Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship
Round fourIt's back to gravel for round four of the 2006 Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally Championship, the Severn Valley Historic Challenge on Saturday 3 June.Always one of the most popular events on the schedule, the Severn Valley has a twist this year, as it will take crews into the Wales Rally GB stages of Brechfa and Trawscoed for the first time along with some of the classic stages in the Epynt region.Category 1Patrick Watts/Elgan Davies will line up as firm favourites for category 1 success in their Sunbeam Tiger, having won the opening two gravel events. However, car dramas on the asphalt of Epynt last time out resulted in a non-finish for the thundering Tiger.
Instead, Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride swept to category 1 spoils and their Porsche 911 will be the big challenge to the Tiger on the Severn Valley.Chasing the Tiger and the Porsche will be a gaggle of Lotus Cortinas in class B4, where some of the best battles of the season have been going on. Philip Atkinson/Simon Coates and Neil Calvert/Michelle Calvert are the main contenders and both crews are having superb seasons. They had a mighty battle on the last gravel event, the Astra Stages, and are likely to be only a handful of seconds apart this time around. Aiming to make it a three-way battle will be Chris and Hilary Green, returning to the series in their Lotus Cortina after missing a couple of rounds, while the spectacular Volvo Amazon of Graham Waite/Mike Reynolds will chase the Cortinas.
Class B2 will feature another major class battle, with Clive King/Bob Ward the likely pacesetters in their Mini Cooper S. However, the MG Midget of James Stait/Gill Cotton should be a real contender if it has a trouble-free run and the Mini Coopers of Mike Barratt/Joanne Watson and Phil Smith/Barbara Smith will be chasing hard.
In class B1, it is the wonderful two-stroke Saab 96s of John Parker/Robert Harrison, James Valentine/Julian Stocks and Nick Pinkett/tba that will battle for victory.Category 2The post-historic category continues to be a contest between the Porsche 911s and the Ford Escort Mk1s and it will surely be a mighty battle.The last gravel event produced a storming victory for the Prepfab Porsche 911RS of Jimmy McRae and Campbell Roy and they will be major contenders.Meanwhile, with two wins from three rounds, Mark Solloway tops the overall BHRC points after three stunning drives in his Escort Mk1. Partnered by Mark Crisp, he will fly once more and will be tough to beat. However, that won’t stop the similar car of David Stokes/Guy Weaver taking the fight to the Welsh ace.Another major force in the category 2 mix is the XS Racing Porsche 911RS of reigning champions Steven Smith and John Nichols. The car made its debut on round three on Epynt and ran superbly on the asphalt event. Now they will take the car onto gravel for the first time, but will be pushing hard from the start. Adding to the depth of quality at the head of the category will be more very quick Escorts for Ernie Graham/Robin Kellard, Craig Salter/Preston Ayres, Iain Freestone/Nick Kennedy and Graham Samuel/Tony Phillips.
A clutch of quick Porsches makes class C4 very strong, with Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood, Andrew Street/Jez Mason, Paul Drinkall/Roy Brown, Peter Lythell/Liz Jordan and Graham Wilson/Keith Fellowes all pressing hard. Street/Mason hope to have fixed their new car after a hefty shunt on Epynt, while Lockyear/Wood have had an excellent season to date and currently lead the class in the championship.
The major interest in class C3 is the planned return to rallying of 1970s star Nigel Hollier, who will be partnered by Peter Smith in an Alpine Renault A110. Massive delays with parts have kept the unique project out of rallying for more than a year, but if all runs well in the final days before the rally, Hollier will end a 30-year break from rallying on the Severn Valley.
Class C2 is among the hardest fought of all, with at least four Escort crews in contention. Russell Morgan and Martin Kenyon currently have a slender two-point championship lead over Ken Forster/John Stanger-Leathes, while Robin Shuttleworth/Mark Midgley and John Worthing/Bill Robertson are also potential class winners. However, the return to the series of Vincent Bristow/Dean Mitchell in their Escort Mk1 could give the championship regulars a real problem.The Severn Valley Historic Challenge is organised by Midland Manor Motor Club Ltd and Ludlow Castle Motor Club Ltd. For more details about the event, severnvalleynational.co.uk
The historic rally starts from Builth Wells at 8am on Saturday, 3 June.
