Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship. Newsletter

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1 Championship 2/ February 2015 Welcome Welcome to championship newsletter number 2 for the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship. We were all delighted with the opening round, the Red Kite Stages, which delivered a true challenge in some tough conditions. I d like to record a big vote of thanks to all the team at Amman and DMC as well as the marshals, radio crews, timekeepers and rescue and recovery crews for coping with all the challenges thrown at them. To their great credit, we were all able to enjoy a fine day s sport. There were many things to be very pleased about on the Red Kite Stages. The spirit and atmosphere in the service area and amongst the crews was outstanding and the presentation of cars was amazing, so thank you to everyone who has been busy in the garage over the winter. Despite one or two non-arrivals, including Paul Barrett who had the ferry journey from hell and still didn t make it, we had 50 BHRC crews start the rally. We have more contenders coming for round 2, the Mid Wales Stages on 1 March. We are now only three weeks away from the Mid Wales Stages and entries are arriving at a good rate, so please enter as soon as possible. We are hoping for a very big combined BHRC/RAC field and hope to surpass the 70-cars on the Red Kite. Championship points should be available on the website by the time this newsletter arrives. Don t forget that tea, coffee and cakes are always available from the championship awning in the service area and we are always keen to meet up for a chat and get your feedback. I hope to see you in Newtown.

2 Best regards Colin Heppenstall Thursday 5 February colin@historicrallying.org Championship website: The 2015 events in detail BHRC round 2: Mid Wales Stages (Sunday 1 March) The Viking Motorsport/Links Electrical Mid Wales Stages will follow the successful format of previous years with rally HQ in Newtown and four superb stages in Pike s Peak, Myherin and Hafren. The competitive action will again finish with the spectacular run down the Pike s Peak hairpins. Scrutineering and documentation will be on Saturday afternoon (28 February) at the Theatre Hafren on the outskirts of Newtown. Entries close on 19 February and regs are available from BHRC round 3: Pirelli Rally (Saturday 25 April) Scrutineering and documentation will be on Friday 24 April, starting early afternoon at the H&H auction mart just of J43 of the M6 at Carlisle. There will be a ceremonial start in Carlisle city centre on Saturday morning, likely to be from 10am with cars in place from 9am. The route will take crews up to Kielder for three stages (25 miles), then service in the Kielder area, followed by the same stages again. All the stage mileage will be on the south side of the Kielder dam using the best Category A haul roads. The Rally HQ and finish will be at Kielder Castle, with the first car to the finish at around 4pm, with the prize-giving on the ramp.

3 BHRC round 4: Severn Valley Stages (Saturday 30 May) The 42nd Severn Valley Stages will be based at the Royal Welsh Showground at Builth Wells and take place on 30th May. Scrutineering will be on Friday afternoon 29 May. The organisers do not expect to make any major changes from the 2014 format. BHRC round 5: Harry Flatters (Sunday 26 July) This one-day rally over the famous Epynt ranges is traditionally based in Brecon where scrutineering and documentation is held on Saturday afternoon. The route recce will take place on Saturday morning. BHRC round 6: Neath Valley Stages (Saturday 15 August) Scrutineering and documentation will take place from 2pm on Friday 14 August at Rally HQ in Rheola (the same venue as 2014). There is free overnight camping on Friday and Saturday nights. The 45 competitive miles will feature three stages run twice: Rheola, Bryn and a brand new stage that has NEVER been used. The format will be: first car starts at 8.30am for a nine-mile stage followed by service. The second loop takes in stages two (six miles) and three (seven and a half miles). After a main service halt, the route is repeated, with the first car due at the finish at around 3.45pm. BHRC rounds 7 and 8: Rallye Isle of Man (Thursday-Saturday September) The 2015 event is expected to broadly follow the format of the very successful 2014 rally, covering up to 180 miles on the closed public roads of the island. The competition starts on Thursday evening before two full days on Friday and Saturday and a late afternoon finish on Saturday. The rally is based at the TT Grandstands at Douglas. Details of the entry/travel package will be made available shortly along with details of the recce.

4 BHRC round 9: Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (Friday/Saturday 25/26 September) The organisers of the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire intend a to run a very similar format to 2014 with Friday afternoon scrutineering followed by a 7pm start and stages in the dark, finishing at around 10pm. The event will then restart on the Saturday at approximately 8.30am with classic Yorkshire stages before finishing early afternoon. The event will be again based at Pickering. Post-event scrutineering Red Kite Post-event eligibility scrutineering has been stepped up further in 2015 and five cars were checked following the Red Kite Stages. The event organisers kindly arranged the use of a garage with a vehicle lift, which allowed John Cooper and Rob Harris to have a good look around. The items inspected included front and rear suspension, front and rear brakes and engine ancillaries. Items were checked against relevant papers and all was found to be in order. The cars chosen for post-event scrutineering were: Richard Hill (Ford Escort Mk2) Rupert Lomax (Ford Escort Mk1) Jason Pritchard (Ford Escort Mk2) Rikki Proffitt (Porsche 911) David Stokes (Ford Escort Mk1) Eligibility a reminder of item 8 in the championship regulations All championship entries must have and produce at all events those forms necessary for their Category: (a) An FIA HTP or MSA HRVIF which must be carried in the car at all times on each round, where appropriate. (b) Vehicle Registration Document (V5 or V5C). (c) Valid MOT Certificate as appropriate

5 (d) An MSA Competition Car (Stage Rally) Log Book. (e) Homologation papers (Category 3 and 4) If the required papers are not in order (not correct or not produced) then championship points may not be allocated for that round. IMPORTANT NOTE: The issue of these papers does not necessarily mean that your car complies with the Championship Regulations. Dampers on historic rally cars from the MSA The basic philosophy of historic motor sport is that the vehicles remain in the specification that they were in period, and that the vehicle complies with the technical regulations of that period. For homologated vehicles this means compliance with the relevant homologation form, but it is possible that the technical regulations of the period did not cover certain items, for example exhaust systems may have been free. In cases such as this, those components must still be of a design and specification as used in period on that make and model of car. Shock absorbers (dampers) have a huge influence on the performance of a car. There has been a lot of chatter about certain brands of shock absorber being acceptable or otherwise. A number of companies that manufactured components in period no longer exist. The key to whether a particular component be that a shock absorber or anything else is acceptable within the regulations is whether the component is of period specification. With shock absorbers we have no knowledge of any useradjustable monotube dampers in use until after Therefore a monotube damper, maximum body diameter less than 42mm (as exampled in period by Bilstein) with no user-adjustment and no remote reservoir would be considered as being period specification and within the regulations for pre-1981 cars. Units of later specification, user-adjustable, fitted with remote reservoirs, etc. would not be.

6 For clarity, if a shock absorber could be adjusted without depressurising it would be considered to be user-adjustable. Be wary of referring to shock absorbers by the manufacturer s name, for providing that the units are of period specification, the fact that they may be manufactured by a company associated to modern specification is of no consequence. It is the specification that is the critical factor, not the identity of the manufacturer. In particular, although advised that Reiger do not manufacture period historic dampers we have now been further advised that this advice is or may be incorrect. As we have made clear, it is the specification that is key! Pritchard takes opening BHRC victory The 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship got off to an incredible start on the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February) as early ice and snow delivered truly challenging conditions. Then, as conditions improved, Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke flew through the final stage to jump from fourth to first as just 15 seconds covered the top five crews. It was a sensational start to the new season and the fact that the rally run at all is testament to the hard work and professionalism of the organising team at Amman and DMC as well as all the marshals and officials out on the stages. The uphill access road to the Crychan South stage was impassable first thing for the marshals and safety crews, so only Crychan North ran on the first loop. Two stages in Caeo stage were interspersed by another lap of Crychan, this time with a shortened version of Crychan South as conditions improved notably in the middle of the day. Despite the conditions, a big crowd of fans turned out to see the action and they were not disappointed as the BHRC started a new five-year term under the management of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club. Team mates Daniel Lwni Jones/Kevin Lewis and Meirion Evans/Steffan Evans set a searing the early pace but neither Escort Mk2 was destined to finish. Jones massively impressive BHRC debut was halted by gearbox problems and Evans slid off in Crychan when looking good for a very big result. Instead, David Stokes/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort Mk1) took the lead as Stokes used decades of experience to make the best of the conditions.

7 Meanwhile, Pritchard was clawing back time after a steady run through the ice-bound opening stage and went into the final Caeo stage in fourth place overall behind Stokes, Richard Hill/Iwan Jones (Ford Escort Mk2) and Terry Brown/Den Golding (Ford Escort Mk2). In just nine miles, the results were turned on their head as Pritchard won from Hill, Brown and Stokes, while Matthew Robinson/Sam Collis grabbed fifth as they also charged back into contention following a troubled opening stage. It had been one of the most dramatic final stages in the BHRC story and Pritchard had produced the perfect start to the new season. The conditions this morning were the worst I ve ever driven in, he said. Hill was pleased with a strong result to start the season, and was quick to congratulate Pritchard on the result. Brown s performance was one of the drives of the rally, for he had lost third gear on the opening stage. Co-driver Golding reckoned that the struggle between second and fourth on the long climb in Caeo could have cost them victory. Stokes, meanwhile had driven just as well and shown that experience counts when the conditions are tough. In the Walker Diecastings Category 1, Rikki Proffitt/Graham Wild slithered through the morning ice in Crychan to lay the foundations of victory in their Porsche 911. Absolutely fantastic, said Proffitt. We couldn t have gone much quicker this morning without going off. After a long break from rallying Malcolm Rich, with codriver Jonathan Hawkins, had a mighty run in his Ford Anglia to win class B3 and headed the chase of Proffitt. Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell survived to win class B4 in their Lotus Cortina despite a time-consuming first stage off while Philip Harris and Alan Walker were delighted to get Phil s immaculate Mini Cooper to the finish of its first rally and claim class B2 spoils. Stokes/Weaver won the Capital Construction Category 2 with Rupert Lomax and new co-driver Rich Jones second after two years away from his Escort Mk1 for the driver and no testing before starting the ice-bound Crychan stage. Just outside the top 10, in what is shaping up for the best class C5 battle for many years, John Perrott/Keaton Williams, Ernie and Will Graham and Warren Philliskirk/Nigel Hutchinson were split by just two seconds, with Perrott taking the place on the final stage.

8 In class C3, Phil Jobson/Arwel Jenkins (Ford Escort Mk1) spent the day struggling to find gears but still managed to win the class, while Class C2 featured a fine contest as Dave Watkins/Thomas Jordan (Ford Escort Mk1) clawed back the 40s they lost to Robin Shuttleworth/Ronnie Roughead on the first stage. Hill/Jones claimed the RSR Historic Engineering Category 3 from Brown/Golding and Robinson/Collis, while next up were Rudi Lancaster and George Gwynn, who finished only three seconds up on Nick Elliott/Dave Price. The wrong tyres and a first stage spin and puncture cost Elliott dear, but he was on the pace again once conditions improved. One of the drives of the rally came from Pinto-powered Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy in their Ford Escort Mk2 as they won class D3 at a canter with an outstanding sixth fastest overall on the opening stage. The ice was a good power leveller, said the rapid youngster. First on the road in the ice was a big handicap for Chris Skill and Garry Middleton (Ford Escort Mk2), but they kept it going to win class D2. It was a lot of fun, but very tricky, said Skill. Pritchard won the Holton Homes Category K for cars running to Appendix K specification and was followed home by the crowd-pleasing cars of Julian Reynolds/Ieuan Thomas (Fiat 131) and Steve Perez/Paul Spooner (Lancia Stratos). BHRC Red Kite award winners announced The special award winners in the opening round of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Red Kite Stages (Sunday 1 February) have been announced following the rally that also featured the opening rounds of the Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge and the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge. The Motorsport Auctions Welsh Challenge will be contested over the four gravel rallies and one asphalt event based in Wales and so the early lead has gone to rally winners Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke (Ford Escort Mk2). Builth Wells-based Pritchard was on one of his home events, while Clarke is based just across the border near Ludlow. Pritchard only flew back into the UK on Saturday morning after spending a week working with the Viking Motorsport team on the Classic Rally South Africa, so their last stage victory was even sweeter.

9 The event was also the first round of the Holton Homes Clubmans Challenge, which is for crews using a maximum of six tyres per rally. The top overall finishers from the strong Clubmans Challenge field were Ben Friend and Sean Kennedy, who had a great run in their Pinto-powered Ford Escort Mk2 to win class D3 and finish 16th overall. Just one second behind them was the Ford Escort Mk2 of Tim Freeman and Paul Williams while Richard Lane and Frank Richer were next up. The Spirit of the Rally product award from Fuchs Lubricants went to Bob Gibbons who made a popular return to rallying in his Ford Cortina Mk2. Co-driven by his son Dale, this was Bob s first rally since the tragic death of his wife Di last summer. He got back into the swing of rallying and gave the fans a show with his usual sideways style. Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh collected the award for the Best Improvement on Seeding, which is a set of axle brake pads from Mintex. They took their Opel Kadett up into tenth place overall after an excellent performance. Finally, Terry Brown won the Hard Charger award of a 20-litre jerry can from Green Valley Industrial Supplies. Despite losing third gear on the opening stage, Brown and Den Golding battled on and narrowly missed overall victory with a mighty charge. TV partners confirmed for British Historic Rally Championship The line-up of TV partners for the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship has been confirmed. The 90-minute programmes on Motors TV will cover the full story of both the Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the West Wales Rally Spares R.A.C. Rally Championship. Olly Dickinson will lead the project and will present the programmes and on-event interviews, and the coverage will start with the Red Kite Stages, which is provisionally scheduled for broadcast on the evening of Friday 27 February. Exact schedules will be confirmed nearer the transmission date. Each championship round will be covered in detail in a 90-minute programme on Motors TV with multiple repeats to give the championship around 50 hours of TV coverage. Initial broadcasts will run in prime-time slots, typically three or four weeks after the rally.

10 Alongside the TV coverage, the entire Championship will again be available on irally. The free irally App is available for the iphone, ipad and Android devices and offers an incredibly popular rally video channel. The programmes will also be available via the championship s YouTube channel. Support for coverage of the 2015 Mintex MSA British Historic Rally Championship comes from TV partners Chris Browne Builders, JD Garage Equipment, Jordan Road Surfacing, Rally and Competition Equipment, Robinson Road Planing, Sherwood Engines, Skipton Ford, Swift Leisure and Wales Motorsport Fabrications.