OCTOBER 2006

Ludlow Castle Motor Club
Ditton Priors Stages Rally

Ludlow Castle Motor Club recently held its second Stage Rally this year at Ditton Priors Camp, near Bridgnorth, with LCMC members filling the top three places at the finish.
The event was a round of the Jam Motorsport Heart of England Rally Championship, the CMSG HRCR Clubmans Stage Rally Championship and the Formula 1000 Tarmac Rally Championship.
The venue has been described as “challenging “ , and is a real test of driving ability with very little room for error.
The 46 starters faced approximately 40 miles of competitive action over 10 stages which included some very slippery sections, and only 8 of them failed to reach the finish line.
The Ford Escort Mark 2 of Bridgnorth’s Oliver Davies and Ludlow’s Ben Innes led the event from start to finish, setting fastest times on each of the 10 stages.
Oliver has been trying to win at this venue for 10 years, not for the want of trying, but has usually been hampered by mechanical problems. This time the car ran without major fault and Oliver was able to prove that he has the talent to show the other competitors a clean pair of heels, winning this event by over two minutes.
For Ben this was just more icing on the cake after his most successful year ever in rallying, having taken the 2006 BTRDA Silverstone Tyres Rally Series title as Champion Co-Driver after the recent Plains Rally.

Oliver Davies & Ben Innes

Second place was taken by LCMC members Carl Thomas and Simon Bull in another Ford Escort Mark 2.
Fellow club members Joe Price and Nicola Gardiner finished just 13 seconds behind in joint third place in yet another Ford Escort Mark 2.

Joe Price & Nicola Gardiner

Ian Savage and Gary Heslop shared third place in their Mitsubishi Lancer.

Prior to this rally there was a possibility that any one of four contenders could have won the Jam Motorsport Heart of England Rally Championship, with LCMC’s Richard Davies and Gareth Wilcox leading it for most of the second half of the season.
Julian Jones, co-driven by Simon Millington in yet another Ford Escort Mark 2, finished in 7th place O/A and highest placed HOE Championship contender after a steady drive. This finish was sufficient to give Julian enough points to secure the Championship for the 3RD consecutive year.

Ludlow Castle Motor Club would like to thank Viscount Boyne for the use of the venue and all those who assisted to make the event a success.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS
PHOTOS by RALLY ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY

Carl Thomas & Simon Bull

Ian Savage & Gary Heslop

TOP TEN FINISHERS

1. Oliver Davies - Ben Innes Ford Escort 0:50:40
2. Carl Thomas - Simon Bull Ford Escort 0:52:45
3. Joe Price - Nicola Gardiner Ford Escort 0:52:58
4. Ian Savage - Gary Heslop Mistsubishi Lancer 0:52:58
5. Ian “Stan” Matthews - Phill Pearce Talbot Sunbeam 0:53:02
6. Tim Baker - Andrew Smallman Talbot Sunbeam 0:53:32
7. Julian Jones – Simon Millington Ford Escort 0:54:13
8. John Worthing – John Cadwallader Ford Mexico RS 0:54:15
9. Steve Blackham – Dave Tortishell Vauxhall Astra 0:54:55
10. Martin Kenny – Dave Stocking Ford Escort 0:55:10

CLASS WINNERS

Class A. Neil Matthews – Jon Tedstone Vauxhall Nova 0:55:31
Class B. Richard Storey – Paul Fife Ford Escort 0:58:56
Class C. Joe Price – Nicola Gardiner Ford Escort 0:52:58
Class D. Carl Thomas – Simon Bull Ford Escort 0:52:45
Class E. Ian Savage – Gary Heslop Mitsubishi Lancer 0:52:58
Class F. Dave Bennett – Nick Bloxham Ford Escort 1:00:44
Class G. John Worthing - John Cadwallader Mexico RS 0:54:15

Full results for Ditton Priors are available from our 'regs' page.

Thank you to all those who helped organising this event, and to all those who turned up to marshal.

PRE-EVENT

Marshals are needed for the above. If you are willing to help, please contact:

Gerald Watkins on 07855 716526

Seeded Entry List:

Here are a few pictures of Ditton 'before and after' the latest work carried out there.

4 'BEFORE'

AND 4 'AFTER'

Thanks to all those who helped out with the hard work.

AUTOTEST

Ludlow Castle Motor Club held on Autotest last Sunday at Wigley Farm, near Ludlow, by kind permission of Richard Gough.

The event was organised by Michael Wilding, and the eleven competitors were faced with four tests of driving skills on a stubble field which was remarkably dry after one inch of rain fell the night before.

Each test had to be tackled four times, with the best three scores from each counting towards the overall times.

David Lloyd in his Mini with Mike Wilding on the clock.

The overall winner was David Lloyd in one of the three Minis taking part on the day, and the full results were as follows:

Competitor Car Time

1st. David Lloyd Mini 1043 secs
2nd. Liam Rollings Mini 1078 secs
3rd. Philip Martin Mini 1094 secs
4th. Rob Holloway Toyota Corolla 1250 secs
5th. Anneka Cowell Peugeot 309 1253 secs
6th. Chris Holloway Toyota Corolla 1292 secs
7th. Richard Derricutt Land Rover Disco 1307 secs
8th. Jamie Smith Peugeot 309 1475 secs

Anneka Cowell

The following competitors retired due to mechanical problems:

Dan Hawley Mitsubishi Galant
Dean Sinett Fiat Panda
Richard Hobson Fiat Panda

Michael Wilding will be organising another Autotest on Sunday, 12th November, this time the venue will be Henley Hill Farm, Bitterley near Ludlow.
Anyone interested in taking part should contact Michael on 07711 207737 for further details.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS

PHOTOS by KEITH GLUYAS