RallyBuzz |
- MONTE MAGIC WOWS THOUSANDS AT CLYDEBANK
- DAVID HIGGINS WINS SLIPPERY SNO*DRIFT RALLY
- Reeves rewards Mazda with podium place at Targa Wrest Point
- White eyes championship after second Targa win
- Circuit Of Ireland Rally 2012 – interview with Bobby Willis
- Special Stage Confirm TV Line-up
| MONTE MAGIC WOWS THOUSANDS AT CLYDEBANK Posted: 29 Jan 2012 09:51 AM PST Clydebank was touched by Monte magic yesterday as over 70 cars spanning six decades wowed the thousands at the start of the 2012 Monte Carlo Classic Rally. Glamorous cars including Lancias, Triumphs and Porsches left the start ramp at Clydebank College, formerly the site of the famous John Brown shipyard. West Dunbartonshire Provost Denis Agnew flagged the cars away on their 2000 mile epic to Monte Carlo which will take almost 30 hours of non-stop driving. The first car over the ramp was a 1979 Fiat driven by Nicola Parolin, with Andrew McAlpine being the first UK driver in a Lancia Fulvia. The 51 year old Director of the Sir Robert McAlpine building company worked at the John Brown shipyard in his twenties and admitted returning for the Monte was 'emotional'. "It is fantastic to be back here and the turn-out has been amazing," he said, reflecting on the huge crowds of families gathered in the shadow of the Titan Crane. "This is one of the few events in the world which is a true adventure. It is a personal challenge. You have something different at every corner. You have night and day, fog, ice and rain and more black ice. "Coming back here is really quite emotional for me. One hundred and thirty years ago, my great, great grandfather built the Singer sewing machine factory so my family have a lot of connections to the area. "My goal now is to finish the rally and reach Monte Carlo." West Dunbartonshire Council pulled off a major coup by landing the hosting rights of the rally, regarded as one of the most famous motorsport events in the world. A total of 306 cars are competing in this year's Monte Carlo Classic Rally, with the other start points being Barcelona, Oslo, Warsaw, Turin and Reims. The cars that set off yesterday from Clydebank will arrive in Calais this morning and will then head south and up over the snow-capped French Alps. Following the traditional concentration runs in the mountains, the cars will finally- if successful- reach the sunshine Principality of Monte Carlo on Tuesday. West Dunbartonshire Provost Denis Agnew believes the Monte will have boosted the area's potential for bringing major international events to the banks of the Clyde. "I would love to see this come back here. In fact, I would have it here every year if I could," he said. "Seeing these thousands of people and the great cars, this is what it is all about. I actually invited Sir Jackie Stewart and he phoned back my office and said he would definitely have been here, had he not been in America. He felt it was that important. "So many people have worked on this and made it happen. Everyone should now share in the success of it." All cars leaving Clydebank yesterday were built between 1955 and 1980. For further information regarding this, please contact Kenneth Stephen, PR and Communications Officer, 07823 770 651. You can Like us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monte-Carlo-Classic-Rally-Clydebank/250620885008111 Monte Facts: The winner of the first Monte was Parisian Henri Rougier in a 25 horse power Turcat-Mery. The heroics of its competitors- ordinary people with a love of adventure- were immortalised in the famous 1969 film, 'Monte Carlo or Bust', starring Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Tony Curtis and Susan Hampshire. 2012 Event Partners: The Monte Start Committee (Scotland) and West Dunbartonshire Council. About Clydebank: This year, the town is celebrating 125 years since it was designated a Burgh. History: Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, the town was once an industrial powerhouse and a giant of the ship building industry. The John Brown Shipyard was arguably the most famous of all the yards on the Clyde, with vessels such as the QE2 and the Royal Yacht Britannia constructed there. The Singer Company, Clydebank, was once the largest sewing machine factory in the world. Today: Clydebank is the focus of major, successful, regeneration. West Dunbartonshire Council, Clydebank Re-Built, Scottish Government and other project partners have invested heavily in the town's future success with projects such as the £1.8 million regeneration of the South Bank Canal area, the rebuilding of schools and the 6 acre £33 million Clydebank College Campus on the site of the former John Brown Shipyard. When completed, it was the largest single site further education campus relocation project in Scotland. A £3 million restoration of Clydebank Town Hall is underway with a completion date of 2012. Released on behalf of the Monte Carlo Classic Rally 2012 by Kenneth Stephen, PR and Communications Officer, Heartland Media and PR. www.heartlandpr.co.uk
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| DAVID HIGGINS WINS SLIPPERY SNO*DRIFT RALLY Posted: 29 Jan 2012 07:53 AM PST January 29, 2012 (Lewiston, MI) -- Ice-covered roads were the story at the 38th annual running of the Sno*Drift Rally, the kick-off event to the 2012 Rally America National Championship, but it was Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew who managed the extreme conditions to take the overall win. Higgins and Drew are the reigning 2011 national champions, and they took the first step towards defending their title in the six-round 2012 Rally America National Championship by winning 15 out of 24 stages. "This is a good win," said Higgins, "The conditions were the most treacherous I have ever seen." Higgins finished the event 1:49.9 ahead of Rockstar Energy Drink's Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard. The Rockstar team never held the lead but they made considerable time on Higgins on the first leg of day 2 and looked like they would get closer to challenging the Subaru driver. "We chose to use snow tires at the start of the day," said L'Estage, "versus Higgins' ice tires. We just gambled right and were making up good time until after the first service." Last year, Sno*Drift winners Travis and Terry Hanson made rally history by becoming the first Super Production (SP) team to win an overall event. This year the son and father duo took third overall for a consecutive Sno*Drift podium and secured the SP Class win in dominant fashion. The finish was all but miraculous as the team didn't expect to complete the event due to engine problems before the second day began. Due to the sound of their engine, itappeared it could break at anytime. The team fought through the mechanical issues, however, and managed a highly respectable podium spot while continuing to prove the competiveness of the Super Production Class as a viable contender to the more powerful Open Class cars. The SP battle for second and third place was fairly close considering that the icy Sno*Drift conditions spread the field to greater-than-usual lengths. Lauchlin O'Sullivan and Scott Putnam, piloting an unfamiliar Mitsubishi EVO, held a 45.8 second advantage over newcomer driver David Sterckx and co-driver Karen Jankowski. The Sno*Drift Rally is David Sterckx's first Rally America National Championship event. Sterckx is a former 2001 Belgium Rally Group N DR2 Champ and has been preparing for his first national event since last year. In the 2-Wheel Drive (2WD) Class, Chris Duplessis and Karl Atkinson once again topped the 2WD field in their 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 winning all the stages in class and consistently placed within the top 10 overall. His performance netted him the Sno*Attack title, a championship for 2WD cars run in conjunction with the Sno*Drift Rally. Even though they didn't win, it was the inspired drive of Andrew Comrie-Picard with Jeremy Wimpey in a 2011 Scion xD that caused plenty of buzz among the crowd. Comrie-Picard quickly adapted to the new car, having been down as far as 5th in class early in the event to place 2nd in 2WD, narrowly beating Dillon Van Way and Jake Blattner in their 2011 Ford Fiesta by 21 seconds. A record breaking 65 teams started the Sno*Drift Rally with a slew of new competitors making a big splash. Notably, Canadian Rally Championship regulars Leonid Urlichich and Carl Williamson entered Sno*Drift for their first U.S. event and instantly challenged Travis and Terry Hanson for third place overall, trading times throughout the event. At one point, Hanson passed Urlichich on stage only to give up the spot deep into Day 2. Urlichich did finish third overall in the standings, but the car failed post rally inspection and was penalized three positions to finish sixth overall. Urlichich protested the Steward's decision and the Sno*Drift overall results will remain provisional pending the outcome of the protest. Erik Zenz and Dave Parps successfully swept the top spot at the Sno*Regional and Drift Regional Rallies in their 1988 Mazda 323. The Sno*Drift Rally was streamed online for the first time in event history. The video stream brought snowy-stage rally action, driver interviews and analysis by Rally America host, Matthew Johnson. Camera crews used night vision technologies to give fans a never-before-seen glimpse of the late evening stages. 41 countries tuned in to view the broadcast on http://www.rally-america.com. Next in the 2012 Rally America National Championship is the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood on February 24-25th in Salem, MO. Full Sno*Drift Rally results: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2012/SNODRIFT/results/ The 2012 Rally America National Championship is proudly supported by VP Racing Fuels - the Official Fuel of Rally America, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, ParkNBlend and RECARO seats.
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| Reeves rewards Mazda with podium place at Targa Wrest Point Posted: 29 Jan 2012 02:10 AM PST Twenty-three year old Victorian rally driver, Brendan Reeves, has finished a superb third outright in this year's Targa Wrest Point tarmac rally in Tasmania. Reeves, with his co-driving sister Rhianon Smyth alongside, drove an excellent race in his first ever outing in the Mazda Motorsport RX8. The two-day rally consisted of seven stages on both Saturday and Sunday, covering over 200 kilometres of competitive driving. Reeves came to grips with the car early on Saturday and quickly set about stamping his mark on the rally. He consistently set top four stage times throughout the first day of competition, setting a fastest stage time and two second-fastest stages times in the process. He ended Leg 1 in third place. Competition in the Modern Category, in which Reeves was competing, was hot. Tasmanian Jason White in a Lamborghini Gallardo and Matt Close in an Audi TT RS led the field at the end of day one but Reeves was determined just to drive his own race on Leg 2 with a top three finish on the agenda. With high temperatures forecast, the focus was on preserving the RX8's tyres and getting the car home in one piece. Reeves didn't put a foot wrong all day - he again consistently set top four stage times and by the end of Leg 2 had increased his overall margin to fourth placed Jim Richards, (Porsche GT2 RS), to over a minute. A delighted Reeves was rapt with the weekend's result and happy to get his 2012 season off to a fine start. "We've had a fantastic weekend," he said. "The car was great, Rhianon did a great job, as did all the Mazda team. I am really happy to reward their hard work with a podium place. "The RX8 was a dream to drive," he added. "It ran perfectly all weekend and I really enjoyed driving it. I can't wait for Targa Tasmania in April!" Reeves' Mazda Motorsport team-mates, Simon and Sue Evans, won the Showroom Category in their Mazda 3 MPS, topping off a great weekend for the team. The next outing for the Mazda Motorsport Team is Targa Tasmania, a six-day event to be held in April. In the meantime, the focus for Reeves and Smyth will turn to raising sufficient funds to compete in the 2012 World Rally Championship Academy. With only two weeks until entries for the highly regarded Series have to be lodged, the race is on for the young Aussie team to secure enough sponsorship to again enter the Series. They competed in the WRC Academy in 2011, finishing fifth outright, in a fully-sponsored drive made possible by winning the 2010 Pirelli Star Driver competition. With Reeves' proven ability on both tarmac and gravel events, sponsors are sure to gain plenty of exposure from their association with the young driving star.
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| White eyes championship after second Targa win Posted: 29 Jan 2012 01:56 AM PST A dominant drive on day two has seen Tasmanian driver Jason White take back-to-back victories in Targa Wrest Point, extending his lead in the CAMS Australian Targa Championship to 60 points with just one round remaining. White, who also took his Lamborghini Gallardo to top points at the opening round of the series, Targa High Country in November, started the final day with an eight second deficit to Matt Close's Audi TT RS. But victory on six of the day's seven stages gave him and co-driver John White a commanding 41-second victory. Close took his first podium of the series to move to second place on the leader board with 440 points. White sits on top with the maximum possible score of 500 points. Mazda driver, Brendan Reeves, took third place at Targa Wrest Point in his first outing in the factory-backed RX8 SP, while Targa legend Jim Richards was fourth in his Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Tasmanian drivers dominated the round of the national championship. Launceston's David Cooper produced a brilliant drive to win the Classic Outright competition in his 1977 Holden Torana A9X, while Hobart's Eddie Maguire took a surprise victory in the highly competitive TMR Performance 4WD Showroom category. Hobart's Matthew Rickards was one of the sensations of the event in his 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer, winning the Early Modern class and finishing as the fourth fastest car in the event – more than half a minute ahead of Jim Richards' Porsche on overall times. The final day of Targa Wrest Point was held in almost perfect conditions, with fine weather and a temperature nudging 30 degrees. While this was great for fans lining the route, it made it hot work for the drivers. White seemed unaffected. He beat Close by 16 seconds on the opening stage and then gradually extended his lead. "It was extreme pressure out there, because we knew Closey was going really fast. All we could do was go ballistic and hope for the best, and I think the stage records on the last three stages of the day will stand for a long time because we've got no intentions whatsoever of going any faster than that again," White said. "On the last stage we scared every single guide post, bank and gum tree. There was not an ounce of road left and it was 100 per cent everywhere through the stage. It was a pretty rewarding drive. "The lead in the championship is great going into Targa Tasmania, and as far as the development of the car goes it hasn't missed a beat, so we'll go right over it before the next event and pray that our reliability continues, because with over 600 kilometres of stages it's going to be one of the most extreme challenges we've ever set out to accomplish." Despite dropping to second place, Close was thrilled with his result in a car that is getting faster at every event. The result leaves him well within striking distance of White, with 500 points still on offer in the final round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship. Mazda's Brendan Reeves drove conservatively into third place on his first event in the powerful rear-wheel drive car. With a gap to second place, and one back to fourth, he maintained his position throughout the day to take his best outright finish in a Targa event. After the Ford Capris of George Miedecke (accident) and Donn Todd (fuel problems) struck trouble, David Cooper took the Classic Outright win by nearly a minute and a half over John Ireland's Porsche, which also won the Late Classic Handicap class. Todd recovered some ground on day two to finish third and gain valuable championship points to take a 200 point buffer into April's Targa Tasmania. Simon Evans was the dominant driver in the Showroom class, taking a six minute win in his Mazda3 MPS, Eddie Maguire (Mitsubishi Lancer) won 4WD Showroom, while yet another local, Geoff Duggan, was at the head of the pack in the Early Classic Handicap class, driving his 1969 Datsun 2000 Sports. John Ireland and Michael Ribot have taken top honours in the Late Classic handicap event. The pair, driving a 1977 Porsche 911 Carrera 3 have finished 27 seconds clear of the Stuarts, Paul and Lachie, in their 1973 Porsche Carrera RS. The final round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship is the gruelling Targa Tasmania, which takes place from April 17 to 22. Results – Round 2 of Australian Targa Champion ship – Targa Wrest Point (Provisional) MODERN SHANNONS CLASSIC OUTRIGHT EARLY MODERN SHOWROOM TMR PERFORMANCE 4WD SHOWROOM SHANNONS EARLY CLASSIC HANDICAP SHANNONS LATE CLASSIC HANDICAP Further details on Targa Wrest Point, including an entry list and spectator information, can be found at the official event website, www.targawrestpoint.com.au
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| Circuit Of Ireland Rally 2012 – interview with Bobby Willis Posted: 28 Jan 2012 04:25 PM PST Trevor Payne talks with Event Director of the Circuit of Ireland Rally Bobby Willis You can listen to the interview here
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| Special Stage Confirm TV Line-up Posted: 28 Jan 2012 12:06 PM PST Friday nights just got a whole lot better for British rally fans, with Special Stage confirming their television line-up for Motors TV. Promising over 36 shows throughout 2012, the guys and gals at Special Stage have their work cut out. They've already confirmed they'll be covering the REIS-Get Connected! BTRDA Rally Series and MSA Asphalt Championship, but have announced further events which they'll televise throughout 2012. · North West Stages · Chris Kelly Memorial Rally · West Cork Rally · Pokerstars Rally · Rallyday · King of the Valleys (AWDC Challenge) · Selected F1000 Junior events Along with covering the crème de la crème of domestic rallying, Special Stage are pleased to announce they will also produce season long coverage of the AWDC Terrafirma Safari Championship, replacing the Britpart British Cross Country Championship on the schedule. The REIS-Get Connected! BTRDA Rally Series and MSA Asphalt Championship will feature on MotorsTV's timetable shortly after each rally on aFriday night at 21:30pm with a one-hour feature on each round. With the ever popular Bríd Deery taking on the reigns of presenting the REIS-Get Connected! MSA Asphalt Championship, Paul Woodford moves across to the REIS-Get Connected BTRDA Rally Series, building on his experience of interviewing the top national rally drivers. Lowri Davis will take control of presenting the AWDC Terrafirma Safari Championship, selected Junior rounds and many of the one-off events, starting with the Chris Kelly Memorial Rally – the first of three trips to the Isle of Man for the Special Stage team. The coverage of AWDC Challenge and non-championship televised rounds will be on MotorsTV on a Wednesday evening at 8pm. You can start catching up with all the British rallying action from Wednesday 7th March with coverage of the North West Stages, from Blackpool at 8pm, and then coverage from the opening round of the REIS-Get Connected! BTRDA Rally Series on the 9th March at 9pm with the opening round, the Wyedean Forest Rally. Competitors looking to get featured on any of the Special Stage TV shows should head to www.specialstage.co.uk and fill in the Competitor Information Form. Rob Richards and the team at In Car Services can also supply in-Car footage direct to Special Stage. Footage from every event Special Stage cover will also be available to competitors through RallySport Media, along with tailored media coverage from each championship (www.rallysportmedia.com).
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