Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship Report, round eight:
David Stokes and Guy Weaver were confirmed as Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Champions during a dramatic final round in the classic Yorkshire forests on Saturday (25 September).
The Escort Mk1 crew claimed maximum points to see off the challenge from the Sunbeam Tiger of Jonathan Gale and James Whitaker as the other title contender, the Porsche 911 of Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride, went out on the first stage with a damaged oil cooler.Overall victory on the Trackrod Historic Cup went to local legend Steve Bannister, partnered by Louise Sutherland, in his Ford Escort Mk2, while second to Bannister was enough to seal the BHRC Gravel Cup for Nick Elliott and Dave Price in their Escort Mk2. In category two, victory on the event went to Belgian visitors Stefaan Stouf and Joris Erard in their Escort Mk1.Category 1The contest for the category one title was a straight fight between Gale/Whitaker and Nutt/McBride and both crews also had a shot at the overall title. But for the Porsche crew, it was all over on the first stage when they nudged a bale in the wood yard section. Damage was light, but the oil cooler had been split and less than a mile later Dessie was forced to park the 911.
That left Gale with a clear shot at victory, but the Tiger made a cautious start and it was Graham Waite and Gill Cotton who led after Housedale with an attacking run in the Volvo Amazon. Then, after the Givendale stage, Gale was back in third as Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell made a strong return to rallying in their Lotus Cortina. Unfortunately, that came to an end against a post in Staindale, so it was Waite leading Gale by 1.7s going into the final stage, 16 miles of Langdale.
Having been cleaned up by the BRC field on Friday evening, Langdale was less slippery than the earlier stages and Gale just managed to edge ahead of the Volvo to win by 1.8s, but it had been very close.
"I did just enough," said Gale. "I knew Dessie was out and I didn’t push stupidly hard." Waite, meanwhile, had starred once more in the spectacular Volvo. "It's wider than the track when you get it sideways," he said.
Gwilym Roberts and Debby Myers took third in Gwilym's Lotus Cortina, but were only 15s up on the Volvo Amazon of Dave Reynolds and Cliff Doe.
Nick Pinkett and Richard Simpson took class B1 in Nick's Saab 96 after a trouble free day, while Mike Barratt and Jane Edgington were just happy to make the finish in their Sunbeam Stiletto after the gearbox jammed in reverse as they tried to leave service.Category 2To be certain of the overall title, Stokes/Weaver had to take maximum category two points and they faced a big challenge in the form of Steven Smith and John Nichols in their Escort Mk1. Sure enough, Smith flew through Housedale to take the lead, but lost it with an off on Givendale and then went out of the rally with a roll in Staindale.
Now the way was clear for Stokes to take a measured approach to the Langdale stage and he duly claimed maximum points and the overall title after a remarkable come back over the second half of the season. "We just slowed up on the last stage. The car has been perfect; it was just very slippery," said the 2010 BHRC champion.
While Stouf/Erard went ahead in Langdale to repeat their 2009 Trackrod win with a fine run, Chris Browne and Liz Jordan took third in their Escort Mk1 after a strong run on gravel. "Very happy; Langdale is my favourite stage," said Browne after winning a battle with C3 pacesetters Andrew Siddall and Captain Thompson.
Once again, Siddall had been the C3 benchmark, despite struggling on the two Dalby stages. "The first two stages were treacherous, but the second two were great," said Siddall after another emphatic victory.
However, it could have been closer as James Slaughter and Phil Peak chased in their Escort Mk1. Unfortunately, James maintained his record of a first stage visit to a Yorkshire ditch and lost well over half a minute in Housedale. After that he kept Siddall in sight, but the damage was done.
With Tim Mason and Graham Wild out in Givendale after a strong first stage in their Porsche 911, class C4 fell to Peter McDowell and Derek Davies in their 911, while Nigel Godden and Ian Orford won C2 in their Escort Mk1. Vince Bristow and Tim Sayer set a flying early pace in C2 and ran as high as fifth in category two before going off in Langdale and collecting a maximum.Category 3While Bannister dominated in his own backyard in category three, maximum points went to Elliott and Price who duly clinched the Waterend Properties Gravel Cup in the process. But it was not straightforward for Elliott, who went off twice in Givendale as he chased Bannister. Those moments convinced him to concentrate on the points for the Gravel Cup but on Langdale the car cut out three times with an electrical problems. "We had a chronic misfire and the car cut out; I thought we'd had it," said Elliott. But with Price kicking the ignition pack, the engine fired again and they survived to finish.
After a poor start, by his own admission down to the driver, Connor Corkill and Rob Fagg picked up their pace to take third in category three in their Escort Mk2 as 10 seconds covered three cars.
Into an excellent fourth, and class D4 victory, went Steve Magson and Geoff Atkinson in their Opel Ascona 400. "It's been slippery but we had a good day," said Magson, while six seconds behind were fellow Yorkshire crew Roger Kilty and Lynette Banks in their Escort Mk2 after another fine run, albeit without an alternator for the final stage.
A giant-killing run secured class D3 for Richard Lane and Frank Richer, who put their Pinto-powered Escort Mk2 well up among the D5 cars. "The car's gone very well," said Richard after another impressive performance. Shawn Rayner and Steve Dear took second in D3 by a margin of just three seconds from David Lloyd-Roberts and Dei Jones.-
