Rallye de Wallonie

A truly excellent few days in the Namur area of Belgium saw Kevin Abbring & Pieter Tsjoen (208 T16) take victory by just over 3/4 of a minute from Ghislain de Mevius & Johan Jalet (Fabia R5) with Vincent Verschueren & Veronique Hostens (Fabia R5) just over 7 seconds further back, completing the podium. Abbring had been coming under pressure during Saturday from Verschueren who had got the gap down to just over 10 seconds but then a minute dropped late on saw Abbring manage the gap through the final day to take victory. De Mevius drove excellent and picked up places as others faltered whilst Verschueren only just took 3rd place by 0.5 seconds from Guillame Dilley & Andre Leyh (i20 R5).

Rallye Salamandre

A superb trip to Belgium for the Rallye Salamandre saw another fine display from Florian Gonon & Michel Horgnies (Escort MkI). Gonon took victory at the death by 6 seconds from Paul Lietaer & Marc Noppe (Escort MkII) after Lietaer had been leading for most of the event. Christophe Jacob & Isabelle Regnier (Escort MkII) had been right up their in the first loop of stages but slipped back as the event progressed but still took a solid podium finish. Top British Historic crew were Darren Moon & John Connor (Escort MkII) in 5th place with Simon & Alister Crook (Escort MkII) the highest finishing RAC championship crew.

World Endurance Championship – Silverstone 6hrs

The 2017 WEC season started at Silverstone with victory for Anthony Davidson/Sebastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima (Toyota TS050 Hybrid). They only took the lead in the final 15 minutes of the race after a tight battle throughout the six hour race with the Porsche 919 Hybrid of Timo Bernhard/Earl Bamber/Brendon Hartley. Completing the podium were Neel Jani/Nick Tandy/Andre Lotterer (Porsche 919 Hybrid). In the classes LMP2 was won by Ho-Pin Tung/Oliver Jarvis/Thomas Laurent (Jackie Chan DC Racing – Oreca/Gibson), GTE Pro went to Andy Priaulx/Harry Tincknell/Pipo Derani (Ford Chip Ganassi – Ford GT) and GTE Am was won by Weng Sun Mok/Keita Sawa/Matt Griffin (Clearwater Racing – Ferrari 488 GTE).

European Le Mans Series – Silverstone 4hrs

After missing the ELMS race in 2016 we were back at Silverstone for the full weekend and the 4 hour race proved to be dramatic to the end. Will Owen/Hugo de Saedeleer/Filipe Albuquerque (United Autosports – Ligier/Gibson) took a last gasp victory from Memo Rojas/Ryo Hirakawa/Leo Roussel (G-Drive Racing – Oreca/Gibson) who were struggling on old tyres at the end of the race. Dennis Andersen/Anders Fjordbach (High Class Racing – Dallara/Gibson) completed the podium. In LMP3 John Falb/Sean Rayhall (United Autosports – Ligier/Nissan) took victory with the GTE victory going to Salih Yoluc/Euan Hankey/Nicki Thiim (TF Sport – Aston Martin Vantage V8).

Alan Healy Memorial Stages

The Alan Healy saw Ian Woodhouse & Paul Rowland (Escort MkII) crowned 2017 Motorsport News Circuit Rally Champions after a considered drive to 5th place overall. With Paul Swift absent and Steve Quigley (Clio) experiencing problems it was all about getting to the finish. The battle for victory was intense and Jamie Elston & Shaun Ridlington (Impreza) were fastest on the opening stage before David Tinn & Giles Dykes (Satria Neo) took the lead on stage 2, with a fastest time. Stage 3 saw their chances of a hat-trick slip away as they dropped 35 seconds. Elston regained the lead but now it was Jonny Milner, co-driven by his daughter Katie, who moved their Celica in to the lead on stage 4.

Somerset Stages Rally

Fine weather ensured fast action on Exmoor for the Somerset Stages Rally, as 95 crews left the start in Minehead. Stephen Petch & Michael Wilkinson (Fiesta WRC) were fastest on the opening stage and with a further 3 fastest stage times in the first 6 stages, they held a 6 second lead over Callum Black & Elliott Edmondson (Fiesta R5+). The crews then moved to the sealed surface and the two runs up the Porlock toll road saw Black claw back the 6 seconds to draw level before the final loop of gravel stages to come. Petch was fastest on the first four stages (of six) and importantly Black dropped the best part of 20 seconds on Chargot 3.

Rally North Wales

Once again Rally North Wales saw wet weather start the day before it was all change in the afternoon. Fastest times on all six stages saw Osian Pryce & Dale Furniss (Fiesta R5) take victory by over a minute. Euan Thorburn & Paul Beaton (Fiesta R5) were 2nd fastest on all the stages to secure 2nd place with Dylan Davies & Llion Williams (Impreza) just over 50 seconds further back, completing the podium. Nick Elliott & Dave Price (Escort MkII) dominated the historic part of the rally taking 6th overall in the process.