round three: Pirelli Historic RallyJulian Reynolds and Ian Oakey were well on their way to a second win of the season as the Dunlop Wonago MSA British Historic rally Championship moved out of Wales for the first time this season, for the Carlisle-based Pirelli Historic Rally (Saturday 30 April).  Having built up a 28-second lead, an electrical failure put them out on the penultimate stage, handing category three victory to fellow Escort Mk2 crew Nick Elliott and Chris Brooks.Graham Waite and Gill Cotton (Volvo Amazon) topped category one and Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard (Escort Mk1) claimed category tw2o, after Rupert Lomax’s Escort Mk1 suffered a gearbox problem on the final stage at Chirdonhead.Category 1Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes (Porsche 911) set the pace on the opening stage through Falstone, with Waite 3.9s down, but well clear of third placed Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911).  But Proffitt’s glory was short-lived. “it was great to have all six cylinders for the time in three rallies, but then we managed to jump a ditch on the second stage. I thought that was it, but we put it into first gear and managed to drive back out,” said Proffitt. Waite was the new leader, but only by six seconds over Proffitt, while Nutt was struggling to stay on the pace and began to slip down the order. “There is a problem but we don’t know what it is,” he admitted. One more stage through Blackaburn preceded first service, and Waite arrived as the leader with just over a minute in hand. “We lost third gear though on stage three, so it’s going to be hard now,” he said. The Lotus Cortina of Simon Wallis/Graham Wride was up to third, rebuilt after its roll on the Bulldog Rally. “We had a bit of a tank-slapper on stage three, going from ditch to ditch, but it’s my first visit to Kielder,” said Wallis. Up to fourth came Dave Reynolds/Bob Duck (Volvo Amazon), having consolidated the place over Nutt. In sixth were Bulldog winners Ian Beveridge and Peter Joy in their Volvo PV544, “We picked up a small oil leak and are adjusting the rear brakes a bit,” said Beveridge in service. The pressure was off Waite as they negotiated Shepherdshield as Proffitt picked up a 10 second road penalty and had a spin, which dropped him to fourth behind Wallis and Reynolds.  But the Porsche driver was straight back on the pace and by the end of the penultimate stage he was back into second.Waite took the spoils by just under 16 seconds, “it was really hard on the last two stages, trying to carry the speed without third gear,” he explained. “That spin blew it for us,” added Proffitt, who reclaimed a solid second and took the class B5 spoils. Wallis managed to consolidate third place over Reynolds during the closing stages. “I was happy to stay out of the ditches and it went well all day,” said Reynolds.  Beveridge was fifth: “Our tyres just held out, but we got a bit loose at the end,” he said. Nutt finally settled in sixth. “It just got worse, a bad day for us,” he said, after taking second in B5, just ahead of the Porsche of Derek and Roisin Boyd. “We finally got rid of our misfire during the afternoon,” said Derek. Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill reported that their Sunbeam Imp felt quicker. “We stalled at the chicane on the last stage and damaged the exhaust on Shepherdshield too, but overall much better,” said Taylor after taking eighth and class B1. Apart from a minor off in the stages, Edmund Peel/Janet Craine had a clear run to ninth and fourth in B5 with their Porsche. On their first gravel rally for seven years John and Stephen Moxon brought their Volvo Amazon home tenth, with Paul Mankin/Peter Scott (Lotus Cortina) completing the finishers. “We were in trouble only yards into the first stage, but finally solved our problem by running two fuel pumps,” said Mankin.Category 2The expected three-way fight for victory in category two between the Escort Mk1s of Rupert Lomax/Phil Harrison, Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard and David Stokes/Guy Weaver didn’t prove to be as close predicted. Stouf had been quickest in Falstone, but Lomax immediately responded and turned a 3.6s deficit into a one-second lead on stage two, with Stokes a solid third, but 8.5s adrift of his rivals. But on stage three Stouf had a problem with his notes. “We had to slow down to sort ourselves out,” he explained, after arriving at service in third place, one second down on Stokes.  “It’s been excellent so far,” said leader Lomax. “We have been a bit slow,” admitted Stokes. Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne and Chris Browne/Liz Jordan had established themselves in fourth and fifth, although Browne had briefly fallen behind C3 leaders Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson after the second stage. “We had a major moment on that stage too,” said Siddall. “We were all over the place and just held on, settled down and got back on with it,” he added. “We just need to go faster,” added Browne. Stouf soon reclaimed second place and reduced Lomax’s lead to 3.5s with only the Chirdonhead finale to go.  But Lomax’s gearbox gave out and left him stranded, handing Stouf victory by over 16 seconds from Stokes. “We had no more problems at all,” said the victorious Belgian. Smith was relieved to see the finish.” That was the main thing,” he said after clinching third.  Although Browne was fourth, he was disappointing not to have done better. “We had a hold up and I lost my momentum.  I should have been able to push Peter harder over the last two stages,” he said.Class C3 winner Siddall kept a safe margin over Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing for fifth and sixth overall. “I had to try a different approach to the chicanes and it worked,” said Slaughter. “I hit or glanced three chicanes during the afternoon I think,” Siddall added.Mark Holmes and Tony Lindsay had been well inside the top 10 in their C3 Escort Mk1 until they hit a log pile on stage three. “If we hadn’t hit it we would have had an even bigger one,” said Holmes. Chris Nixon/Chris Davies also went out when they lost drive, which left Jeremy Wells/Ken Bowman to take seventh. Ian Drummond/Yvonne Coppin recovered from losing their brakes in the morning, to finish third in C3 and eighth overall, with C2 victors David Kirby/Sean Kennedy in ninth, having completed the final stages with only second and fourth gears. Nick Danks/Martin Corbett retired their C2 Escort, leaving Peter McDowell/Ian Orford (Porsche 911) and Steven and Tony Graham (Lancia Fulvia) to take undisputed victories in C4 and C1 respectively.Category 3With one win each so far this year Reynolds and Elliott were both looking for victories in Kielder, but both started behind the Escort Mk2 of the non-registered Steve Bannister/Louise Sutherland. Reynolds grabbed the immediate initiative with six seconds in hand over Elliott and Will Onions/Dave Williams in Falstone. But over the next two stages all three consolidated their positions, with Reynolds reaching service with a lead of 16.7s. “It’s very hard. I had two scary moments, the worst on stage two when we went in a ditch but got back on and nearly hit the bridge,” said Elliott. “It’s a clean run so far for us. We went wide a few times as its slippery,” Reynolds added.Onions found visibility in the dust one of the biggest problems, while in fourth Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks had picked up the pace after a couple of minor moments. Reynolds flew through Shepherdshield and his lead grew by a further 12s, until disaster struck in Pundershaw when an electrical failure put him out of the rally. Onions reckoned he had “really gone for it,” during the afternoon and following Reynolds’ retirement Elliott had the lead but it was down to 8.4s with the Chirdonhead final stage to come. Elliott made it home but the margin was considerably reduced. “I felt more relaxed in the afternoon and just took it steady,” he said, as Onions delivered another mighty Kielder performance. Pearcey had looked set to follow Onions home in third, until he collected a last stage puncture and fell to fourth behind Bannister. Walker also came unstuck on the last stage. “We spent 11 minutes in a ditch in sight of the finish of the last stage,” he explained. Mark Barnett/Phil Clarke moved up to clinch fifth, with Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson surviving a few early ditch explorations to seal sixth and victory in class D4.Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams retired in Shepherdshield with a misfire on their Escort, which left the Escorts of Nick Woodman, Simon Crook, Roger Kilty and James Slaughter to complete the top 10. Guy Woodcock/Hu Kent (Escort Mk2) dominated D3 all day, while John Worthing/John Cadwallader held off Wayne Bonser/Richard Aston for second in class and maximum BHRC points. “We got stuck at a chicane on the penultimate stage for 20 seconds, but fortunately had enough in hand,” said Worthing. Jimmy McRae and Pauline Gullick brought their Tuthill Porsche home second in D5 and 12th overall. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to make my return in the same forests I hurt myself in three years ago. The car felt good and strong but the driver was very rusty,” said McRae.-ends-Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey were well on their way to a second win of the season as the Dunlop Wonago MSA British Historic rally Championship moved out of Wales for the first time this season, for the Carlisle-based Pirelli Historic Rally (Saturday 30 April).  Having built up a 28-second lead, an electrical failure put them out on the penultimate stage, handing category three victory to fellow Escort Mk2 crew Nick Elliott and Chris Brooks.Graham Waite and Gill Cotton (Volvo Amazon) topped category one and Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard (Escort Mk1) claimed category tw2o, after Rupert Lomax’s Escort Mk1 suffered a gearbox problem on the final stage at Chirdonhead.Category 1Rikki Proffitt/John Stanger-Leathes (Porsche 911) set the pace on the opening stage through Falstone, with Waite 3.9s down, but well clear of third placed Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911).  But Proffitt’s glory was short-lived. “it was great to have all six cylinders for the time in three rallies, but then we managed to jump a ditch on the second stage. I thought that was it, but we put it into first gear and managed to drive back out,” said Proffitt.

Waite was the new leader, but only by six seconds over Proffitt, while Nutt was struggling to stay on the pace and began to slip down the order. “There is a problem but we don’t know what it is,” he admitted.

One more stage through Blackaburn preceded first service, and Waite arrived as the leader with just over a minute in hand. “We lost third gear though on stage three, so it’s going to be hard now,” he said.

The Lotus Cortina of Simon Wallis/Graham Wride was up to third, rebuilt after its roll on the Bulldog Rally. “We had a bit of a tank-slapper on stage three, going from ditch to ditch, but it’s my first visit to Kielder,” said Wallis.

Up to fourth came Dave Reynolds/Bob Duck (Volvo Amazon), having consolidated the place over Nutt. In sixth were Bulldog winners Ian Beveridge and Peter Joy in their Volvo PV544, “We picked up a small oil leak and are adjusting the rear brakes a bit,” said Beveridge in service.

The pressure was off Waite as they negotiated Shepherdshield as Proffitt picked up a 10 second road penalty and had a spin, which dropped him to fourth behind Wallis and Reynolds.  But the Porsche driver was straight back on the pace and by the end of the penultimate stage he was back into second.

Waite took the spoils by just under 16 seconds, “it was really hard on the last two stages, trying to carry the speed without third gear,” he explained. “That spin blew it for us,” added Proffitt, who reclaimed a solid second and took the class B5 spoils.

Wallis managed to consolidate third place over Reynolds during the closing stages. “I was happy to stay out of the ditches and it went well all day,” said Reynolds.  Beveridge was fifth: “Our tyres just held out, but we got a bit loose at the end,” he said. Nutt finally settled in sixth. “It just got worse, a bad day for us,” he said, after taking second in B5, just ahead of the Porsche of Derek and Roisin Boyd. “We finally got rid of our misfire during the afternoon,” said Derek.

Geoff Taylor and Steve Greenhill reported that their Sunbeam Imp felt quicker. “We stalled at the chicane on the last stage and damaged the exhaust on Shepherdshield too, but overall much better,” said Taylor after taking eighth and class B1.

Apart from a minor off in the stages, Edmund Peel/Janet Craine had a clear run to ninth and fourth in B5 with their Porsche. On their first gravel rally for seven years John and Stephen Moxon brought their Volvo Amazon home tenth, with Paul Mankin/Peter Scott (Lotus Cortina) completing the finishers. “We were in trouble only yards into the first stage, but finally solved our problem by running two fuel pumps,” said Mankin.Category 2The expected three-way fight for victory in category two between the Escort Mk1s of Rupert Lomax/Phil Harrison, Stefaan Stouf/Joris Erard and David Stokes/Guy Weaver didn’t prove to be as close predicted. Stouf had been quickest in Falstone, but Lomax immediately responded and turned a 3.6s deficit into a one-second lead on stage two, with Stokes a solid third, but 8.5s adrift of his rivals.

But on stage three Stouf had a problem with his notes. “We had to slow down to sort ourselves out,” he explained, after arriving at service in third place, one second down on Stokes.  “It’s been excellent so far,” said leader Lomax. “We have been a bit slow,” admitted Stokes. Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne and Chris Browne/Liz Jordan had established themselves in fourth and fifth, although Browne had briefly fallen behind C3 leaders Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson after the second stage. “We had a major moment on that stage too,” said Siddall. “We were all over the place and just held on, settled down and got back on with it,” he added. “We just need to go faster,” added Browne.

Stouf soon reclaimed second place and reduced Lomax’s lead to 3.5s with only the Chirdonhead finale to go.  But Lomax’s gearbox gave out and left him stranded, handing Stouf victory by over 16 seconds from Stokes. “We had no more problems at all,” said the victorious Belgian. Smith was relieved to see the finish.” That was the main thing,” he said after clinching third.  Although Browne was fourth, he was disappointing not to have done better. “We had a hold up and I lost my momentum.  I should have been able to push Peter harder over the last two stages,” he said.

Class C3 winner Siddall kept a safe margin over Dick Slaughter/Geoff Dearing for fifth and sixth overall. “I had to try a different approach to the chicanes and it worked,” said Slaughter. “I hit or glanced three chicanes during the afternoon I think,” Siddall added.

Mark Holmes and Tony Lindsay had been well inside the top 10 in their C3 Escort Mk1 until they hit a log pile on stage three. “If we hadn’t hit it we would have had an even bigger one,” said Holmes. Chris Nixon/Chris Davies also went out when they lost drive, which left Jeremy Wells/Ken Bowman to take seventh. Ian Drummond/Yvonne Coppin recovered from losing their brakes in the morning, to finish third in C3 and eighth overall, with C2 victors David Kirby/Sean Kennedy in ninth, having completed the final stages with only second and fourth gears. Nick Danks/Martin Corbett retired their C2 Escort, leaving Peter McDowell/Ian Orford (Porsche 911) and Steven and Tony Graham (Lancia Fulvia) to take undisputed victories in C4 and C1 respectively.Category 3With one win each so far this year Reynolds and Elliott were both looking for victories in Kielder, but both started behind the Escort Mk2 of the non-registered Steve Bannister/Louise Sutherland.

Reynolds grabbed the immediate initiative with six seconds in hand over Elliott and Will Onions/Dave Williams in Falstone. But over the next two stages all three consolidated their positions, with Reynolds reaching service with a lead of 16.7s. “It’s very hard. I had two scary moments, the worst on stage two when we went in a ditch but got back on and nearly hit the bridge,” said Elliott. “It’s a clean run so far for us. We went wide a few times as its slippery,” Reynolds added.

Onions found visibility in the dust one of the biggest problems, while in fourth Tim Pearcey/Neil Shanks had picked up the pace after a couple of minor moments.

Reynolds flew through Shepherdshield and his lead grew by a further 12s, until disaster struck in Pundershaw when an electrical failure put him out of the rally. Onions reckoned he had “really gone for it,” during the afternoon and following Reynolds’ retirement Elliott had the lead but it was down to 8.4s with the Chirdonhead final stage to come.

Elliott made it home but the margin was considerably reduced. “I felt more relaxed in the afternoon and just took it steady,” he said, as Onions delivered another mighty Kielder performance. Pearcey had looked set to follow Onions home in third, until he collected a last stage puncture and fell to fourth behind Bannister.

Walker also came unstuck on the last stage. “We spent 11 minutes in a ditch in sight of the finish of the last stage,” he explained. Mark Barnett/Phil Clarke moved up to clinch fifth, with Steve Magson/Geoff Atkinson surviving a few early ditch explorations to seal sixth and victory in class D4.

Paul Griffiths/Paul Williams retired in Shepherdshield with a misfire on their Escort, which left the Escorts of Nick Woodman, Simon Crook, Roger Kilty and James Slaughter to complete the top 10. Guy Woodcock/Hu Kent (Escort Mk2) dominated D3 all day, while John Worthing/John Cadwallader held off Wayne Bonser/Richard Aston for second in class and maximum BHRC points. “We got stuck at a chicane on the penultimate stage for 20 seconds, but fortunately had enough in hand,” said Worthing.

Jimmy McRae and Pauline Gullick brought their Tuthill Porsche home second in D5 and 12th overall. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to make my return in the same forests I hurt myself in three years ago. The car felt good and strong but the driver was very rusty,” said McRae.