Round eight: Trackrod Historic Cup
David Stokes and Ian Oakey scored a significant victory on round eight of the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship when they won the Trackrod Historic Cup in Yorkshire on Saturday (8 October).
In the historic category, Stuart Rolt and Richard Pomfret claimed a fine win after six months out of rallying.Historic (category 1)For the second event in a row, disaster struck the Porsche 911 of Steven Smith/John Nichols. By SS3 in Langdale forest, the Porsche was trailing smoke and retirement followed a stage later with engine damage.
That left the way open for Rolt/Pomfret (Porsche 911) to see off the challenge of Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911) and by the end of the day the winning margin was just over half a minute. "The second time through the stages was very difficult," said Rolt, after rain arrived in the middle of the day. "We've had the perfect Tuthill Porsche," he added of his team.
"A few overshoots and a spin in the slippy bits," reported Nutt of their event.Third in historics and winning class B4 were Chris and Hilary Green (Lotus Cortina). "It's been an exciting day and I'm very pleased with the result," said Green, who lost class rivals Jim Clark/Neil Sawyer with clutch failure in their Lotus Cortina.
Tim Beall/Pete Dalton claimed class B3 in their Ford Cortina GT despite losing power with a carburettor problem. "We haven't been able to pull the revs," confirmed Beall. "I think we did most of the last two stages on the sump guard," said B2 winners Matt and Dood Pearce after another class win in their Mini Cooper. They had to push hard through the final leg to make sure they stayed clear of the MG Midget of Adam and Ian Tomlinson. Chasing the Midget was the Mini Cooper of Mike Barratt/Michelle Calvert.
The battle of the Saab 96s in class B1 fell to James Valentine/Julian Stocks, despite a front puncture on the long Givendale stage. However, they were still clear of the similar car of Nick Pinkett/Kevin Hare, which dropped 10 minutes in the Housedale stage.Post-historic (category 2)"We need to win today," said Stokes early on Saturday morning, knowing that they needed a victory in Yorkshire to maintain their title hopes. True to his word, Stokes (Escort Mk1) took an early grip on the event and stayed ahead through the fast Yorkshire forests to win by 55 seconds. "We pulled time out when it was dry in the morning and then it was very rutted and slippery on the last two stages," reported Stokes. "We haven't put a spanner on the car all day!"
In contrast, Jeremy Easson/Den Golding (Escort Mk1) had a tough day and dropped a lot of time on the first loop of stages when a brake pipe detached. "We had to do all of SS3 with no brakes and that cost us a minute," said Easson. With the brakes restored at service, they were able to get the car home third, but in second was the similar Escort Mk1 of Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard. Though not registered for BHRC points, Graham had a great run to follow on from his recent victory in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. "It's been a fantastic day," reckoned Graham.
Class C4 victory fell to Andrew Street/Jez Mason after a trouble free day in their Porsche 911. However, in all sorts of dramas were their class rivals Brian Bell/Paul Spooner, Peter Lythell/Gill Cotton and Graham Wilson/Keith Fellowes who all retired with various transmission dramas.
Competing in the Yorkshire forests for the first time, Frank Cunningham/Arron Forde took their Escort RS2000 to victory in class C3, with Ian Drummond/Tom Ward (Escort) second.
Top BHRC finishers in C2 were John Worthing and Bill Robertson after a great performance in their Escort Mk1, but second BHRC points in the class was enough to win the class title for Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes. "It's been the most difficult event this season," said Forster. "Everything's gone wrong!" Their notable problem was a bent rear axle, that left some strange handling and the car emerged from Givendale with a mass of undergrowth across the front of the car to prove that it had been an exciting run.
Finally, class C1 was won by Richard and Leslie Simpson in their Skoda 120S. "We got a finish and that's what we wanted," said Simpson as they crossed the finish line.
