Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship Preview, round two: Pirelli Historic Rally
The 2010 Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship continues on Saturday 24 April with the Pirelli Historic Rally, the second of eight events in another epic season of historic rallying.
An excellent field of nearly 60 cars, matching the 2009 entry despite the difficult economic situation, will deliver some superb action over classic stages in the mighty Kielder forest.Category 1Running first on the road will be the older cars from category one (pre '68) and heading the field away will be the Sunbeam Tiger of Jonathan Gale and James Whitaker, winners of the opening round in Wales a month ago. The sweeping Kielder roads should suit the Tiger well, although last year's rally didn't go so well for Gale after a trip into one of the notorious Kielder ditches.
Leading the challenge to the Tiger will be defending champions Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride in their Porsche 911 and they came out fighting on the Bulldog Rally. The Porsche led the Tiger in the early stages in Wales and will be chasing hard in Kielder.The Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite and Gill Cotton is one of the most spectacular cars in the BHRC and they will be striving to match the pace of the Porsche as Waite throws the heavy Volvo around in style. Phil and Barbara Smith make a welcome return to rallying in their Porsche 911, a month after Phil raced the car at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, for Newcastle-based Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina), this is their local event and they will be pitching for class B4 spoils as well as a place on the overall category one podium, while other cars to watch include the giant-killing Sunbeam Imp Sport of Geoff Taylor/Steve Greenhill, pacesetters in class B1.Category 2Category two, for the post-historic cars, will surely be a big fight between the Escort Mk1s of old rivals David Stokes and Jeremy Easson. The expected battle didn't happen on the opening round when the Escort of Stokes and Guy Weaver was sidelined by a blown core plug, so they will be very keen to get their championship bid started properly in Kielder. Easson and Alun Cook stormed to victory in Wales and will want to make that a double win this time around. In three events to date in his latest Escort Mk1, Easson has taken three wins, so he'll be out to make it four out of four.
Tim Mason and Graham Wild (from class C4 in their Porsche 911) will be chasing Easson and Stokes and have a strong record in Kielder. They started their campaign with a trouble free run in Wales last month. The similar Porsche 911 of Peter Smith and Russ Langthorne is showing ever-improving pace while Chris Browne and Liz Jordan bring their Escort Mk1 all the way from Kent for the chance to tackle Kielder.
The competition in the classes within category two will be as fierce as ever and it was Welsh crew Tim Jones and Don James who won C3 on the Bulldog in their Escort Mk1. Although they do not know these stages as well as the Welsh ones, they will be pacesetters, but Drew Wylie/tba and Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson will be strong contenders for the class.
In C2, the pace of Vince Bristow and Tim Sayer was mighty on the Bulldog as their Escort Mk1 was ahead of many more powerful cars until they spent two minutes in a ditch on the final stage. Rivals to Bristow include the Hillman Avenger of Gary and Jane Edgington.Category 3Once again, the contest for category three will be sensational. The Ford Escorts of Nick Elliott and Julian Reynolds should set the pace, but another 10 drivers will be chasing hard as the category enjoys its best field to date.
Elliott and Dave Price scored a stunning victory on the Bulldog Rally, powering their Escort Mk2 into the lead on the opening stage. However, they didn’t finish this event a year ago after a trip into a ditch and will want to make up for that disappointment this time around. Reynolds and Ian Oakey led the chase of Elliott in Wales and will be all out to turn the tables in Kielder.
Other front-runners in the fabulous field include Irish flyer Seamus O'Connell, teamed with Nigel Gardner, Will Onions/Dave Williams, Darren Moon/Chris Parsons and young Conor Corkill with Rob Fagg. Moon was a winner here a year ago, while Onions and Corkill are both getting quicker and quicker in their Escort Mk2s. The dark horse is Irish charger Ryan Barrett, however, who should be back in action after an accident on the opening stage of the Bulldog.
Class D4 is for the over 2-litre non-Escort BDGs and it is the Vauxhall Chevette of Rob Smith/Shaun O'Gorman that will take the fight to the Escort pack along with the Opel Ascona of Steve Magson and Geoff Atkinson.
In class D3, for the Pinto-powered Escort Mk2s, the car of Richard Lane and Frank Richer is the benchmark, but Welshmen David Lloyd-Roberts and Dei Jones are showing excellent pace. Barry Jordan, Wayne Bonser and Stephen Richards are all contenders for a place near the head of class D3.
