Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championshipround two: Denbighshire Astra Stages Rally
The 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship resumes with round two, the Denbighshire Astra Stages Rally on Saturday 1 April.
The popularity of historic rallying is clear from the fabulous 80-car entry, which makes the BHRC the biggest element of this very popular rally. The historic crews face seven stages in the Clocaenog and Aberhirnant forests on the Llangollen-based rally.Category 1Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies had a relatively straightforward run to category 1 (pre '68) victory on the Robin Hood in their Sunbeam Tiger. However, the former touring car racer faces a much bigger challenge on the Astra as Porsche crews Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride and Stuart Rolt/Richard Pomfret line up for the Welsh event. Both 911s could really push the Tiger on the gravel stages.
In class B4, Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates head the Lotus Cortina pack and set a cracking pace on the Robin Hood to win the class. However, the similar cars of Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson and local crew Gwilym Roberts/Gwawr Hughes will chase hard along with the Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Mike Reynolds, a former historic winner on the Astra.
Aiming to upset the Lotus Cortinas with the pace of their Cortina GT will be class B3 pacesetters Jonathan Gale/Graham Gale, while another excellent B2 entry promises a great battle. Clive King (Mini Cooper S) set the pace on the Robin Hood, but can expect a big challenge from the Cooper S of Mike Barratt/Joanne Watson and the very rapid MG Midget of James Stait/Stewart Lawson. Stait is due a shot of good fortune after a series of retirements during 2005.
Meanwhile, the three Saab 96 two-strokes in B1 will be real crowd pleasers as John Parker/Robert Harrison aim to repeat their Robin Hood victory.Category 2The post-historic (1968-74) category is the most popular of the three categories in the BHRC and is set to be a Ford Escort v Porsche 911 battle over the classic Welsh stages.A storming performance from Mark Solloway/Mark Crisp (Escort) won the day on the Robin Hood, but the result was only decided on the final stage as David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Steven Smith/John Nichols fought mightily. Solloway and Stokes will go head to head once more, while Smith/Nichols hope to be out in their new Porsche 911.
If the new car is ready, they will forsake their Escort RS2000 for the class C4 3-litre Porsche.Other leading runners in C5 – the class for BDA-powered Escorts – are Craig Salter/Preston Ayres, locals Rikki Proffitt/Phil Harrison, Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips and Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard.
Smith/Nichols will be one of no less than 10 Porsches in C4 and their most notable rival will be the Prepfab car of Jimmy McRae/Campbell Roy. Having been forced to miss the Robin Hood due to last-minute gearbox gremlins, McRae will be raring to get back into action on the Astra. Add in a whole gaggle of very quick Porsches for Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood, Nick Whale/Sally Wood, Andrew Street/Jez Mason, Brian Bell/Paul Spooner, Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan, Graham Wilson/Keith Fellows and Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown and stage is set for an incredible battle.
Dave Dyer/Graham Wride lead the class C3 field in their Escort after a cracking start on the Robin Hood, but they will be pressed hard by Martin Kenny/Dave Stocking and Bob Gibbons/Neil Cook, while the Saab 96 V4 of Allan Clews/Mark Thomas offers welcome variety to the Escort hordes.
Russell Morgan/Martin Kenyon scored a fine C2 victory on the Robin Hood, but there will be no let up in the pressure from Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, John Worthing/Bill Robertson and Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley in the battle of the 1600cc Escorts. Finally, Richard Simpson/Craig Wallace have class C1 to themselves in their Skoda 120S.The Astra is organised by Vauxhall Motoring Group (Wirral) and for more details about the event, please visit the website at: astrastages.co.uk
