september 2006

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Shaun & Ben at Ludlow Racecourse after the Woodpecker Rally

Shaun Gardener, born and bred in Ludlow, started forest rallying 17 years ago.
Whilst his hobbies are clay shooting (he did shoot for England at the age of 17/18 ) and swimming, he was bitten by the driving bug at the age of five while sat on his father’s lap in his Autograss Car Special.
Shaun tried a couple of years of Road Rallying in the late eighties before moving into the forests in 1990.
His first rally car was a Toyota Corolla which he replaced with a Ford Escort Mark 2 in 1991 and subsequently with a Mitsubishi EVO 3.
The current Mitsubishi came on the scene in 2002 and finally proved its worth in 2006, a year that Shaun will never forget.
Before starting his campaign on the 2006 Silverstone Tyres Rally Series, Shaun entered Ludlow Castle Motor Club’s Gravel Sprint based in the Haye Park complex.
He repeated his 2004 win on the event and won the 2006 Sprint, a sign of good things to come later in the year in spite of being plagued with drive-shaft problems.
Shaun, co-driven by fellow LCMC member Ben Innes all season, posted consistent results on BTRDA Rounds as follows :

EVENT RESULT BTRDA POINTS

Wyedean Rally 5th O/A 28
Malcolm Wilson Rally 7th O/A 27
North Humberside Rally not entered -
Somerset Stages retired SS5 1
Red Dragon Rally 6th O/A 27
Dukeries Rally retired on last stage ! 1
Quinton Stages Rally 2nd O/A 30
Woodpecker Stages Rally 1st O/A 30
Plains Rally 3rd O/A 30
Cambrian Rally 4th November

With the best six scores counting for the Championship, Shaun and Ben cannot be caught even with one more Round to go and will be crowned 2006 Silverstone Tyres Rally Series Driver and Co-driver Champions in December.
This Championship win is the icing on the cake for Shaun, his real delight is in winning his local event, The Woodpecker, after competing on it for 17 years. To win the Woodpecker has been Shaun’s goal after watching the likes of another local rally hero, Richard Gough, competing on the event in his famous Mark 2 Escort.

In between competing on BTRDA Rounds this year Shaun also won August’s Bill Gwynne Stages for the third year in succession.

Shaun puts his 2006 success down to the support he has had all throughout the year from his co-driver, Ben Innes, his mum and dad, and Smudger, Roger and Jamie for looking after the car so well.
Also, Shaun would like to thank his sponsors TNT Tyres (Ludlow), Elm Lodge Golf Course, Phil Price Rally School and Dunlop Tyres for their support.

Even though he does not need to enter the last Round of the Championship, Shaun will still be competing on the Cambrian Rally in November.
This will probably be the last outing for the Mitsubishi EVO 5 as an EVO 6 is currently being prepared for Shaun and Ben to defend their titles in the 2007 BTRDA Championship.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS
PHOTOS by RALLY ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY

PLAINS RALLY

LUDLOW’S SHAUN & BEN TAKE 2006 GOLD STAR TITLE

Shaun Gardener & Ben Innes

Last Saturday’s Plains Rally was the penultimate Round of the 2006 Silverstone Tyres Rally Series, starting and finishing at Welshpool.
The event was oversubscribed with entries and the maximum of 180 cars was filled with 7 others on the reserve list.
The competitors faced 45 miles of dusty action over nine special stages, the first and last of which were short runs through the Welshpool timber yard of Mick Jones, with the other seven stages spread out through forests in mid to North Wales.
Welshpools Stuart Jones and Craig Parry in their Mitsubishi EVO 9 led for the first five stages but when they retired, the young Norwegian, Andreas Mikkelsen, took the lead which he kept to the end.
Andreas Mikkelsen, co-driven by Ola Floene, brought the Ford Focus WRC home nine seconds ahead of Jon Ingram and Ian Allsop in another Focus WRC.
Ludlow Castle Motor Club’s Shaun Gardener and Ben Innes were not too disappointed to finish 26 seconds behind Mikkelsen in 3rd place O/A.
Shaun’s TNT Tyres (Ludlow) Mitsubishi EVO 5 has suffered with broken drive-shafts right throughout the season and the Plains Rally was to prove no exception.
A broken drive-shaft on the very last stage caused Shaun and Ben great concern as they were looking for important points towards their challenge in the 2006 Silverstone Tyres Rally Series.
They managed to get through the second timber yard stage and limp back to the finish, claiming maximum Championship points and the 2006 Gold Star title.
There is still one Round to go in the Championship, the Cambrian Rally on 4th November, but Shaun and Ben cannot be caught on points now.

2006 is definitely Shaun Gardener’s year, even after a shaky start.
He won the Bill Gwynne Stages in August for the third year in succession, and the Ludlow based Woodpecker Stages earlier this month after 17 years of competing on the event.
This is also an excellent year for Ludlow Castle Motor Club which produced another local hero, Neil Weaver, who won the 2006 Xspec 1400 Championship in July with three Rounds of the Championship still remaining.

Other LCMC members competing on the Plains Rally had very mixed fortunes.
Only Alex Allingham in his GPn Subaru Impreza was able to escape the event trouble free.
Alex, co-driven by Paul Beeson, finished 15th O/A and the points gained means that he is in 5th position in the Group N section of the Silverstone Tyres Rally Series. The only other LCMC crew to finish were Henri Grehan and Chris Ridge who completed the event in 125th place after the Plaslime Ford Escort Mark2 suffered problems.

Henri Grehan & Chris Ridge

The following LCMC crews failed to finish after suffering accidents or mechanical failure:
Andrew / Shane Bowen Ford Escort G3
Roger Chilman Jnr / Andrew Sankey Walters Group Mitsubishi EVO 6
Gary Scott Peugeot 205 Gti
Robert Holloway / Jo Stone Peugeot 205
Richard Preece Peugeot 205

Roger Chilman & Andrew Sankey

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS
PHOTOS by RALLY ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY

WOODPECKER STAGES RALLY 2006

Shaun Gardener & Ben Innes

Ludlow Castle Motor Club produced three winners on last Saturday’s Woodpecker Stages Rally which started and finished at Ludlow Racecourse with 170 competitors.
After seventeen years of trying, Shaun Gardener won his local event, co-driven by fellow club member Ben Innes.
Andrew and Shane Bowen were in the first two-wheel drive car to cross the finish line in conditions better suited to four wheel drive vehicles.
Neil Weaver, co-driven by Nick Thornton, once again claimed top spot in the 1400 category in the Vauxhall Corsa.
This, the 8th Round of the Silverstone Tyres BTRDA Rally Series, was to be one of the wettest Woodpecker Rallies in years.
The initial pace setters were Marcus Dodd and Jamie Edwards in their Hyundai Accent WRC car.
They won the first three stages but their good run came to an end when they crashed out in the long stage at Radnor in the afternoon.
This stage also claimed the winners of the last two Woodpecker Rallies, John Perrott and Shelley Rogerson when their Mitsubishi EVO V suffered differential failure.
Another serious challenger Andy Burton, seven times winner of the event, was forced to retire in Radnor in the morning with an engine fire.
Shaun Gardener and Ben Innes, winners of the recent Bill Gwynne Stages, had not been far behind Dodd and Perrot up to this stage and their patience paid off.
Stage 4 was cancelled after Dodd’s crash and Shaun / Ben raced through Haye Park, the last stage of the day, in the TNT Tyres ( Ludlow ) Mitsubishi EVO V.
This stage win and their consistent previous stage times gave them the outright win by 21 seconds from Malvern’s Bob Ceen and Andy Bull.
The next highest placed LCMC club members were Roger Chilman Jnr and Andrew Sankey in the Walters Group Mitsubishi EVO V1.
They struggled with mechanical problems on the first stage of the day but pulled back lost time to finish in 6th position.
This result now puts them back into the lead in the BTRDA Championship.
Andrew and Shane Bowen produced the drive of the day by bringing their Escort G3 home in 12th place and 1st two-wheel drive car. A remarkable achievement considering the atrocious conditions on the day.

Andrew Bowen & Shane Bowen

Just 11 secs behind Andrew / Shane, Neil Weaver finished in 13th place in the Vauxhall Corsa.
Neil and co-driver Nick Thornton, had already won the 2006 Xspec 1400 Championship and this was to be the last of their giant-killing performances for a while.
The car is to be sold and rallying to be put on hold until a sponsor is found.

Neil Weaver & Nick Thornton

LCMC members completed the top twenty finishers as follows :

15th Henri Grehan / Chris Ridge Plaslime Ford Escort RS
16th Dave Brick / Rob Woodhouse Ford Escort Mark 2
18th Alex Allingham GPn Subaru Impreza
19th Richard / Robert Gough Ford Escort Mark 2

Other LCMC member’s results were as follows:
49th Keith Wilde / John Howells Ford Escort RS2000
78TH Richard Davies / Gareth Wilcox Ford Escort Mark 2
79th Gary Scott Peugeot 205 GTi
97th Michael Woolcock Ford Focus
103rd Thomas / Jon Scott Vauxhall Nova
110th Dave Lewis / Gareth Morgan Ford Escort Mark 2

LCMC members failing to finish due mainly to mechanical problems:
Martin / Simon Ridge Vauxhall Nova
Mark Kinsey Vauxhall Nova
Joe Price / Phil Clarke Ford Escort RS
Adrian Allen / Mike Wilding Opel Manta RS
Chris Deykes Peugeot 205 MI 16
Pete Hamer / Niki Griffiths Talbot Sunbeam
Simon Rogers Ford Escort Cosworth
Simon Mellings Peugeot 309 GTi

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS
PHOTOS by RALLY ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY.

PHILIP WHITE TYRES ULSTER RALLY

While a large number of his fellow club members were competing on the Woodpecker Stages Rally, Ludlow Castle Motor Club’s James Wozencroft made the trip across the water to Ireland.
James is contesting the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship and the Pirelli Irish Rally Championship, the latest round of both was last weekend’s Philip Whites Tyres Ulster Rally.
The two day event was based at Armagh and 80 competitors took part in the International section of the rally.
The competitors faced 15 very fast tarmac stages over 140 miles starting on the Friday night when the weather was bone dry.
Saturday morning saw a complete change in the weather when an estimated 20mms of rain fell.
James, co-driven by Robert Fagg, put in a fine performance in the Team Dealer Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 to finish 18th O/A and 1st in his class.
This result means that James now leads the Super 1600 class in the British Rally Championship and is 2nd in his Class in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

REPORT by KEITH GLUYAS