News

06.12.09 Cristofaro and Moore triumph at Teesside

Nick Cristofaro and Janice Moore took their second victory in as many weekends with a dominant performance at the Teesside Autodrome F1000 rally where they claimed fastest time on seven of the events ten stages to top the leaderboard.

After their win in the Hall Trophy Junior Rally hopes were high for another good result at the Teesside event where the Formula 1000 Junior drivers (aged 14-16) would compete on the same stages as the Senior F1000 crews.

Cristofaro and Moore got off to a fast start in their Nissan Micra, setting the quickest time on each of the first four stages of the event. Not only were they quicker than the other Junior crews, they also beat all the Seniors.

"We had a brilliant start, picking up where we left off last weekend," said Moore.

"We had no problems and Nick drove very well, pulling out a lead of 12 seconds over the second placed crew."

A couple of seconds were lost on the fifth stage as the Micra understeered into the stage merge and went off but the crew were back at the top of the leaderboard for stage six.

Two further fastest times in the last four stages saw Cristofaro and Moore take victory by 19 seconds from fellow Junior driver Ashley Slights.

"It’s a great way to end the season, we finished third in the championship but it’s a shame we had two retirements earlier in the year as Nick would’ve been in with a chance of winning it."

"Nick is hoping to do the championship again next season if he can get enough support, please contact Nick or myself via www.janicemoorerallying.co.uk if you can offer any help at all, financial or otherwise."

The event was Janice’s last of 2009. With 14 stage events completed this year, including most of the British Rally Championship, 2009 has been one of the best rallying years in Janice's co-driving career and she will be back out on the stages in 2010.

30.11.09 Victory in the Hall Trophy Junior Rally

Formula 1000 Junior rally driver Nick Cristofaro and co-driver Janice Moore emerged victorious from a very close battle at the Hall Trophy rally last weekend. The event, which was held at Blyton in Lincolnshire, saw Cristofaro and Moore take the win by just four seconds from Cameron Davies.

Heavy rain in the days before the rally meant that parts of the tarmac course were underwater and with the cars required to use normal road tyres the opening pair of stages proved very tricky as the crew battled to keep their Nissan Micra on the stage. After two stages they were in third place overall.

Conditions did not improve on the next two stages, a very heavy downpour making the tarmac treacherous. A few slides in the wet and problems with the wipers saw the Micra crew drop to fourth place.

"The opening stages were very slippery and it was a bit nerve-racking hitting the standing water with road tyres on the car", said Moore.

"We set some decent times though and although we had a few moments in the wet we were pleased to be fourth early on."

The sun shone for the next few stages and on a drying course Cristofaro and Moore increased their pace, setting five consecutive fastest stage times to move into the joint lead of the event after stage 9 with Ashley Slights in his Toyota Yaris.

Cristofaro and Moore moved into the outright lead in stage 10, setting a time five seconds faster than Slights. Despite a late charge from Cameron Davies they held on to take the win by four seconds after twelve stages.

"Nick did brilliantly to set five fastest times in a row, the stage wasn’t as wet as earlier but there were still some very tricky parts to negotiate."

"We retired from the lead on our first two events together so it’s especially pleasing to take the victory. Competition in the F1000 Junior class is very close and every second is vital."

"I really believe Nick could progress far in rallying if he gets the right support, he doesn't have the financial backing or any rallying in the family like most of the other juniors. If you would like to talk about helping out or sponsorship opportunities please contact Nick or myself via http://www.janicemoorerallying.co.uk or come and say hi at the next round....every little helps!"

Cristofaro currently lies 3rd in the F1000 junior championship and he and Moore will contest the final round of the F1000 Junior championship next weekend at the Teeside Autodrome near Middlesborough.

07.11.09
Tempest triumph for Moore

Janice Moore had her best ever overall gravel rally result on Saturday (7th November) when she co-drove Mark Gamble to second place on the Tempest 2 rally in a Citröen C2R2 Max.

With Gamble using the car for the first time on gravel the crew made a cautious start to the Aldershot-based event, lying 11th overall after the opening two Yateley Wood and Warren Heath stages.

"The opening stages were slippery and we didn’t want to risk going off," said Moore.

"Mark had to get used to the new car on the gravel and, as our first event together didn’t last too long, he had to get used to me too!"

The Citröen crew stepped up the pace over the next three stages and, despite catching a slower car in one of the runs, they emerged from stage five in an excellent second overall behind Julian Wilkes.

Stage 6 saw the leaderboard change, Gamble and Moore again catching a slower car and losing eight seconds to new rally leader Jason Pritchard, who was also out in a Citröen C2R2 Max.

The leading two crews recorded exactly the same times on stage seven and eight and with two stages to go Gamble and Moore were just five seconds behind. Unfortunately it was dark for stage nine and the crew had no time to fit spotlights before the stage. Hampered by poor visibility they lost a further six seconds to Pritchard who had fitted lights earlier in the day.

Lights were fitted for the final stage but any hopes of a victory charge were stopped when the crew backed off slightly after they saw lights appearing to head towards them. Fortunately the other car was in another part of the stage but more time was lost to the leader. With third place man Wilkes breaking a driveshaft they were able to maintain their second place on the leaderboard despite the time loss.

"It was disappointing that we weren’t able to challenge for the lead on the last two stages but overall we’re delighted with the result."

"The car performed well and we had no major problems, it was an enjoyable event and great to get a finish."

Janice will next be in action at the Hall Trophy Stage Rally at Blyton where she will partner Nick Cristofaro in a Nissan Micra as part of the Formula 1000 Junior championship.

04.10.09

More driveshaft frustrations: For the second weekend running Janice suffered a rally retirement due to a broken driveshaft. She was partnering F1000 Junior driver Nick Cristofaro in a Nissan Micra on the Peter Lloyd Rallying Stages.

25.09.09 Rally Yorkshire disappointment: Driveshaft failure on stage two of Rally Yorkshire led to retirement for Janice and driver Mark Gamble in their Suzuki Swift.

13.09.09

Mechanical misery on Otterburn: A blown engine saw Janice and driver David Conley retire their Hillman Avenger from the Lindisfarne Rally. They were in a promising 3rd in class at the time on the Otterburn-based event.

06.09.09

Moores take 12th on Bomb-Along: Janice partnered father-in-law Ken Moore on his first event for over ten years, the Bomb-Along Stages at Carver Barracks in Debden. A successful day saw them finish an excellent 12th overall and 5th in class in a Subaru Impreza.

18.07.09

Mixed Manx fortunes for Moore: East Boldon rally co-driver Janice Moore had mixed fortunes on the double-header Isle of Man Challenge rally last weekend when retired from the first event and completed the second in seventh place.

Janice was partnering James Watts in his VW Polo, the pairing having previously competed on the Pirelli rally in April.

The first event kicked off with a tough loop of three stages, Staarvey with its notorious jumps, the tight and twisty lanes of Kella, and Ravensdale with its famous hairpin. Watts and Moore got off to a steady start with two seventh places before pushing more on stage three for fifth, giving them fifth place overall at the first service halt of the event.

“We were cautious on the opening two stages, both had very twisty narrow sections where one mistake could see the end of your rally,” said Janice.

“Stage three was quicker for us although we had a couple of moments including almost rolling on the Druidale section and then taking the hairpin at Sartfield a little too quickly resulting in the rear wheel being well off the ground.”

Following service the rally moved south for the Newtown and Cringle stages which totalled 35 miles between them. A collision with a kerb exiting a corner in Newtown saw the suspension and steering get damaged which slowed the Polo on both that and the following stage.

Repairs were made at service and Watts and Moore headed for stage six, Glen Roy. Unfortunately a driveshaft broke in the stage and, although they made it to the finish, they were forced to retire.

“We were disappointed to retire although the time we lost following the kerb incident meant that we had no chance of a good result. Fortunately we were able to fix the car and have it ready for the second event.”

Rally 2 was scheduled to take place over eight stages although the first one was cancelled following accidents in the preceding International event.

Watts and Moore had a troublefree run up until the last stage of the event, although conditions in some stages were treacherous with a heavy downpour of rain making the previously grippy tarmac feel like ice, mist on the higher stages adding to the bad conditions.

The last stage saw the cars run from the roads in the mountains down into Douglas and Watts and Moore were fortunate to complete the stage, another driveshaft failure almost ending their event.

“The second event was better for us, the conditions were very testing and we were happy to get through unscathed. It’s a shame the driveshaft broke again on the last stage, we’d been going well and were enjoying it, at least we got to the finish though.”

Janice is currently planning her events for the rest of the year, with an outing on the Woodpecker rally hopefully taking place in September.

28.06.09 Success on Otterburn: Janice partnered David Conley on the Tyneside Stages rally which took place on the Otterburn military ranges.

A successful day saw the crew finished 11th overall and 2nd in class in their Hillman Avenger.

21.06.09

Caerwent disappointment: Janice contented the Mid Summer Caerwent rally in South Wales with Nick Cristofaro in a F1000 Nissan Micra. They were comfortably leading their class until a broken fuel pump caused their retirement.

Janice will be out again next weekend on the Tyneside Stages which takes place on the Otterburn military ranges.

23.05.09 Rollercoaster ride on Jim Clark rally for Moore: East Boldon based rally co-driver Janice Moore made her second British Rally Championship appearance of the year last weekend when she contested the Jim Clark International rally with Richard Sykes in his Suzuki Swift Sport Cup car.

Although both Sykes and Moore had competed on the Jim Clark rally previously they had never contested an event together before and their rally got off to a testing start when it became apparent after a few seconds into the opening Bothwell stage that calling the pacenotes was going to be difficult due to problems with the helmet intercom system and Moore struggling to see out of the car with the seat being set for Sykes’s usual co-driver.

The pairing battled on to the service halt where, after trying to find another helmet or intercom link for Moore, the crew swapped helmets which meant that Sykes could now hear Moore but not the other way round. The service crew also raised the seat so that Moore could see over the dashboard. Despite their problems Sykes and Moore ended the first day of the event second in class.

The next day kicked off with the Edrom stage and Sykes and Moore were quick out of the blocks, setting fastest time of the Rally 1 class crews. A collision with a bird on the next stage saw them lose a few seconds while sliding wide on a hairpin in the Eccles stage, almost hitting a photographer, cost more time, dropping them to third place in the class.

They were soon back up to second though, with fastest time in the second run of the Edrom stage, a position they consolidated with second fastest time in the following Blackadder stage. Disaster was to strike in the next stage though when the car rolled on a corner.

"It was a fast right hand corner in the Fogo stage that tightened part way round. The car went off the road and rolled," said Janice.

"Fortunately, with the help of the spectators and marshals, we got going again but the brakes had stopped working so we had to limp to the end of the stage. We lost over three minutes to our class rivals."

A huge effort by everyone in service, including members of rival teams, saw the car repaired in time to contest the final loop of stages and Sykes and Moore had a successful end to the event, setting fastest times on the last two stages to come home third in class.

The result moves Sykes up to fourth in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship and fifth in the Rally 1 championship.

19.04.09 Mint Finish on Pirelli: Partnering James Watts in a VW Polo Janice made it to the finish of the Pirelli Challenge rally in 11th place overall and 4th in class.

16.03.09 Disappointment in West Cork: Mechanical problems saw the Darrian T90 Janice was sharing with Ashley Field retire from 5th place overall on the West Cork rally.

28.12.08 Christmas Class Win: Janice partnered Ashley Field in his Darrian T90 to 4th overall and 1st in class at the Christmas Stages rally held at Croft racing circuit.

14.12.08 Podium at Rockingham: A successful weekend at the Rockingham circuit saw Janice and Ashley Field claim third overall and first in class on the Rockingham Stages rally.