Report, round two: Bulldog Historic Rally

The spectacular rivalry between the Ford Escorts of Nick Elliott/Chris Brooks and Julian Reynolds/Ian Oakey was once again the highlight as the Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship returned to Wales for round two, the Bulldog Historic Rally (Saturday 2 April).

Elliott turned the tables on Reynolds on this occasion, having lost out to his rival by a solitary second on last month’s Mid Wales Historic Stages. Elliott led category three all day, while there was another win for David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Escort Mk1) in category two and maximum points in category one for Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes (Porsche 911).Category 1The pattern of the category one contest seemed to be set from the start, after Mid Wales victors Simon Wallis and Graham Wride (Lotus Cortina) pulled out a 30s lead over the opening two stages through Dyfnant and Gartheiniog. “It was very muddy and slippery; we ran wide a few times but there was nothing serious,” said Wallis.

Graham Waite/Gill Cotton arrived at first service with their Volvo Amazon in second place. “It’s our first time out since an engine rebuild, but we got stuck behind Rikki Proffitt’s Porsche 911 car for the last three miles in Gartheiniog,” he explained.

Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes were in third though and, like team mates Derek and Roisin Boyd, they had misfire problems. “It started on stage two, just like we had on the Mid Wales and we thought it was cured,” said Proffitt. Things were even worse for Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride, down in fourth in their Porsche. “The car’s perfect but I can’t believe I am doing as badly as the times show. We chose a narrow open patterned tyre and we were too sideways,” said Nutt.

The lead continued to grow and after the Dyfi Main and Big Ray stages, and Wallis looked well set for his second consecutive win of the year. “It was so smooth in Dyfi we could have done it without a sump guard,” Wallis reckoned. Waite had a few concerns over a misfire and Proffitt’s misfire worsened.

There was a sting in the tail though, with Wallis rolling out on the penultimate stage in Llangywer. Waite should have taken the lead but he was in trouble too. “They tried to flag me down, but my pedal went to the floor. I think we led the rally for a few yards though,” he said. Despite his ongoing misfire Proffitt still made it home for maximum points, with Nutt taking second. “We had a puncture too on the last stage, it’s a better result than we thought we were heading for too,” said Nutt.

The Boyd’s also made it to the finish ahead of a delighted Geoff Taylor/Steve Greenhill in their Imp. “We had the engine rebuilt since the last rally and have been working to cure a misfire. It wasn’t pulling on the hills and we tried hard to keep the revs up,” said Taylor. Edmund Peel/Janet Craine’s Porsche 911 completed the finishers, after the misfire on the Lotus Cortina of Paul Mankin and Peter Scott became terminal.Category 2It could so well have been a three-way battle between the Escort MK1s of Stokes/Weaver, Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard and Rupert Lomax/David Alcock. But after Lomax blitzed his rivals by 11 seconds through the opening nine-miler in Dyfnant, his glory was soon over. “I followed the tree line instead of the stage and got stuck up a fire break,” said Lomax. “If I hadn’t gone off there it would have somewhere else,” he added.

There was less than a second between Stokes and Stouf on the opener, but as they arrived at Dolgellau for first service Stokes had pulled out a two-second gap. “I was a bit slow out of the blocks, but I am driving to the conditions,” he said. “I damaged the rear corner on a square right hander on stage two,” said Stouf.

Peter McDowall/ and Ian Orford (Porsche 911RS) had been fourth best through Dyfnant, but found Gartheiniog harder. “I got caught, so must go faster,” said McDowell. Although Chris Browne/Liz Jordan found their Escort struggling for power, they still made it to service in third, ready for a change of plugs.

It became nip and tuck through the next two stages, with Stouf nosing ahead after Dyfi Main, only for Stokes to respond through Big Ray, enabling him to return to service six seconds up on the Belgian crew. “It’s a bit to and fro with Stefaan, but I think we are going in the right direction now,” said Stokes. “I liked the muddy stages better, I think I will lose out on the fast stages as I haven’t the experience,” Stouf added.

Stokes continued to edge away to clinch his victory over the final leg of stages. “I just kept pushing,” he explained. Although Stouf retained a clear second, he had made a basic error on the final Woodyard stage. “I have two intercom connections and I plugged into the wrong one, then went straight on at a hairpin,” he said.

Browne retained third for most of the day and Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing came home next, having dominated class C3 all day. Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson managed to consolidate second in C3, having fought off a determined challenge from Mark Holmes/Tony Lindsay. “We got held up for eight miles on stage two and clipped a corner on the fourth, but we were going for it,” said Holmes. Rex Ireland and Adrian Scadding were delighted to take their Escort to their maiden C2 victory. “The intercom played up on the first stage, but that was the only problem all day,” they said. David Kirby and Ben friend were the only other C2 finishers after the Escort of Matthew Fowle and Jane Edgington blew its head-gasket.

Keith McIvor/David Burns won the battle of the Porsches in C4 over McDowell. “The driver was a bit slow warming up,” said Irish visitor McIvor. Category 3It was like Mid Wales Stages part two as Elliott and Reynolds eased clear of the rest and made it a personal duel for victory. “I was a bit scrappy on the first stage and caught the back of the car at a hairpin, but then got into a rhythm,” said Elliott. “We changed to harder tyres for stage two but they didn’t work,” Reynolds replied.

The gap was already 17.3s in Elliott’s favour as they arrived at service. Will Onions/Dave Williams settled into a solitary third, but Will was suffering some discomfort after falling off a horse before the rally.

Elliott continued to push hard through Dyfi and Big Ray and admitted to taking risks. “I was keeping it tidy, but Julian reckons he saw our tyre marks and they went over fresh air,” he said, after the gap was up to 25s when they returned to Dolgellau for service. “I have only got one real problem and that’s Nick,” Reynolds added.

Onions and Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks held their positions. “I’m enjoying it now the stages are drier,” said Pearcey, who was unable to relax as Alan Walker/Jez Rogers were close enough to threaten. “We lost time on the second stage with no brakes, so went for new tyres too and pushed on,” said Walker.

On this occasion Reynolds had no answer to Elliott’s pace and after a timing problem on one of the later stages, Elliott was declared the winner by 21.5s. “It was fairly comfortable for us,” he said. Onions “plodded on” to take third and Pearcey claimed to have had a gentle ride round to take fourth. “We had a puncture on Llangywer and then fuel vaporisation on the last one and nearly stopped,” he said. Walker was fifth: “Just as we arrived at the final control the gearbox went,” he explained.  Richard Lane and Frank Richer completed the top six, after what they termed a good clean run.

Guy Anderson and Kim Baker made it through to claim the class D2 spoils in their Talbot Sunbeam. In class D3 Stuart Clarke and Andy Ballantyne (Escort Mk2) was unbeatable again. “We will have a family chat about the Pirelli now, as I have never been there before,” said Clarke. David Lloyd Roberts/Dei Jones claimed second in class, after the non-registered Guy Woodcock and Hu Kent lost time in Gartheiniog.

Steve Magson and Geoff Atkinson were eighth overall and topped D4 in their Opel Ascona. “We were down on power on SS2 after damaging the exhaust manifold in Dyfnant. We had two overshoots, a stop due to overheating and fuel starvation and then took the final flying finish airborne,” said Magson. Behind them, Francois Delecour and James Bocognano were first of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge crews. “It didn’t feel like an old car, it was superb and surprised me a lot. A fantastic day,” said the former World Rally Championship runner up.