Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Report, round seven: Historic Tour of Flanders
It took Jimmy McRae and Andy Richardson more than a dozen stages to get to the head of the British contingent on the Tour of Flanders in Belgium, but once ahead of Gareth Lloyd/Ian Oakey they took a well-deserved victory after a fabulous battle.Round seven of the 2007 Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship was a cracking event on the slippery asphalt of the Flanders region and many crews explored ditches.
However, with title contenders David Stokes/Guy Weaver and Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride both winning their categories, the overall title will only be settled on the final round in Yorkshire.Category 1
Nutt/McBride put their Porsche 911 into control of category 1 right from the start and were never really troubled as they turned in a typically slick performance. The Porsche ran like clockwork and a commanding victory means that they are now the only crew capable of coming between Stokes/Weaver and the 2007 BHRC crown.
"We've had a good clean run; we were just keeping it tidy," said Dessie who arrived at the end of the opening led with a lead of more than two minutes. A nicely controlled run through Sunday's eight stages completed a perfect result.Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson tried to chase the Porsche, but found the nature of the Belgian stages not terribly well suited to the Lotus Cortina and had to accept that B4 victory and second in category 1 was their destiny after another strong run. The B2 contest was a very topsy-turvy affair, with three of the leading contenders experiencing varying degrees of drama in ditches. Clive King and Bob Ward put their Mini off on Saturday and were out for the day before the car could be retrieved. They restarted on Sunday with heavy penalties. Meanwhile, James Stait and Gill Cotton had the MG Midget flying and were on target to win, only to slide into a ditch on the De Ruiter stage on Sunday and roll out of the rally. Instead, Terry Cree/Richard Shores, who had also lost time in a ditch on Saturday, claimed class victory in their Mini Cooper S. "There was no damage, we were lucky," said Cree of their ditch visit.
B1 was a close run thing, with Gordon Cameron/Sheila Grimshaw winning in their Mini Cooper.Category 2
A mighty contest raged over category 2 and it was only settled on the penultimate stage of the rally when Stokes/Weaver battled ahead of Frank Cunningham/Arron Forde to claim a great victory.
However, through Saturday it was a four-way contest as Steven Smith/Howard Pridmore headed Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook, Cunningham/Forde and Stokes/Weaver. Less than half a minute covered four cars overnight as the Porsche 911 set the pace. "I can't believe how competitive it is," said Easson on his first rally since the Robin Hood. Stokes, meanwhile, had lost time early on with brake dramas and was working hard to recover.
Unfortunately, the opening two stages on Sunday pit two crews out as Smith had a gearbox input shaft failure and coasted to a halt. At about the same time, Easson suffered head gasket failure so it was now a two-way contest. Stokes, knowing that a category win was very important for his title bid, was throwing everything he had into catching Cunningham, but Frank was on a mission and driving a superb rally, reveling in new front brakes.
As they came back to rally HQ for the final time, Stokes had done it by just seven seconds, having grabbed the lead on the penultimate stage, the final run at Zoning. Stokes had clearly given all that he had to give and the effort showed as he climbed out of the car. "Congratulations, you old fart!" said McRae, accepting that category 2 victory for Stokes had removed McRae's chance of winning the BHRC this year.
"I couldn't do much more," said Cunningham after his best BHRC performance to date. A tightening gearbox had troubled him over the final leg of stages, but it had been a magnificent and sporting contest throughout.
Behind the two leading crews, Craig Salter/Preston Ayres took third as Chris Browne/Ali Cornwell recovered to take fourth. Their rally had started badly when the gear lever broke off, with Chris waving the lever at his partner and asking for advice mid-stage. Top of class C4 and leading Porsche home was reward for a great run from Peter Lythell/Keith Fellowes, even though stopping to change a puncture on Rumbeke cost them three minutes and two places overall. "We're fighting back," said Lythell at the end of the leg.
Peter Egerton/Russ Langthorne turned in a very tidy run to take C3 spoils in their Escort Mk1, while John Worthing/Bill Robertson (Escort Mk1) claimed a great victory in C2. Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes hit clutch failure early on Saturday, while Vince Bristow/Dean Mitchell had clutch trouble of their own later in the day but still took second in class, more than two minutes adrift.Category 3
The rally started badly for McRae/Richardson when the intercom failed on the first stage at Zilverberg. A resulting overshoot cost 10s and they ended the first leg 24s down on Lloyd/Oakey. It was to be the start of a mighty chase.
"It's incredibly slippery," reported Lloyd after the opening leg, knowing that McRae would be attacking on every stage. Little by little the gap came down and by the end of the day's 12 stages, Lloyd had just five seconds in hand. "He's hanging in there," said McRae with a smile, knowing that he had eight more stages on Sunday to go after the WWRS car.Sure enough, the lead changed hands on the 12km Izegem stage, the second on Sunday. "We had a bad stage and Jimmy took 10s off us," said Lloyd, who continued to push but accepted that McRae just had the edge on pace. "The car has been faultless; we were just nibbling away all the time," said McRae. "It's been a fantastic event," added Lloyd as they congratulated each other at the finish.
While McRae and Lloyd had battled, Martin Freestone/Michelle Calvert (Escort Mk2) slotted into a secure third place. "We just keep sliding off at the corners," said Freestone with a smile.
The contest for D3 lost Chris Shooter/Bev LeGood with engine dramas on Saturday and it was Mark and Brett Clifford who set a scorching pace to win the class and finish in the top 10 overall. "We had a high revs misfire on Saturday, but swapped the coil and it's been okay since," said Clifford as they headed Richard Lane/Frank Richer to the class win.
