News from: The Tempest Rally

Wales Rally GB Guru Nanak

and The Roger Albert Clark Rally

Geoff’s gossip My challenge in this, my “Christmas issue”, has been not to have a rant. But there is almost as much to whine about as there is to be grateful for so I figure I’ll get my moaning out of the way early and end my musings on a positive note… Despite having a fairly mediocre readership, Motorsport News is still seen as the gospel when it comes to British rallying and most people I know look forward to a Wednesday morning when it arrives through the letterbox. This week was no exception but I was alarmed to see that they had done a feature on the top ten drivers of the 2010 British Rally Championship and neglected to include the man who finished third overall and as top privateer and all this in only his first year in a four wheel drive! Now one might forgive Jason as he lets his driving (and me) do the talking for him but consider that we have just spent a rather large sum on an advert in this same paper thanking his supporters for a fantastic year one would think that this would have jogged their memory! Instead they keep carrying on about a chap who keeps complaining that he has no budget and yet somehow always has new tyres on his car and always seems to land plum drives despite never having actually won anything on the stages! Well I’m sorry but if you haven’t got the money to go rallying then either find a sponsor or stop rallying… but for heavens sake stop whinging! I’ll be off to Kenya within 12 hours of this going live and I am really looking forward to it – a new opportunity and far more pleasant weather! But I am going to miss so much about the U.K. A generally brilliant postal service, high speed broadband internet and almost constant electricity! But amongst the things I won’t miss are the red tape, endless paperwork and anal health and safety rules rapidly sucking the life out of everything fun over here! I really do hope Africa does not go the same way – if you fall off a ladder because you used the wrong type then that’s your own bloody fault! And it was with this attitude that the organisers of the Roger Albert Clark Rally tackled every obstacle thrown at them this past weekend! They effectively rebuilt the rally as they went along, ignoring the bitterly cold weather conditions and doing everything in their power to ensure that the competitors ran the mileage that they’d paid for! And the marshals, safety crews and many other volunteers came in their droves, the spectators were well behaved and did what they were told…. And everyone enjoyed one of the best battles in years! And on that note… Merry Christmas everybody!

Matt Edwards (www.mereallysport.com)

If you look at the Cambrian Rally results from 2004 you will see that a certain young Matt Edwards finished 91st overall in a little 1400cc Vauxhall Astra. Fast forward six years and the same youngster, now 26 years old, made the world sit up and take notice when he hustled a 1400cc MG ZR to a pair of top four overall stage times and would eventually finish the rally ninth overall and as top 2 wheel drive! He not only beat his nearest class rival by over a minute and a half but also finished ahead of four World Rally Cars!

Matt is not just quick in front wheel drive machinery as he proved on this years Mid Wales Stages. Climbing into a car that he’d never driven before, a Subaru Impreza N12b, he led the rally from start to finish and ended the day with a three minute winning margin! The last time Matt had driven a four wheel drive it had been 18 months earlier and he won Group N on that particular event as well!

In 2009 Matt mounted his first series championship attack by building a Ford Fiesta ST and contesting the M-Sport run Fiesta Sport Trophy. The championship was run to some controversial regulations as it was part of the British Rally Championship. If you had the money you could contest the full pre-recced rally but for those on a tighter budget they could use organisers notes and run on a separate event, but with the times still counting towards the overall Fiesta results! Despite this handicap Matt still managed five podiums and an outright Fiesta Trophy win and ended the season second overall, beaten only by a certain Craig Breen! With minimal budget and the 2010 season looming Matt put together an event by event deal to use a 1400cc MG in the BTRDA rally series. After finishing second on the opening round Matt then won by almost a minute in the snowy conditions around Cumbria, second time out. Apart from the odd minor mechanical glitch Matt built a solid foundation and then, in the later half of the year, he was unstoppable and took four wins in a row to take the title with a round to spare!

With such strong performances in the past few years, and having proved he is just as at home on tarmac (two wins from his first two tarmac rallies) it is rather surprising that Matt still faces an uphill struggle to raise the budget to take the next step up the ladder. He has, however, raised the budget to tackle the opening two rounds of the 2011 British Rally Championship and, on the back of his recent performances, should be in the thick of any battles from the very start of the season.

Matt’s rally driving is very much a part time hobby at the moment but the sport of rallying is also Matt’s full time occupation. He runs an online Mitsubishi spares shop called www.evoparts.org and also teaches at an assortment of rally schools. Over the weekends, if he is not actually competing himself, Matt is frequently on the spanners as he works for some of the top preparation firms in the country. Random fact – Matt co-drove in the inaugural Junior F1000 Championship for 14-17 year old drivers

with a best result of sixth overall!

Lloyd takes maiden win Tempest Rally, Aldershot, 06 November

When John Lloyd and Adrian Cavenagh passed the flying finish of the final stage of the Tempest Rally it was their first ever outright victory in the ex Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC but their victory was both deserving and hard fought. As event sponsor John had the dubious honour of being flagged away as Car 1 but overnight rain had made the conditions slippery and by the end of the opening stage he had dropped six seconds to the early leaders. Joint fastest over the opening run through Longmoor were John’s team mate, Andrew Barnes in a similar Focus, tied on times with rapid youngster Jason Pritchard in a Group N Subaru. Jason’s time was all the more impressive as the 22 year old reported an overshoot and spin mid way through the stage! Jason was again fastest on the repeat of this test, going a whole 17 seconds faster on his second pass! As the day began to dry up so the superior technology of the World Rally Cars allowed them to get their power down more efficiently and Lloyd began to set fastest stage time after fastest stage time, gradually reducing the gap to Pritchard. Jason, mindful of the need to bring his car back intact for an assault on Wales Rally GB just three days later, resisted the urge to go on the attack but admitted that it would have been hard to take the fight to Lloyd. The battle was decided on the final test when Lloyd, now with a narrow lead, beat the bogey stage time. This meant that, regardless of what time Jason set he would be powerless to overhaul John. As it was, Jason broke a rear suspension link and was lucky to hold on to second overall! Barnes recovered from mechanical gremlins to take third by some margin. Further back a monster battle developed between Tristan Bailey (Evo 9) and Wug Utting (Subaru N12) with the pair never separated by more than a couple of seconds all day long. The biggest margin all day long was when Bailey took 7 seconds out of Wug on the second pass through the Warren special stage. Wug had equalled his first stage time but Tristan was 8 seconds quicker and this time would swing the advantage his way and allow the Mitsubishi to take fourth overall by just six seconds! Overall Results 1st John Lloyd/ Adrivan Cavenagh Ford Focus WRC 48:43 2nd Jason Pritchard/ Dai Roberts Subaru Impreza N16 48:51 3rd Andrew Barnes/ Guy Simmons Ford Focus WRC 47:06

Griffiths great on National run Wales Rally GB National Rally – 13/14 November

In a year when a number of established rallies have struggled to attract a decent entry the reserves who did not get a run on the oversubscribed Wales Rally GB National event must have been left frustrated and wondering what exactly was going on with British rallying.

The answer was pretty simple. Some of the finest forest stages in British rallying, offered at a fraction of the normal entry fee and running between the two passes of the WRC rally, thus giving the competitors the opportunity to compare their times with the greatest rally drivers in the world – it was a no brainer really!

Nigel Griffiths might have led at the end of each day, and ultimately won the inaugural National Wales Rally GB but he had to play second fiddle to probably the greatest crowd pleaser of the weekend. Andy Burton might live on the fringes of Radnor forest but when he hustled his Peugeot Cosworth through the opening stage almost 40 seconds faster than anyone else it made the world take notice. Even a time consuming spin within spitting distance of the end of that stage did not stop Burton from being seventh fastest overall! One has to wonder how close to Loeb’s time the home built Peugeot could have been if it wasn’t for that little rotation?

Anyway, it was soon elementary as a rally is not about just one stage. Burton was again fastest on the second stage, still quick enough to be inside the top 10 overall on the WRC section (and this without a recce either!) but then his engine went sour and once again the crowds were deprived of seeing (and hearing) that amazing car in the forests. This allowed Nigel Griffiths in his modified Subaru Impreza into the lead. Wug Utting went fastest on the next two stages meaning that Griffiths actually ended the opening day with a healthy lead of over 40 seconds without actually having won a stage!

Road penalties incurred after the fuel pump failed at the end of day one meant that Griffiths began the final two stages languishing in second position, some way behind Barry Groundwaters Mitsubishi Evo. A storming time through Resolfen reduced the gap to 8 seconds with just Margam Park remaining. Nigel went fastest once again, this time by 12 seconds – a time good enough to take the outright win! Second fastest through the stage went to rapid lady driver Sara Williams who would

finish the rally fourth overall. Sandwiched between Griffiths and Williams were Groundwater and Utting – Wug enjoying no less than four top three stage times during the rally! Fifth overall was Jason Lepley in his Historic specification Ford Escort MkII. His times throughout the weekend would have left this 34 year old car as the outright two wheel drive winner when you compare the times against those in the International event! And, judging by the cheers as Lepley, as sideways as ever, slid past the crowds on every stage, this was one very crowd pleasing car! Results 1st Nigel Griffiths Subaru Impreza 1:09:11 2nd Barry Groundwater Mitsubishi Evo 9 1:09:30 3rd Wug Utting Subaru Impreza N12 1:10:00

Jason takes PWRC points on home event

Builth Wells based Jason Pritchard enjoyed a highly successful Wales Rally GB when the 22 year old rally driver brought his North Road Garage backed Subaru Impreza home inside the top twenty overall and scored fourth place points on his debut in the Production car World Rally Championship!

Jason, who finished third overall in the 2010 MSA British Rally Championship, was contesting his home round of the World Rally Championship in a four wheel drive car for the first time. A time consuming spin and stall on the very first forest stage on the rally was a reminder that this would be a very tricky event. As the former double British two wheel drive champion adjusted to the WRC specification Scorpion tyres so his confidence grew and Jason, along with co-driver Robbie Durant, ended the opening day sixth in class, despite some problems with the power steering.

Day two was the longest of the rally but at the end of the nine high speed and technical stages the young pairing had overcome a small problem with a front driveshaft and a damper to climb the leaderboard to lie fifth in class with just four more tests to tackle on Sunday. Such was Jason’s confidence in the car that, despite focusing on a finish and treating the stages with caution, the young pairing returned to Cardiff for the ceremonial finish on Sunday afternoon a very impressive twentieth overall and fourth in class – collecting 12 championship points on his debut in the series as an added bonus!

This weekend has exceeded my wildest expectations. We decided to tackle my home rally for experience as we are undecided on our plans for next season. I was targeting a top ten in Group N result and so to trade times with the top drivers in the category is incredible! I have so many people to thank; Prodrive, Geoff Jones, North Road Garage and my family – a season like this year would be impossible without such support! Jason and Robbie cap off a very successful debut year in a four wheel drive with a 100% finish record in the Subaru Impreza N2010. The year included two outright wins and a further two podium finishes since the pair first drove the car in March. Jason is currently evaluating options for 2011 but any program will be dependant on sourcing additional budget.

For more information about Jason please visit www.jasonpritchard.co.uk

Horsey ends Wales Rally GB on a high

Mombasa born Peter Horsey ended a difficult and character building Wales Rally GB on a high note when he completed the final stage of the event third fastest amongst the five Pirelli Star Drivers! Earlier Peter had lost time with an electrical glitch but was pleased to complete his maiden season in the World Rally Championship with a near faultless drive in the Welsh forests. Peter and co-driver Calvin Cooledge had hoped to use a combination of local knowledge from Welsh born Calvin and prior experience of some of the stages from Peter ' s rallying exploits in the British Rally Championship to good effect. This positive attitude took a blow when the car gradually lost power during the opening day and ultimately forced the pair to super rally whilst the problem was traced. With the Ralliart Italy Mitsubishi Evo X restored to full health for the second day of action Peter focused on improving his stage times and was just aiming for a trouble free run to the finish of the rally. A slight excursion into the undergrowth on the first run over the famous “Halfway” stage was the only major drama on a day that saw the pair hampered by continually catching slower cars. More cars were caught and passed throughout Day 3 but this did not stop Peter from improving on his first pass through the final Margam stage by 14 seconds as the 27 year old ended his maiden WRC season on a positive note.

This rally rivals Finland as the best WRC event that I have ever done. The first day was really difficult as we struggled with a severe loss of power and then we kept on catching slower cars on Day 2 and 3 but overall I’ve loved this weekend. The stages were fantastic and I really enjoyed myself today. This is a great way to end the year and I must say an enormous thank you to Pirelli and to Ralliart Italy for all of their efforts this season and to Spedag and Civicon for their continued support.

For more on Peter please visit www.peterhorsey.com

Guru Nanak Rally Round 8 – Kenyan National Rally Championship – 21 November

Alistair Cavenagh and Gavin Laurence completed a clean sweep of podiums when the pair brought their Mitsubishi Evo 9 to the finish of the Guru Nanak Rally in third position overall, but their day was not without dramas. The newly crowned Kenyan National Rally Champions survived a last stage off road excursion and admit to being lucky to finish the event! Lee Rose was triumphant on his swansong in the series.

The Guru Nanak, based around the Whistling Thorns area West of Nairobi, saw the assembled crews tackle a total of 194 competitive kilometres of rallying action, with two of the stages repeated twice. The event was also a rally of attrition as almost half of the field retired from a variety of reasons.

Quickest out of the blocks was Pirelli Star Driver Peter Horsey. The 27 year old set a time 8 seconds faster than anyone else through the opening test and then consolidated his lead with another strong time on the second stage to lead a round of the Kenyan Championship for the first time in his career. However all of this hard work was undone when Horsey clipped a culvert on the very next stage, breaking his suspension and steering and retiring immediately!

During the course of the day the lead changed hands a number of times and after problems for both Carl “Flash” Tundo and team mate Alistair Cavenagh a slow starting Lee Rose emerged triumphant. Lee was just relieved to see the end of the rally after a number of mechanical issues had sidelined his Mitsubishi Evo throughout the year and so to take the win on his last rally before he emigrates made the victory all the more sweet.

Second overall went to Azar Anwar but the Evo 8 pilot was some four minutes in arrears by the end of the fifth and final stage. Alistair Cavenagh recovered from his incident to finish third, making it an all Mitsubishi podium. Ian Duncan had been expected to challenge in his crowd pleasing V8 Nissan Patrol but a broken propshaft forced him to retire early on.

Another person hoping to shine on this rally was Quentin Mitchell. Contesting his first Kenyan rally in 12 months Quentin was armed with the very same Subaru Impreza N16 with which he had finished third overall in Zimbabwe in August. A broken wheel on the first stage cost him over ten minutes and also dented his confidence but the youngster recovered to set a string of competitive times later on. With Quentin having problems and Peter Horsey retiring, a very ill Alex Horsey survived the day to finish fifth overall and as top junior driver in his Mitsubishi.

Results 1st Lee Rose/ Piers Daykin Mitsubishi Evo 9 116.49 minutes 2nd Azar Anwar/ Julius Ngigi Mitsubishi Evo 9 120.55 3rd Alistair Cavenagh/ Gavin Laurence Mitsubishi Evo 9 122.11

(photos courtesy Samwel)

Mixed fortunes for GJM November has been a busy month for Geoff Jones Motorsport - four rallies in four countries for Geoff Jones… and he even got to do a spot of driving himself!

The month began with the Tempest Stages just outside London. Wug and Max Utting always go well on this event and this year was no exception. Wug, at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza N12b, ended the rally second in Group N and had enjoyed a day long battle with the Mitsubishi of Tristan Bailey, eventually finishing the ten stage rally a mere six seconds in arrears! Nigel Seabold and Tim Barton were also out on their home event onboard their Subaru Impreza N2010. The pair were rewarded for a spirited drive by ending the day third in Group N and

seventh overall, by far their best result of the year! The National section of Wales Rally GB was based out of Builth Wells, just over an hour from Geoff Jones Motorsport. The GJM cars had a pretty mixed rally with Wug Utting and Sara Williams both excelling and

flying the flag proudly. Wug took a pair of fastest stage times enroute to third overall whilst Sara was just one position further back, winning Group N for the first time in her Subaru Impreza N12! Gary Kenna and Chris Davies had a number of adventures during the weekend and were forced to super rally after an altercation with a large rock on day one. The pair rejoined on Sunday and survived a big spin in Margam Park to bring their ex Tommi Makinen Subaru Impreza World Rally Car back to the finish. From a wet and cold Wales Geoff and Chris Davies flew out to Africa to join Quentin Mitchell on the Guru Nanak Rally. Despite loosing a lot of time early on with a broken wheel Quentin and Chris put in a string of strong stage times and proved that the latest shape Subaru Impreza really is “strong enough for Africa!” The pair are now at an advanced stage of putting together a program of African Championship events in 2011. Geoff arrived back from the heat and humidity of Kenya to find the UK in the stranglehold of a big freeze! His destination was Yorkshire for the highlight of the year… the Roger Albert Clark historic rally. Geoff might have run cars on this event every year since it’s inception but for 2010 he was going to have a go at the four day marathon himself! Geoff might have had no opportunity to test his Ford Escort but that didn’t stop him from shooting straight into the top three through the snow bound Friday night stages and entertaining the crowds along

the route with his distinctive driving style. Despite a time consuming spin on Saturday morning, Jones was still inside the top three until puncturing two wheels trying to pass another car late in the day… he then went OTL with electrical issues! Neville Jones and Baz Jordan joined forces in the GJM threesome… affectionately called “Baz’s boys on tour” for this event. Nev had never driven his Escort in anger before but still traded times with former winner Mark Higgins! After running inside the top twenty all weekend long Nev ended his rally in a snow drift where the lack of spectators would see a number of crews stranded! Meanwhile Baz had some interesting moments on Friday night as he explored the grip levels… even giving an impersonation of ”dancing on ice” through the opening super special! His confidence grew and so did his pace throughout Saturday and the mk2 Escort pilot was really enjoying himself until the engine decided enough was enough and let him down on Sunday morning!

“Snow” dramas for Stouf as he masters RAC Roger Albert Clark Rally – 26-29 November

The Roger Albert Clark Rally is not a round of any championships, nor is it a cheap event… and at four days long it represents the most amount of time off from work of any round of any event in the UK, with only Wales Rally GB being an exception! And yet, for 2010, this marathon of a rally featured 69 entries competing in the Historic section and a total of 117 cars taking part in the various support events. What the organizers, marshals and crews could not have envisaged before the Friday of this years rally was quite what a challenge they would face over the weekend. Winter arrived early in the north of the U.K and nearly a foot of snow greeted cars when they arrived in Yorkshire for scruitineering. The organizing team rose to the occasion and must surely be the heros of the weekend!

With help from the local forestry workers and a massive commitment from volunteers, not to mention the public actually listening to the pleas to not enter certain forests, the rally overcame every obstacle thrown at it and ran fairly smoothly. And this was despite temperatures dropping to record breaking lows and torrential snow making some roads completely impassable! Between having to redirect cars out of forests on Friday, shortening the Saturday runs of Olivers Mount due to sheet ice, making the tough decision to cancel some of the Kielder tests (reports of 12 foot snow drifts meant this area was not an option!) and then sourcing new stages and re-running others to ensure the crews had the mileage they wanted, the organizing team became masters of juggling and multi tasking!

Friday night comprised of four special stages and the opening test through the Pickering showgrounds was a taste of things to come. 2009 winner Gwyndaf Evans rotated his Phil Mills built Escort half way through the stage and with no grip from his Pirellis the former British champion would loose over three minutes before the end of the evening! Fairing almost as badly was another former winner. Mark Higgins suffered the ignominy of being caught by Geoff Jones in a four mile test, such were his traction problems! Geoff would be the star of the first half of the rally. With absolutely no testing in his Ford Escort Geoff used the Friday night as a shakedown and went to bed third overall and as the top front runner. A spin on the opening run through Olivers Mount, shortened due to sheet ice, made his stage time, just five seconds off the fastest time all the more impressive! This strong run would continue right up until he punctured two tyres trying to pass another car late on day two. This time loss combined with an incurable electrical fault meant that the smiling Welshman went OTL! Neville Jones, in the sister Geoff Jones Motorsport car, was having his first taste of rear wheel drive rallying. His cautious approach to the opening day paid dividends as he entered Day 2 tied on times with Higgins! A consistent run all day set Neville up for a strong result until a snow drift late on Sunday night claimed another victim – the Escort undamaged but stuck fast in a ditch with no spectators around to assist.

A similar fate befall Steve Perez and the awesome Stratos but Perez eventually got going again after dropping ten minutes! Up until then Steve had manhandled the unwieldy beast around the forests at an alarming rate, running inside the top ten all weekend until the time consuming “off”! He would recover to finish inside the top twenty overall – the car running faultlessly for the first time all year! Back at the front a massive battle between Belgian Stefaan Stouf (Ford Escort Mk1) and Rob Smith (Vauxhall Chevette) developed. At the end of Day 1 Smith led by 8 seconds, but by the end of the Yorkshire stages Stouf had powered ahead and led by the same amount. The battle for the runner up spot provided the most heat all weekend as Nick Elliott moved into second as darkness descended on day 2, Smith dropping back to over a minute down. But by the end of the 19th stage Smith had fought back and was now only 13 seconds down with four stages still to go… until he slid off and dropped 8 minutes!

This allowed Andrew Haddon (another Escort) into second but from behind was coming Gwyndaf Evans on the fight back of the weekend. After dropping so much time on the opening day Evans was well outside the top twenty but by the end of Saturday he was back inside the top ten… but still three minutes down on the leaders! Through the two Kershope tests Gwyndaf took an average of 30 seconds a run out of Stouf and closed the gap to just over a minute by the end of the rally… too little too late!

Paul Griffiths (yep – in an Escort!) took fourth in the end. Paul gears his whole rallying year around this rally but lost too much time on Friday night to really challenge this year. Four fastest stage times were still an impressive tally against this level of competition.

Fifth overall and top “non Escort” went to Phil Collins, co-driven by Nicky Grist! The pair entertained the crowds all weekend long in their pristine Opel Ascona. Top ten times for most of the rally prove that, in the right hands, the Ascona is very much an Escort beater!

Mark Higgins recovered from his Day 1 woes, where traction, or the lack there-of, was his biggest issue! (Never good when your main sponsor is a tyre company!) However he failed to set a single fastest stage time all weekend, a far cry from his stunning debut on this event four years ago where he won over 70% of the stages! His final position of seventh overall had as much to do with the high attrition rate as it did his perseverance and driving talent!

Overall results 1st Stefaan Stouf/ Joris Erard Ford Escort RS1600 2:17:19 2nd Gwyndaf Evans/ John Millington Ford Escort RS1800 2:18:37 3rd Andrew Haddon/ Marc Crisp Ford Escort RS1800 2:19:02

Photo of the Month

Steve Perez and the sexy Stratos !