Preview, round seven: Historic Tour of Flanders
Round seven of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship takes the historic crews to Belgium for the Tour of Flanders (9/10 September) and two days of challenging stages on the asphalt lanes around the host town of Roeselare.Category 1The battle among the BHRC category 1 cars (pre '68) is set to be a straight fight between Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies (Sunbeam Tiger) and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911 and it is Watts who has the upperhand in the points table. However, with plans to tackle the Silver Fern Rally in New Zealand in October, this could be Nutt's final BHRC outing of 2006 and he will be determined to topple the mighty Tiger again, having scored a fine category 1 victory last time out on the Isle of Man.Chasing Watts and Nutt will be the leading Lotus Cortinas in class B4, and Neil Calvert heads to Belgium as the overall BHRC leader after a fine run of results. Calvert will again by co-driven by his daughter Michelle, as they face fierce opposition from the similar car of Philip Atkinson/Stuart Harrold.
Back in the BHRC after missing the Isle of Man trip will be Clive King/Bob Ward in their Mini Cooper S and they will set the pace in B2. In fact, the narrow and often slippery stages should suit the Mini very well, and a strong overall result is a real possibility, with the Cooper S of Mike Barratt/Jody Watson aiming to rival the King/Ward Mini. Making a welcome reappearance to head class B1 is the Mini Cooper of Gordon Cameron/Sheila Grimshaw.Category 2Another mighty contest is assured in category 2 as the title race reaches round seven of nine. Despite a no-score on the Isle of Man when co-driver John Nichols injured his back, Steven Smith continues to lead the points in his Porsche 911S and will be tough to beat in Belgium. It is still not certain whether Nichols will be co-driving as he continues to recover, but Smith will surely be a pacesetter.Jimmy McRae/Campbell Roy will take the fight to Smith in their Porsche 911S, along with the Escort Mk1s of David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Jeremy Easson/Den Golding. The Stokes/Weaver crew still has a good shot at the overall BHRC title, but need to finish strongly in all three remaining events, while Easson/Golding return to the fray and will be bang on the pace.Other quick Escorts in class C5 include Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips, Craig Salter/Preston Ayres, Neil Parsons/Chris Parsons and Frank Cunningham/Arron Forde. Meanwhile, the strong Porsche pack includes the 911s of Andrew Street/Jez Mason, Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown, Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan and Graham Wilson/Keith Fellowes.
Martin Kenny/Dave Stocking (Escort Mk1) are having a fine first full BHRC season and now lead class C3 by a handy margin, but can expect some tough competition in Flanders from the Escorts of Dave Dyer/Gary Wood and Mark Creswell/Rachael Brockington.
One of the biggest battles of the rally, however, will come in class C2 among the 1600cc Escorts, Three crews are likely to only be split by a handful of seconds and the result is wide open as Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, John Worthing/Bill Robertson and Vincent Bristow/Dean Mitchell line up for another mighty contest.The Tour of Flanders starts at 10am on Saturday from Roeselare for 15 stages covering 75 stage miles. The event re-starts at 9am on Sunday for a further eight stages and another 40 stage miles.
