Indeed, there were more firsts for the winning Citroen C3 crew to celebrate as for Butterworth it was his first ever rally while Hankin set his first ever fastest stage time, adding four more before the finish.

Once the rally got underway, despite what seemed to be perfect conditions, some crews questioned the level of grip as they suffered a stream of unplanned spins and slides. As has become the norm with Wigan rallies the morning’s stages ran in a clockwise direction with a split on Coward’s Summit taking stage finishers onto the track exit leading to the scrutineering bay. Many of those proceeding to a further lap found the hairpin right at Joey Dunlop Corner a little trickier than expected as a multitude of spins and overshoots kept the spectators, and marshals, alert.

Mark Jasper and Don Whyatt were the first to spin, dropping close to 10 seconds, in their newly acquired and immaculate Ford Escort Mk2. Fortunately that was to be a ‘one off’ as their subsequent stage times and ultimate fourth place finish proved. Paul Sheard and Colin Stephens incurred a greater time loss when they overshot and took their Mazda MX5 onto the grass in a bid to regain the stage.

Bruce Lindsay and Ant Ayton suffered a greater penalty in being forced to take a stage maximum after exiting the stage a lap too early. It later showed to be a seriously costly error as the Ford Fiesta crew were to be denied a class win as a consequence.

Leading the way by the opening stage finish were Jonathan Mounsey and Richard Wardle in their Ford Fiesta R5, a second better than Hankin/Butterworth who were tied with the Fiesta Rally2 of Ryan Burns and Steve Hallmark. Irish duo Sean Cassidy and Sean Devine were two seconds further back in fourth, their Fiesta R5 holding a similar advantage over the fifth placed Peugeot 208 T16 of Kevin Furber and Cat Lund.

Burns’ fastest time on SS2 put him on equal standing with Mounsey, albeit the R5 pilot retained the rally lead thanks to his faster opening stage. Third placed Hankin was two seconds in arrears while Cassidy and Furber retained their top five places.

A change of layout for the next pair of stages saw Burns grab the outright lead after setting fastest time on the first and doing enough on the second to stay in pole position. Mounsey remained his closest challenger while Furber moved to fourth and Mike Gilman/Jonathan Needham claimed fifth place in their Darrian T9. Upstaging all that went before at the Joey Dunlop Corner were Mike Riley and Phil Gough who performed what appeared to be more of a ‘doughnut’ than a spin. When asked later the Escort Mk2 pilot was quick to refute any suggestions he was showboating to please his fans having performed a similar stunt here on last year’s Adgespeed Stages!

The final pair of tests preceding the lunch halt, the shortest of the day, hit Burns hardest as a slipping clutch concern slowed his Fiesta leaving the way for Mounsey to take the lead and Hankin to claim second place. Only a single second separated the pair with Burns a further three seconds behind but having an eight second advantage on Furber who in turn had double that margin over Gilman.

It was during the mid-rally break that a decision was taken in the Burns camp to turn down the boost in a bid to help preserve the clutch and get the car to the finish. A tough call but probably a sensible one.

The first of the afternoons stages, now run in an anti-clockwise direction starting from the track exit lane, climbing Coward’s and dropping down Pentith Climb towards Conrod Straight, could hardly have begun in more dramatic fashion. Running first on the road, as he neared the end of the tyre line that had defined the earlier split, Mounsey’s Fiesta started to slide going onto the grass and beaching on the tyre line that defined the off-road bike track. Despite the best efforts of a posse of marshals, more than a minute was lost as he dropped to eighth place in the stage finish standings.

That incident handed Hankin a lead he would keep a tight grip on through to the finish while Burns now faced a battle with Furber for the runners-up spot. They were on matching times by the end of SS8 after Furber set fastest stage time and a stage later the Peugeot pilot moved three seconds ahead of his rival. Burns hit back starting the final stage with a five second cushion but it was academic as Furber failed to finish with the 208 having developed a gear linkage issue. That left the way open for Gilman to claim the final podium placing.

Following his mishap Mounsey was making up ground and a brace of fastest stage times saw him end the day only a second behind fourth placed Jasper. Next up came a trio of Peugeots with the Class C winning 106 Maxi of Ben and Andrew Wilkinson sandwiched between the leading Class D 205s of Jamie McBain/Jordine Crooks and Josh Jones/Kelan Watkins. Kim and Yvonne Mather finished fourth in their Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus while completing the top ten were Jake Smith and Robbie Sandford who had recovered from an early spin in their Escort Mk2. Cassidy/Devlin were denied a top ten finish when a turbo issue forced their retirement at the start of the penultimate stage.

The Class B victory went to Geraint Williams and Liam Jones. They brought their Vauxhall Nova home 15 seconds clear of the Nissan Micra of Owain Hughes and Chris Phillips with the Peugeot 205 of Chris and Rob Johnson a further 20 seconds adrift. Those final margins may appear decisive but in reality the contest was more closely fought for much of the day. Williams and Hughes swapped pole position while Johnson doggedly kept hold of second place before a loss of power steering forced a third place finish having earlier been only a second off the lead.

With that first stage maximum hanging over him Lindsay’s string of fastest in class stage times counted for little and he finished fifth behind Damian Harvey and Paul Brown’s Ford Puma. It was Harvey’s first event in the drivers seat for 20 years, that last outing being at the Wigan track. Since then his only competition experience has been on Targa rallies in the navigators seat and for co-driver Brown it was a rally debut and not one without incident. His intercom failed on the first stage startline forcing him to shout and point directions to his driver. Then at the end of SS6 the exhaust manifold snapped but fortunately the lunch break provided time to effect a weld repair.

Completing the Class B order was the rally debutant son and father team of Ryan and John Evans. The Bala Motor Club duo’s Vauxhall Corsa was fraught with problems but friends and marshals rallied round and with the occasional bump start they made the finish.

The day’s biggest winning margin came in Class C where Ben and Andrew Wilkinson brought their Peugeot 106 Maxi home 1m42s ahead of Richard Kay and Ian McLean’s Vauxhall Corsa. Ben Bloor and Jack Morris secured the third in class prizes with a steady run in their Ford Fiesta R2. Being seeded at car 13 proved unlucky for Mike and Ellis King who had been closest to the Wilkinsons before sliding off on SS5 and regaining the track in the wrong direction. That misdemeanour brought about a premature rally end for the Citroen Saxo crew who were given a disqualification.

In Class D Gilman/Needham’s third place overall finish enabled McBain/Crooks collect the top award after finishing almost a minute ahead of Jones/Watkins, who survived a SS5 excursion, with Sheard/Stephens picking up the third in class prizes. Joe Merrills, co-driven by his mum Pauline, finished fourth in his Honda Civic while one place behind was his dad Phil and co-driver Jason McTear in the immaculate Vauxhall Chevette HSR bearing the iconic Andrews Heat for Hire livery.

Elsewhere Rob Jones and Johnny Knight scored a best ever result for the Blackpool & Fylde College MINI Cooper S finishing 13th overall. Lee Thomas and Ben Forrester’s second outing in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4 was hampered by a boost pipe issue and they finished 25th, the number they were seeded at.

Thankfully the recovery crews had a quiet day and the event ran seamlessly as is the norm with Wigan & District Motor Club organised events.

View a gallery of photos from the 2024 CompBrake Motorsport Stages, here.

Results (Top 10)

1. Kiaran Hankin/Ben Butterworth (Citroen C3) 27m28s;
2. Ryan Burns/Steve Hallmark (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 28m14s;
3. Mike Gilman/Jonathan Needham (Darrian T9) 28m25s;
4. Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt (Ford Escort Mk2) 28m32s;
5. Jonathan Mounsey/Richard Wardle (Ford Fiesta R5) 28m33s;
6. Jamie McBain/Jordine Crooks (Peugeot 205GTi) 28m39s;
7. Ben Wilkinson/Andrew Wilkinson (Peugeot 106 Maxi) 29m01s;
8. osh Jones/Kelan Watkins (Peugeot 205) 29m20s;
9. Kim Mather/Yvonne Mather (Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus) 29m32s;
10. Jake Smith/Robbie Sandford (Ford Escort Mk2) 29m40s.

Class Award Winners

• B: Geraint Williams/Liam Jones (Vauxhall Nova);
• C: Wilkinson/Wilkinson;
• D: McBain/Crooks;
• E: Jasper/Whyatt.

The post 2024 CompBrake Motorsport Stages Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

It was Neil and Aled Jones who set the early pace in their Mazda MX5 and they remained closest challengers to the eventual winners for the rest of the morning’s tests. Sadly for the Bala & District Motor Club crew their challenge was brought to an end early in the afternoon when their car developed a differential problem.

That allowed top seeds Owen Turner and Gary Evans to move their MG ZR up the order and retain second place through to the finish. Completing the podium places were James Griffiths and Matt Venables in their Vauxhall Astra.

Two crews who had earlier been in contention for a podium finish completed the top five Interclub places. John and Martin Gornall brought their Peugeot 206 GTi home in fourth position finishing just three seconds ahead of the Austin Mini of Robert Milligan and Jo Lisa Hayes.

For rally debutant Hayes it was a real baptism of fire as the Mini crew were amongst the first on the scene when the Proton Satria of Keaton Williams and Jamie Mills developed an under-bonnet fire during Test 2. Quickly exiting their car Milligan and Hayes played their part in helping extinguish the flames using their bottled water and activating a fire stick but the damage was done and the Proton wouldn’t go any further.

To add to that drama the Mini was already running with bent steering following an off-road excursion and altercation with a kerb on Test 1. They then collected a 10 second cone penalty on Test 3 that would ultimately deny them a fourth place finish. Despite all that they were happy with their BTRDA points haul and left with the navigator’s ears ringing with praise from her driver in recognition of her faultless performance.

When it came to praise though no one could match that showered on Shaun Bee, the top entertainer for his flamboyant driving style in the BMW 120D. His ‘sideways everywhere’ style didn’t earn him any rally prizes but did earn much deserved plaudits from those watching!

While Bee and co-driver James Robertson were clearly enjoying themselves it wasn’t such a pleasurable experience for those who retired. Jord Duxbury and Danny Hacking failed to complete the first test when a differential issue blighted their Citroen C2 while gearbox failure brought about the retirement of the Proton Satria of Matt Hewlett and Adam Griffin on Test 2.

Jon Paul Challinor and Freddy Harris were another crew who’s car was plagued with mechanical maladies. Their Fiat Panda suffered handbrake failure almost from the off and then developed a misfire, that couldn’t be cured, on Test 2. If that wasn’t enough extinguishers had to be deployed at the Test 4 finish when a cv boot caught fire and so they decided to call it a day.

Amongst those to benefit most from a trouble free run were George Newman and Jamie Wilson who won the Clubman Rally in their BMW 318Ti. Edward and Richard Cartledge had set the early pace but the Citroen C2 crew had to settle for second place at the finish.

View a gallery of photos from the 2024 061 Targa Rally, here.

Interclub Results (Top 10)

1. Christian Parker/Aaron Parker (Subaru Impreza) 1hr28m48s;
2. Owen Turner/Gary Evans (MG ZR) 1hr32m13s;
3. James Griffiths/Matt Venables (Vauxhall Astra) 1hr34m43s;
4. John Gornall/Martin Gornall (Peugeot 206 GTi) 1hr35m47s;
5. Robert Milligan/Jo Lisa Hayes (Austin Mini) 1hr35m50s;
6. Jage Millichap/Joe Davies (Peugeot 106 Rallye) 1hr38m01s;
7. Jamie White/Bradley White (BMW 318Ti) 1hr38m09s;
8. Gareth Price/Gemma Woolley (BMW 318Ti) 1hr38m14s;
9. Jake Simms/Jack Slatcher (Proton Compact) 1hr38m42s;
10. Jonathan Bennett/Mark Bennett (Mini Cooper) 1hr38m51s.

Clubman Results (Top 5)

1. George Newman/Jamie Wilson (BMW 318Ti) 1hr34m12s;
2. Edward Cartledge/Richard Cartledge (Citroen C2) 1hr37m43s;
3. Adam Forrester/Ben Forrester (Nissan Micra) 1hr41m54s;
4. Jonathan Bowker/James Bowker (Ford Fiesta ST170) 1hr47m07;
5. Tim Millington/Richard Duddell (Citroen C2) 1hr47m22.

The post 2024 061 Targa Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

The rally’s opening leg encompassed an early visit to the Whinlatter Forest for stages through Hobcarton, Comb and Wythop before the first of the schedule’s two Greystoke tests. Service at Penrith preceded two stages in Grizedale that were followed by a second service halt and a repeat of the morning’s Greystoke stage.

Victory went to Frenchman Adrian Fourmaux and his Belgian co-driver, Renaud Jamoul, in a M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 Mk2. They finished more than a minute and a half ahead of the Fiesta WRC of Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson who were happy to finish as runners-up and take a maximum BTRDA Rally Series points haul.

Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy finished third in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 ahead of Jock Armstrong and Cameron Fair’s Subaru Impreza. Dylan Davies and Llion Williams completed the top five in their Skoda Fabia R5.

View a gallery of photos from the 2020 Malcolm Wilson Rally, here.

The post 2020 Malcolm Wilson Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

The father and son crew set eight fastest stage times to finish almost a minute ahead of their closest challengers Scots duo Tom Morris and Colin Harkness in the Skoda Fabia S2500. Jason and Lee Wilson, who had a new engine in their Darrian T90GTR, finished third despite being plagued by some early electrical issues that left the car prone to stopping, without warning, mid stage.

No fewer than six Escorts made up the rest of the top ten order, a quintet of Mk2s and the Mk3 version of Richie Hughes and Martyn Quant who finished tenth. Mark Jasper and Don Whyatt headed the Mk2 contingent finishing fourth closely followed by Rob Cox and Joe Graham. Matt Pierce/Phil Turner and Jack Ives/Stephen Henty finished sixth and seventh respectively before the Escort order was interrupted by the Subaru Impreza of Adam Williams and Rachel Atherton. Chris and Steve Grundy finished a respectable ninth on their first visit to the Wigan venue.

Top honours in the Junior event went to Maurice Henry and Mike Jode in their Citroen C1. A close contest for second place was decided by the tie-break rule that favoured Nissan Micra pairing Lewis Hooper and Sam Bilham by virtue of their faster first stage time.

Results
1 John Stone/Alex Stone (Ford Fiesta WRC) 26m31s;
2 Tom Morris/Colin Harkness (Skoda Fabia S2500) 27m28s;
3 Jason Wilson/Lee Wilson (Darrian T90GTR) 27m33s;
4 Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt (Ford Escort Mk2) 28m15s;
5 Rob Cox/Joe Graham (Escort Mk2) 28m18s;
6 Matt Pierce/Phil Turner (Escort Mk2) 28m19s;
7 Jack Ives/Stephen Henty (Escort Mk2) 28m24s;
8 Adam Williams/Rachel Atherton (Subaru Impreza) 28m41s;
9 Chris Grundy/Steve Grundy (Escort Mk2) 29m05s;
10 Richie Hughes/Martyn Quant (Escort Mk3) 29m09s.

View a gallery of photos from the 2020 Questmead Stages, here.

Class Award Winners
A: Andy Walshaw/Lacey Brown (Nissan Micra);
B: Stephen Terry/David Terry (Micra);
C: Jack Darbyshire/Tom Darbyshire (Peugeot 106GTi);
D: Wilson/Wilson;
E: Morris/Harkness.

Juniors (Top 5)
1 Maurice Henry/Mike Jode (Citroen C1) 31m43s;
2 Lewis Hooper/Sam Bilham (Nissan Micra) 31m55s;
3 David Burden/Aled Edwards (Citroen C1) 31m55s;
4 Tom Naylor/Tom Bishop (Nissan Micra) 32m07s;
5 James Hancock/Emma Morrison (Citroen C1) 32m19s.

View a gallery of photos from the 2020 Questmead Junior Stages, here.

The post 2020 Questmead Stages Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

They finished the eight stage schedule with a 32 second advantage over similar car of Barry Lindsay and Caroline Lodge while Tony Bardy and Dave Bellerby completed the top three rankings in their Ford Focus WRC.

David Henderson, co-driven by wife Katie who was making her competition debut, headed the two-wheel drive contingent finishing fourth in another of the blue oval’s familiar rally models, in this case an Escort Mk2. Ian Forgan, who was being co-driven by daughter Sarah, finished fifth after recovering from a first stage placing of 24th as a result of an overheating issue with their Subaru Impreza.

A second stage spin and stall probably cost Andrew Fawcett and Josh Beer a top ten finish as the Vauxhall Nova crew had to settle for 11th place come the finish. They could draw some consolation however from collecting the first in Class A Awards.

Results
1 Kevin Proctor/Patrick Walsh (Ford Fiesta S200T) 50m07s.
2 Barry Lindsay/Caroline Lodge (Ford Fiesta S200T) 50m39s.
3 Tony Bardy/Dave Bellerby (Ford Focus WRC) 51m08s.
4 David Henderson/Katie Henderson (Ford Escort Mk2) 52m07s.
5 Ian Forgan/Sarah Forgan (Subaru Impreza) 53m21s.
6 Hugh Brunton/Liam Whiteley (Ford Fiesta R5) 53m23s.
7 Des Campbell/Craig Forsyth (Peugeot 206) 54m20s.
8 David White/Mathew White (Subaru Impreza) 54m28s.
9 Lyndon Barker/Simon Hunter (Ford Escort Mk2) 54m30s.
10 Joe McKeand/Callum Shanks (Subaru Impreza) 54m40s.

Class Award Winners
1: Andrew Fawcett/Josh Beer (Vauxhall Nova);
2: Campbell/Forsyth;
3: Alistair Hutchinson/Thomas Bruce (Renault Clio);
4: Henderson/Henderson;
5: Forgan/Forgan.

View a gallery of photos from the 2020 Jack Frost Stages, here.

The post 2020 Jack Frost Stages Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Following its familiar format the action got underway in total darkness on Friday evening with an 11 mile stage over Dalby Forest’s fast and flowing tracks. Despite dropping vital seconds with a slight overshoot at a square left junction where the surface switched from gravel to tarmac Matt Edwards and Hamish Campbell were quickest in the Fiat 131. Eventual rally winners Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis were less than two seconds behind in their Ford Escort Mk2 but having a comfortable 13 second cushion over the similar car of Steve Bennett and Osian Owen.

Stanley Orr and Graham Henderson were the best of the title contenders, lying fourth in their Ford Escort Mk1. Meanwhile the Escort Mk2 of Webster and Rogers was in sixth place, trailing their title chasing rivals by 5.8 seconds at this early juncture. Sandwiched between them in fifth place were Adrian Hetherington and Ronan O’Neill, another Escort Mk2 crew with a mathematical chance of claiming the championship title.

Saturday’s schedule got underway with another 11 miler, this one in Langdale, where Robinson moved to the top of the leader board and would stay there through to the finish. Webster got the better of Orr here edging ahead of the Irishman and retaining his advantage through the following Staindale test to arrive at first service with an 8.5 second advantage.

The field then headed west to tackle the Cropton and Gale Rigg stages where Orr upped his game to arrive back at the second service at Adderstone Field now holding a 2.1 second lead ahead of Webster. Despite this it was still advantage Webster going into the final Dalby stage but just to be sure the Escort Mk2 pilot out paced his rival to finish the rally sixth overall, 4.4 seconds ahead of Orr who ended the day a place behind. Hetherington’s fifth place was not enough for him to claim the championship crown.

In the rally itself Edwards followed Robinson home with Steve Bannister and Callum Atkinson completing the podium in their Escort Mk2. Bennett and Owen were the best of the BHRC registered crews finishing fourth. For another BHRC crew it wasn’t such a good outing as Bob Bean and Malcolm Smithson rolled their Ford Cortina Mk1 in Langdale. The stage had to be stopped in order to extricate the crew but fortunately neither sustained any serious injury, shame the same couldn’t be said for the car!

View a gallery of photos from the 2019 Trackrod Historic Cup, here.

The post 2019 Trackrod Historic Cup Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Hurst Green Village Hall, five miles west of Clitheroe, served as Rally HQ and it was here that the 24 car field assembled late one Saturday morning in readiness for the early afternoon start. Immediately ahead of them was a 55 mile opening leg comprising of a loop that circumvented Clitheroe before bringing competitors back to Rally HQ for afternoon tea. Then, suitably refreshed, as light began to fade into total darkness they would embark on the second leg of the rally, a 30 plus mile northerly loop that returned them to Hurst Green for a post rally hot pot supper.

A wide variety of marques and models that spanned six decades, from the 1920s to the 1970s, tackled the event that initially headed south-east, via Great Mitton, to Whalley. Heading north from here the route quickly swung east and north east using some little used single track lanes before reaching TC1 near Pendleton Hall. From there came the quick dash over Pendleton Moor and the Nick of Pendle to Sabden where a right-turn took them past the Pendle Witch (a local hostelry not to be confused with any ladies riding broomsticks!) and back towards Whalley.

Having reached TC2 it was then hairpin left onto the Old Roman Road, another single-track byway, before taking an anti-clockwise route around the eastern side of Pendle Hill. On arriving in Downham, a popular location for a number of period films and television series as it is devoid of road markings, satellite dishes and TV aerials, a right turn beckoned en-route to Gisburn. Bolton by Bowland, Grindleton, West Bradford and Waddington all featured on the final section of the opening leg.

The second leg looped around Longridge Fell before crews made the long ascent up Jeffrey Hill with the later runners reaching this point as the light all but faded away. After heading north to Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn many late runners elected to ‘cut and run’ omitting the loop to the west of Cow Ark in a bid to reach supper before it went cold!

Taking the Class 1 honours were John Potter and Nicky Staniforth in their 1927 Alvis 12/50 TG C&E Sports while Class 2 honours went to the 1939 Morgan 4/4 of Simon and Jessica Parson. Nicholas and Claire Lees took a convincing Class 5 win in their 1969 Porsche 912 but the drive of the day, and night, came from Paul Crosby and Nick Pullan who had a clear run in their 1963 Porsche 356.

View a gallery of photos from the 2018 Bowland Rally, here.

The post 2018 Bowland Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Thankfully the bloody conflicts of yesteryear are a thing of the past as nowadays battles between the two countries have more of a sporting flavour. Take for example the Berwick Classic & Targa Rally where crews from both sides of the border put their driving and navigational skills to the test in a bid for national bragging rights.

This annual two-day event took place over the last weekend of April with a capacity 60 car entry lining up at the start, in the shadow of Berwick’s famous three bridges, for Saturday’s opening leg. Forming part of the English challenge were Quentin James from Kirkham and Tom Howe from Lea who were flying the flag for Blackpool South Shore Motor Club in their Citroen C2 GT.

Saturday’s opening 50 mile leg to the South and West of Berwick was designed to test the navigators to the full with a pair of lengthy regularities before the drivers honed their skills on a brace of tests. The Shore duo were happy to come through unscathed finishing fourth in class in the overnight standings.

Sunday’s 110 mile route took competitors north of the border starting with a test at the Torness Power Station. An intense competitive schedule was then made up of three regularities and a further 14 tests, many in sight of the North Sea, before surviving crews reached the Dunbar finish. After a long day James and Howe made the finish third overall and collected awards as class runners-up, picking up a useful points haul in their bid for honours in the 2016 NESCRO Rally Championship.

Fast forward two weeks and the pair were back north of the border to tackle the next NESCRO round, the William Paterson Memorial Targa Rally organised by the South of Scotland Car Club. Starting and finishing in Dumfries a compact 50 mile route was interspersed by 14 tests, spread over seven venues, some of which were run by members of Spadeadam Motor Club. Most were run on loose surfaces, not ideal for the C2 as it still has its ABS system in operation, and the crew suffered a few overshoots and unscheduled slides.

Notwithstanding the dramas they made it to the finish ninth overall and emulated both their Berwick and Saltire results by taking the awards for finishing second in class. The result puts them at the top of the NESCRO Targa Driver and Navigator Championship standings heading into next month’s Lake District Classic Rally.

Their closest rivals are experienced Scots duo Craig Wallace and Clifford Auld who took victory on the Berwick in their rapid Toyota Corolla G6R. Another Toyota crew, William Paterson Memorial Targa Rally winners Ryan Hay and Niall Thomson are currently third in the NESCRO rankings. James and Howe, who are also members of Kirkby Lonsdale Motor Club, Garstang & Preston Motor Club and Wigton Motor Club, are hoping to get the better of their Scottish rivals on a rally held entirely on English soil.

The growing popularity of the Targa Challenge is borne out by there currently being no fewer than 25 crews in the series standings, five more than those listed in the Classic Challenge.

View a gallery of photos from the 2016 Berwick Classic Rally, here.

The post 2016 Berwick Classic & Targa Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Those crews who made the Blackpool finish on the Sunday afternoon had survived a 560 mile route using some of the remotest roads in Northern England and Southern Scotland during its three-day course. Notwithstanding the weather the finish must have been a welcome sight for competitors who had endured one of the wettest ever ‘Test’ rallies.

Having tackled a route containing numerous fords through swollen rivers as they neared Blackpool the competitors were greeted by torrential rain of monsoon proportions. There was standing water on long tracts of road, around Bilsborrow and Inskip in particular, making the final leg of the journey just as tricky as some earlier ones.

Following Thursday evening’s prologue, the rally had started proper on Friday with a 225 mile route that took crews via Kielder Forest and the Scottish Borders before finishing in Dumfries. A more southerly course on Saturday took contestants via Kershope Forest, Warcop Military Ranges and Catterick Army Camp before reaching the overnight stop near Darlington. It wasn’t without it’s challenges though as a couple of fords in the Weardale Valley proved especially tortuous with the swollen rivers claiming a number of cars that required help from a rescue vehicle.

At 166 miles Sunday’s third and final leg was the shortest of the rally but it proved just as tough as those on the previous two days. Make no mistake, all credit goes to each and every crew for reaching the Blackpool finish.

Amazingly all but nine of the 68 starters completed the event that was won by Howard Warren and Iain Tullie in a 1962 Porsche 356. They recorded a winning margin of more than two minutes ahead of the 1964 Porsche 356C of Neil Wilson and Matthew Vokes. Finishing third, a repeat of their result from last year’s event, were David Morgan and Martyn Taylor in a 1968 Volvo 123GT.

Almost there… Winners Howard Warren and Iain Tullie pass the Eagle & Child at Weeton in their 1962 Porsche 356.

View a gallery of photos from the 2015 Rally of the Tests, here.

The post 2015 Rally of the Tests Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Those good folk at the Met Office were forecasting rain, rain and more rain, hardly ideal in terms of drivers getting the most from their cars or organisers attracting lots of spectators. Thankfully they got it wrong (again) and whilst cloud was a prominent feature of the day, the weather stayed dry.

There was also a lack of any dazzling sunshine and whilst that may have disappointed some of those spectating it helped make for some perfect driving conditions. That helped keep pressure on the drivers with many classes not decided until all final runs had been completed.

Similarly the FTD was only determined once Jim Macdiarmid had completed his final drive up the 890 yard long 1:12 incline stopping the clocks on 24.20, a hundredth of a second faster than Ben Lovell. Lovell had set best time on the second timed run but having put his OMS SC4CF onto the grass on the inside of the Lafone hairpin on his final run he failed to improve his earlier time. That left the way open for MacDiarmid to snatch top honours after timing his run to perfection.

There were lots of close contests throughout the classes, in particular Class 3B where six hundredths of a second separated the Ford Escort Mk2 of winner Richard Hargreaves and the Peugeot 106 of runner-up Andy Larton. Records were broken too, amongst others Mark Purdham set a new benchmark in Class 3G.

For the most part the day was incident free but a spot of bale bashing at the Lafone hairpin by Dave Exton in his Toyota MR2 Mk2 gave the marshals the chance to flex their muscles! In real terms it all added to the day’s entertainment, hopefully leaving the spectators wanting more and returning to the hill on July 4th.

View a gallery of photos from the 2015 Barbon Hill Climb, here.

The post 2015 Barbon Hill Climb Report (June) appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

Scots crew Ross Fernie and John Young held an early leaders until their Impreza was forced out with gearbox problems whilst nearest challengers Graham Butler and Walter Ainsworth’s Focus WRC succumbed to an under-bonnet fire.

Andrew and Reg Irving from Cockermouth took the Class A awards after finishing thirteenth overall in their Peugeot 205 whilst the Blyth brothers, James and David, took Class B honours after finishing eighth in their Peugeot 205 GTi.

Results
1 Tim Finch/Neil Bye (Subaru Impreza) 1hr21m15s;
2 Andrew Barker/Steve Mort (Citroen C2 VTR) 1hr22m20s;
3 Richard Barnard/Chris Sharpe-Simkiss (Subaru Impreza) 1hr22m04s;
4 David White/Mathew White (Subaru Impreza) 1hr22m56s;
5 Dave Riley/Gary Dillon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4) 1hr23m01s;
6 Wesley Simpson/Ryan Simpson (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr24m28s;
7 Darren Howard/Scott Howrard (Ford Escort Mk2) 1hr25m10s;
8 James Blyth/David Blyth (Peugeot 205) 1hr26m23s;
9 Antony Dixon/Ryan Moyler (Vauxhall Astra GSi) 1hr26m51s;
10 David Gardner/Sam Bartlett (Subaru Impreza) 1hr27m21s.

Class Award Winners
A: Andrew Irving/Reg Irving (Peugeot 205);
B: Blyth/Blyth;
C: Barker/Mort;
D: Barnard/Sharpe-Simkiss.

View a gallery of photos from the 2014 SMC Stages, here.

The post 2014 SMC Stages Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.

The battle for victory went to the wire with Darren Doherty, co-driven by South Shore member Craig Simkiss, taking a dramatic last stage win in his Subaru Impreza. Ian and Stephen Woodhouse had headed the leaderboard for most of the day but eventually had to settle for the runners-up prizes after their Ford Escort Mk2 was slowed by mechanical problems.

Best result from a local crew came from Blackpool duo David Benson and novice co-driver David Easter who won Class 3 and finished seventh overall in the Iain Gorrie/Blackpool Race & Rally Honda Civic.

Pre-rally favourites Graham Butler and Chris O’Connor, who were debuting an ex-works Ford Focus WRC03 formerly driven by Markko Martin, got off to a flying start, leading the rally after two stages. Unfortunately a series of stalls then dropped them down the order and a broken power steering belt forced their eventual retirement.

Mark Roberts and Gareth Twiss survived a pair of SS3 spins to finish third in their Ford Escort Cosworth WRC while Mike Taylor and Ann Forster claimed fourth in their Talbot Sunbeam Lotus having survived an early excursion.

A brace of Fiords followed with Mike Gilman and Iain Douglas finishing a solid fifth in their Escort Cosworth WRC ahead of the Escort Mk2 of Class 4 winners Michael Pickles and James Crosland.

David Benson and debutant co-driver David Easter survived a SS8 overshoot to finish seventh overall and claim the Class 3 Awards in their Honda Civic. Eighth placed Andrew Varley and Gareth Hooper had been chasing a podium finish before breaking a compression strut on SS8 and dropping two minutes in their Escort Cosworth.

Talbot Sunbeam pairing Howard Potter and Martin Haggett finished ninth ahead of Nigel and Tim Hobson who slipped to tenth following a SS12 excursion in their Impreza.

Results
1 Darren Doherty/Craig Simkiss (Subaru Impreza) 1hr00m57s;
2 Ian Woodhouse/Stephen Woodhouse (Ford Escort Mk2) +0m05s;
3 Mark Roberts/Gareth Twiss (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) +2m06s;
4 Mike Taylor/Ann Forster (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus) +2m40s;
5 Mike Gilman/Iain Douglas (Ford Escort Cosworth WRC) +3m06s;
6 Michael Pickles/James Crosland (Ford Escort Mk2) +3m36s;
7 David Benson/David Easter (Honda Civic) +3m50s;
8 Andrew Varley/Gareth Hooper (Ford Escort Cosworth) +4m14s;
9 Howard Potter/Martin Haggett (Talbot Sunbeam) +4m24s;
10 Nigel Hobson/Tim Hobson (Subaru Impreza) +4m57s.

Class Award Winners
1: Stephen Johnson/David Barratt (Nissan Micra);
2: Andrew Irving/Reg Irving (Peugeot 205);
3: Benson/Easter;
4: Pickles/Crosland;
5: Taylor/Forster.

View a gallery of photos from the 2013 Keith Frecker Memorial Weeton Stages, here.

The post 2013 Keith Frecker Memorial Weeton Stages Rally Report appeared first on Pro-Rally Photography.