Andy Burton faced a race against time to get his car ready for the event following on from the engine failure on the Somerset Stages Rally in April. He and co-driver Shelley Rogerson missed round three of the championship in the Isle of Man earlier this month as the car was being rebuilt, but returned with a new engine for the Severn Valley and took maximum points.
Main topic of conversation with many ANCRO crews was that they were still trying to piece together their night in Colours after the RBS International Manx Rally. need we say more.
After his debut on the Isle of Man last month, Irishman Stephen Moore ventured into the classic Welsh forests for the first time and admitted he enjoyed Radnor.
It was co-driver David Curtis' (car 36) birthday on the day of the rally.
Jon Ingram thinks he may have found the key to success in rallying. On forgetting his balaclava and gloves on a stage on the Isle of Man on which he set the fastest time he admitted that "I might drive naked." Everyone was pleased when he turned up to the first control fully clothed.
Icelander Daniel Sigurdarson made a welcome return to the championship following on from his accident on the Isle of Man in which he broke a bone in his right hand. He and his team spent the previous two weeks rebuilding the car with help from Quick Motorsport. They finished preparing it at 8pm on Friday night before the rally and had no time to test it. He admitted he drove a little cautious and his hand was a little painful for the first three stages. He was reunited with his younger sister Asta Sigurdardottir in the co-driver's seat for the event but unfortunately the pair didn't finish after the transmission broke on stage five.
Other retirements from the rally included Neil McCance and Graham Hopewell who went out in Radnor. Daniel Barry and Mark Bowens also failed to finish after they went off also and Jonny Greer/Jonny Hart also bowed out on the final stage after going OTL in their Lancer.
David Bogie was lucky to make it to the finish in Builth Wells. On the last stage his temperature gauge was in the red and he had to keep stopping on the road sections to top it up with water that they had inside the car.
They Said What.?
"I'm too old and I need to retire." - Jon Ingram thinks about registering the zimmer frame.
"I'm too slow..." - John Lloyd already has.
"I'm a bit stiff and slow out of the blocks these days..." Rod Bennett - Bloody hell, this series is getting to be like a day out with SAGA.
"My arse is sore, I swear that when they wash the car, the seats shrink." Neil McCance needs larger underpants, apparently.
"I'm no mechanic but I know it's not right." The intuitive Marcus Dodd.
"We had no spins but I'm just sweaty." Hot prospect Stephen Petch.
"When you see cars off you become more sensible." Peter Egerton gets a reality check.
"Sheep are the problem..." We are getting increasingly worried about Andy Burton.
"We had some heart-stopping moments and worried some spectators..." Michael Curtis gets in on the worrying act.
"It's all going better. It's because I rubbed my nipple before." Nik Elsmore has some strange rituals nowadays.
"I had a few 'Oh dear God' moments in the last couple of stages." The very reverend Henry Richardson contemplates a career change.
Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship Positions after Round 4
(full details at www.gravelrally.co.uk)
Overall Driver
1 Jon Ingram - 88
2 Andy Burton - 63
3 Marcus Dodd - 61
4 Nik Elsmore - 54
5 Stephen Moore - 53
6 Daniel Barry - 53
Overall Co Driver
1 Ian Allsop - 88
2 Shelley Rogerson - 63
3 Andrew Bargery - 61
4 Tony McHugh - 53
5 Mark Bowens - 53
6 Martin Brady - 51
Production Cup Driver
1 Nik Elsmore - 75
2 David Bogie - 65
3 Richard Cathcart - 65
4 Daniel Barry - 64
5 Keith Cronin - 61
6 Neil McCance - 59
Production Cup Co Driver
1 Kevin Rae - 65
2 Martin Brady - 65
3 Mark Bowens - 64
4 Paul Wakely - 56
5 Chris Davies - 47
6 Greg Shinnors - 45
Junior Driver
1 David Bogie - 40
2 Daniel Barry - 39
3 Keith Cronin - 37
4 Stephen Petch - 31
5 Kit Leigh - 26
6 Jonny Greer - 10
Junior Co Driver
1 Shelley Rogerson - 45
2 Chris Davies - 34
3 Jonny Hart - 15
4 Dai Roberts - 12
Subaru Group N Trophy
1 Jody Bowcott & Steve McPhee - 15
2WD Challenge Driver
1 Nathan Crewe - 60
2 Rod Bennett - 44
3 Andrew Coley - 34
4 Kit Leigh - 27
2WD Challenge Co Driver
1 John Connor - 60
2 Henry Richardson - 44
3 Dan Pearce - 34
4 Tim Leigh - 27
PRIMA Motorsports Old Stagers Award
1 Harry Dodd - 54
2 Rod Bennett - 49
3 Brian Bell - 15
Class N4 Driver
1 David Bogie - 35
2 Richard Cathcart - 35
3 Nik Elsmore - 35
4 Daniel Barry - 34
5 Keith Cronin - 31
6 Neil McCance - 29
Class N4 Co Driver
1 Kevin Rae - 35
2 Martin Brady - 35
3 Mark Bowens - 34
4 Paul Wakely - 26
5 Greg Shinnors - 25
6 Graham Hopewell - 19
Class A6 Driver
1 Rod Bennett - 54
2 Andrew Coley - 42
Class A6 Co driver
1 Henry Richardson - 54
2 Dan Pearce - 42
Class A8 Driver
1 Jon Ingram - 57
2 Stephen Moore - 39
3 Charlie Payne - 12
4 Steve Perez - 10
Class A8 Co Driver
1 Ian Allsop - 57
2 Tony McHugh - 39
3 Craig Thorley - 12
4 Howard Davies - 10
Class B9
1 Nathan Crewe/John Connor - 60
Class B11
1 Kit Leigh/Tim Leigh - 45
Class B13 Driver
1 Marcus Dodd - 39
2 Andy Burton - 37
3 Stephen Petch - 30
4 Julian Reynolds - 25
5 Roger Duckworth - 24
6 Harry Dodd - 20
Class B13 Co Driver
1 Andrew Bargery - 39
2 Shelley Rogerson - 37
3 Michael Wilkinson - 30
4 Patrick Walsh - 25
5 Mark Broomfield - 24
6 Richard Skinner - 22
Mitsubishi Ralliart Evo Challenge
Bogie Bounces Back To Record Second Evo Challenge Victory Of The Season
David Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae recorded their second Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge victory of the season on this weekend's Severn Valley National Rally.
They took the lead on stage three when former front-runners Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors lost time, relegating them to third, whilst Richard Cathcart/Martin Brady finished second.
The rally started and finished at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells and featured seven timed special stages in forests on and around the Brecon Beacons.
Also a qualifying round of the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship, the event's 40-car entry featured 10 Evolution Challenge crews and, once again, it was a nail-biting battle for honours in the one-make series for production specification Mitsubishi Lancers.
Stage one, a 5.57-mile blast through the notorious Esgair Dafydd forest, set the scene for the rest of the day and showed just how fierce the competition is in this year's Evolution Challenge, when five cars stopped the clock on exactly the same second: Richard Cathcart, David Bogie, Daniel Barry, Neil McCance and Jonny Greer. However, it was Cronin that set the Mitsubishi pace by crossing the line five seconds quicker than anyone else, posting a time that was good enough to see him second overall!
It was McCance that went fastest on SS2 - the 9.5-miles of Crychan West - ahead of Cronin, which meant that at the first service halt the time sheets showed Cronin in front by three seconds from McCance, both saying they were finding it difficult to judge the right pace. Cathcart followed a further three seconds later and admitted that he was not feeling on top of things, with Bogie the same margin behind having decided to build up his pace gradually after his disappointing results in rounds two and three.
Shaken, but fortunately unscathed, Barry, Greer and Jonathan Sparks all reported heart-stopping visits to ditches in SS2, whilst Daniel Sigurdarson was just pleased to be competing, having spent the last three weeks in the UK, rather than his native Iceland, in order to rebuild his car after a big accident on the RBSI Manx Rally.
The most frustrating start was reserved for Miles Johnston, a problem with his car's rear differential, followed by a broken drive-shaft, causing him considerable time loss in the opening stages.
The third stage was to prove to be decisive: Not far from the start Cronin spun backwards into the scenery, squashing his car's exhaust pipe, which resulted in a loss of power throughout the 18-mile run through Radnor Forest. However, things were worse for McCance, who dropped his car into a ditch half way through the stage, bringing his rally to an abrupt halt.
In contrast, SS3 could not have gone better for Bogie who posted a time 14 seconds faster than the rest of the Evo Challenge field and catapulted himself into the lead by 10 seconds, ahead of Cathcart, Barry and Cronin - who had now dropped to fourth.
Four stages and a further 33 miles remained following the second service halt of the day. Now on a charge, Cronin won the first, which moved him back up to second place ahead of Barry and Cathcart, the three of them separated by less than one second!
Cronin also went on to win the next two, so that when cars lined-up to start the seventh and final stage, there was just four seconds between him and Bogie. Cathcart followed eight seconds later, a slender 0.1 second ahead of Barry who was getting worried about his car's engine temperature. It was shaping up to be a final stage show-down!
In full-attack mode, Bogie blasted through the 15 miles of Crychan Main only to find his car's temperature starting to rise as he reached the end of the stage. For Cronin it was his last hope to take the lead, but it was not to be, as his engine lost power, most likely a result of the restricted exhaust flow earlier in the day.
Now struggling to keep his temperature gauge out of the red, Barry slid off the road and damaged his Lancer too badly to continue, the outcome of which saw Cathcart come through to claim second place ahead of Cronin.
The final stage also saw the demise of Greer, good luck continuing to evade him when his car's throttle stuck open. Stopping to see if he could fix the problem, he finally managed to get the engine to rev at constant and more manageable 3000rpm, but by the time he got to the end of SS7, he found he had exceeded his maximum lateness.
But even after the last stage the drama continued, as reports came in that Bogie's car was seen stopped at the side of the road with steam coming out of the engine.
However, by topping up the radiator the young Scot was able to nurse his car back to Builth Wells to record his second Evolution Challenge victory of the season.
"What a rally!" said Bogie. "After winning the first round and then suffering disappointing results in rounds two and three, I'm chuffed to bits to finish in first place again. However, for a moment I didn't think I was going to do it when the car overheated on the drive back to the finish. But we made it and today's result has made all the difference to my championship hopes."
Behind the leading trio, Elsmore was satisfied with fourth place, as was Sparks with fifth, whereas Johnston's day got even more frustrating when he found he had to stop to change a puncture on the final stage.
Unfortunately, after all of his and his team's hard work, Sigurdarson's rally came to an end after stage five, when the cross-shaft in his car's transmission fractured. Philosophically, the Icelandic Rally Champion said afterwards that he had achieved the result he was looking for by getting his car to the event and not putting any dents in it this time around!
The outcome of the Severn Valley National Rally sees the chase for the Evolution Challenge title hotting up, with the top four drivers separated by just one point, Barry and Cathcart on 28 and Bogie and Elsmore on 27. The battle resumes on 19th July, when competitors return to Wales for round five, the Swansea Bay Rally.
The 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is backed by Mitsubishi Motors UK and Ralliart, with support from its associate sponsors: Pirelli tyres, Speedline Corse wheels, Sparco racewear, Performance Friction Brakes, Sunoco Race Fuels, ADR Motorsport, Walkinshaw Performance and PIAA lights, who sponsor the junior award for under 25 year old drivers.
Results
1 David Bogie (Dumfries)/Kevin Rae (Hawick) 1:07:14.9
2 Richard Cathcart (Enniskillen)/Martin Brady (Navan) 1:07:30.9
3 Keith Cronin (Cork)/Greg Shinnors (Limerick) 1:07:45.3
4 Nik Elsmore (Coleford)/Craig Drew (Bream) 1:08:10.3
5 Jonathan Sparks (Glastonbury)/Chris Davies (Abergavenny) 1:16:08.5
6 Miles Johnston (York)/Ian Bevan (Holywell) 1:16:55.4
Retirements
SS3 Neil McCance (Comber)/Graham Hopewell (Worcester) Accident
SS5 Daniel Sigurdarson (Iceland)/Asta Sigurdardottir (Iceland) Transmission
SS7 Daniel Barry (Enniskerry)/Mark Bowens (Cork) Accident
SS7 Jonathan Greer (Carryduff)/Jonny Hart (Moneyrea) Throttle/OTL
Championship Positions after round four
Drivers
1 Daniel Barry 28
2 Richard Cathcart 28
3 David Bogie 27
4 Nik Elsmore 27
5 Keith Cronin 24
6 Neil McCance 23
7 Miles Johnston 13
8 Jonathan Sparks 12
9 Seb Ling 8
10 Jonny Greer 7
11 Daniel Sigurdarson 6
12 David Meredith 5
13 Simon Harraway 4
Co-drivers
1 Mark Bowens 28
2 Martin Brady 28
3 Kevin Rae 27
4 Paul Wakely 20
5 Greg Shinnors 20
6 Graham Hopewell 15
7 Anthony O'Connail 12
8 Chris Davies 12
9 Craig Drew 11
10 Aled Rees 8
11 Ian Bevan 7
12 Jonny Hart 7
13 Isak Gudjonsson 6
14 David Roberts 5
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