Can't find what you're looking for?
Call us now on 01782 410391 or email: [email protected]

Woodpecker Rally – 30th August 2014 Morris Lubricants BTRDA 1400 Championship

02/09/2014
by Andrew TradeWeb Support
With seven of the nine rounds of the Morris Lubricants BTRDA 1400 Championship having been
held, following the EVENTSIGNS Woodpecker Rally last weekend, we are still no nearer
knowing who is likely to be winning the coveted 1400 title and it seems almost certain that
the top spot will only be finally decided on the last round of the Championship in October.
 
56 1400cc competitors gathered at Ludlow Racecourse to take part in the annual Woodpecker
Stages using 44 miles of gravel stages in the forests of South Shropshire and the Welsh
Borders. For the previous event winner Justin Lawson and co-driver Paul Hargreaves, who
needed to earn some solid points over the remaining three rounds, it was an early retirement
from second place when the gearbox on their Vauxhall Nova cried enough on just the second
stage. They were quickly joined by David Bennett and Alistair McNeil who retired for the
fourth consecutive event on the next stage when a persistent misfire couldn’t be cured and
also joining the retirement party were 2008 Champion Darren Pinchin whose engine went on
the third stage.
 
Having better luck were Matt Smith and Giles Dykes who had already won two rounds of the
year, but this success had been equally matched by the disappointment of two retirements,
with the result that they had to score well on the remaining rounds if they were to have any
chance of the title which they were favourites for at the start of the year. Driving their
unique Ford Ka they took the lead on the first stage, which they maintained over the five
remaining stages, with only a puncture that they had to drive on for 3 miles, putting the win
at risk. With their nearest challengers falling by the wayside Smith and Dykes gradually
extended their lead to end up with a 2½ minute win and 30 very valuable points to put them
into fourth position in the table and back into contention for the title.
 
So it then became a matter of who could maintain sufficient reliability to fill the rest of the
podium places. Clive Anstey/Tim Currie [Proton Satria] were early pacesetters but gradually
dropped away to finish fourth as did Marcel Freling and Karen Robinson in their MG ZR who
finished fifth.
 
But it turned out to be the two Dan’s, who despite not having such powerful cars, were able
to build up gradually to take the runners up positions. Dan Gray with co-driver Matt Rogers in
their Peugeot 106 had been as low as 12th after two stages, but despite suffering a water leak
throughout the day steadily climbed the leader board. Meanwhile Dan Evans from Hereford
was returning to the Championship after missing a number of events after badly damaging his
Vauxhall Nova in April. He started slowly as he regained his confidence and soon was up in
third position but on the fifth stage hit a rock which badly bent the rear beam and made the
handling of the Nova extremely interesting. This was the chance the Ross on Wye based Gray
needed and he managed to pull back the six second deficit between them to take his second
successive second place by 19 seconds while Evans was only too relieved to be able to bring
his deranged car to the finish in third.
 
With regard to the Championship positions Aberdeen’s Ryan Weston is now in joint first
position with Freling on 143 points. Dan Gray is in third position, 9 points behind and Matt
Smith moves up to fourth place on 118 points. The Championship scoring system means that
all of these competitors with six scores now have to start dropping their lowest scores while
others such as Justin Lawson can keep adding to theirs, so these positions could still change
significantly over the remaining two rounds.
 
There is now a four-week break until the Morris Lubricants Championship competitors head
off to the penultimate round in Pickering, North Yorkshire for the Trackrod Stages on the
26th/27th September. The final round of the Championship will be the Cambrian Rally based in
Llandudno on the 18th October.
 
Further details can be found on the Championship website www.btrdarally.com