McGrady Insurance MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship
Round 5: Lakeland Stages Rally, 3 September
Josh Moffett was victorious on the Lakeland Stages Rally but more significant for the championship battle was Jonny Greer’s second place finish, just over half a minute behind.
Moffett led from the start, with his brother, Sam, in second until Greer moved ahead on the long third test. Championship leader Derek McGarrity was having his first run in an R5 Skoda Fabia and slotted into fourth place, where he remained until the finish.
Banbridge ace Kenny McKinstry was tied with McGarrity after three stages and wound up fifth in his Impreza WRC after dropping off the pace in the afternoon loop. Strabane’s Martin Cairns brought his WRC Fiesta home in sixth, just one second ahead of Derek McGeehan in the Mini WRC. Claudy’s Jordan Hone won the Group N battle in his Evo 9, finishing eleventh overall.
Results
1 Josh Moffett / Stephen Thornton (Ford Fiesta R5) 31m17.0s
2 Jonathan Greer / Kirsty Riddick (Citroën DS3 R5) +0m31.0s
3 Sam Moffett / James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) +0m56.0s
MAXXIS MSA English Rally Championship
Round 7: Eventsigns Woodpecker Stages
Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson took a big step towards the championship title by finishing just 17 seconds behind their main rivals, Callum Black and Elliott Edmundson, on the Woodpecker Stages.
The title fight is now between these two crews but Petch and Wilkinson will still have to drop a score, so it is much closer that it looks. Most of the championship classes are still up for grabs and will be decided on the Trackrod Forest Stages.
The closest battle on the Woodpecker was in Class E2 for cars up to 1400cc, where Dave Brick and Toby Brick finished just six seconds ahead of Chris Powell and Jim Lewis after swapping fastest times throughout the day.
Results
1 Callum Black / Elliott Edmondson (Ford Fiesta R5+) 41m57s
2 Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson (Ford Fiesta WRC) 42m14s
3 Hugh Hunter / Robert Fagg (Ford Fiesta WRC) 42m45s
Provisional championship standings
1 Stephen Petch – 133 points
2 Callum Black – 113
3 Patrick Naylor – 103
4 Russ Thompson – 94
5 Barry Jordan – 90
Pirelli MSA Welsh Rally Championship
Round 7: EventSigns Woodpecker Stages, 2 September
Callum Black made it a hat trick of wins on the Woodpecker Stages to move into a strong second place in the 2017 championship standings.
It was not all plain sailing though as Black and co-driver Elliott Edmondson, like many crews, struggled at times in the dry and dusty conditions, just overshooting a junction on the opening test. They then had a scare on Stage 4, Haye Park, losing 30 seconds when the engine cut out in their Fiesta WRC.
This allowed Hugh Hunter to take the lead by service. Black left the service area determined to regain the advantage and did so, with a victory margin of 28 seconds by the finish. The championship remains undecided and now goes to the Forest of Dean for the final round, the Wyedean Stages on 11 November.
Results
1 Callum Black / Elliott Edmondson (Ford Fiesta R5) 0h41m57s
2 Hugh Hunter / Rob Fagg (Ford Fiesta WRC) 0h42m25s
3 Peter M Stephenson / Ian Windress (Ford Focus WRC 06) 0h43m25s
Provisional championship standings
1 Andy Davies – 94 points
2 Callum Black – 90
3 Wug Utting – 88
Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA British Hill Climb Championship
Rounds 29 & 30: Prescott, 2-3 September
Trevor Willis did enough at Prescott to become the MSA British Hill Climb Champion for the second time.
Weather affected qualifying for both rounds but there was a stunning outcome for Richard Spedding, who triumphed each time. Even though Wallace Menzies spun out in the first encounter, Willis had to wait for the conclusion of the second run-off to be declared champion and then had to suffer the customary awards presentation soaking, ring-lead by Menzies.
Results – round 29
1 Richard Spedding (1.6 GWR-Suzuki Raptor) 43.80s = BTD; 2 Sean Gould (1.6 Gould-Suzuki GR59) 44.33s; 3 Trevor Willis (3.2 OMS-RPE 28) 44.70s; 4 Jason Mourant (3.5 Gould-Judd GR55) 45.35s; 5 Robert Kenrick (1.0 GWR-BMW Raptor) 45.62s; 6 Simon Fidoe (1.0 Empire-Suzuki Wraith) 45.65s; 7 Debbie Dunbar (1.0 DJ-Suzuki Firehawk) 46.26s; 8 Ray Rowan (2.7 Pilbeam-Hart MP43) 46.29s; 9 Steve Owen (1.1 OMS-Suzuki 28) 39.64s; 10 Paul Haimes (1.3t Gould-Suzuki GR59) 47.34s; 11 Will Hall (2.0 Force-AER/XTec WH) 47.84s; Fail Wallace Menzies (3.3 Gould-Cosworth GR59M).
Round 30
1 Spedding 43.80s = BTD; 2 Menzies 44.11s; 3 Mourant 44.75s; 4 Kenrick 44.92s; 5 Willis 45.18s; 6 Fidoe 45.57s; 7 Hall 46.12s; 8 Owen 46.16s; 9 Ms Dunbar 46.25s; 10 Rowan 46.69s; Tina Hawkes (1.6 Force-Suzuki PC) 47.84s; Fail Haimes.
Provisional championship standings
1 Trevor Willis – 219 points
2 Wallace Menzies – 179
3 Richard Spedding – 158
4 Will Hall – 146
5 Alex Summers – 130
MSA British Superkart Championship
Rounds 9-11: Anglesey, 2-3 September
Dan Clark edged closer to the MSA British Superkart Championship title with three podium finishes at Anglesey.
Clark took an early lead in race one but was passed by team-mates Paul Platt and Andy Bird after half distance and had to settle for third. The weather changed dramatically on the second day when rain swept the Coastal circuit from the outset. Gavin Bennett led the opening lap of race two but Clark moved ahead on lap two and held on for the win.
Conditions improved slightly for the third race but the track was still greasy. Bennett took the lead at the start and gradually increased his advantage to win comfortably. Bird was holding second place but spun on the final lap. Clark and Jack Layton took avoiding action and claimed the podium places, with Bird recovering from the spin to take fourth spot.
Results – race one
1 Paul Platt (PVP Gas Gas)
2 Andy Bird (Anderson Gas Gas)
3 Dan Clark (Anderson Gas Gas)
Race two
1 Dan Clark (Anderson Gas Gas)
2 Gavin Bennett (Anderson DEA)
3 Andy Bird (Anderson Gas Gas)
Race three
1 Gavin Bennett (Anderson DEA)
2 Dan Clark (Anderson Gas Gas)
3 Jack Layton (Anderson DEA)
Provisional championship standings
1 Dan Clark – 343 points
2 Jack Layton – 296
3 Gavin Bennett – 293
4 Andy Bird – 280
5 Paul Platt – 267
