I first met Chris in the late 90’s, when he and Jon Lawson first ventured ‘South’ to compete on some ANCC road rallies. By then he had already been competing on, marshalling on and organizing rallies in the North East for many years and had a reputation as a top class navigator. Indeed this wasn’t just in his home territory, he was a regular and successful competitor on historic events both in the UK and Europe alongside Roy Perkins among others, the highlight when he was winning navigator on the 2^nd Monte Carlo Challenge. In 2003 Chris finished 2^nd in the ANCC championship, helping Jon to the driver’s title after a nail-biting battle with Malcolm Holdsworth. After two years away, when his time was selflessly devoted to nursing his poorly mother, Chris returned to ANCC events earlier this year, alongside Mr. Lawson again.  In the ex-Nick Toplis Nova, they nearly won first time out too on the Shaw Trophy…

A quietly spoken and modest man, Chris had a great sense of humour and was always full of encouragement for his fellow competitors.  If he wasn’t out competing, he would be marshalling or spectating whenever possible.

After a private cremation, a thanksgiving service was held in Jesmond on 9^th October and afterwards I believe a large number of the rallying fraternity in the North East met in a local hostelry to pay their respects and celebrate Chris’ life. Alongside his love for rallying, Chris was a keen walker and wildlife enthusiast and to that end, donations can be made in his memory to the Northumbria Wildlife Trust, Garden House, St Nicholas’ Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne , NE3 3XT .

Our sincere condolences to Chris’ partner, Rachel at this sad time. He will be truly missed.

FUTURE EVENTS

Unfortunately re-arrangements of event dates in the Autumn have not worked out in our favour. Bolton Le Moors postponed their event again from 30^th September and had planned to run in December.  However, after an adverse report from their Observer last year, the MSA have decided not allow the event to run at National B level and therefore it cannot be included in the championship, even if it does run.

While I am sure the reasoning behind this decision is sound, I am not best pleased that it has taken the MSA so long to write to Bolton Le Moors and I have contacted them about this.  It is hardly fair on championship contenders (ours and others) to lose an event at such a late stage, not to mention all the time and effort put in by the event organizers, who had been given no indication in earlier correspondence that the event would not be granted a National B permit. I have encouraged the organizers to go ahead and run the event as a Clubman’s, so that it can be observed and upgraded for next year, but as yet I don’t think a decision has been made either way. If it does run, I hope one or two of you will still enter, those who did the event last year will, I am sure, recommend it as an enjoyable one.

Lindholme have reluctantly decided not to run the Danum in November, the loss of East Midlands status being a major factor in this. I had considered the inclusion of Mablethorpe’s Autumn Mist but the short notice coupled with the fact that new rounds have to be observed before championship inclusion meant that this was not possible. Unfortunately the event has since been cancelled due to lack of entries anyway.

This leaves us with just one round remaining, Beverley & DMC’s Beaver on 25^th / 26^th November. Electronic regs are now available on Beverley’s website, if you need regs by post give Matthew Atkinson a call on 01482 876400. There has been a change of organizing team this year, long-standing Clerk of Course Graeme Potter has handed over to the motley crew of Ian Gibbins, Dan Robinson, Andy Beaumont and Mike Petch. All are regular top competitors and with the 2005 ANCC Champion Navigator at the helm the event should be a cracker. As if that wasn’t enough, all competitors will receive a DVD of the event included in the entry fee. B&DMC would also like to assure everyone that the rumours about difficult navigation on the event are not true, so get your entries in now!

As the championship is now over ten rounds, it is only contenders’ best SEVEN scores to count - the latest tables reflect this and show that it is all still to play for – the top three drivers and navigators could all take the championship on the Beaver, the Novice awards are even more wide open.

INTER ASSOCIATION RALLY

This year’s inter association event is the Powerush, all the way down in Kent . Unfortunately it clashes with the Beaver, but if any of you are not in the hunt for trophies on Beverley’s event and would like to represent the ANCC we need to get together a team of three cars. I have already had interest from one and a half crews, so if you are a navigator looking for a ride then I may be able to sort you out. As usual there will be some financial contribution towards entry fees / fuel from the association to make the long journey less costly.

NEXT YEAR

Most clubs have submitted their dates for 2007, so next year’s championship calendar is currently being put together. Hopefully we can get a better spread of events than in 2006.

My apologies to all contenders, event organizers and sponsors for the lack of championship bulletins this year. It is great to see that you the contenders keep the championship alive but as ‘customers’ you deserve better service than I have been able to give for the last two years. With this in mind it is my intention to step down from the position of ANCC Road Rally Co-ordinator at the 2007 AGM next June, so I would be interested to hear from anyone wishing to take over for 2008. It is not a mammoth task and there are not endless meetings to attend, please get in touch for a chat if you are interested.

See you on the Beaver for what promises to be an exciting climax to the championship.                 

Iain