Preview, round eight: Trackrod Historic Cup
The Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship is set for a grandstand finish over the final two events of the season and round eight, the Trackrod Historic Cup (8 October) is sure to have a major impact on the championship battles.Now, six challenging stages in the classic Yorkshire forests, including a mammoth 16-miler in Givendale, form the core of the Trackrod, the penultimate round of the championship.Historic (category 1)Victory in Flanders on round seven has catapulted Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride into the overall championship lead as crews head for Yorkshire. Their Porsche 911 has a slender two-point lead over the similar car of Steven Smith and John Nichols, which retired with gearbox failure in Belgium.
However, crews will now start dropping scores, as only their best seven results count for final placings. As Nutt/McBride have now scored well on seven events, that should put the advantage back with Smith/Nichols who have one retirement in their seven scores to date.
Adding spice to the class B5 battle in Yorkshire will be the return of two crews, only seen infrequently this year. Geoff Crabtree/Liz Jordan and Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret are both back in their Porsche 911s to ensure that Smith and Nutt have plenty of opposition.
Back in class B4 after missing Flanders will be the Lotus Cortina of Chris and Hilary Green for their home event. They will head the pursuit of the Porsches, but have the similar car of Jim Clark/Neil Sawyer as class rivals. Meanwhile, the Cortina GT of Tim Beall/Pete Dalton tops class B3.
Favourites to set the pace in B2 are son and father combo Matt and Dood Pearce in their Mini Cooper S, with the similar cars of John Willis/Andy Armstrong and Phil Smith/Barbara Smith joining the MG Midget of Adam and Ian Tomlinson lining up to chase the Pearces.
No less than three two-stroke Saab 96s are entered in class B1, but the car of local crew John Parker/Robert Harrison may not make it after an accident in Belgium. The other Saabs are handled by James Valentine/Julian Stocks and Nick Pinkett/tba.Post-historic (category 2)Set to be the biggest rivals to Smith/Nichols for the overall BHRC title are the Mk1 Escorts of David Stokes/Ian Oakey and Jeremy Easson/Den Golding. Stokes/Oakey now have two non-finishes in their record, so need to finish both remaining events strongly, while victory in Flanders for Easson/Golding has put them in a strong championship position.Its all two close to call right now, but the pace will be fierce as Stokes and Easson go head to head once more. Adding to the mix in Yorkshire will be the championship return of Ray Bellm/Mark Solloway, fresh from recent WRC outings in Finland and Wales. Bellm will be back in his Mk1 Escort for the first time in several months. More rapid class C5 Escorts are in the capable hands of Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips and Craig Salter/Preston Ayres, while Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard make a welcome return to the championship after a season in which Graham has won the FIA Historic Rally title.
The Porsche 911s in class C4 could well challenge for overall post-historic spoils in Yorkshire, with the series debut of Brian Bell/Paul Spooner and the second outing for Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood. Series regulars Graham Wilson/Keith Fellowes, Andrew Street/Jez Mason and Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown add further strength to the C4 pack.
Fresh from an excellent finish in Flanders, Frank Cunningham/Arron Forde head class C3 in their Pinto-powered Escort, with opposition from Ian Drummond/Tom Ward. Meanwhile, the on-going battles in C2 amongst the remarkably quick 1600cc Escorts will centre on Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, John Worthing/Bill Robertson and Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley.
Finally, the Skoda 120S of Richard and Leslie Simpson makes a welcome return in class C1.The Trackrod Historic Cup starts at 7.15am on Saturday 8 October from Pickering Showground, which is also the venue for the first and last stages of the rally.
