Motorsport News of 25th October 2006

Clubmans Rally

Howells reveals secret

David Howells said the secret to his winning the Bulldog Clubman's Rally was easy last weekend.

Howells and his co-driver Andy Morgan had done the event as a one-off to evaluate the championship as an option for 2007. “I went where the co-driver told me to go quickly;" he laughed. “We didn't expect to win the event at all. this Is a real bonus." Howells set three fastest stage times on the four-stage event.
Last year's winner. Jimmy Christie, said he had come back to win for a second year but hadn't been able to. “The car’s been perfect." he said. “But it struggles a bit when it's slippy. That’s been our real downfall today."
Owain Beman finished third on the event but won the Welsh Clubman's Championship as a result of his podium place. “It’s been five months since our last rally." said Be man. “And it’s our first time out in this car. It feels slow, it shows you how important having time in the car on a regular basis is."
As the Fiesta SportingTrophy regulars competed on the Clubman's event, the new SportingTrophy champion Chris Moore came home to take enough points to win the Clubman's championship and with it, free entry to every event next year.

Bulldog Mini Rally

By Jo Holland
Photos: Mark Writtle

Thumbs up for Mini Rally

Clerk of course wants more small events

The success of last weekend’s Bulldog Mini Rally has left organisers hoping that other rallies will take the concept on board for next year. Nine teams contested the two- stage event, designed to give people a taste of forest rallying for the first time on a low budget.

Clerk of the course John Trevethick said: “It’s been a good way to fill up some spare places on the entry list and give youngsters a chance to experience the forests at the same time. Other clerks of course are already saying they wish they’d tried it this year so I hope to see more in the future. The competitors seem to have enjoyed it”
Second-placed finisher Owen Cule had not competed on a rally for four years because of budget restraints and found the Mini Rally format an ideal way to get back onto the stages.
“It’s allowed me to get back into a forest and given me a buzz for rallying back,” said Cule. “At the end of the two stages you think you could do more, but then you remember that you can’t afford to do more so it’s the perfect concept. It lets people with low budgets be part of a big event.” Cule’s co-driver Emily Goodhand had never used pacenotes or competed in a forest before, so she got to sample both for the first time. She added: “It’s been a very social event to do as well as being very competitive. You learn a lot in a short space of time.”

Flynn backs concept after cheap win

The Mini Rally was won by 205 Challenge organiser Pat Flynn with his daughter Ella co-­driving. Their total budget for the event was just £204. “This is proper rallying,” said Flynn, who developed the Mini Rally concept. “You get a good night’s sleep before it, sign on, scrutineer and have a great run which includes the longest stage on the National event, so it’s not as if you’re being short changed for mile works out around eight quid a mile or so.
“In between the two stages everyone was swapping stories and food, the atmosphere was brilliant. Let’s hope it catches on and is repeated next year.”

Fiesta Sporting Trophy

Title goes to the wire

The grand finale of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy UK was played out in dramatic style on the Bulldog Clubmans Rally last weekend.

The championship was between Chris Moore and George Thomas. To win the title, Moore had to finish first or second with Thomas behind him. He finished second by 0.8 seconds after he passed Thomas crashed out in the middle of the final stage.
Moore started the event trying to go uphill with his handbrake on. "The split pin fell out of the handbrake." he explained. “We went up a hill and I thought it was a bit sluggish, then realised the handbrake was stuck on. We lost time with that for sure."
At service, Thomas said he felt the car was bogging down a bit in the muddy conditions and said he would go for it, joking to his codriver he should fasten his seatbelt. He was leading the championship with one stage to go, but crashed out on the final stage (see rally news).
A devastated Thomas said. “It was a silly mistake when we went off and we would have won the rally otherwise. I'm gutted.” Ironically, the corner which claimed Thomas was one where Moore’s co-driver Richard Edwards had gone off a few years earlier so they had marked it well on their notes.
When Moore saw Thomas, he still had to finish second to win and it was Kevin Davies who pushed them hard The event win went to Simon Hughes, taking his second Fiesta victory of the year.

In Brief

The inaugural Bulldog Mini Rally was won by 205 Challenge legend Pat Flynn with his daughter Ella Flynn on the notes. Former BTRDA driver Owen Cule finished second in his Citroen AX Sport after two stages, including the longest Dyfnant stage, father- and-son team Jamie and Peter Davidson finished third in their Peugeot 205.

After finishing second in their left-hand-drive Citroen on the short forest event last Saturday. Cule and his co-driver Emily Good hand were go mg on to contest the asphalt Adrian Barker Rally in a right-hand drive car the following day (for more on the Mini Rally, see Rally News.)

Class H2 winner Andrew Haddon had just finished building the Porsche RS he used on the Bulldog Rally last weekend. His next three events will be the Premiere, the Roger Albert Clark and the Killarney Historic He had been looking forward to a good battle with Gavin Cox, who was out In the Vodka Kick Lancia Stratos, but he retired on the first stage.

Leading retirements on the Bulldog included Damian Cole/Craig Drew, whose engine blew on stage four. Bob Ceern/Alistair Douglas, who suffered engine failure after stage two and Alistair Tough/Alistair Mackey who crashed out on stage four.

When Steve Perez and Peter Martin brought their car Into service after stage two, they had a pair of ladies' underwear hanging off the back. From now on the two men will be known as the Tom Jones of motorsport - women throwing underwear at them on the stages, what next?
But it was Richard Gower who claimed to have seen the underwear first. Lying eighth after the two pre-service stages he joked that finding the underwear had put him off. He also claimed his co-driver A led Davies had lost weight, which was putting the car off balance.

Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior were in the B13 dass last weekend In their Subaru Impreza because they were running a bigger restricter on the car while they tested for Wales Rally GB in December.

Andy Burton had been as high as fifth on the Bulldog Rally but after driving for eight miles on a flat tyre on stage two. he fell out of the top ten. He got back up to sixth before he retired after stage five.

While Steve Petch finished 22nd overall on his first outing in a Group N car In 12 years, his son Stephen retired on the first stage when a diff collapsed.

Shaun Cronin and Roger Allan, of the Dorset Police Rally Team, were driving their first wet rally last weekend. It was their ninth rally and they said they had a "fabulous spin" on the second stage They finished 30th overall.

Rodney Bennett and Henry Richardson were debuting their new Fiat Stilo on the Bulldog Rally last weekend. They had only had the car for a week and it still had Italian flags on the windows. "Its only done Italian Tarmac events before, so it's probably gone a bit knobbly underneath after the gravel," laughed Bennett They finished 33rd and won class A7. "Don't ask how many people were in our class." said Bennett on the finish ramp. He was the only A7 driver competing on the event.