Grizedale Stages

The delights of Grizedale forest were the destination for our final event of the year. Once the seeded entry list was completed everyone expected a victory for the Focus WRC of Paul Bird & Kirsty Riddick but they still had to deliver. They did this with applomb and their final victory margin was just shy of two minutes. Alex Allingham & Mark Glennerster (Impreza) took second place by just 10 seconds from the Focus WRC of Mike O’Brien & Patrick Walsh. The historic section was won by Nick Woodman & Simon Mills (Escort MkII) whilst 1400 honours went to the Nova of Graham Gaskell & Dave Gibson.

RAC Rally

Another epic 3 days in Northern England and Southern Scotland was had by all, even if the weather conditions proved a little trying. Now in it’s 6th year the Roger Albert Clark had it’s sixth different winner as Gwyndaf Evans took a comfortable victory, only letting the pace ease in the final two stages. He was co-driven in the Viking Motorsport Escort MkII by the 2008 winning co-driver John Millington. Behind them was an impressive Jeremy Easson & Alun Cook in their Escort MkI, who kept the car on the road and out of any major dramas. The main battle on the final day was for 3rd place. Paul Griffiths & Sam Collis (Escort MkII) just held on by 3 seconds from the hard charging Steve Bannister & Kevin Rae (Escort MkII).

Premier Rally

Our penultimate outing of the year saw us head to Mansfield for the Premier Rally. The rally started much later than usual ensuring that the second half of the rally would be in the dark. This was an interesting variation to the rally which allowed a more leisurely start to the day. Michael O’Brien & Patrick Walsh took a dominant victory in their Focus WRC from the similar but older model of Robert Swann & Darren Garrod. Completing the podium were Phil Brown & Andy Bull (Impreza).

Away for a while….!

Well things will start going a bit quiet on 90Right for the next 6 weeks as we are away down in the Southern Hemisphere, visiting New Zealand. Sadly no motorsport is planned whilst we are away and we will be missing some of our end of season favourites but we should be back for the Haye Park Gravel Sprint, (Saturday 23rd January).

Citroën C4 WRC wins rally car of the year crown at Autosport awards

The Citroën C4 WRC has scooped the Rally Car of the Year crown at the prestigious Autosport Awards – for the second year in a row.  This follows a fifth Manufacturers’ title for the Citroën Total World Rally Team and an unprecedented sixth consecutive World Rally Championship for Sébastien Loeb – secured in dramatic fashion by a single point on the final day of the 2009 season.

Cristofaro and Moore triumph at Teesside

Nick Cristofaro and Janice Moore took their second victory in as many weekends with a dominant performance at the Teesside Autodrome F1000 rally where they claimed fastest time on seven of the events ten stages to top the leaderboard.

After their win in the Hall Trophy Junior Rally hopes were high for another good result at the Teesside event where the Formula 1000 Junior drivers (aged 14-16) would compete on the same stages as the Senior F1000 crews.

Cookson ‘wrestles’ to seventh on Grizedale Stages Rally

On his first event in his new N15-specification Subaru Impreza, Saltash rally driver Alan Cookson emerged from today’s Coppermines Grizedale Stages rally with a superb seventh place despite a problem late on with a puncture.

Bird wins Grizedale Stages at last!

After nine years of waiting, Penrith rally driver Paul Bird finally got his hands on the winner’s trophy with a comprehensive start to finish victory in today’s Coniston-based Coppermines Grizedale Stages Rally in his native Lake District.

Deutsch makes connections at Autosport Engineering

The two new Deutsch products which made their debut at last January’s Autosport Engineering have already proved highly successful. The radical System 30 – which won the Best Technical Innovation in Autosport Engineering Award – was demonstrated at the event to Formula One teams and leading harness suppliers. It has since proved its worth as a solution for using 30-gauge wire in areas where it could not survive before and is now about to be used for the first time on a Formula One car.

David Brabham confirmed for Autosport International

Le Mans 24 Hours winner and American Le Mans Series Champion David Brabham is confirmed as one of the star guests at Autosport International, to be held on 14-17 January 2010, at the NEC, Birmingham.

Fans will be able to meet the sportscar great – son of triple Formula One Champion Sir Jack Brabham – at the show, where he will discuss his amazing 2009 season, which saw him win two major events. In June, David secured victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Peugeot 908 HDi, along with Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene. In October, he was crowned American Le Mans Series Champion, driving the Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX02A, alongside Scott Sharp.

Season Ends on Positive Note for Edwards

Matt Edwards’ 2009 season had seemingly drawn to a close with a disappointing result on Trackrod Rally Yorkshire back in September in his Fiesta ST, but despite being dealt a severe dose of bad luck in losing out on the BRC Challenge title he seemed favourite to take, the GPM, High Hill Ford, and Silkolene 710 supported driver now has something to celebrate for his year-long efforts.

Citroën Racing and Red Bull give wings to Kimi Räikkönen in 2010

Since its establishment in 2008, the association between Citroën Racing and Red Bull has already reaped world titles for Citroën, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in 2008 and 2009*, and the ties between the two companies are to be stepped up for next season. In addition to the Citroën Total World Rally Team-entered C4 WRCs of Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo, a second team will also now run two C4 WRCs for Kimi Räikkönen and Sébastien Ogier in the colours of Red Bull and Citroën.