FEBRUARY 2006

RALLYE SUNSEEKER

Neil & Nick on the Promenade Friday evening

The 2006 MSA National Gravel Championship kicked off at the weekend with the Bournemouth based Rallye Sunseeker which consisted of nearly 70 miles of competitive action.

The 76 competitors took part in two special stages in darkness around the promenade on Friday evening, followed by another thirteen stages in the forests around the South Coast on Saturday.

The event was won by Llandrindod Wells’s Craig Middleton and Robin Hernaman in their WRC Hyundai Accent X18.

Over twenty starters failed to finish for a variety of reasons but Ludlow Castle Motor Club’s only representative on the event, Neil Weaver, had a trouble free day and once again proved his ability to beat much more powerful machinery.

Neil, co-driven by Nick Thornton, brought the Vauxhall Corsa home in 24th place overall, first in his class by an amazing 24 minutes and 1st 2 two-wheel drive car.

Another fine performance by Neil, one of LCMC’s rising rally drivers to watch for the future.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS

PHOTO by RALLY ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY

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See Gallery for Pictures of Dinner Presentation

GET CONNECTED ! WYDEAN FOREST RALLY 2006

The very first Round of the 2006 Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Series took place last Saturday, starting and finishing at Chepstow Racecourse with another six special stages taking place in the woods of the Forest of Dean.

The Get Connected ! Wyedean Stages Rally had a full 180 cars entry and the rally started off in sunshine but the day was very cold. The crews had to tackle just under 45 miles of competitive action and the eventual winners were Jon Ingram and Ian Allsop in their Ford Focus RS.

Ludlow Castle Motor Club was well represented on the event and the very first car off the start line was club member Neil Weaver, co-driven by Nick Thornton.

Neil, in the Vauxhall Corsa, was competing in the Xpec Motorsport 1400 section of the event which had nearly 60 entries and ran in front of the Open category.

Neil once again showed his rally driving prowess by winning the 1400 section and finishing 30th o/a in front of much more powerful machinery.

The highest placed LCMC member in the Open category was the winner of the club’s recent focus 3 Gravel Sprint, Shaun Gardener in his TNT Tyres ( Ludlow ) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V.

Shaun, co-driven by fellow club member Ben Innes, managed to finish 5th o/a in spite of being hampered by an engine misfire most of the day.

A few seconds behind Shaun and Ben were Roger Chilman Jnr and Andrew Sankey ( 2005 BTRDA Gold Star Champions ) in 6th place o/a in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V1.

The next two LCMC members to finish were also not separated by a great deal.

Simon Rogers, 21st o/a in his Ford Escort Cosworth was closely followed by Andrew and Shane Bowen who brought the G3 Escort home in 22nd place and 1st in Class B12.

The “Flying Farmer”, Dave Brick, co-driven by Rob Woodhouse, brought his Mark 2 Escort across the finish line 28th o/a.

31st place was taken by Gordon Davies in the Opel Manta, with Alex Allingham in the Subaru Impreza in 39th position and 1st in class N4. An excellent result for Alex who started the event at car number 72.

Another fine performance by the young team of Henri Grehan and Chris Ridge who started at car 88 and finished in 50th position in the Plaslime Mark 2 Escort.

With the clutch of their Opel Manta slipping all day ( plus a couple of spins ! ) Adrian Allen and Mike Wilding did well to finish in 71st place.

The last LCMC member to finish was John Reed, co-driven by Chris Hands, in his Mark2 Escort taking 102nd place o/a.

An excellent day’s rallying for the motor club with every member who started getting to the finish.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS

Results from the Forest of Dean Get Connected! Wyedean Forest Rally

DOUBLE WINDFALL FOR AIR AMBULANCE

Maurice Evans, fund raiser for the County Air Ambulance, was invited to collect a cheque for £200 at the recent monthly meeting of Ludlow Castle Motor Club at the Salwey Arms Woofferton.

The £200 donation was raised at last month’s focus 3 Gravel Sprint organised by the motor club and this was all Maurice was expecting to collect.

To his surprise and delight he was also presented with another cheque for the County Air Ambulance, this one for £450 raised from LCMC’s rally held last October at Ditton Priors Camp, near Bridgnorth.

This second cheque was presented at the request of Viscount Boyne of Burwarton Estate Company, owners of Ditton Priors, who has presented another cheque for £450 raised by the event to Cleobury North Church.

REPORT & PHOTO by KEITH GLUYAS

STARS OF THE FUTURE CHAMPION 2005

Ludlow Castle Motor Club’s rising star driver, James Wozencroft, acquired yet another prize for his performance in rallying when he picked up the BTRDA Stross Rally Trophy.

This trophy was presented to James at the recent BTRDA Club awards ceremony for best rallying performance by a BTRDA member in 2005.

James, co-driven by Robert Fagg, had already picked up 2nd overall in the 2005 Silkolene 1400 Championship, pipped for 1st overall by fellow LCMC member, George Thomas and closely followed in 3rd position by yet another LCMC member Neil Weaver.

The highest accolade picked up by James was for his 5 wins out of 5 events on the 2005 BRC Stars of the Future Challenge which took place within Britain’s top rally championship, The British Rally Championship.

As a result of his outstanding performance on the 2005 BRC, James became 2005 BRC Stars of the Future Champion. He will leave behind the Suzuki Ignis 1400 used last year and move up to a Suzuki Super 1600 for Suzuki GB to compete on selected 2006 BRC events, all paid for as part of his prize.

James spent last weekend in Sweden watching the World Rally Championship Round with the Peugeot 205s and is currently learning to drive on ice on the frozen lakes of Sweden.

Keep an eye out for James in 2006, his successful career in rallying is just beginning.

James would like to thank his sponsors for last year, Ludlow’s Charlton Arms and Church Inn for all the support they have given him.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS