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01.11.09 Lofthouse sails to victory at Driffield
Bamber Bridge's Dan Lofthouse ended his Britpart British Cross Country Championship season in style with a dominant win at a very wet Driffield in East Yorkshire, his second victory of the year. 2009 Champion Richard Kershaw was second in a Milner with Martin Cox claiming his best result of the year in third.
A challenging six mile course was set out at the venue, which is usually used by the military to test their vehicles. With standing water covering large parts of the course most crews made a cautious start but Lofthouse and Martin Gould were quick out of the box, both drivers over a minute faster than anyone else on the first run.
Lofthouse and Gould continued to occupy the first two places until the third run when Gould rolled his Mattserati. With Gould out of contention Lofthouse gradually extended his lead and at the end of the six runs of day one he was nearly six minutes ahead of Kershaw who was using a Milner R5 instead of his usual Peugeot 206. Martin Cox ended day one in third, a minute behind Kershaw with the top five rounded off by Alan Wilkinson and Bob Seaman.
Crews having problems on day one included Ryan Cooke, contesting his first BCCC event since last year's Driffield round, who sadly retired on the first run, Bumpy Mike Moran who had throttle troubles and Colin Gould who had broken rear suspension on his Bowler Wildcat.
Day two brought torrential rain and howling wind, creating very testing conditions for the crews. Lofthouse maintained a good lead over Kershaw but it was not all plain sailing, the wipers on his Proto LD4 breaking forcing a DIY mechanism to be hastily constructed which enabled navigator Jonny Koonja to operate the wipers manually. Although some time was lost Lofthouse still ended the event with a lead of over four minutes from Kershaw.
"It’s been a tough weekend but I’ve enjoyed it and I'm delighted to take my second win of the year," said Lofthouse. "We had some good times on the first day and pulled out a decent lead over Richard. Fortunately the wiper problem near the end didn’t cost us victory. I’ve really enjoyed the championship and I hope to be back next year with a new car."
Martin Cox continued his consistent pace on day two to take a well-deserved third while Alan Wilkinson had a good run to fourth. Bob Seaman once again took the Trophy class and also finished fifth overall.
"I'm delighted just to finish, the course was complex and very challenging, the standing water made it difficult to judge the terrain," said Seaman. "I had a few troubles with my glasses steaming up but fortunately my navigator kept me going in the right direction! The championship has been excellent, I've thoroughly enjoyed all the events. There has been a good variety of courses this year and the organisation and timekeeping has been excellent - I'm aiming to be back next year for another go."
The Clubman class was won by Martin Conboy with Ollie Lloyd taking second place in a Tomcat on his debut event.
Results:
1. Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 1:54:24
2.
Richard Kershaw Milner R5 1:58:49
3.
Martin Cox Tornado Evo 1 2:03:23
4.
Alan Wilkinson Milner R5 2:05:50
5.
Bob Seaman Milner R4 2:08:44
6.
Tony Coid Tomcat 100 2:10:33
7.
Steven Smith JRG Indy 2 2:10:56
8.
Martin Conboy Tornado 2:13:51
9. Ian Bartlett Bartletts 3M206 2:15:21
10.
Carl Duffield Peugeot 206 Special 2:19:46
Trophy Winner: Bob Seaman Milner R4
Clubman Winner: Martin Conboy Tornado
11.10.09 Kershaw triumphs as Dilworth crashes out at Crickhowell
Huddersfield’s Richard Kershaw took his second Britpart B.C.C.C. victory of the season as the championship returned to the Glanusk estate near Crickhowell. Dan Lofthouse took second place and Steven Smith claimed third.
Rain in the lead up to the event meant that the course was extremely slippery and the crews treated the opening runs with caution. Tim Dilworth set the early pace, building up a lead of 47 seconds over Kershaw in the first four runs.
The challenging route was causing some casualties amongst the crews, Brian Farmer rolling his Peugeot following a bad landing after a jump, Martin Gould suffering two stage maximums as his Mattserati picked up two punctures and then broke a propshaft, and Alan Wilkinson putting his Milner off the road at a hairpin.
The remaining three runs of day one saw Kershaw fight back against Dilworth on a drying track, pushing hard in his GSR 206 Evo 9 to end the day with a lead of eight seconds. Lofthouse was a further four minutes back in third. Ian Rochelle joined the casualty list with a broken suspension arm on his Millingon Mattserati while Paul Myers suffered power steering failure in the Britpart 100.
Dilworth was immediately on the pace for the opening runs of day two, putting himself back into the lead but then disaster struck, the steering on his Peugeot 206 STi breaking at 70mph causing the car to crash. The resulting stage maximums pushed Dilworth down the leaderboard leaving Kershaw to claim victory by over nine minutes from Lofthouse.
After a tough event Kershaw was pleased with the victory. “It’s been a good event and we’ve come out with the victory we wanted. We’ve had some fantastic racing on a challenging course.”
Lofthouse was happy to follow up his victory in the previous round with second at Glanusk. “We had a reliable weekend, the event has been quite difficult with a tough course. We didn’t have the speed of Richard or Tim so it’s good to take second.”
Steven Smith showed consistent pace all weekend and, apart from a slight incident with a tree, stayed relatively trouble-free to take third place in his JRG Indy 2 while the Bowler Wildcat of Colin Gould took fourth.
Bob Seaman was fifth overall and also won the Trophy category. The Bartletts returned to the championship with Gary taking sixth and Ian eighth. They were split by Phil Ibbotson who survived some gearbox problems in his Metro 6R4 Evo on day two to finish seventh. Rounding off the top ten were Tony Coid in his battle-scarred Tomcat and Tim Dilworth.
The championship ends with round 6 at Driffield in three weeks.
Results
1. Richard Kershaw GSR 206 Evo 9 2:10:51
2. Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 2:20:00
3. Steven Smith JRG Indy 2 2:31:52
4. Colin Gould Bowler Wildcat 2:33:32
5. Bob Seaman Milner R4 2:35:26
6. Ian Bartlett Bartletts 3M206 2:35:48
7. Phil Ibbotson Metro 6R4 Evo 2:36:46
8. Gary Bartlett Milner R4 2:39:04
9. Tony Coid Tomcat 100 2:39:58
10. Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 STi 2:44:25
Trophy Winner: Bob Seaman Milner R4
22.09.09 Round 5 venue confirmed
Round 5 will now take place at the Glan Usk estate near Crickhowell i.e. the same venue as Round 1.
13.09.09 Lofthouse wins Sweet Lamb thriller
After almost 100 miles of competition at the Sweet Lamb rally complex Dan Lofthouse took victory in round 4 of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship by just 12 seconds from Richard Kershaw with Martin Gould taking a fine third place.
Winner of the previous two rounds Tim Dilworth led after the opening run but his hopes of taking a third win were wrecked when his Peugeot 206 suffered a propshaft failure near the start of the fifth run. The resulting stage maximum dropped Dilworth down the leaderboard.
With Dilworth out of contention a three-way battle for the lead ensued between Lofthouse in his Lofthouse Proto LD4, Kershaw’s GSR 206 Evo 9 and the Monaghan R5 of Gordon Monaghan. Monaghan had previously contested the championship in 2007 and he was immediately on the pace of the leading crews, although as he had only entered to contest day one he was not in contention for overall victory.
At the end of the ten runs of day one Huddersfield’s Kershaw led the event by 25 seconds from Lofthouse with Monaghan in third.
Day two started with patchy mist on the course although this did not prevent the leaders from setting a scorching pace, Kershaw and Lofthouse separated by just two seconds over the six mile stage.
The second run of the day saw Kershaw’s car suffer a misfire due to a faulty coil pack. The problem was to continue up until the last run when a replacement part was sourced from another competitor but by this time Lofthouse had a lead of 18 seconds which was too much for Kershaw to make up.
Despite his misfortune Kershaw was pleased with his result. “It’s been a fantastic weekend, I’m happy with second place, we were lucky to finish with the problem we had,” he said. “The course was brilliant, really enjoyable and quick.”
Winner Lofthouse was delighted with the victory. “I’m over the moon, we’ve had a good weekend with no major problems. It was an awesome course in awesome weather.”
Bob Seaman took victory in Trophy class in his Milner R4 with Neil Davey winning the Clubman event in his GSR 206 Evo 9.
Results
1. Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 1:52:36
2. Richard Kershaw GSR 206 Evo 9 1:52:48
3. Martin Gould Mattserati 1:54:30
4. Justin Birchall Peugeot M206 1:56:42
5. Chris Hammond Milner R5 1:56:47
6. Colin Gould Bowler Wildcat 1:58:12
7. Steve Lloyd Milner R5 2:00:31
8. Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 GTi 2:01:23
9. Greg Macleod Tomcat 100 2:06:05
10. Steven Smith JRG Indy 2 2:07:30
Trophy Winner: Bob Seaman Milner R4
Clubman Winner: Neil Davey GSR 206 Evo 9
25.06.09 BCCC TV
Round 3 will be on Motors TV at 10am on Saturday 27th June with repeats in the following week.
24.06.09 Make a Date
The dates for the rest of the year have now been confirmed, round 4 will be at Sweet Lamb on 12/13 September, round 5 at either Penllyn or Worcester on 10/11 October and the final round will take place at Driffield on 31 October/1 November.
08.06.09: Dilworth triumphs in Scotland
After 80 miles of tough competition Tim Dilworth and navigator Anthony Brinkman took victory in round three of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship. Richard Kershaw took second place, 35 seconds behind, with Ian Rochelle in his Millington Mattserati taking third.
Kershaw took the lead on the opening run of the event with Dan Lofthouse in second and Martin Gould in third as Dilworth struggled with a puncture. By run four Dilworth had got back to third place and he was soon up to second after a dramatic fifth run where Lofthouse retired after breaking his gearbox while towing Gould’s Mattserati which had stopped, blocking the stage, with mechanical problems.
Dilworth narrowly avoid a stage maximum on run seven when a wheel broke shortly after crossing the finish line. His good fortune continued on the last run of Saturday when Kershaw lost nearly two minutes giving Dilworth the lead.
Day two opened with Dilworth extending his lead on the first two runs before a puncture saw Kershaw claw back 15 seconds. Kershaw raced through the final run to make up a further 20 seconds but it was not enough to take victory.
"I’m ecstatic with the win and happy to get to the finish," said Dilworth. "The course was very testing and tough on the car but the service crew kept us going."
Bridgenorth’s Rochelle was delighted with his third place. "The course was fantastic, we came out of each run smiling and we thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. The weather was great too! I’m pleased to be getting on the pace and there’s more to come from both me and the car, hopefully we can catch up with those Peugeots."
Further down the leaderboard Chris Hammond suffered broken suspension on day one but found some spare parts to allow him to continue and recover to sixth overall while Greg Macleod was fortunate to escape from a high speed off on one of the long straights during run 7 on Saturday. The combined efforts of the Difflock and Solway recovery units saw the car retrieved from the trees and Greg was back out again on Sunday, taking 12th place.
The Trophy rally was won by Bob Seaman after an eventful two days. "The steering wheel came off on one run and the brakes failed on another so I’m very happy to have got to the end and taken the Trophy win. The course was fabulous, some rough parts and technical stuff together with some smooth and very fast sections."
Results:
1. Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 GTi 1:54:04
2. Richard Kershaw Peugeot 206 Evo 9 1:54:39
3. Ian Rochelle Millington Mattserati 1:57:04
4. James Webb Milner R4 2:04:41
5. Colin Gould Bowler Wildcat 2:07:16
6. Chris Hammond Milner R5 2:10:53
7. Alan Wilkinson Milner R5 2:11:37
8. Martin Cox Tornado Evo 2 2:14:29
9. Steven Smith JRG Indy 2 2:17:13
10. Phil Ibbotson Metro 6R4 Evo 2:17:36
Trophy Winner: Bob Seaman Milner R4
23.05.09: BCCC TV
Round 2 will be shown on Motors TV at 10am on 30th May.
21.05.09: Round 3 has moved
Round 3
will now take place at Forrest Lodge near New Galloway in South West Scotland. More information at marches4x4.com.
10.05.09 Dilworth races to Radnor success
Two days of tough competition saw Tim Dilworth take victory in round two of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship which was held on farmland and forest tracks at Radnor. Round one winner Richard Kershaw took second place, 37 seconds behind, with Dan Lofthouse in third.
Holywell’s Dilworth and navigator Anthony Brinkman got their event of to a fast start, covering the six mile course 9 seconds ahead of Kershaw in their Peugeot 206. Dilworth kept up his pace throughout day one in changeable weather conditions, ending up 16 seconds ahead of Kershaw after the seven runs.
"Day one went very well, we had a few problems with the exhaust but otherwise it was troublefree,” said Dilworth. “The track was absolutely brilliant with some very fast parts and some technical bits as well.”
Day two dawned bright and sunny and Dilworth and Kershaw traded fastest times on the drying track but despite a late charge Kershaw could not challenge for victory.
“We had a difficult weekend with some problems on the car,” Kershaw said. “It’s been a good weekend’s racing though, a fantastic event on a good course.”
Dilworth was delighted with his victory after having problems with his car on several previous events. “It’s been a long time coming, it was nice to give Richard a run for his money,” he said. “I was at the Higgins Rally School last weekend and the tuition seems to have paid off!”
Lofthouse took a solid third place in his Lofthouse Proto LD4. “I’m pretty happy with the result, the guys in front were setting blistering times. We couldn’t catch them so decided to play safe.”
Chris Hammond was fourth in his Milner R5 after an event-long battle with Martin Gould. “It’s more points in the bag for the championship, we had a good event and the track had a mix of everything which was excellent, a credit to the organisers.”
Bob Seaman took victory in Trophy class in his Milner R4 from Paul Myers in the Britpart 100. Dave Marsh won the Clubman event in a QT Wildcat.
Results:
1. Tim Dilworth Peugeot 206 1:43:25
2. Richard Kershaw Peugeot 206 Evo 9 1:44:02
3. Dan Lofthouse Lofthouse Proto LD4 1:45:12
4. Chris Hammond Milner R5 1:46:31
5. Martin Gould Mattserati 1:46:41
6. James Webb Milner R4 1:49:16
7. Ian Rochelle Millington Mattserati 1:50:53
8. Ben Gott TMC DB M2 1:58:02
9. Steven Smith JRG Indy 2 2:01:19
10. Ian Bartlett Bartletts 3M206 2:04:11
30.04.09: Round 2 Regs
Regs
for round 2 are available to download from marches4x4.com.
17.04.09: BCCC on the telly
Round 1 will shown on Motors TV on May 2nd at 10am with repeats during the following week.
13.04.09: Kershaw flies to victory in Crickhowell
Reigning champion Richard Kershaw got his title defence off to a perfect start as he took victory in the opening round of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship at a sun-drenched Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell.
The venue was a new one for the championship and a six mile course using the Estate’s gravel and dirt tracks proved to be testing for the competing crews with a mix of fast straights and tight tree-lined corners.
Huddersfield’s Kershaw led the event from run two onwards and finished up over two minutes ahead of nearest rival Chris Hammond.
"The first run was very slippy, it was a bit of a wake up call and it took a while to get back in the groove after a few months away from competing," Kershaw said. "We were lucky and had a trouble-free event with no breakdowns, several of the other guys at the top of the entry had a few problems which lost them time. It was a good event, very enjoyable, and the sunshine was glorious!"
Hammond was pleased with second overall after a consistently quick performance in his Milner R5.
"I thoroughly enjoyed the event, the course was very technical which made it challenging" he said. "It’s a very good start to the championship for me and I’m looking forward to the next round."
Hyde’s Martin Gould took third place in his Mattserati, a further three minutes behind Hammond, with Steve Lloyd claiming a solid result in fourth.
Dan Lofthouse led the event after the first run in the Lofthouse Proto LD4 but problems, including two punctures on one of the runs, dropped him back to fifth overall at the finish.
Tim Dilworth set several top three fastest times in his Peugeot but two stage maximums dropped him down the order as he experienced trouble with the fuel system including a dramatic fire at the finish of the course.
In the Trophy class Bob Seaman took victory in his Milner R4 with Kevin Groos winning the Clubman event.
The championship moves to Radnor in Powys for round two in May with a challenging forest course being planned.
Results:
Richard Kershaw (206 Evo 9) 1:21:14
Chris Hammond (Milner R5) 1:23:29
Martin Gould (Mattserati) 1:26:59
Steve Lloyd (Milner R5) 1:30:53
Dan Lofthouse (Lofthouse Proto LD4) 1:38:10
Tony Coid (Tomcat 100) 1:38:44
Martin Cox (Tornado Evo 2) 1:40:08
Michael Moran (Wildcat 100) 1:41:39
Greg MacLeod (Tomcat 100) 1:43:13
Gary Bartlett (Milner R4) 1:43:41
Trophy Winner: Bob Seaman (Milner R4)
Clubman Winner: Kevin Groos (Mattserati)
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