Brecon Motor Club News: May 2008

Brecon Motor Club members had a busy weekend with the majority heading to Millbrook for some asphalt action. Coming off best was Martin Jones who sat with Tim Wilson in his Escort taking a top ten place in the National Rally. Sara Williams was trying a new co-driver and recorded a steady finish in the Honda on her first visit to the venue.

In the Clubmans event Chris Phillips accompanied the larger than life Bernhard Charles in the recently refurbished Escort but once again ran out of luck with mechanical problems. Stuart Cardell was with Peter Lewis in the Anglia once again, the event serving as learning exercise, the main problem encountered being a lack of grip. They did at least finish.

Elsewhere Jason Pritchard was away up to Scotland for the Jim Clark Rally and despite his recent setbacks he fought his way to the finish. Below is the official media message;

Young Builth Wells resident Jason Pritchard drove through the pain barrier on last weekends Jim Clark International Rally to score sixth place points in the C2R2cup just six weeks after smashing his right foot in a non-rallying related accident.

Jason, who is co-driven by Welshpool based George Gwynn in the little North Road Garage backed Citroen C2R2, only received the all clear from his doctor 5 days before the rally began, and had to rely on crutches to help him around the service park. Despite the obvious pain Jason was more than happy to be back in a rally car and drove sensibly, gradually raising his pace throughout the rally so that, by the end, he was setting top 3 times.

A faulty oil temperature sensor and throttle problems hampered the young British Rally Elite member on Saturday afternoon, forcing him to stop and try and restore the car to full health mid stage before eventually super rallying overnight to ensure the car was properly fettled ahead of Sunday’s stages.

My foot is really sore at the moment, but at least I have got some championship points on the board. It was good to get back out in the car which, apart from the throttle problems, ran perfectly, so a big thank you to Quick Motorsport for preparing her. This was the first rally for George and I and we got on really well in the car.

Jason and George will next be in action at the Rally Show at Chatsworth in two weeks time before contesting the third round of the 2008 British Rally Championship, the Rally Isle of Man in July. During this period Jason will focus on bringing his damaged foot back to full strength.

MAY AUTOSOLO

Sunday, 11 May 2008

Well, what a difference a month makes. Snow and freezing conditions were encountered when we last visited the Concrete Road, this time it was factor 25, water and sun hats!

Twenty two competitors turned up for this the second round of the club autosolo championship and winner of the previous round, Phil Savage was under pressure from the baying army of Peugeot 205's. Craig Jones started the way he meant to go on with fastest time on the first short simple test with Mike Jones and Will Arrowsmith just a second behind. Craig held sway at the front for the rest of the day and even when he made an error on the final test his margin was large enough to ensure a 6 second victory. No doubt the recently fitted LSD helped a little! Brother Josh was closest at the end having a good day in his 205. Alwyn Arrowsmith upheld family honour in his immaculate Mk2 Escort while Will was fast at times but let the the crowd influence his driving style resulting in the odd wrong test! Young James Morgan ahd a storming day despite not having passed his driving test yet and two wheeled his 1,000cc Micra to a solid fourth place setting consistently good times despite an excursion into the undergrowth. Mike Jones was next up, putting his wrong test nightmare behind him from last time but was heard mumbling things about fitting an LSD! Phil Savage overcame heater matrix problems and a watching family to take sixth.

BMC would like to thank all who supported the event and the Chappelle family for the catering and cone service, not to mention the computerised results service! Many thanks also to Robin Relic Moses for running the finish control. Next autosolo is Sunday june 1st.

WELSH RALLY 2008

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

A number of BMC crews were out and about on the Welsh Rally last weekend but fortune was not with any of them. Top club seeds Eian Pritchard & Martin Jones succumbed to drive problems with their Subaru Impreza WRC and were out by the second lap. Chris Phillips accompanied Bernard Charles in the revitalised Escort but a spin near the start and a heavy landing soon after deranged the steering and they had to cruise to retirement through the first 21 mile special stage. Fairing even worse, Graham & Stuart Richards sufferes apalling luck when their Mini died at the start of the first stage and then refused to fire again. Things for this pair can only get better! Upholding club honour, Wayne Palmer and Garth Ralph coaxed the venerable ex Johnny Williams Rover 216 to 32nd overall despite taking a notional time on the first stage when Pat Jerome's Lancer caught fire. Hopefully things will go better for all these crews next time.

April Events News

Monday, 5 May 2008

Another late news post! Apologies, lots happening at the moment.

The month started well with the hillclimb entry filling to capacity (80) leving us wondering if a 2 day event or a second date might be a good idea for next year.

In the road rallying world Mike Jones & Robin 'of Cradoc' Moses contested 2 events. The first was the Rali Bro Teifi and despite the intrepid pair suffering from man flu they completed the day section tests well. Unfortunately the car then suffered from a bout of Pug flu and went no further. The Night Owl was the next outing, based in Aberystwyth this was a classic event and the pair hoped to collect some useful WAMC points. It was not to be however as various problems and a fail kept them in the lower reaches of the leader board. Better luck next event!

The autosolo was the other event organised by the club and on a Baltic day 17 crews turned up for a day of fun competition. Consistency was the name of the game and it was Phil Savage who was rapid and made no mistakes. No doubt the contest will hot up with some different quicker tests on may 11th.