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CHAMPIONSHIP NEWSLETTER NO 10- 2014
PEREZ IN SEVENTH HEAVEN!...
Well, if you thought the finish of last year’s REIS BTRDA Gold Star® Rally Championship was close,
this one would have had you on the edge of your seat! In 2013 Euan Thorburn came out on top in
a tie-break situation by having four maximum scores to Connor McCloskey’s three but, this time,
not only did Steve Perez and Paul Bird end the season with the same number of points - they also
had equal numbers of firsts, seconds and thirds.
The regulations state that ‘any ties will be decided in favour of the competitor with the greatest
number of maximum scores within their best six scores. In the event of a further tie, the greatest
number of second highest scores and so on. Should this fail to resolve the tie, then reference will
be made to a competitor’s 7th highest score...’ and that’s what finally tipped the balance in Perez’
favour - a measly (or so it seemed at the time!) 22 from an off day on the Plains trumped Bird’s
seventh score - a 1 for starting, but not finishing, the Somerset Stages.
There’s a moral in there somewhere (perhaps for another day!...) but 2014 sees Steve Perez take
his second Gold Star title, four years after his first. However, Perez’ guide for the season, Paul
Spooner, had contested every event to date - including the Malcolm Wilson in Peter Smith’s Metro
6R4 - which precluded him taking any points from the Cambrian. Hence, Aled Davies, Bird’s able
partner, finds himself as 2014 BTRDA Gold Star Champion Co-driver to add to the two Asphalt
Championship titles he
gained more than a
decade ago!
Somewhat overshadowed
by all the noise of brain
cells and calculators
trying to work out points
situations was the fact
that Dave Weston Jnr and
Kirsty Riddick kept their
heads (whilst all
around!....) to take their
first BTRDA Rally Series
win on the Cambrian.
Second places on the
Plains & Nicky Grist had
tipped us the wink that it
was going to happen - it
was just a case of when...
David Weston Jnr
So, the traditional BTRDA Rally Series finale saw all the movers and shakers heading for Llandudno eight stages in the forests of North Wales were on the menu, but Bird’s first course left a very nasty
taste! His Focus WRC slid into a ditch towards the end of SS1 and, although it emerged virtually
unscathed, almost a minute had been lost to Perez. Weston was next up, with Luke Francis/John H
Roberts third in their Lancer EVO9. Stephen Petch/Ian Windress (Fiesta R5+) were next, with Matt
Edwards/Will Rogers (Lancer EVO9) breathing down their necks.
It was Weston/Riddick’s turn to set FTD on SS2 which put their Impreza WRC into the lead which,
notwithstanding Bird’s best efforts, it was not about to relinquish! The Cumbrian was fastest on five
of the remaining six stages to the point that, by the time they returned to Llandudno for the finish,
the one-minute deficit had been halved. However, more importantly, Bird hadn’t managed to
overhaul Perez whose final 12-second advantage proved to be the clincher in Championship terms.
Paul Bird
Although we haven’ t
seen much of him this
season, Matt Edwards
was back on home
territory and didn’t
disappoint. Speeding up
as the day progressed,
he matched Bird’s time
on the second run
through Penmachno
North and was just one
second adrift on the final
stage, Penmachno South
2. Meanwhile, although
not finishing the season
in a podium place, Petch/
Windress should be well
pleased with themselves
- running in a comfortable 4th place on the Cambrian for much of the day, their momentum was
briefly interrupted when the Fiesta ‘lost its balance’ on the penultimate stage which dropped them
to 5th behind Edwards. This minor indiscretion gave them their lowest score of the season - a 25 which is pretty impressive by anyone’s standards!
And what of Luke Francis/John H Roberts? The 2012 Cambrian winners were up to 3rd after SS3,
but a hole in the Lancer’s fuel tank on the next put them out - the only one of the Top Ten seeds
not to finish....
GROUP N
Prior to the Cambrian, Russ
T h o m p s o n / A n d y M u r p hy ’s
consistency had put them into
the lead of the BTRDA
Production Cup - indeed, they
led
the
Gold
Star
Championship outright for a
while earlier in the season but, having contested all eight
rounds to date, were forced to
sit this one out - and just
hope! Their main problems
were Tom Naughton/Andi Mort
who, on the one hand, had
only achieved five finishes but,
Tom Naughton
on the other, three of them were
maximums. Thompson/Murphy knew that,
if their rivals had a good Cambrian, that
would be that as far as top honours were
concerned.
Pat Naylor
Well, unfortunately, their worst fears were
realised as Naughton/Mort finished 6th
overall in North Wales to claim their fourth
maximum and, with it, the overall
Production Cup title. On this occasion, Pat
Naylor/Ian Lawrence were their nearest
rivals (8 th ) while Alex Allingham/Chris
Williams recovered from a first-stage roll in
their Impreza to take third-place points.
Alex Allingham
Smith and Dykes Clutch the 1400 Title
Given all the dramas
amongst the 1400
competitors during
the season, it was
likely that the
Cambrian wasn’t
going to be any
different. The rally
included some new
stages in the North
Wales forests which
were very twisty and
had been soaked with
rain for the past two
weeks just to make
things a bit more
challenging, if that
were needed.
Mat Smith
Four drivers went into the event with a chance of taking the title, none of whom had ever won it
before. Favourite, as he had been all year was Mat Smith driving his Ford KA, with Giles Dykes
alongside as co-driver. Next were Dan Gray and Matt Rogers in their Peugeot 106 who had made a
late charge up the leader board, but who had made things much more difficult with their retirement
on the Trackrod. The leaders of the 1400 Championship going into the Cambrian were Marcel
Freling and Karen Robinson in their MG ZR. They were the leading 1400 crew on the Cambrian in
2012 so were hoping this would assist their efforts for a first title win. The fourth contenders in only
their first year in the Championship were 18 year old Ryan Weston and co-driver Mark McCulloch
who had made the long journey down from Aberdeen, but would be struggling to increase their total
score with dropped scores coming into play.
Smith and Dykes made their intentions perfectly clear from the start as they took the lead ahead of
Gray on the first 4.5 mile stage, with Freling and Weston tied on time a further 1 second behind.
Smith continued in the same way
over the next four stages
gradually extending the lead over
Gray to 1.39 secs. Meanwhile
Freling and Weston were
scrapping for seconds and
swapping places over the next
few stages.
There were a considerable
number of retirements on the
tricky stages and these included
David Martin / Richard Simmons
(Astra) who had the misfortune to
break a driveshaft in stage 2 and
Marcel Freling
they were followed by Kieran
Darrington / Pam Hilton (Corsa) who
were also forced to retired with
driveshaft problems at the end of Stage
3.
Dan Gray
Arwyn Lloyd-Davies / Richard Jones
(Nova) had started their local event
relatively slowly but by stage 3 they
were on the pace and set the fastest
1400 time by 7 secs on SS4
Penmachno South. They continued with
a fast time on stage 5 before becoming
one of the many retirements on stage 6.
It was also on stage 6 where everything started to unravel for Smith and Dykes. Firstly they holed
the radiator on the KA causing the engine to overheat. They managed to patch up the radiator but
then further disaster struck heading to the seventh stage when the clutch failed completely. With no
ability to change gear or fix the problem the crew
had to start the car whilst stuck in second gear
and drive the next two stages covering 8 miles
still in the same gear, before then driving back to
the finish control 20 miles away Llandudno in the
same way. It was a nerve-racking time for the
pair and they only just got back to the finish
control within 5 minutes of going OTL. They
dropped from first to fourth place in the 1400’s
on the event but this was just enough to gain the
required number of points to seal the BTRDA Ryan Weston
1400 Championship title after a difficult day and
a dramatic season.
Taking second place on the event and second place in the Championship were Dan Gray and Matt
Rogers who themselves had not had the easiest of days. In contrast to most of the others, Marcel
Freling and Karen Robinson had an excellent second half of the event setting fastest 1400 times on
the last three stages and coming through to take maximum points on the Cambrian and ending the
Championship in third place. Another crew to have a better second half on the event were Clive
Anstey / Tim Currie (Proton Satria) who came in third.
For Ryan Weston and Mark McCulloch it was perhaps one event too many as they retired on the
sixth stage when they lost a wheel off their Proton Satria. Nevertheless it has been a remarkable
season for the Scottish pairing who had never been on any of these events before and if they return
next year will certainly be ones to watch.
Matthew Jackson in the Super 1000 Micra, this time accompanied by Sasha Heriot, ended the
season with another maximum score in class 1400C which further enhanced his 1400C class title.
This has been one of the most exciting seasons in the 14 year history of the 1400 Championship,
where the likely outcome of the title could never be predicted from one event to the next right down
to the last stage of the last event. Congratulations to Mat Smith and Giles Dykes on their welldeserved Championship win.
Silver Star - Robinson’s Full House
gap ahead of Kit
a n d Ti m L e i g h ,
who were looking
to maintain the
F i e s t a ’s m u c h
improved finishing
record. James
Hutchings, Philip
Clarke and Steve
Deeley completed
what was left of
the depleted Silver
Star runners.
Having elected to do the Historic Trackrod
Rally instead of the BTRDA event, Matthew
Robinson and Sam Collis returned to the
Series in Wales to try and secure a full house
six maximum scores and 180 points. No
doubt the Rowlands boys were determined to
spoil the party, and as crews entered
Service, Robinson’s lead was a far from safe
ten seconds. However, the gap after SS3 had
been 19 seconds, John Rowlands having
taken nine seconds off the
Champion over the eight miles of
Penmachno South. So, was all
not well in the Champion’s car?
Whatever, it had been a morning
of considerable attrition with
Ieuan Rowlands breaking a stub
axle, and Jody Bowcott putting
his Escort off in SS1. Jon
Ballinger and Barry Jordan did
the same in SS2, whilst in the
same stage, Jamie Jukes had
succumbed to no motion with a
broken drive shaft.
Nathan Rex Ireland
O’Connor/Jessica Rogan then
suffered the same fate in SS3.
As crews took a welcome break for service in
Conway, Robinson and John Rowlands were
locked in battle for first, with Sean Edwards
somewhat adrift in third. Keeping Edwards
honest was Rex Ireland who had a healthy
As crews returned to
the action, another run through the same
stages lay ahead, but with slightly reduced
mileage in both the Penmachno stages.
However, the battle for the lead was over in
an instant, John Rowland’s Escort grinding to
a halt as it was another to suffer a broken
drive shaft. Barring mishaps therefore it was
game over for the win, but Rex Ireland, now
in third, could smell Sean Edwards exhaust
and over the next two stages reeled him in
to take over the runners up spot, which he
held onto until the end. Edwards was
nevertheless pleased to pick up third just 8
seconds adrift of Ireland. Robinson’s winning
margin? Let’s just say it was healthy…! Much
to the delight of the brothers’ Leigh, the
In the Historic Cup the demise
of Barry Jordan in SS2 reduced it
to a 3-way fight between
Robinson, Ireland and Edwards
and as in Silver Star, that’s the
way it finished.
Sean Edwards
Fiesta held together to come home fourth
with Hutchings, Clarke and Deeley completing
the field and all getting a reasonable haul of
points.
For Steve Deeley and Alan Proudman with the
tempting B10 Championship Class win
awaiting them on the Promenade in
Llandudno, it was a nerve
jangling event with a finish
needed to hold off the harassing
Nathan O’Connor. The duel was
pretty even up to SS3 when
O’Connor departed the fray and
then it was a matter of just
making it home but as we know
rallying rarely never work like
that. A silly off into a hole lost
over 5 minutes but worse the
gearbox had been damaged
leaving the West Midland pair
with severe selection problems
and a mix of sounds worthy of
an orchestra tuning up. It was a
long remaining 5 stages but they made it back
just and not quite last finisher but it was
enough to take the class win.
For O’Connor the retirement brought further
pain as Hutchings overcame a bad start on
SS1 to finish second in class and jump over
O’Connor in the class order behind Deeley,
although Jessica still held onto second.
As crews assembled on the Prom
it was smiles all round. Matthew
and Sam had achieved their
ambition of a full house, a feat
which had eluded them in each
of their previous championships.
Jon Ballinger and Mike Wilding
were confirmed as runners up
and Sean Edwards bagged third
in the drivers’ championship, whilst Phil
Clarke’s co-driver Steve Pugh took third in the
co-drivers’ table.
In 2011 Matthew Robinson entered the
Championship for the first time and competed
on his first BTRDA event, the Woodpecker. He
Steve Deeley
finished third and then retired on the
Cambrian. In the three years that followed
he won Silver Star 16 times, finished second
three times and retired three times. I think
that’s called domination…. Congratulations
Matthew. Whilst I’m sure his fellow Silver Star
competitors will bid him a fond farewell to
Gold Star next year, the four wheel drive boys
could well be looking over their shoulders….
Bring on the Wyedean!
Jones Secures Cambrian Win to Take 3rd RF
The battle for the 2014 Rally First
Championship title was settled (just)
on the Trackrod after a season where
several crews remained in strong
contention. However there were still
prizes to be won at the Cambrian
with Rory Jones / Tom Hughes (MG
ZR) determined to secure enough
points for third place in the Rally First
Championship. Three contenders all
finished on 176 points, thats how
tight it got.
Rory Jones
They started well enough on the first
stage with a time 1 second faster
than Carl Davies / Richard Jones (Micra) and just carried on from there, setting the best time on the
following six stages to take the Rally First win they
were seeking. Behind them Sion Ellis / Dan
Nieroda (Micra) and James Watkins / Tudur Rees
also in a Micra were swapping seconds with
Davies for the first half of the event. However
Davies hit problems on stage 5 losing a lot of
time to his rivals and dropping out of the battle
for second and third which continued right to the
end of the event. Watkins set a cracking time on
the final stage to match the flying Davies but it
was not quite enough and Ellis managed to stay
ahead by just 8 seconds to take second place.
Behind them Jonathan Pickering / Simon Broom
Sion Ellis
(Micra) and Phil Ferguson / Neil Bye (Polo) were
have their own contest throughout the day with Pickering eventually coming out ahead by 23 seconds.
So, the 30 points scored by Rory Jones took him into a tie with Neil Andrew for third place in the BTRDA
Rally First Championship which was only decided in Rory’s favour on count back! Their Cambrian result
also sealed the MG ZR Challenge.
In RF1.0 Class winners Sam Bilham took a well deserved rest
after an excellent season of wins so it was left to Claire
Marsh/Abi Haycock and Thomas Bayliss/Joe Jones to fight
over the class and second place in the Championship. Marsh
was clearly wide awake as she pulled out a 22 second lead
after the first two stages only for Bayliss to take the next
three stages to lead, but with only a 3 second advantage.
Not to be beaten in the Micra shoot-out Marsh and Haycock
Claire Marsh
then took fastest times on the final three stage wins to win by
27 seconds and take not only the event class win but secure
their second place in Class RF1.0.
MINTEX / QUESTMEAD BONUS SCHEME
The winners of the Mintex Awards on the Cambrian Rally, each of
whom receive a set of FREE competition brake pads from Questmead
Ltd, were:Best Improvement on Start Number in GS / SS Championships: Sean Edwards - Ford Escort (H3)
Best Improvement on Start Number in Morris’s 1400/MG/RF: Phill Ferguson - VW Polo (RF1.4)
Alan Brown or Steve Brown from Questmead can be found in the Service Area at most events. To claim
your reward we advise that you contact them in advance to arrange the required product. They can be
contacted on 01706 363939. Email: [email protected]
A Tale of Two MG’s in the MG ZR Challenge
This has been a story of two crews, Marcel Freling / Karen
Robinson and Rory Jones / Tom Hughes who have both been the
dominant MG ZR in their respective classes. Both crews scored maximum MG ZR points on several
events and at the end of the season they both finished on a maximum score of 120 points, with
Rory Jones / Tom Hughes eventually winning on count back to the eight score! Congratulations to
both crews; it could not have been any closer.
Wales Rally of Great Britain 2014
Road to Wales
Perez and Robinson Take the
Prizes
As well as winning the 2014 REIS BTRDA Rally Championship Steve Perez also wins the second
of the two Road to Wales FREE Prize Drives kindly donated to BTRDA for this years Wales Rally
GB. Steve joins Matthew Robinson who won his prize following his win in the MSA English
Rally Championship.
The Wales Rally GB is now just two weeks away and along with Steve and Matthew there are 26
other current and former BTRDA competitors taking place, including the 2013 BTRDA Champion
Euan Thorburn, who, after winning the WRGB National event last year has moved up to compete
in the full International Rally. We wish everyone of them the very best of luck and will be
following your progress during the event.
Full entry lists can be found at www.walesrallygb.com/competitors/index.php.
Tickets are still available so if you plan to go event ticket details can be found at
www.walesrallygb.com/spectators/index.php.
Route Notes Questionnaire – Follow-up
Following the very positive responses we received from you about our current route notes
we have decided to continue our relationship with Patterson Pace Notes, who will therefore
be our preferred route note provider in the future.
We have however, taken the opportunity to address the issues raised in the questionnaires
with both Michael and Brian Patterson:
•
Cost
!
!
Pattersons have committed to retaining the 10% discount they currently offer
to BTRDA rallies.
Additional DVDs (one each for driver and co-driver) – If you contact Pattersons
at the time of purchasing a set of notes and a DVD they can provide a second
DVD via a download for you.
•
Field of Vision of DVD
! Pattersons were unfortunately asked by the MSA some time ago to remove the
side-facing cameras. Hence the field of vision is no longer as good as it used
to be.
•
Speed of DVD
! Unfortunately it is not possible to provide different speeds on the DVD. It
must be controlled by your viewing device.
•
Definition of terms
! If anyone is unclear on the definition of any of the terms in the route notes
e.g. 6 in descriptive notes or narrow vs tight, please contact Pattersons
directly. Michael and Brian are happy to help and discuss any queries you may
have.
•
General
! If you have any comments, concerns, ideas for improvements etc. Michael and
Brian are happy to speak to you and are very open to discussion.
Thank you once again to those who returned questionnaires and for helping us maintain the
quality of our events.
Michael and Brian Patterson can be contacted at 02890 844111
BTRDA Rally Series – 2015 Calendar
The BTRDA can now confirm the 2015 calendar for both the BTRDA Rally Series and the MSA
English Rally Championship.
The BTRDA Rally Series, which includes the 62nd Gold Star and Silver Star Rally Championships
plus the BTRDA 1400 and Rally First Championships and the BTRDA Historic Cup, will continue to
provide the best selection of cracking one day forest events with the final championship results
based on your best 6 scores from the first 8 events started. The advantage of this scoring system
for competitors is that you can miss an event for family, business or budget reasons without
reducing your scoring opportunities.
The one significant change to the calendar is the inclusion of the Carlisle Rally as a replacement for
the Dukeries Rally in both the BTRDA Rally Series and the MSA English Rally Championship. This
provides competitors with an event in June and brings both the championships back to the forests
on the western side of Kielder which we have not visited for many years.
2015 Calendar
EVENT
Wyedean Rally [e]
Malcolm Wilson Rally [e]
Somerset Stages [e]
Plains Rally
Carlisle Stages Rally [e]
Nicky Grist Stages
Woodpecker Stages [e]
Trackrod Forest Stages [e]
Cambrian Rally
JLT Tempest 2 Rally [e only]
DATE
February
th
7 March
18th April
16th May
13th June
11th July
5th September
26th September
17th October
7th November
14th
RALLY HQ
Chepstow
Cockermouth
Minehead
Welshpool
Longtown
Builth Wells
Ludlow
Pickering
Llandudno
Aldershot
STAGES include
Speech House, Sallowvallets
Grizedale, Greystoke, Comb
Porlock, Croydon Hill
Dyfi, Garthieniog, Hafren
Kershope, Newcastleton
Crychan, Halfway, Route 60
Haye Park, Radnor
Dalby, Staindale , Langdale
Clocaenog, Penmachno
Ash, Warren Heath
[e] = MSA English Championship Rounds
Thanks to the continued support of REIS there will 1 hour TV programme from each event shown
on Motors TV (on Freeview and part of the Sky package) for the Gold Star, Silver Star and Historic
Cup competitors plus a separate 30 minute TV programme for 1400 and Rally First Crews, plus end
of season review programmes.
The MSA English Rally Championship which runs alongside the BTRDA
Rally Series on many events is exclusively for two wheel drive cars up to 2
litre and is an ideal forest rally championship for crews on a limited budget.
The Championship is contested over 7 classic English forest stage rallies
(best 5 scores) and has a ‘class based’ format so that competitors from any of
the 5 classes have an equal chance of becoming the MSA English Rally Champion.
The BTRDA Rally Series attracted more than 300 competitor registrations in 2014 and is
consistently the most popular in the UK. It aims to competitors and followers with some Serious
Fun!
Regulations for the 2015 Championships are now being prepared and will be available in
December.
MSA ENGLISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Whilst Matthew Robinson secured the drivers title back on the Woodpecker
the remaining podium positions and some of the class awards are still open
with many competitors still in with a chance. The latest points can be found on the Championship
website www.englishrally.co.uk
The final round of the MSA English Rally Championship is the Tempest 2 Rally based near
Aldershot on Saturday 8th November. www.tempestrally.com Late entries will still be welcome.
Championship Dinner and Awards Evening - 6th December 2014
As we get closer to the end of the Championship we naturally want to celebrate yet another
successful year by having a good party at the end of the year. After the success of last years
event we are again going to be holding the Dinner at the Park Inn by Radisson in Telford,
Shropshire on Saturday 6th December. The evening will cover both the BTRDA and MSA English
Championships.
As previously the event is always a very popular occasion and we expect tickets to go quickly so
we would advise you to get your applications in as soon as possible. Don’t worry that if you do
book tickets but your season does not end quite as well as you had hoped then we guarantee
refunding any payments made.
There is also a concession on hotel room prices for Dinner guests but these will not be held
indefinitely so again you are advised to apply early. We finally appreciate costs are a major part
for competitors but our dinner ticket prices have now not increased for the fourth consecutive
year.
Forms to book tickets and hotel rooms are attached with this email or can be downloaded from
the Bulletins tab of the Championship website www.btrdarally.com. We will also have forms at
future events.
The Dinner organiser is Beryl Gregg who can be contacted on Tel. 01746 769159 or Email
[email protected].
Championship Official Photographers - Ralliphotos Wales
We are extremely grateful for the photographic support given to the Championship by Ralliphotos
Wales during 2014. Their excellent pictures, such as below have helped to tell the many exciting
stories of this years dramatic Championship.
If you want to have a long lasting memory of the year then why not get in touch with them at
[email protected]
Championship Sponsors
Special Stage TV Programmes
Its now well established that the Special Stage team will be out filming all nine rounds of the
Championship for publication on the Motors TV channel No. 447 as well as Freeview Ch. 240 for
eligible TV’s. As last year there will be two programmes, an hour programme covering the 4WD
and 2WD sections and a separate half hour programme for the Morris Lubricants 1400’s.
The schedule of programmes is listed below and programmes will repeated during the following
week, but you will need to check the Motors TV website for exact times, www.motorstv.com/tvguide-uk.
Can we also make an appeal that you try to keep the Special Stage team updated with how your
event went and if you have any video coverage that they may be able to use. This is very
important in making the programmes interesting and informative. You can email them
at [email protected] or complete their online form at www.specialstage.co.uk/
page4.htm.
EVENT
EVENT DATE
Weir Engineering
Wyedean Rally
15th February
Malcolm Wilson Rally 8th March
Somerset Stages
12th April
Plains Rally
17th May
Dukeries Rally
7th June
Nicky Grist Stages
12th July
Woodpecker Stages
30th August
Trackrod Rally
27th September
Cambrian Rally
18th October
Season Reviews
-
TV PROGRAMME DATE
BTRDA - Friday 7th March
1400’s - Friday 7th March
BTRDA - Friday 21st March
1400’s - Friday 21st March
BTRDA - Friday 25th April
1400’s - Friday 25th April
BTRDA - Friday 30th May
1400’s - Friday 30th May
BTRDA - Friday 20th June
1400’s - Friday 20th June
BTRDA - Friday 25th July
1400’s - Friday 25th July
TIME
9.00pm
10.30pm
9.00pm
11.00pm
9.00pm
10.35pm
9.00pm
10.00pm
9.00pm
10.35pm
9.00pm
10.00pm
BTRDA - Friday 12th September 9.00pm
1400’s - Friday 12th September 10.00pm
BTRDA - Friday 10th October
9.00pm
1400’s - Friday 17th October
10.00pm
BTRDA - Friday 31st October
9.30pm
1400’s – Friday 31st October
11.30pm
BTRDA – TBA
TBA
1400’s - TBA
TBA