to Rolt/Pomfret, with Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips second in their Porsche, another to lose 5 minutes after changing a puncture early on Dyfi. John Spiers/Mike Brown rolled one Datsun on Dyfi, while Mike Collins/Roger Sutcliffe slid their 240Z into the muck at the woodyard on Hafren and couldn’t get out.

Stokes/Stokes won the crowded 2-litre class from Golding/Ayres, with Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard 3rd after easing off on the last two stages with a loose exhaust manifold on their RSI600, the driver nervous that it was weakening the mixture. Anthony Ward/Dan MacLachlan were next points-scorers in another BDA, beating Bob Gibbons/Stuart Cardell’s RS2000 by a mere 1.3 seconds. Nigel Talton/Dennis Turner took the points for 6th in class in the Dolomite Sprint, with Neil & Kenneth Rudd rounding off the finishers in their Twin-Cam. Andrew Street/Simon Gaden slid the Saab 99EMS off harmlessly near the finish of Gartheiniog and couldn’t find enough spectators to get back. Richard Gower/Mark Crisp started with some competitive times as usual but the engine died for no apparent reason (later found to be ignition) and they were out after two stages. Adrian Trickett/John Pickavance had a pinion bearing go on their RS2000, while Ricki Proffitt/Phil Harrison’s BDA suffered terminal overheating on the first stage.

Kevin Broadhurst/Rowand Prentice set another startling time on the first stage in their Mexico, 4th overall and easily fastest 1600. However a “wall of death” ride along a ditch on the next stage ended when a tree stump bounced them back onto the track. Unfortunately severely damaged steering, clutch loss and a broken wrist made retirement inevitable though they finished that stage and the next before accepting it. Philip Atkinson/Gary Wood are increasingly impressive in their Avenger and a series of top ten times took them to the class win, ahead of Derek Belbin/Michael Davison’s Mexico and Tony Shields/Brynmor Pierce in another Avenger. John Worthing/John Cadwallader are finding they lose their early advantage as everyone else speeds up, and on top of that had a huge moment while gawping at Drexel Gillespie’s Escort upside down in the trees on Gartheiniog. Still they took 4th in class, ahead of Kevin & Dan Holley in the third Avenger and Jim Francis/Ray Deacon’s Mexico Estate. Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes went OTL with clutch failure.