Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally ChampionshipRichard Tuthill and John Bennie scored a resounding victory on the Isle of Man Historic Rally, round five of the 2007 Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship (19-21 July).
Once the Escort Mk2 of Martin McCormack/Liam Moynihan had gone out with engine failure on Friday, Tuthill/Bennie swept to a clear victory in their Porsche 911. Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James (Escort Mk2) and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911) claimed their respective categories, while third place overall kept David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Escort Mk1) at the head of the championship.
Once again, the Isle of Man rally had been a real test and the BHRC crews that finished the event were elated at having survived the toughest event on the calendar. For the thousands of spectators on the island, the historic crews provided some memorable action on classic asphalt stages.Category 1Nutt/McBride came out fighting on Thursday evening and took an early lead. "We took it easy on the first stage and lost 20s to Dessie," admitted Patrick Watts at the end of the leg. "I'm surprised at the time; I thought I could have gone quicker," said Nutt.
On the dry stages of Friday, Watts/Elgan Davies powered the Sunbeam Tiger ahead, but some rain showers in the afternoon allowed Nutt/McBride to come back fighting. "Hot and sweaty tells the story," said Nutt at the end of the Friday leg. However, when the Porsche hit rear suspension problems on Saturday morning it seemed that the battle had gone to the Tiger. That was until Watts suffered a major engine failure with two stages to run and Nutt swept back ahead for a hard-earned victory.
The battle for what become second in the category and class B4 victory ebbed and flowed between the Lotus Cortinas of Philip Atkinson/Nicholas Kaighin and Jonathan Gale/Graham Gale. Brake and diff problems cost the Gales a lot of time in the Messagelabs-backed car, but they were fighting back into contention when Atkinson struck major gearbox dramas. Eventually, Atkinson headed into the final loop of stages with only third gear and head-butted a bank when trying to build up enough speed to climb the hairpins in Glen Roy in third gear. That put them out after a mighty effort, and elevated Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina) to second in class.
Nutt/McBride took class B5, well clear of Phil and Barbara Smith (Porsche 911) who were glad to finish their first asphalt event in the Porsche.
A broken steering arm put Matt and Dood Pearce out of the B2 contest in their Mini Cooper, leaving Glenn Leece/John Tarrant well clear, while Gary and Jane Edgington got their Singer Chamois home to win B1.Category 2Tuthill/Bennie took control of category two from the start and ended the rally back in Douglas on Saturday with over two minutes in hand after a stunning performance. "To win here is fantastic and the car has been perfect," said Tuthill at the finish.
Stokes/Weaver went out with the intention of bagging another strong finish and did just that, although David did play to the gallery in Castletown and was reported to be one of the best sights of the event as he oversteered the Escort through the town. "That's the best we could have hoped for," he said after a faultless performance.
Third in category two were Steven Smith and John Nichols (Porsche 911), glad to be finishing an event after a rather torrid season. Chasing Stokes in C5 were the Escort Mk1s of Frank Cunningham/Arron Forde and Craig Salter/Graham Wride. "It's like two rallies in one," said Cunningham after fighting back from a troubled opening leg. "It can't get any better than that," said an elated Salter after the opening leg ran in beautiful sunshine on Thursday evening.
In C3, local crew John Corlett/Roy Sweetman took the spoils in their freshly built Escort RS2000. Class C2, meanwhile, was always going to be a battle between the Escort Mk1s of Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes and Vince Bristow/Dean Mitchell. On the island for the first time, Bristow really took the fight to Forster and was well within reach when a halfshaft failure put them out on Friday. Bristow/Mitchell rejoined on Saturday to win the trophy rally. "After non-finishes in the last two years, there's nothing like coming down that last stage; it's fantastic," said Forster.Category 3"We're not in the wall, so that's a good start," joked McCormack at the end of Thursday evening. His pace was stunning on his first visit to the island and he maintained that pace until the engine let go near Foxdale on Friday and their rally was over.
Instead, Lloyd/James swept ahead, but they could never relax for a moment as Martin Freestone/Michelle Calvert were having a mighty run in their Escort Mk2. Even at the end of 19 stages, the gap was little more than 40s. "Fantastic," said Lloyd on the finish ramp. "It’s so nice to come back after the problems on the last round. But Martin has kept us pushing all day," he added.
Freestone was justifiably pleased with second in category three and one of his best results for several seasons. He was also quick to point out that cars carrying the colours of the Gambia took second, third, fourth and fifth places in the overall standings.
Leading the chase of Lloyd and Freestone was the Escort of Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing and they rivaled Lloyd/James as the most spectacular car of the rally in the view of the spectators.
Adrian Kermode/Maurice Beckett were the first crew to field a D4 class Porsche 911 on a BHRC round and coped with some teething problems to win the class and take third in category three, while class D3 was won by Mark and Brett Clifford (Escort Mk2) after an action-packed rally. Exhaust and oil cooler problems kept them busy on Saturday and they did the 14-mile Round Table stage dragging the exhaust under the car, but loved every minute of the event.
