Northern Stage Rally Championship

Bulletin 8 – June 2004

Last weekend's Rainworth Skoda Dukeries Rally marked the beginning of the second half of the season and the point at which, from now on, scores will start to be dropped if you have competed on more than 8 events for the overall and class awards or 5 MV events. If you have only done SV events to date and want to have a chance at the overall awards then you should start thinking which MV event of the two that are left that you want to do as you need to have started at least one event of each type to be considered for overall honours (SR17).

The Dukeries attracted 24 contenders to battle it out round the Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire forests. It's been a good few years since I've been out in the Sherwood Forest stages but they were much as I remembered them - generally a mixture of long straights with square junctions at the end. I thought that the Rainbow Hill stage in the middle of the event in Wharncliffe Woods, north of Sheffield, was brilliant, with some tight narrow sections and a really fast flowing end to the stage. It was a long road section to the stage but I thought it was worth it - despite having to stop and change a puncture mid stage! Having said that our day was already blown when the fuel pump packed up for 4 minutes on stage 4.

Having better luck on the event were Nick Dobson / Jamie Forest who collected the highest score of 110 for 5^th in the amalgamated 2-litre classes, Chris Peart / Gordon Blyth, 107 for 6^th in the same class and Gary Cooper (who according to Motorsport News, is one of the best 100 rally drivers in the country) who scored 107 on his first Championship event of the year for 12^th in the huge large capacity class.

The results promote Chris and Gordon to the top of the overall standings with Nick moving above Richard Wormald to take second spot. Chris / Gordon and Nick / Jamie are ahead in the MV challenge with Keith Turner / Steve Ward in third. The only change in the class positions is that Jon and Jane Fox move up to the lead in class 4.

Next Events

Armstrong Massey Rally - 4th July (www.bdmc.org.uk)

The 4th SV round will be held at Melbourne Airfield near York and offers around 8 stages of about 6½ miles each on a mixture of loose and broken surfaces on this former airfield site. Regs are available on the website – if you need a paper set, and have not already received any, please contact Andrea Atkinson on 01482 876400. Entries are already past the 40 mark

Opposite Lock Rally – 17^th July (www.slaithwaitemc.co.uk)

This event at Manby Showground in Lincolnshire will offer approx. 60 stage miles for £165. The stages will take the form of two all tarmac stages and six mixed surface stages using the unique loose tracks at the venue. Last year the event was oversubscribed and is a round of a further two regional championships this year so early entry is advised. You should have regs by now – if not please contact me. Again, entries are past the half way mark.

Mike