Tag Archives: Peter Smith

Payne-Stakingly Quick in the North Yorkshire Forests

November 4, 2015 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Charlie Payne and Carl Williamson held off a late charge from 2014 winners Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson to claim the Malton Forest Rally honours by a mere 2 seconds; thereby taking victory on all three North Yorkshire based forest events in the 2015 calendar year!

Payne_MFR15

My arrival at the Hole of Horcum was met with glorious sunshine and abnormally warm temperatures, a far cry from the thick fog which plagued my long journey up from the Midlands. And pleasingly, after a 7km hike to the top of Jerry Noddle in Staindale, the air remained perfectly clear providing the opportunity to take in the stunning views of Langdale before the competing crews arrived.

The 5.8 miles of Staindale represented stage 2 of the Malton Forest Rally’s scheduled 6 and whilst the majority of the field showed impressive commitment over the fast section of track between junctions 1 and 2 it was Charlie Payne and Carl Williamson who had stolen a march on their rivals by opening up an 8 second lead over the heavily Ford biased chasing pack.

2014 winners Stephen Petch and Michael Wilkinson gave away 9 seconds to their fast starting Amigos sponsored rivals on the opening stage of the event. Whilst this did not appear a significant gap, the unseasonal weather meant the Langdale bogie time was well within reach of the leading crews; thus effectively deeming only 3 of the 5 remaining stages competitive. Petch had a mountain to climb.

Sitting third at lunch, the WD40 sponsored Fiesta man did however manage to claw 7 seconds back during the reverse running of Staindale, but was left relying heavily on Payne making a mistake over the Langdale finale in order to maintain his Malton Forest crown.

Payne however was in a rich vein of form having already claimed 2015 rally victories on both the Yorkshire based Riponian and Trackrod events; the Ripon man maintaining his nerve to again beat the 7:22 bogie time and seal the overall Malton Forest Rally victory. To the best of my google searching capabilities, claiming all three major forest rally victories in the North Yorkshire area, within a single calendar year is unprecedented. Impressive to say the least!

Peter Stephenson and Ian Windress had been in touching distance of the front two all day but could not quite match the pace of Payne in Cropton 1 or either leading Fiesta on the reverse running of the stage later in the day; thus leaving the Focus WRC pairing to settle for the final step of the podium, just 12 seconds behind the eventual winners. Meanwhile Rhys Yates and Tom Woodburn had a good run in their new Fiesta R5, snatching 4th from the S2000 Fiesta of Stephen Simpson and Andrew Roughead on the final stage of the day.

HISTORICS

After many a duel in the Yorkshire forests in recent years, MK2 Escort heavyweights, Steve Bannister and Matthew Robinson would again lock horns at the head of the Historic and class H4 entry lists; a mouth watering prospect with ‘Banner’ knowing the North Yorkshire stages like the back of his hand and Robinson proving generally quick and flamboyant everywhere!

But while Bannister and Robinson sat an impressive 6th and 7th respectively at the halfway point, the evergreen Bannister with Dave Robson on the notes, had opened up a phenomenal 39 second historic class lead with 6th, 4th and 5th fastest stage times overall. It is not as though Robinson, with Sam Collis alongside, was taking it easy; the pairing mighty impressive over Jerry Noddle and holding a 35 second margin over father and son crew Pete and Ash Slights in third! This was Bannister at his very best.

Banner_MFR15

And while the damage was done in the morning, there was no let up in the glorious afternoon sunshine either as Bannister and Robson went on to claim historic rally victory by a whopping 1 minute and 2 seconds with a fantastic 6th position overall. Robinson and Collis meanwhile consolidated their strong morning performance with 7th, while Pete and Ash Slights claimed 3rd in class and 10th overall despite a strong final stage from Ben Mellors and Tom Spencer in the fabulous Toyota Celica.

Fifth historic crew home was the mighty impressive Adam Milner and Ralloy founder, Roy Jarvis, in their H2 specification MK1 Mexico. The duo recorded class victory by over 5 minutes from the Hilman Avenger of Keith Davison and Henry Richardson and had been holding 4th in category prior to Ben Mellors’ final stage push. 12th position overall however was a fantastic result for a 1600 machine! Also repsonsible for the build of Bannister’s Ford, this had been a good day in the woods for Jarvis.

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Peter Smith and Alan Walker finished the event in 15th position overall to claim class H3 honours in their Swift Caravans backed Opel Ascona. Having been out in the Impreza, 6R4 and Kadett more often this year, Smith had clearly not forgotten how to drive the Ascona; going on to take class victory by more than 2 and a half minutes.

PSmith_MFR15

There may have been only one car entered in class H1, but just getting to the end of an event whilst seeded at car 65 in a Morris Mini is a mighty achievement in itself. However the stages looked in pristine condition where I was and Peter Ellerby and Ian Jackson were able bring the car home in a very credible 49th position overall.

Ellerby_MFR15

MODERN

As expected Mat Smith and Giles Dykes excelled in the dry conditions to bring their very rapid Proton Satria home in 9th position overall, claiming class 1 honours by almost 4 minutes. The speed carried over the top of Jerry Noddle and the final section of Langdale defied belief; it is difficult to comprehend that the car is powered by a 1400 motor although the driver is obviously not lacking in the talent department!

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A last minute entry for Martyn Hawkeswell and Nick Welch was rewarded with top spot in class 3 and 16th position overall; the MK2 Escort crew beating Andy and David Gibson to the class victory by just 8 seconds. In fact the Gibson brothers had been leading the class until losing 10 seconds in the reverse of Staindale. Separated by just 1 second heading into the final stage, Hawkeswell then sealed the class victory by setting 14th fastest stage time overall.

Hawkeswell_MFR15

Class 4 victory went the way of Chris White and Chris Dewsnap in another MK2 Escort. The Ford pair were quick out of the blocks and never looked back, claiming class honours by more than 2 minutes with 19 position overall. Phil and Mick Gallagher would have been amongst the pre-event class favourites, however the Ti Rallyschool pairing had a mixed morning, losing 2 minutes in stage 1, before setting fastest class time in Staindale and then retiring one stage later!

White_MFR15

Class 2 meanwhile was an all Peugeot affair with the 206 of Barry Lindsay and Caroline Lodge getting the better of 205 crew Ben Cree and Chris Row to claim class top spot with 21st position overall. There was little to choose between the two crews all day but Lindsay just appeared to have that little bit more pace up his sleeve, taking 5 of the 6 class stage victories and building a winning margin of 29 seconds by the end of the event.

Lindsay_MFR15

RESULTS

Charles Payne / Carl WIlliamson | Fiesta (5) | 0:37:34
Stephen Petch / Michael Wilkinson | Fiesta R5+ (5) | +00:02
Peter Stephenson / Ian Windress | Focus WRC (5) | +00:12
Rhys Yates / Tom Woodburn | Fiesta R5 (5) | +01:01
Stephen Simpson / Andrew Roughead | Fiesta S2000 (5) | +01:05
Steve Bannister / Dave Robson | Escort MK2 (H4) | +01:35
Matthew Robinson / Sam Collis | Escort MK2 (H4) | +02:37
Steve Petch / John Richardson | Fiesta S2000 (5) | +03:10
Mat Smith / Giles Dykes | Proton Satria (1) | +03:35
Peter Slights / Ashley Slights | Escort MK2 (H4) | +03:41

FULL RESULTS

FINALLY …

Much like 2014 this had been one of the best days rallying of the year. From a spectators point of view Malton Motor Club and Clitheroe and District Motor Club had done a fantastic job of organising the event. In my view, providing full stage maps on the website, in stark contrast to many other events, is a brilliant initiative; what better way of highlighting where the dangers are to the casual spectator?

In full knowledge of the rally route I was able to take in both Stages 2 and 6 by foot; a 19.5 km round trip from the Hole of Horcum made all the more worthwhile by the fantastic weather, beautiful North Yorkshire countryside and some top commitment from the leading crews. The 3.5 hour return trip and stiff limbs little sacrifice for a great day of Motorsport.

WalkMap

IMAGES

Standard prints are available HERE

For JPEGS or any other enquiries please get in touch via paul.commons@yahoo.co.uk

All images © Paul Commons (Paul Commons Motorsport Photography)

Uncategorized

Successive BHRC Victories for in form Elliott

April 27, 2015 paulcommons1983 Leave a comment

Nick Elliott and Dave Price recorded their second straight BHRC win of the season with victory on the 2015 Pirelli Carlisle Rally; the third time that Elliott has claimed historic glory on this event.

The third round of the British Historic Rally Championship saw the teams head to English border country for 6 stages within the super fast Kielder Forest complex; the new compact format a clear hit with the competitors as 97 cars made the start of the combined National A and National B events. After two years in the doldrums, the BHRC has been invigorated by a change in organising team to the RAC Motor Club for 2015; just the motivation to convince me to make the 500 mile round trip to the ‘Pirelli’ for the first time since 2012.

With the forestry gates finally opened at the White Sike spectator car park we made our way to junction 7 of stage 2 where Nick Elliott was as neat and tidy as ever around the open uphill hairpin left. This approach allowed the Cheltenham man to increase his overall lead to 12.6 seconds over the chasing Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis. Earlier, Elliott, with Dave Price alongside, had been electric out of the blocks, setting a time that was 2.5 seconds quicker than any other historic and crucially 10.6 seconds faster than Robinson on stage 1.

Meanwhile Joe Price had made a mighty impressive start to the event; the Kielder debutant, ably assisted by previous winner Chris Brooks, was lying 4th, just 20 seconds behind the leader and 8 seconds behind third placed Meirion and Steffan Evans after the first 2 stages.

It would all go horribly wrong for both Price and Evans on stage 3 however, with Price dropping nearly 4 minutes and Evans’ out of the event following an excursion to one of Kielder’s many deep ditches. The Welshman was joined on the retirements list by Richard Hill and Iwan Jones who had been lying in 7th after stage 2 but were another front running crew to fall victim of a Buck Fell trench. As the vastly experienced Bob Bean discovered at our location in White Sike, once you are in there is no getting out!

Upfront the event was fast becoming a duel between Elliott and Robinson after the Yorkshireman was able to trim Elliott’s lead to 9.5 seconds by the time the crews arrived at the halfway service halt. However, given Elliott’s uncanny knack of remembering stages, Robinson would have to be at his very best over the afternoon repeated route to catch the reigning RAC champion.

And while Robinson was able to better his morning times on both the drier afternoon runs of Black Craggs and White Sike, Elliott, true to form, was able to go that little bit quicker, inching his lead out to 11.1 seconds with just 1 stage to run. It was all looking very rosy for the Cheltenham based crew.

Meanwhile, championship leaders coming into the Pirelli, Jason Pritchard and Phil Clarke, had been lying in fifth place at the halfway point after taking some time to get up to speed in unfamiliar territory. Having been all set for an afternoon charge however their day would come to an unfortunate end at the finish of stage 4 with the immaculately turned out RS1800 suffering from clutch failure.

Back at the front, the gap was realistically just too big for Robinson to close on the final stage without a mistake from Elliott. And whilst the Kellands.com sponsored Ford Pilot recorded a relatively conservative time on the second running of Buck Fell, it was still fast enough to take his third Pirelli Historic rally victory by 7.7 seconds to follow on from his successes in 2011 and 2012. Robinson will feel that this was a good opportunity to beat Elliott, however there is all to play for as only 6 points separate the two competitors after 3 rounds of the series.

CATEGORY 3

Behind the front two, Paul Barrett and Dai Roberts put in a stellar performance in their pinto powered MK2 to come home third overall in the National A Historic event and first in class D3. This has to be one of the stand-out performances of the day, especially considering they beat the evergreen Steve Bannister by nearly 30 seconds which is a more than suitable benchmark for any competing crew in the North of England. To add more perspective to this result, Ben Friend and Cliffy Simmons, who themselves are no slouch, came home second in class and 18th National A Historic, but over 3 minutes behind the Northern Irishman!

Peter Smith and Patrick Walsh may have been the only crew competing in Class D4 however 13th historic competitor home represented a more than respectable result in their Opel Kadett against some very powerful machinery.

In Class F2, Tomas Davies and Gwynfor Jones made the most of Jason Pritchard’s clutch problems to register class victory with 14th in the National A Historic event. The Welsh duo may not have been as far up the order as they have become accustomed to but did enough to take class honours by nearly three minutes.

Meanwhile Chris Skill and Ken Bills claimed the combined D1/D2 class victory with 45th overall in the combined event. The 1600 MK2 Escort duo finishing over 4 minutes clear of Toyota Corolla crew John Midgley and John Pullan.

CATEGORY 2

David Stokes and Guy Weaver were yet again the crew to beat in class C5. However it was John Perrott and Keaton Williams who lead the combined C4/C5 class at the halfway mark in their similar MK1 Escort. Rupert Lomax had also been ahead of the category stalwarts before a slow time in Buck fell as a result of an off and puncture caused he and Rich Jones to drop back; an off which Lomax would go on to rue as he was quickest in class over all three of the afternoons stages.

Perrott meanwhile could not match the pace of his rivals over the drier afternoon loop due to a noisy diff bearing, and when combined with a 2 minute penalty for checking in early for stage 6 the Welshman dropped to 6th in class by the end of the event.

Consistency was the key for Stokes and Weaver; the pairing were not quickest in class on any of the six stages, partially as a result of clutch problems in the morning, but managed strong clean runs nonetheless to end the day in 9th position overall in the National A Historic event and on top of the Category 2 results. Warren Philliskirk and Nigel Hutchinson rounded off a good performance by passing rally legend Jimmy McRae on the final stage to come home second in class, while McRae and Pauline Gullick’s time was still good enough to register third in their awesome V8 Firenza Can-Am.

Class C3 victory went the way of James Slaughter and Keegan Rees in their MK1 Escort. The Ford pair were quickest in class on every stage of the event to take a convincing 2 minute 21 second victory over the similar machine of Phil Jobson and Arwel Jenkins and the BMW of Terry Cree and Richard Shores.

In the combined C1/C2 class Robin Shuttleworth and Ronnie Roughead held a convincing 26 second lead over Dave Watkins and Thomas Jordan at the halfway service halt. However the drier afternoon stages must have suited the Avenger crew of Barry Jordan and James Gratton-Smith as the Geoff Jones Motorsport prepared machine reeled in both aforementioned Escort crews to record the class win by 15.6 seconds.

CATEGORY 1

The rough nature of the stages really impacted the more delicate category 1 historic machines; a class which was already down on numbers as a result of the MSA’s decision to enforce performance based seeding.

In a category usually dominated by Porsche, Paul Mankin and Desmond Bell ended the day with category victory in their B4 specification Lotus Cortina; getting the better of Bob and Dale Gibbons’ MK2 1600 GT.

Gibbions would however claim class B3 ahead of the fast charging Malcolm Rich; the Ford Anglia man unable to make up for his dropped time in stage 1, allowing the Mk2 Cortina crew to take class victory by 31.4 seconds.

Meanwhile, given the huge ruts left in White Sike, Phillip Harris and Alan Walker did a great job just to finish in their little B2 class Morris Mini Cooper and although they were the only registered competitor in class more than deserved the winners trophy.

RAC CHAMPIONSHIP

Phil Burton and Mal Capstick utterly dominated the National B event, coming home amongst the lead National A runners to take H2 class victory by over 2 and a half minutes; 5th historic when looking at combined times.

Class D2 meanwhile went the way of James Potter and Bob Duck, who had to overhaul the fast starting similar Escort of Charlie Taylor and Alan Ward before going on to record a 43.4 second winning margin.

The popular C1 class looked to be heading in the direction of Vince Bristow at the halfway point as he and Tim Sayer had built a lead of over 1 minute. Yet another Kielder ditch was to end the Ford drivers charge however, leaving the way clear for Robert Rook and Miles Cartwright to take the class victory by over 50 seconds; themselves having to catch and pass Stuart and Linda Cariss after a steady start to the event.

Meanwhile Stephen Higgins and Don Bramfoot in their Saab and David Hopkins and Tony Vart in the Sunbeam took the respective B1 and D1 category victories.