Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride and Ray Bellm/Marc Jones scored the top honours as the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship got off to a superb start on the Alternative Sign Centre Robin Hood Historic Forest Stages on 6/7 March.
In two thrilling finishes, the Porsche 911 of Nutt took the historic category by only 13 seconds, while Bellm claimed his first ever rally victory to win the post-historic category by just seven seconds in his Escort Mk1.
The 13-stage event in the Nottinghamshire forests got the BHRC off to a cracking start, with a bumper entry and big crowds out on the stages. After four stages in the dark of Saturday evening, the action resumed with a further nine stages on Sunday.
Nutt opened his title bid in style, but had to push hard all day in his newly-rebuilt 911 as the similar cars of Geoff Stewart/Jim Kitson and Francis Tuthill/Nick Kennedy battled the Irish ace every inch of the way. On the penultimate stage, the flying Stewart closed the gap to only six seconds and it took a big attack in the final Clipstone stage from Nutt to seal victory. "We've been trying very hard," reckoned Nutt. "It couldn't have been a better start to the season; we've had a super tussle with Geoff and Francis!" Tuthill was just half a minute down on Nutt in third.
The contest for class B4 was even closer after a mighty day-long scrap between the Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Gary Titchmarsh and the Lotus Cortina of Chris and Hilary Green. A last stage charge from the Greens cut the Volvo's winning margin to just two seconds. Other class winners in the historic category were Dave Foster/Terry March (Mini Cooper S), Gordon Cameron/Sheila Grimshaw (Austin Cooper) and Jonathan Gale/Graham Gale (Ford Cortina GT).
The post-historic category featured some superb action, with a fierce three-way battle for top honours. Bellm/Jones, David Stokes/Den Golding and Richard Gower/Carl Williamson were seldom more than a few seconds apart as all three Mk1 Escorts were driven on the absolute limit. Going into the final stage in Clipstone North, Stokes led by one second from Bellm and by three seconds from Gower.
But a massive charge from Bellm turned the tables, and he emerged at the end of the stage with a seven-second winning margin. "It's a milestone for me and for a racing driver to win a rally! I knew I had to do a good final stage," said Bellm.
Stokes had to contend with fuel vapourisation, which cost him time off the stage start. "It took 400 yards for the engine to clear. Then I took the brain out and really went for it, but Ray was giving his all," reckoned Stokes. Gower, too, was right on the pace and claimed third place to get his title bid off to a strong start.
Despite a series of dramas, including clutch problems and a heater matrix failure that turned the car into a mobile sauna, Steve Smith/John Nichols took class C3 in their Escort RS2000 from the Saab 99 of Andrew Street/Jez Mason. A typically attacking performance from Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates clinched C2 in their Hillman Avenger, while Stuart Rolt/Kevin Devine (Porsche 911) took class C4 having climbed up to fifth overall by the end of the event.
It was a fine start to what promises to be an excellent season of historic rallying. The action resumes on the Astra Stages on 3 April.
