Rockingham’s Star Girl
Many of you will know that I was fortunate enough to be part of the crew for Andy Rowe and Cat Lund at last year’s Mull Rally. It was a fantastic experience and despite the disappointing result, I had a really great time. With this in mind, I thought I would share with you my latest report for TheCheckeredFlag.
Head of Operations at Rockingham Motor Speedway, Cat Lund, has been nominated for the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club (BWRDC) Gold Star Club award for the second year running. Cat, who won the prestigious award last year after her double rally championship winning campaign in 2010 will be up against fellow BWRDC members Sarah Franklin, Lorraine Gathercole, Gail Hill, Jo Hodgson and Louise Inch for the coveted prize.
Andy and Cat in action with their now retired Evo III
Along with Driver Andy Rowe in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III, Cat took both the Flanders International Rally Challenge (FIRC) and BWRDC Rally Co-Driver champion in 2010 and retained the FIRC title for the second year running in 2011. This year the pair and their crew hope to make it three in a row as they enter a new Evo III, having retired the previous one after 24 events with it, starting at the ORC Canal Rally in Oostrozebeke, West Flanders in May.
Cat who joined the team at Rockingham in 2007 said “Winning the award last year was a real surprise and it was extremely gratifying to see rallying recognized in this way. As the Goldstars Club Award winner, the BWRDC were a great source of advice and inspiration throughout 2011.” She then continued, “It would be fantastic to win for a second time, especially in such an important year for the BWRDC but there are some other extremely deserving members nominated for the award, so I do not expect to win.”
The pair celebrate 2011 FIRC honours
John Surtees OBE, the only man to win World Championships on both two wheels and four will be presenting the award during a ceremony that will take place on Friday January 13th at the Autosport International Show. The presentation will commence at 11am on the Motor Sport Association (MSA) stand where visitors are welcome to attend.
The GoldStars are the BWRDC’s way of bringing the attention to talent within motorsport and help the winners to promote and progress their careers. The winner will receive a generous package of sponsors products, special BWRDC Goldstars stickers for their competition car, a dedicated webpage at www.bwrdc-goldstars.co.uk to help attract potential sponsors and mentoring from international dual sportswoman and broadcaster Liz Halliday who added, “I have been very impressed with how well Cat has done in 2011. She has clearly embraced her GoldStar status as she and her rally driver partner have successfully taken the FIRC championship for another year running! It’s fantastic to see so many of the GoldStars winners continue to have great success, and that says to me this award helps to inspire these women to work even harder to achieve their goals.”
Heading to Stage One at Mull.
So, with the Autosport International Show starting this week, those of you who are heading there on Friday, why not head to the MSA stand and show your support. I know it would be greatly appreciated by all.
Many Thanks
Having spent last weekend at the Rockingham Stages Rally, I now have to accept that my motorsport season is finally over. It was a great way to see out an eventful year with some great cars having entered the 12 stages over Saturday and Sunday including 2 night stages.
Although the entry numbers were down on previous years, the action was by no means in short supply. A host of superb rally cars from Classic Mark II Escorts to Modern Subaru Impreza’s and Peugeot 205’s to Vauxhall Astra’s and many more all took to the tarmac stages during the bitterly cold winter’s weekend. A close fought battle between the Dave West and his Peugeot 306 Maxi Kit Car and the Escort MkII of Pete Raynor throughout saw the latter clinching Victory over the last 2 stages of the weekend. It was also a good chance to meet up with friends before the winter break and listen to funny stories from Steve Cressy’s crew from previous Rallies. (It’s the way they tell ‘em).
Steve Cressey's MKII Escort in action
This was my second Rally event for me, the first as media, after my recent Mull Exploits and hopefully won’t be my last. I’ve always been interested in Rallying and although Rockingham is not your typical rally, I hope I will get to shoot some more events in the future. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to go to Belgium with Cat and Andy and their new Rally Car next year so fingers crossed. More photos from the Rockingham Stages can be seen here.
So as I sit and contemplate the long winter until the motorsport season roars back into action next year I can’t help but reflect on the past season’s escapades. Having covered well over 20 race weekends plus various other motorsport events (I daren’t count all them up) it has been a very busy year. I have met many great people along the way and shared some great experiences. I think it is only fair to thank some of them who have made 2011 a great experience.
Firstly, a huge thanks to Vince Petit, editor of The Checkered Flag, for giving me the opportunity to work for the site and the superb experiences I have had thanks to it, I look forward to many more seasons working with him and helping the site go from strength to strength by providing images and the occasional report. I’d also like to thank my partner in crime, James Broomhead, writer for The Checkered Flag. We’ve spent many weekends away at race events and he has been great company, even when our deep and somewhat geeky motorsport discussions have meant we have totally missed junctions on motorways and turnings en route. Also, thanks go to all the other contributors to the site who have worked hard providing coverage and have been patient whilst I sort out images for their reports. It’s been a pleasure working with them.
The Stunning Sierra Cosworth of Richard Upton and Paul Bareham
Another thanks to James Mappin and all the guys and gals at BTCCCrazy who I have provided various pieces of work for this season. They are a great bunch and I hope to continue working with them in the future. Thanks go out to fellow media room buddies, too numerous to mention all but special mentions to Pete Mainey, Karl Bowdrey, Jon Hobley, Chris Enion, Adam Pigott, James Warnette and Louise Rich who have all provided many a laugh, discussion, debate and help throughout the year.
Other people who I must thank are Cat Lund and Andy Rowe who gave me the amazing experience of my trip to the Mull Rally despite the unfortunate retirement it was a great week and I hope to join you again for a more successful rally in the future. Thanks to Matt Smith who has become a good friend and always handy to get some inside knowledge off. I wish him and his father Peter, the very best for next seasons attack on the Britcar Championship. Also a massive thank you to Nick Underwood from Tin Tops UK. (Look out for him as he attempts to get behind the wheel of a racing car next season.) He has been such great help and has supported me hugely this year, not only with my photography and Karting exploits but also personally. The last couple of months have been very difficult time for me personally so it is great to know there are people like Nick along with Ian Cook (Popbang Colour) who are very supportive and helpful. Thanks to them both.
Andy & Cat's Evo III during scrutineering for the Mull Rally
Finally I would like to thank you and all the readers of my blog. Thank you all for your feedback and comments and I hope you have enjoyed reading my mutterings throughout the season. I’ve been very surprised at how popular it has become since its inception less than a year ago which couldn’t have been achieved without you. Sorry for lack of posts recently but as mentioned the last couple of months have been really difficult but I should hopefully be back next year with renewed confidence and enthusiasm. In the mean time I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year and I may well see some of you at the Autosport Show in January.
Mull Rally
I’ve been very fortunate to have been given a number of great opportunities within the world of motorsport and recently I was given another.
Having had a number of days holiday saved up and work keen on me to use them up before the end of the year I was left wondering what to do with them. Cat Lund got in touch and asked if I was interested in being part of their chase crew for the immanent Mull Rally. Although I do like Rallying I’ve never been to a rally before and it was a great opportunity to get firsthand
experience of one as part of a team, so naturally I jumped at the chance.
Andy Rowe & Cat Lund's Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3
Cat, the co-driver along with driver Andy Rowe were competing in the Mull Rally for the first time in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo3 which has seen them to great success over the past four years and it was to be the car’s last hoorah before being replaced. Being a new rally to the pair a lot of work was needed to be put in on pace notes etc so we headed up on Sunday night to allow plenty of time to reccie the stages.
Having stayed overnight and picking up the mechanic Dan Green, we arrived on Monday. After issues with the Initial accommodation plans, Richard at Crannick Farm was able to come to our rescue at the last minute for which we were all very grateful for. With our new accommodation came a great spot which served as a service area for the car which was ideal and with Richard’s fantastic hospitality we settled in well.
Dan, Andy, Cat & Me
Whilst Andy and Cat spent the next few days out and about perfecting pace notes and checking the stages, Dan and myself were left to sort out the Car. Well, as I know pretty much nothing about mechanics, Dan did most of that side whilst I did odds and sods like sorting out the onboard camera, cleaning wheels and bodywork and as I like to call it, applying race tape to strategic areas on the bodywork etc. We also had to go and check out the services areas for the rally and the emergency service points where we would need to refuel the car. As well as that we needed to get some mud flaps too. So we spent a long time driving around the island which is deceptively large and only has a few roads which, with the exception of the stretch between Salen and Craignure and a few miles into Tobermory are all single track with passing places. Mud flaps were exceedingly hard to come by and almost at the point of giving up on our quest to find some and having asked almost every Mull resident where we might find any, we were tipped of about a guy who repairs Land Rovers. After eventually arriving at said yard, we managed to acquire a pair of Land Rover mud flaps which eventually proved to be a great fit to the rear. The front mud flaps were slightly less desirable though as those had been fashioned with a pair of car mats. But they still did the job.
MkII Escorts were a popular weapon of choice
The Evo3 in Scrutineering
Friday morning soon came round which meant heading to Tobermory for scrutineering. With 117 entries ranging from Subaru’s and Mitsubishi’s to Mini’s and more Mark2 Escorts you could shake a stick at, the bay was heaving. The scrutineering took place within the yard of the Islands distillery and the Evo3 passed without major issue. Dan spent some time making sure the light pod was fixed securely to stop it vibrating and after we had taken the van to the first leg’s service area, we were back in Tobermory ready for the Rally start that evening.
With Andy and Cat being number 17 they were one of the early starters and after watching them head off to start Stage 1 Dan and I headed off to the service area in Craignure. On the way the team mobile phone rang. My heart sank as I knew it would only be a call from one other phone, that of the phone in the rally car and it would only ring for one reason. Sure enough, there was a problem. The alternator belt had gone on stage one and despite assistance from some ever enthusiastic rally fans, too much time had been used on stage getting it repaired. Stage two was completed before the car made it into service and a great feeling of dejection was hanging in the air. A full fix was carried out by Dan and Andy before the car was ready to continue. It was decided that only a few more stages were to be contested that evening as after going over time meant the car wouldn’t be classified and it wasn’t worth taking a risk and damaging the car further when entry to the trophy rally the following day was a very viable option.
Andy and Cat leave the rally start in Tobermory
The trophy rally was indeed the option taken which enabled the retirements from Friday to still be able to continue behind the field on the remaining stages so despite the disappointment of Leg One, there was still plenty to do. It was a pretty miserable day and a steady rainfall had caused difficult conditions so wet tyres were put on and the Car headed off to Bunessan for the start of Leg two as Dan and myself packed up the van ready to head off to the service point. On the way we needed to get fuel for the Rally Car and the dreaded phone went again. A rally organiser was on the other end. The car had gone off and had suffered serious damage about a mile into the first stage of the day. Thankfully Cat and Andy were ok but the Rally was definitely over this time. It turned out that upon landing after a jump, the car slid on mud and the rear went into a ditch. The impact then spat the car back out across the road and another rear impact with a concrete post sent the car into a spin. The onboard footage can be seen here.
Gareth White's Citroen C2 R2 Max
As the car arrived on the back of a recovery lorry the damage was clear to see. Both rear wheels were pointing outwards in opposite directions. It was a sad way to mark the car’s final rally but thankfully no one was hurt. Clearly the Mull Rally was a tough one and very unforgiving as over half of the field that entered failed to reach the end. Over the course of the week many people asked how many Mull Rally’s Cat and Andy had done and we were met with the same reaction on the response of it being the first. A sharp intake of breath. They all knew something we didn’t and so it proved.
With the final leg to take place on the Saturday night, the team headed into Dervaig for dinner, to watch the remaining runners come through and to drown our sorrows. I was able to get some photos of and watch the section of the Glen Aros stage which came through Dervaig which was good fun, although I would of course have preferred to have been sitting in the Service area waiting for the Evo3 to arrive before sending out to complete the rally but it wasn’t to be. The village was packed with spectators, and so was the pub creating a great atmosphere, despite the local chav’s, girls of loose morals, drunkards young and old and the fact I’m sure I was charged more for a round of drinks because I was a southerner. The same round Dan bought, who’s a northerner, cost less.
Plenty of people were spectating in Dervaig
As we headed off the Island on Sunday at the start of the long 13 hour trek home, underneath the sense of ‘What could have been’ I took great pleasure in what I had experienced and I thank Cat and Andy so much for giving me that. I’d like to think I will be back at Mull in the future for the rally even just as a spectator. But secretly I’d like to think it will be with Cat and Andy as they give it another crack of the whip.
Full results of the Mull Rally can be found here. More photo’s can be seen here.
