Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Report, round three: Severn Valley Historic Stages
Starting with an 18-mile opening stage through Radnor forest, round three of the 2008 Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Severn Valley Historic Stages (Saturday 31 May), was a great event with classic stages proving popular with the crews.
Richard Hill/Pat Cooper pulled out a massive 24 second lead by the end of the first stage on their way to category three victory over Darren Moon/John McNichol, while the Porsche 911RS of Steve Smith/John Nichols took a commanding category two win.
With Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies sliding their Sunbeam Tiger off the stage and out of the rally on the penultimate corner of Radnor, Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride took a dominant category one victory in their Porsche 911.Only eight of the 62 starters failed to make it back to the Builth Wells finish.Category 1“It was just so slippery, we were first on the road and cleaning the surface. The entrance to the penultimate bend was deceptive, I was too quick and it was either roll or head for the bushes,” said Watts, after his rally came to an early conclusion. Nutt/McBride were left with a 14-second lead over Bob Bean/James Whittaker (Lotus Cortina). “We stalled at a hairpin too and seemed to take an age to restart,” said Bean.
Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina) initially held third over the similar car of Neil Calvert/Arlene Cookson. “We had a misfire but fixed in it service,” said Calvert. While Nutt continued to pull clear, Calvert closed in on his rivals, taking both Bean and Mankin on stage three to secure second in the category and class B4 spoils.
“Lovely conditions and an enjoyable trouble free event,” Nutt concluded after taking the category win by over a minute. Philip and Barbara Smith were second in B5 behind Nutt in their 911. "We took a post and the tapes out on the last stage on a fast downhill section,” said Smith. Stephen Troman/Kevin Devine (Porsche 911) were third, having punctured on the opener. “We did our best to catch up and had a wild and exciting ride on stage three,” said Troman.
Bean, Mankin and Graham Waite/Mike Reynolds (Volvo Amazon) followed Calvert home overall in B4, while James Stait/Gill Cotton kept their Midget’s nose ahead of Terry Cree/Richard Shores (Mini Cooper S) all day to win B2. “We were more aggressive in the drier conditions, and it was my first finish on this event in eight attempts,” said Stait. “We had three spins on the last three stages and got stuck behind a car with a puncture,” Cree replied.
B1 became more of a battle for survival, with Mike Barratt’s Singer Chamois having broken its transmission the night before the rally. Gary and Jane Edgington managed to break their Chamois’ rear suspension on the second stage, but still limped through the rest of the day to take the win over Geoff Taylor/Steve Greenhill (Imp). ”The fan belt came off at the end, and we didn’t want to risk restarting it,” said Taylor after arriving at the finish by tow rope. They had already lost time at the start with an early puncture.Category 2Smith/Nichols proved unbeatable in their Porsche 911RS, only dominating the category all day. “With no one else in our class we wanted a good overall finish, but it wasn’t worth risking too much. I got my head down at the end though, just making sure that I kept Ernie Graham behind me,” said Smith.
Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard started cautiously too. “We decided to back off for some of the hairpins in Radnor. We didn’t have any spins or get any damage,” he said.
The Escort Mk1 of Drew Wylie/Neil Ewing Escort had third initially, but lost out to James and David Young and Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes by the end of stage two. “We were a bit cautious when we went past the place we had rolled last year,” said Forster. But Young consolidated his place in third, taking C3 honours from Forster and Wylie. “We had a bit of a moment on the last stage, no other problems really and an excellent rally,” said Young.
Neal James/Kevin Jones had a good into sixth with their Escort, comfortably ahead of C2 winners Vince Bristow/Tim Sayer (Escort). “We had a slow start as I was getting used to a new navigator,” said Bristow. Adam Morgan/Steve Kenyon had led the class on the opener, before slipping back prior to their Escort’s engine blowing. Robert and Jonathan Hoult (Escort) sealed second, but finished with a blown exhaust. Neil Rudd/Brian Hodgson claimed third. “It’s still a cross-flow scrap engine, so that’s not bad,” said Rudd.
In only his third ever rally Sebastian Hack managed second in C5, with Martin Kenny/David Stocking’s Escort third, despite breaking their gearstick. Unfortunately, a troubled year for David Stokes and Guy Weaver continued with a very time consuming puncture and subsequent dramas with the jack when they stopped to change the wheel.Category 3It was a straight fight between the two crews that shared wins the opening two BHRC rounds. Although Hill/Cooper had little experience of the Welsh forests, Moon/McNichol had none. With 24 seconds in hand on the first stage, Hill was already on his way to victory. He was quickest on all but one stage and by the finish was well over a minute clear. “I couldn’t get into stage three at all, it wasn’t anything drastic as I recovered and the car never missed a beat,” said Hill.Moon tried everything to close the gap but had to accept second best on this occasion. “I had a spin but was really trying on that first stage. I reckon I would be a lot better if I could have had a re-run. But on the last stage I have never had so many near misses, with two wheels over fresh air a few times,” said Moon.
Jason Lepley/Howard Pridmore (Escort) held third for the first couple of stages, but started to slip back and finished with an off on the last stage. Arwel Evans/Arwel Jenkins (Escort RS2000) moved up to clinch the place and class D3, which they had taken over when Paul Griffiths/John Madoc-Jones (Escort Mk2) retired with a broken exhaust on their Escort on stage two. “We had been playing catch up after losing the brakes on the first stage when a stone broke one of the pipes. A brilliant result for us in road rally car though,” said Evans.
Phil and Mick Squires Escort just held off Charlie Taylor/Steve Bielby for fifth. “We had a misfire through the last few stages, it felt like a plug lead was off or something,” said Squires. “I had a lucky escape in Radnor when I got away with going airborne and clipping a bank,” Taylor added. With Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing (Escort Mk2) picking up a last stage puncture, Polly Patti/David Gamblin (Escort Mk2) completed the top six.
In class D3 Will Onions/Tim Hobbs followed Evans home second, well clear of David Roberts/Dei Jones. Pat Anderson/Tom Mansfield (Talbot Sunbeam Ti) ran solo in D2 as did debutants Steve Holtom/Adrian Jay with their class D4 Rover SD1. “My first rally for 24 years and my navigator's first Seven Valley since 1987 and in a car that had been in barn for six years. Apart from losing the brakes on the first stage it was great and we finished,” said Holtom.
