Border Counties Rally

After missing the Border Counties in 2010 we had to come back in 2011 for what is one of our favourite rallies. The stages may have been thin on the ground but what was on offer was trully challenging. Spending the day in Wauchope Forest it was plain to see that David Bogie & Kevin Rae are a class act in their Evo IX, winning by 34 seconds. 2nd overall were Mike Faulkner & Peter Foy (Evo VI) which is an excellent result given the disadvantage of their older vehicle. Completing the podium a further 34 seconds back were Euan Thorburn & Paul Beaton (Evo IX).

Tour of Epynt

Whilst the rest of the rallying world changes the Tour of Epynt once again signalled the start of the MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. The overnight rain had made the stages slippery first thing but from the 2nd loop onwards the stages were effectively dry. The 2nd loop proved key in the rally too as Steve Simpson & Aled Davies (Impreza WRC) went fastest on the first stage and held on to a 0.1 second lead after stage 2 where Peter Lloyd & Martin Henry (Impreza WRC) had been quickest. Stage 3 went to Simpson and then Lloyd stopped in stage 4, before restarting a few minutes later, eventually retiring after stage 5. From there on in Simpson went fastest on every stage and took victory by over a minute.

Mid Wales Stages

The Mid Wales Stages moved from its traditional slot of July to March and became the opening round of the Dunlop/wonago.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship in 2011 and it did not fail to disappoint. The battle at the top end was always going to be about the classic entries and Nick Elliott & Chris Brooks set the initial pace in their Escort MkII. Close behind were Julian Reynolds and Ian Oakey (Escort MkII) and going into the final stage just 4 seconds separated the two crews, after Reynolds had narrowed the gap over the previous stages. As they went out of view on our point on Myherin, Reynolds was only one second faster then Elliott and looked set for 2nd place but somehow in the final few miles he pulled out another 4 seconds to win by just a second! A fantastic end to the opening round.

Malcolm Wilson Rally

Round 2 of the BTRDA championship saw the crews head to the Lake District for what would prove to be a gripping battle. Fastest out of the box were Hugh Hunter & Andy Marchbank (Focus WRC) who set fastest times over the first two stages taking a healthy lead into the first Greystoke stage. Sadly the gearbox gave up in Greystoke and Hunter retired from what was a very promising position. Taking over in the lead with fastest time on stage 3 was Andrew Burton & Robin Kellard (Peugeot Cosworth). Burton went into Grizedale with a 12 second lead over Charlie Payne & Craig Thorley (Focus WRC) and came out with a 4 second lead over Roger Chilman & Andrew Sankey (Impreza WRC).