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Gravel championship slips into Mid-Wales this weekend
publication date: Jun 4, 2010
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author/source: Peter Hughes
Round three of the 2010 MSA Gravel Rally Championship
makes its first of three successive visits to Wales and the Welsh
borders when competitors converge on the Royal Welsh Showground in
Builth Wells for the Severn Valley National Rally on Saturday, starting
at 10am tomorrow.
| | Championship leaders Jonny Milner (Huggate) and co driver
Ian Windress (Northallerton) will be looking for another victory in
their Toyota Corolla WRC to add to the win last time out on the Pirelli
Tour of Cumbria. | There, the former double British Champion saw off
the Hyundai Accent WRC of Stephen Petch (Hamsterley) and John Richardson
(Northallerton) and Yorkshiremen Charlie Payne (Ripon) and Craig
Thorley (York) in their Ford Focus WRC and that's the way they stand in
the title chase.
But Milner won't have it all his own way because as
well as Petch and Payne, the Subaru WRC of former ANCRO Champions Roger
Duckworth (Silverstone) and co driver Mark Broomfield (Towcester), who
finished third on Rallye Sunseeker before crashing out in Kielder Forest
last month, will be a major threat in the Welsh forests.
The Subaru
of Alex Allingham (Stalybridge) and Mark Glennerster (Wanborough) as
well as Tom Naughton (Bury) and Horace Saville (Bury) in the Mitsubishi
didn't see the Carlisle finish and neither did Jamie Anderson
(Ellistown) and Mark Mason (Gateshead) in their Mitsubishi so all are
hoping to make sure they have a good run this time out.
The surprise
package of the last round was Kevin Rowledge (Wimborne) and Paul
Whittaker (Poole) who nearly made the podium in Cumbria in their
Mitsubishi, whereas the colourful Wug Utting (Gatwick) and Bob Stokoe
(Tatfield) return to the series in their Subaru, as does Hyundai Accent
WRC crew Peter Egerton (Burley) and Jamie Edwards (Wrexham) whilst
Welshmen Tom Cave and Ieuan Thomas will take to the stages in their
Proton Satria.
The Mitsubishi of Paul James (Wellington) and Derek
Davies (Swansea) will also be hunting down points, as will Trevor Martin
(Medstead) and Ray Cleghorn (Gerrards Cross) in the Subaru whereas
local driver Tony Macwhirter (Cardiff) and Steve Green (Leeds) are sure
to be in the thick of the action.
| | The world’s most iconic rally car will be star of the
show at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire this weekend when The Rally Show
celebrates 30 years of the Audi Quattro, writes Peter Hughes.
No
fewer than eight of the German cars will be tackling the show’s 1.2
mile special stage along with more modern machinery such as the work
Ford Focus Rally Car, in the hands of Jari-Matti Latvala and Henning
Solberg.
Two former British champions, Jimmy McRae and Russell
Brookes will be on hand to demonstrate a variety of cars in which they
competed in the 1970s and ‘80s while star of the future Craig Breen,
co-driven by Wales’s Gareth Roberts, will be putting their Ford Fiesta
S2000 through its paces.
Also flying the flag for Wales will be Elfyn
Evans, son of Welsh rallying great Gwyndaf Evans, who will be competing
in the FST Nations Cup. He will be taking on drivers from England,
Ireland and Scotland, all driving identical Ford Fiestas, over 6 stages
with the winner getting the chance to drive the Kick Energy Focus WRC
around the Chatsworth stage.
Away from the live action, a host of
historic rally cars will be on display plus over 30 trade stands. There
will be a funfair on hand for the younger visitors, along with a quad
track, a simulator, computer games, bucking bronco's, bouncy castles and
inflatable slides. Admission is £20 each day for adults with
children aged 16 and under admitted free. Grandstand tickets are £7.50
each day. | Following her retirement on Rallye
Sunseeker, Sara Williams (Brecon) and Dai Roberts (Carmarthen) will be
looking to impress on their local event in their Subaru and Nigel
Seabold (Headley) and Tim Barton (Epsom) will be hoping to put the
disappointment of retiring their Subaru on round one behind them too.
The
two-wheel drive brigade is headed by Viking Ford Escort Challenge
runners Robert Cholmondeley (Barnt Green) and Dave Evans (Leeds) as well
as Chris Wigmore (Bicester) and Steve Lyons (Brackley) whereas Welsh
pairing Tom Watson and Arwell Jenkins tackle the stages in their
FST-specification Ford Fiesta. | | | | |
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