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ROUND 4 PICTURES
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ROUND 3 PICTURES
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CREW NEWS!
Robin Parkinson: Britpart MSA BCCC Trophy competitor Robin Parkinson has had a busy time in the run up to round three of the championship after rolling his Mattserati SBR twice during round two at Sweet Lamb. The car, which had been reshelled over the winter after an off on the Borders Hill Rally, was left looking decidedly second hand although Parkinson continued to finish in 23rd place and first in class.
"We have spent the last two weeks trying to piece the front end back together, get everything straightened out and get a new roof fitted in time for round three," said Parkinson.
"The car is now looking a little less like a crumpled crisp packet, we will be trying hard to keep her shiny side up this time!"
Karl Gudgeon: Karl Gudgeon and Pete King are hoping for better luck when they contest round three of the Britpart MSA BCCC. Gudgeon and King sufferered a very early retirement in their GSR Evo X on round two when the front diff gave up with a damaged input bearing.
"We've fitted a limited slip diff ready for round three so hopefully we'll get a bit further than we managed at Sweet Lamb," commented King.
Mike Moran: With his AT 4x4 Independent Challenger rebuilt after a high-speed triple roll at the last round Warrington’s Mike Moran is ready for round three of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship next weekend.
“The car went back to the AT 4x4 emporium after the accident and they’ve repaired it in the build jig. We’ve also had larger limited slip diffs fitted and modified the bodywork for doors,” said Moran.
“I’m hoping for a good top ten finish on round three, the course should suit the 300bhp Jeremy Fearns 3.0 litre BMW engine in the car.”
Ivan Dudley: Ivan Dudley and navigator David Rendle will continue their Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship campaign next weekend when they contest round three at Forrest Lodge in Scotland.
The fast open terrain at the last round at Sweet Lamb allowed them to push their Ivo 6R4 to the maximum and despite losing second and fourth gears they finished seventh overall. They are hoping for another good result at round three.
“Since round two we’ve stripped the car of its suspension and removed the gearbox. The suspension mounts have been improved and remounted and we’ve also had damper valve adjustment put onto the Fox shocks,” said Rendle.
“The gearbox has been repaired and rebuilt and we’ve also upgraded the brake cylinders. Hopefully the mods will allow us to further progress up the leaderboard.”
Dean Sutcliffe: Bowler driver Dean Sutcliffe is likely to miss round three of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship next weekend. After a troublesome round two event which saw the car misfiring and overheating Sutcliffe has decided to take time out to fit a new engine to the car. He hopes to return to the championship at round four in July.
ROUND 2 PICTURES
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ROUND 2 REPORT: DILWORTH HOLDS ON TO TAKE NAILBITING VICTORY
Tim Dilworth overcame numerous car problems to take a win at round two of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship which was held at the Sweet Lamb complex near Llanurig. Steve Hiatt was second in his Warrior Indy with Gordon Monaghan in third.
Day one kicked off in sunny conditions although rain before the event made some parts of the course very slippery. Holywell’s Dilworth took the lead on the opening run in his Peugeot 206 STi, setting a time five seconds quicker than second-placed Richard Kershaw with Steve Hiatt a further ten seconds back in third.
Kershaw then set four fastest times in his GSR 206 Evo 9 to move into a 15 second lead. However, it all went wrong for Kershaw on run 6 when his car went off the road and into a ditch. The resulting stage maximum dropped him down the leaderboard and put Dilworth back in the lead.
Dilworth was still setting quick times despite problems with the anti-lag system and he ended the eight runs of day one with a lead of 36 seconds over Monaghan, whose RS200 replica was going well on the fast Sweet Lamb tracks. Hiatt was just three seconds further back in third.
Day two saw a further five runs and Dilworth’s car troubles continued, problems with the exhaust affecting the turbo boost pressure meaning that the engine was well down on power. With his service crew working hard to get the car running as well as possible an anxious Dilworth started his final run just inside his deadline time. The car held together to allow him to take the win.
"I’m delighted with the win, the boys did really well to keep the car going on what was a traumasome event for us," said Dilworth.
"With the problems we had it was a case of trying to get the car to the finish without losing too much time, fortunately we achieved that."
A puncture cost Monaghan some time on the second run of the day which allowed Hiatt to take second place.
Martin Gould repeated his opening round result in fourth with Ian Roberts rounding off the top five in his Rakeway Ridgeback.
In the Trophy category Richard Wynne-Williams took victory in his Bowler Tomcat with championship sponsor Paul Myers in second.
Results:
- Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 STi 1:21:22
- Stephen Hiatt Warrior Indy 1:22:13
- Gordon Monaghan Monaghan RS 1:22:35
- Martin Gould Mattserati 1:23:09
- Ian Roberts Rakeway Ridgeback 1:26:05
- Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 1:26:33
- Ivan Dudley Dudley Special 6R4 1:28:03
- Matt Lee Mattserati 1:29:03
- Bob Seaman Milner R5 1:29.44
- Alan Wilkinson Milner R5 1:30:35
Trophy Winner: Richard Wynne-Williams Bowler Tomcat
ROUND 1 PICTURES
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ROUND 1 REPORT: DILWORTH TRIUMPHS IN BCCC SEASON OPENER
Holywell’s Tim Dilworth kicked off his Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship campaign with a win on the opening round which was held in Rough Park near Ashby de la Zouch. Reigning champion Richard Kershaw was second with Stephen Hiatt third in his Warrior Indy.
Dilworth got off to a flying start in his Subaru-engined Peugeot 206, stopping the clocks 20 seconds ahead of Kershaw and Hiatt on the opening run.
Run one saw several crews have incidents, Alan Wilkinson rearranging the front of his Milner in some trees, Ivan Dudley lucky to emerge unscathed from a ditch and three crews off in another ditch.
Dilworth continued his good times for the rest of day one, pulling out a lead of 45 seconds over Huddersfield’s Kershaw with Stephen Hiatt a further 25 seconds back in third ahead of Gordon Monaghan in fourth and Martin Gould, who suffered a puncture on the final run of the day, in fifth.
Day two saw the leading pair continue to set the pace, with the exception of one run their times were within two seconds of each other. At the end of the 11 runs Dilworth held a lead of 31 seconds over the GSR 206 Evo 9 of Kershaw.
“It’s been a perfect event, the car was a dream,” said Dilworth.
“We’ve got an improved gearbox this year and we did a lot of work on the car over the winter to try and gain a bit of speed and improve reliability, it’s all come together today.”
“We got a big lead after the first two runs and from there we tried to maintain the gap to Richard”
“The course was really good, some very quick parts and a few tighter bits in the trees. I was pleased with the track conditions, the course didn’t deteriorate much over the two days. The sunny weather was great too!”
Stephen Hiatt remained in third position in his Warrior Indy and Martin Gould took fourth after trackrod end problems robbed Gordon Monaghan of a good result in his RS200 replica. Ian Rochelle rounded off the top five in his Millington Mattserati.
Further down the leaderboard Bob Seaman took 12th place overall and first in class on the debut of his Milner R5. During the course of the event Bob developed a new “Scandinavian wobble” technique for getting the car round the corners which proved to be effective. The new car was described as “like a rocketship”.
Bumpy Mike Moran completed his first event in his new AT4x4 Indy Challenger and he was heading for a top 15 result until a maximum on run 8 when the car went off the road.
Steve Smith debuted his BMW M3-powered JRG Indy III and he took the Focus-shelled car to 20th place.
In the Trophy class Adam Evans took victory in his Milner R4 while Lee Clinton claimed the Clubman class win.
The event also saw Chris Ratter out in a Freelander, the car being tested prior to the start of the Freelander Challenge on round 2 of the BCCC.
“We’ve had a great time and good fun. The course was excellent and we had no problems getting around it in our car which is pretty much standard,” said Ratter.
“I was pleased to set some times which were quicker than a lot of the purpose-built cars.”
After a successful round one the championship moves to Wales for round two which will take place near Aberystwyth on May 15/16.
Results
1. Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 STi 54:00
2. Richard Kershaw GSR 206 Evo 9 54:31
3. Stephen Hiatt Warrior Indy 55:22
4. Martin Gould Mattserati 57:04
5. Ian Rochelle Millington Mattserati 58:10
6. Justin Birchall Peugeot M206 Evo 58:21
7. Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 58:28
8. Karl Gudgeon GSR Evo X 59:06
9. Ryan Cooke Land Rover Special 1:00:20
10. Ian Roberts Rakeway Ridgeback 1:00:34
Trophy Winner: Adam Evans Milner R4
Clubman Winner: Lee Clinton Bowler Wildcat
2010 BRITPART MSA BCCC READY FOR THE OFF
The 2010 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship (BCCC) kicks off next weekend with round one taking place near Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire.
A high quality entry has been obtained with several crews in with a shout of taking victory.
Defending champion Richard Kershaw is seeded at car 1 and he will again be using his successful GSR 206 Evo 9. With his new Freelander not yet ready Preston's Dan Lofthouse will use his Lofthouse Proto LD4 for round one and he and navigator Jonny Koonja are at car 2. Tim Dilworth, who took two victories in the 2009 championship, is at car 3 in his Subaru-engined Peugeot 206.
Martin Cox returns to the championship after a successful 2009 and he will start at car 4 in his Tornado Evo 1. Steve Smith rounds off the top 5 in his new JRG Indy 3, a Ford Focus-based machine powered by a BMW M3 engine.
At car 6 is Warrington's Tony Coid in his Tomcat 100 while at 7 Greg Macleod will debut his Maxtraction Milner R5, Greg combining the BCCC this year with some events abroad in his Bowler Nemesis. Ian Bartlett starts at number 8 in the Bartletts 3M206 with the Bowler Tomcat of Richard Green at 9. Hyde's Martin Gould, who had mixed fortunes in 2009's championship, is at number 10 in his Mattserati.
Outside of the top ten there are several crews making a return to the championship after a break. Gordon Monaghan is at car 20 in his self-built Monaghan RS Ford RS200 replica with Ryan Cooke starting one car behind him. Andrew Wilson also returns to the championship in his Range Rover.
In the Trophy category the field will be led away by championship sponsor Paul Myers in the Britpart 100 car.
A total of 43 entries have been received for round 1, a significant increase over 2009. For more information on the championship please visit www.marches4x4.com.
6R4 DUO SET FOR CROSS COUNTRY CHALLENGE
Rally fans are in for a treat this year as two MG Metro 6R4 replicas are set to contest the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship.
Resplendent in the old works Computervision colour scheme the car of Whitworth’s Phil Ibbotson has contested the championship for the last three years and has always been popular with spectators.
"We get plenty of people asking questions about the car, I think the colours give people a sense of nostalgia for the Group B days", said Ibbotson.
"The 6R4 was my favourite car from that era of rallying so when I decided to build my own off-roader I chose to make it look like the works Metros."
"Although it looks like a 6R4 from the outside underneath the body panels it’s completely different. The car is based around a Gordon Monaghan built space frame and we’ve got a 3.0 litre BMW M3 engine and six-speed sequential gearbox running through a transfer box, with BMW 7-series diffs completing the transmission.”
“Myself and navigator Will Jefferson thoroughly enjoyed last year’s championship and we’re looking forward to competing again.”
Joining Phil this year will be Ivan Dudley and David Rendle in their 6R4 which has recently been completed. Their car also has a BMW engine but it is the 3.2 litre version of the M3 power unit.
“Ivan has always built his cars and has competed in safaris, hill rallys and, most recently, in the French Tout Terrain championship”, said Rendle.
“The car has a full space frame and power goes through a Quaife 5 speed box and self-made transfer box. We’ve got inboard Hi-Spec brakes and Fox shocks for the suspension.”
“2010 will be an installation season for us, we’ve been away from racing for a while due to the car being built and we need to get into the groove again and allow time for the car to settle down and to iron out any problems.”
“Our aim is to try and finish all the events and get in the top ten. Having watched a few events last year we know we are sure to enjoy the racing this year.”
Both cars will compete on all six rounds of the BCCC kicking off with round one near Ashby de la Zouch on the weekend of 17/18th April.
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