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coracle

 

BILL GWYNNE RALLYSCHOOL CORACLE STAGES 2010
 
Hosted jointly by Carmarthen and Epynt Motor Clubs, the 2010 Coracle Stages Rally was run on Sunday 25th July, and welcomed the Bill Gwynne Rally Schoolastitle sponsor. Thanks to the enthusiastic co-operation of the Bennett-Evans family, the rally was once again held at the superb Sweet Lamb Motorsport Complex just outside Llangurig Wales. The event offered competitors over 40 stage miles held on gravel, with jumps, hairpins and two water splashes to contend with.
Among the 65 crews competing were Ludlow Castle Motor Club Members Duncan Edwards/Colin Stevens (Edwards Rallying/The Embroidery shop Tenbury wells) and Matt Basford/Simon Stevens (Kyre Construction)
It was a misty start to the day with low cloud causing visibility problems on the first stage.
The first LCMC members through the stage were Edwards/Stevens (Escort Mk2) who appeared to be going well, but were struggling for grip on the wet gravel. Overnight rain meant it was hard going for the two wheel drive cars, but by the end of stage one the weather was getting better and the roads were drying out.
At service Edwards/Stevens were lying in 32nd place despite broken steering. A loose brake disc and broken clutch cable added to the drama of their day, but this didn’t stop them climbing the leader board to 30th overall going into stage 7, the longest of the day. Edwards/Stevens lead the AB Motorsport Heart of England Rally Championship at the moment with two events to go.
Basford/Stevens also had an eventful day. They suffered fuel starvation problems, causing the car to stop on tight right hand corners losing them a lot of time. They were using the rally as a shakedown (practice) for the Woodpecker Rally in Ludlow at the start of September. The pair were consistent on the stages, gradually gaining places and lying in 40th place going into the last stage, a very reasonable finish considering their problems.
 
Report by Russell Kenhard & Keith Gluyas
Photos by kentonphotografix-photography
 
drystone road rally

Mellings fight back takes class win

 

Mid-Derbyshire Motor Club ltd once again hosted this year’s Drystone Road Rally, which ran on the 17th/18th July.

Local crew and Ludlow Castle Motor Club members Simon Mellings/Max Freeman competed on this event which was a round of the Association of West Midland Motor Club’s 2010 Road Rally Championship. Mellings/Freeman are not only contenders, but are fighting for first place honours.

The pair had a trouble free run all night and some competitive driving by Mellings saw him take the class win, beating other championship rivals.

With this result, they now move back up to joint second in the Championship with four more rounds to go. The next round takes in the Welsh lanes, classic road rally territory, on the 7th/8th August, for which we wish them good luck. Simon would like to thank McConnels of Ludlow for their continued support and Eric Weaver (Weaver Motorsport) for the preparation of the car.

 

Report Russell Kenhard (kentonphotografix-photography)

 
 
quinton

 

QUINTON’S OPENING STAGE IS A WHOPPER!
 
The Quinton Stages Rally, based once again in Llandovery at the Castle hotel, took place on Saturday 10th July. The rally used local forests on and around the Epynt military ranges. This year though, organising team Quinton Motor Club put on a whopper of an opening stage.
In order to celebrate the 30th running of this event the first stage started in Halfway forest went over the Epynt Ranges and along Route 60 to the finish. This long fast stage meant that clubmen could tackle the 11.36 mile stage used on the World Rally Championship round, Wales Rally GB.
“There has been a call in BTRDA circles recently for the opportunity to tackle longer stages,” said Clerk of the Course, Neil Cross. “Our response to that was to offer an exclusive chance for clubmen to take on the challenge only previously available for competitors in the UK’s round of the World Championship. On previous Quinton events these two classic stages have presented enough of a challenge for anyone - even run separately. But by closing the tarmac road at Dixies for the morning, this year’s Quinton Stages gave competitors what we believe is the chance of a lifetime to take on the full 18.28kms that have established such a reputation on Rally GB.”
This year the rally formed the 6th round of the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Series, a round of the AB Motorsport Heart of England AWMMC Rally Championship, the ANWCC Forest Rally and Historic Stage Rally Championships, the In Car Services Welsh Clubman’s Forest Rally Championship and the HRCR Historic Stage Rally Championship, to name just a few.
Ludlow Castle Motor Club had a strong field of competitors entered, but Shaun Gardener was forced to pull out at the last minute with turbo problems in the TNT Tyres Mitsubishi EVO. That meant the first LCMC members on the road were Roger Chilman/Andrew Sankey in the group N Subaru backed by Alexander and Duncan ltd/Teme Valley Tractors. They got off to an amazing start, laying 3rd overall, just 11 seconds off leader Andrew Burton (Peugeot Cosworth) and Steve Perez (Focus WRC). Chilman held his position up to stage 4 when he lost it to Belton (Subaru WRC) by just 4 seconds. With the retirement of Burton on stage 5 and an extremely good standard of driving Chilman/Sankey were now 2nd overall behind leader Perez. They held this position going into the final stage, on track for a good haul of championship points, only to be let down by the fuel pump breaking which ended their rally.
Jamie Anderson and Ludlow’s Jon Scott put in a late entry to the event in their EVO 8, after the purchase of a new gearbox which was fitted at the last minute, They had a few dramas on the day as Scott never had time to study the pace notes properly beforehand. They did get into a nice pace though and were consistent on the stages until their rally ended on stage 6 with the new gearbox breaking. Scott would like to thank www.buttonbow.com for his backing.
LCMC members in the AB Motorsport Heart of England Championship section of this rally were Tim Cains/Richard May in their Peugeot 309. Desperate for a good finish on this event to ensure their position in the Championship, Cains had to stay on the pace but also stay out of trouble. He was definitely on the pace on the first stage as he caught the car in front, but was hampered with poor visibility in the dusty conditions. Cains gradually gained positions throughout the day, but on stage 5 his rally ended as he went into a ditch right near the finish.
Duncan Edwards/Colin Stevens (Edwards Rallying, Escort Mk2), backed by the Embroidery shop in Tenbury Wells, were competing in the same Championship and had a steady run all day, moving up the leader board. Driving for a finish and valuable championship points which will now give him a good chance of winning this championship, he finished 30th overall and 5th in class.
LCMC members Adrian Allen/Michael Wilding (Opel Manta) finished in 26th place overall 3rd in class.
Overall winner of the rally by 1 min 29 sec was Steve Perez
Report and Photo’s Russell Kenhard (kentonphotografix-Photography)
 
Pacemaker Road Rally

 

Pacemaker Road Rally

10th & 11th July 2010

 Last weekend 2 crews from Ludlow Castle Motor took part in the Pacemaker Road Rally which started and finished in Bishops Castle.
A total of 75 starters lined up to tackle the very popular event organised by Knighton Motor club, but only 50 made it to the finish after 120 miles of challenging route for both driver and navigator.
The highest LCMC finishers were Richard Preece & Anthony Gluyas. Once again they used a completely standard Ford Puma as their regular car is awaiting further mechanical repairs. The event started well for them as after the wood yard section they were only 7 seconds behind the eventual winner of the rally. The rest of the night went well with only a few minor mishaps, nudging bales whilst negotiating the tight tricky farm yards. Other than that they had a good night and finished 16th o/a and 4th in the Expert class.
Simon Mellings was the other LCMC member competing and he made it to the finish in 28th place O/A. Mellings was also the 3rd West Midland Association Championship contender and this finish moves him closer to 2nd place in the driver’s standings.
The rally had taken its toll on the car though, as the sump had been split and had leaked out all the engine oil, but thankfully this didn’t affect the crew’s result. Mellings was also using a new navigator, Max Freeman.
Simon would like to thank McConnell’s Ludlow for their continued support.
Mellings is competing again this weekend on the Derbyshire based Drystone rally. Preece & Gluyas will next be out on the Mercian rally hopefully with the restored Opel Kadett.  
 
Report by Anthony Gluyas
 
Rail Bro Ddyfi

 

Rali Bro Ddyfi 

5th & 6th June 2010

Only one crew from Ludlow Castle Motor Club took part in the Bro Ddyfi Road Rally on the 5th / 6th June 
LCMC members, Richard Preece and Anthony Gluyas, made the trip in a Ford Puma to the Machynlleth based event. This was organised by Dovey Valley Motor Club and had a full entry of 65 cars.
The 130 mile route used some of the areas classic lanes, tracks and sections of Dyfi forest.
Preece/Gluyas were using a standard Puma for the first time as their regular car (Opel Kadett) was being overhauled after the run of recent retirements.
The event started well for them and they dropped limited time. By the time the crew arrived at the petrol halt (Dinas Mawddwy), they were laying 22nd overall, despite Gluyas feeling unwell.    
They continued into the second half of the event with Gluyas still not feeling 100% to face more forestry, and a section that ran alongside Lake Vyrnwy. This proved to be very challenging.
After 130 tough miles Preece/Gluyas brought the Puma home in 16th place overall and 1st West Midland Championship contenders. The result was a welcome boost to their championship hopes with Gluyas moving up to 4th in the navigator’s standings.
The next event for Preece/Gluyas is the Pacemaker Road Rally in July where they hope to follow up with another good result.
 
REPORT BY KEITH GLUYAS
 
 
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Ludlow Castle Motor CLub Ltd Annual General Meeting 12th August 2010 at Ludlow Town Football Club.

 
Copyright 2009 Ludlow Castle Motor Club Ltd.