Regulations out for 2011 Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally

The annual Specsavers Christmas Stages Rally will once again take place at Croft Circuit this year, in its traditional slot in between Christmas and New Year, on bank holiday Tuesday 27th December 2011.

Once again sponsored by the Middlesbrough branch of Specsavers, Northallerton Automobile Club’s flagship event will once again see a top quality entry be assembled for the day-long action in front of another bumper crowd at the North East’s premier motorsport facility.

MEM Malton Forest Rally preview

An excellent entry of 60 cars will line up at Pickering Showground on Sunday 6th November for the 9th running of the Malton Forest Rally. Sponsored by MEM PROTON, who prepare Proton S2000 rally cars for the Asia Pacific and IRC championships, this is the 14th year that proprietor Chris Mellors, a former British rally champion, has supported Malton Motor Club events.

The event is divided into two categories, with Historic cars running 10 minutes in front of the main field. Leading the Historics away will be last years winner Tim Pearcy from Harrogate in his Mk II Escort followed by Charlie Taylor from Northallerton, current leader in the Motoscope Northern Historic Championship.

WLE Rally Time Trial

The second running of this event and our first visit started with typical autumnal conditions in Sweet Lamb. The day improved though as the action continued, which saw Dan Humphreys & Jonny ‘Tad’ Evans (Evo VI) take victory by just 5 seconds. But as the day wore on Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper (Escort Cosworth) clawed back 17 seconds over the 3 runs in the afternoon to make the event a close run thing. A comfortable third were Bob Morgan & Martin George (Impreza).

A fantastic Bernardo Sousa only surrenders to bad luck

At his first ever race with the Peugeot, in a rally that he did not know, the young Portuguese driver had managed to reach the top of the overall standings, after a cautious start to the race aiming to become familiar with the car, the roads and the team, three elements which he met for the first time. Unfortunately bad luck, in the form of a mechanical failure, caused his withdrawal after 6 of the 17 special stages, while he was leading the race by over a minute.

Foreign challenge sets up Croft Rallycross Grand Prix

The best of British drivers will have to contend with a notable foreign challenge when the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix takes place at Croft Circuit next weekend as over 70 drivers will converge on the North Yorkshire circuit for the two-day extravaganza.

Motorsport legend Per Eklund from Sweden will be behind the wheel of the ex Will Gollop Peugeot 306 and will line up against Finnish driver Silvo Viitanen (ERC Fiesta Mk7 SuperCar). The two Scandinavians will take on the likes of European Championship contender Liam Doran (Citroen C4) and 2011 British Champion Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta) as part of a healthy 16-strong SuperCar line up.

“Triplete”! – Luca Rossetti European Champion

Luca Rossetti and Matteo Chiarcossi, with their Abarth Grande Punto S2000, earn at the Rallye du Valais the mathematical certainty of being European champions for the third time, the first crew to do so in the history of the continental series. The European Championship is the international motorsport series with the longest tradition, the first edition dates back to 1953 while the World Championship is held since 1973.

Classic Ambassador cars now available for Rally of Rajasthan

Compete in the ultimate Indian way, in a classic Hindustan Ambassador

H&H Classic Rallies has announced that it has a small number of the classic Indian Hindustan Ambassadors available on a first-come/first-served basis for the 2012 Rally of Rajasthan (23 Feb to 13 March).

With just a damage waiver to pay over and above the entry fee, it makes the iconic Ambi, as it’s known in India, a bargain rally car for this event. Known for its strength and ruggedness, the Ambi is a natural choice for those without their own Classic to take on this event.

Croft circuit revved up for spectacular R.A.C Rally

- Event is one of Europe’s very best historic car rallies
- Iconic cars from Sixties, Seventies & Eighties to star
- Twilight stage is “icing on the cake” says circuit boss

BHRC category and class winners confirmed

The major winners for the 2011 Dunlop/WONAGO MSA British Historic Rally Championship have been confirmed. Following the cancellation of the Isle of Man Historic Rally, due to start today (Friday 28 October), the major awards were decided over seven events and it was David Stokes and Guy Weaver who completed back-to-back titles in their Ford Escort Mk1.

Category victories went to Rikki Proffitt (Porsche 911), Andrew Siddall (Ford Escort Mk1) and Will Onions (Ford Escort Mk2). Meanwhile, the co-driver titles for the three categories fell to Geraldine McBride, Carl Williamson and Dave Williams. Despite ending their season with a spectacular accident on the Ulster Rally in August, Onions and Williams still claimed category three when their nearest rivals Tim Pearcey and Neil Shanks retired with gearbox failure on the final round, the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally. That left Pearcey and Shanks just 1.5 points behind.

Bharij acquires new car for 2012 title attack

Former Pirelli Star Drive finalist Raaji Singh Bharij has acquired a new rally car in order to challenge for the Kenyan National Rally Championship title in 2012 and is eagerly looking forward to using the vehicle, a Mitsubishi Evo 9, in anger next year.

Bharij recently sold his Subaru Impreza N10, a car with which he completed the 2011 KNRC Safari Rally in fifth position, and has since been a frustrated spectator.