Open Torque – Edition 3 (March 10th 2010)
By Bill Mantovani – Rallycross Open Championship monthly website column

It’s been a long cold winter, but at last the start of the Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship is almost upon us. Mallory Park is only a few short weeks away and from the driver news coming through it looks as if the series is going to be as hotly contested as ever. However, after looking out of the window this morning I did briefly think that we might be calling it a winter series if this cold spell doesn’t end soon! Where IS all this white stuff coming from?

At the moment it looks as if the Super National category is once again going to provide some real close action. The list is headed by title holder Jamie Lea in his familiar Toyota MR2, the car now sporting a new sequential gearbox mated to the reliable Honda Civic type R engine which Jamie hopes will give him a slight edge over the rest of the field. After pushing Lea all the way to the finish last season, runner up Ulsterman Don Shannon once again expects to be right up there challenging for the title in his Volvo S40. With Jamie also competing in the new Procar Four Wheel Drive category in a recently acquired Mitsubishi Lancer then 2010 might just be Shannon’s year.

Vauxhall is well represented. Allan Tapscotts’s new rear wheel drive S2000 shaped Corsa is nearing completion. Sixth in the class last year, Allan is hoping to move right up the order with some 350 bhp now on tap and a potential 500 bhp from the 2 litre supercharged engine if pushed. Stuart Coldron and Gary Dixon are both back with their 2 litre Astras, Dixon hoping to improve on his third place finish of 2009. And speaking of supercharging, Hereford’s Mike Turpin is hoping to take in as many rounds as possible in the Mill Garage VX220. The American supercharged engine apparently let go whilst on a test rig but in case it can’t be rebuilt in time then Turpin already has his rapid Nova on standby.

Contrary to last month’s news, Richard Moore is now continuing with his ex-Jamie Lea Ford Fiesta whilst he waits for the new BMW M3 to be completed. Following a clean sweep with his R32 Golf in the Revivals class, Glen Guthrie moves up to Super National at Mallory. Joining Guthrie will be Division 1A title holder Toby Crocker who is once again alongside Bruce Bamber (Honda Civic) in the Wessex Racing team. Toby expects to field a brand new Wessex Racing team built Honda S2000 later in the season.

Following the switch to the a new Lotus Exige last year, Ashley Simpson believes the car has a lot of potential and firmly expects to become a force to be reckoned with in the Super National category as the car is developed over the course of the season. Throw in a number of competitors making the trip across the water from Ireland and Northern Ireland plus the Division 1A Renault Clio of Hal Ridge and Citroen C2 of Andy Knowles and be assured that this category looks set for an intense battle all season long.

Procar also looks set for a cracking season, with many drivers hoping to improve on last year’s form now they’ve got their cars sorted. The 1600 class in particular should see the biggest battle as Martin Peters returns to defend his title in the Citroen Saxo. He faces tough opposition though from the similarly mounted Stuart Jackson who finished a close second last year, just four points adrift. A gaggle of Peugeot 205 GTi will be hot on their heels in the hands of Steve Heppenstall, Craig Brown, Ben Cree, Craig Truelove, John Kennedy and Chris Harper as Paul Smith (VW Polo GTi) and Russell Simpson (Citroen C2) provide a touch of variety.

Adam Clark has a lot to celebrate in 2010. His Citroen Saxo VTS has been completely stripped over the winter and many issues sorted, including the rear suspension which looked decidedly soft at its 2009 Superprix outing. Unveiled in the familiar black and pink Jersey Farm Hotel colour scheme at the Autosport show earlier this year, Adam has joined forces with Supercar driver Mad Mark Watson (500 bhp Citroen Xsara) to mount a two car team challenge on the Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship. A new engine mid season should also help.

Building on his recent newcomer award Adam has secured support from PlateCreator and Spirit Capital Partners LLP to help with his campaign to win the 2010 Procar 1600 class championship. K & N have also come on board to supply the team with their high performance air filters. Congratulations are also in order for popping the question to Gemma on Valentine’s Day, presumably whilst out on the Riponian Rally. We hear Mad Mark has already taken on the mantle of wedding planner supremo and has everything in hand for the big day in 12 months time. Remember, though, lads – there’s a season’s worth of rallycross to concentrate on first!

With a further seven strong competitors expected to join the Procar 1600 action for the opening round of the Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship at Mallory Park this class could well provide the biggest title battle of the new season.

Over in Procar 2000 the category continues to grow. Former 1600 driver, Asselby’s Rob Adcock, returns to the sport at the wheel of a new VW Golf GTi. Also moving up is last year’s Revivals B runner up John Mooney in a Vauxhall Astra Mk4 to join championship challengers Conor Mulholland in the Fiat Stilo and Kenny Hall in his Renault Clio. However, back to back champion Stuart Emery remains the pre-season favourite in his Peugeot 306 but pushing him hard will be the Ford Fiesta of Dave Ewin, Dave Baines (Peugeot 306) and Craig Brown in the first of the two Fuchs Lubricants/PSM Motorsport backed Renault Meganes.

Northallerton motorsport Broadcaster, Journalist and editor of Motorcycle Racer magazine Larry Carter will be in the hot seat of the second Megane for the Mallory Park opener before Fuchs Lubricants Marketing Manager Richard Barrett takes over the car for the two Nutts Corner Championship rounds in Northern Ireland after Easter. With a further two Procar 2000 cars currently nearing completion the category already looks set for a bumper year.

20 Revivals cars are currently expected for Mallory, including 4 BMW Rear Wheel Drive Cup cars. Expect to see Lance Foster leading the way in the giant killing Green & White Minispares Mini as he fends off challenges from the Vauxhalls of Shane Anderson Black (Corsa) and Dave Black (Astra). Ian Biagi will also be in the thick of the action with his Mini together with a whole host of new Revivals cars for the 2010 season. After finishing runner up last year, Northallerton’s Jonathan Bean leads the BMW Challenge category with a new car built for this season. He is currently joined by Pat Flynn, Malcolm Boyd and John Clayton, the latter sharing his car throughout the season with Gary Simpson.

Further news from the Flynn camp is that reigning BMW Challenge champion Conor is moving up to a budget Supercar for 2010. After winning all six rounds he entered last year, the fastest 16 year old in Europe (Pat’s words) is currently building his Dad’s old Evo 2 into a real budget Supercar and hopes to be the first ever winner of a Supercar round in a sub £10,000 car. Conor is looking forward to having a lot of fun with the car in the wet but expects to be nowhere near quick enough with it in the dry. Consequently, look out for the flying Flynns performing rain dances at every round!

Rounding off with Division 1 news, Kevin McCann is still rebuilding his Subaru Impreza whilst Brian Jukes has just picked up a new gearbox from Germany for his Audi TT but both hope to be finished in time for Mallory Park.

After being out of Rallycross for many years, Newton Aycliffe’s Chris Harper came back into the sport last year with a Procar 1600 Peugeot 205 acquired at short notice. The car was a bit of an unknown quantity and turned out to be considerably underpowered compared to the rest of the field, not to mention the pretty basic suspension. Chris did the best with what he had and was rewarded with ninth in class. The team have worked hard on the car over the winter to prepare it for the new season, including fitting all new suspension and an engine rebuild. Harper hopes to have the car ready for the test day at Tockwith.

Regarding Tockwith, could I remind anyone going to the test day to avoid approaching the track through the village as the entrance is at the other end of the airfield. The best route is via the A1 (from the North or the South). Come off at Junction 46 at Wetherby then take the B1224 towards York. About 500m after leaving the village of Bickerton turn left at the crossroads into Rudgate. After approximately 1 Km, ignore the first right into Southfield Lane but take a right turn into the old airfield some 200 m futher on. The entrance will be signposted and is actually where the old runway crosses the road. Look up the map on Google, you can’t miss the old runway.

If you are approaching from the York direction, come out via Acomb along the B1224, turn right into Rudgate then right just after Southfield Lane. Please do remember that no one should have need to drive through Tockwith village and do observe any speed restrictions – they are there for a reason. All drivers attending will be interviewed by the TV with footage to be posted on the web site. This is a great opportunity to impress and promote the sponsors, so make the most of it.

I can’t wait for the season to start at Mallory Park – it seems like a long time now since the Superprix. The 2010 Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship really is looking strong and has attracted a lot of interest, particularly from drivers across the border in Scotland. How about some news from the ladies for the next Open Torque? To finish, rumour has it that 2009 Rallycross Open Champion Andy Grant has something special up his sleeve – but to find out what you’ll just have to watch this space!

Bill Mantovani
(Bill@RallycrossOpen.com)