BHRC: Ulster Historic Rally preview

The 2010 British Historic Rally Championship continues this weekend for the sixth of eight events – and the second asphalt rally of the season - with the championship's first visit to Ulster.

The Ulster Historic Rally is another tough event, coming a month after the annual foray to the closed public roads of the Isle of Man. With many of the crews being new to the challenging Ulster stages, it promises to be an enthralling event.

Category 1

Heading the category one field will be the Sunbeam Tiger of Jonathan Gale and James Whitaker, winners on the Isle of Man last time out after a tough battle with the Porsche 911 of defending champions Dessie Nutt and Geraldine McBride. No one will have more local knowledge than the Porsche crew, so they will be all out to carry local honour and see off the rumbling V8 Tiger. Currently, consistently good pace has put Nutt and McBride at the head of the BHRC points' table and they will want to press home their local advantage this time around.

Chasing Gale and Nutt will be Rikki Proffitt in his Porsche 911 with the hugely experienced Peter Scott on the notes for only the second time. Notable among the smaller cars in category one is the remarkable Singer Chamois of Gary and Jane Edgington, fresh from a fifth straight finish on the Isle of Man.

Category 2

Former champions David Stokes and Guy Weaver will head the category two field in their Ford Escort Mk1, following a great victory on the Isle of Man. However, they have a strong line-up of rivals in similar cars, headed by the uber-experienced Jeremy Easson and Alun Cook. Add in the Escorts of Chris Browne/Liz Jordan and Ulstermen Ernie Graham and Iain Johnston, and it makes the strongest class C5 field of the season so far.

Chasing the Escorts will be the class C4 Porsche 911 of Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne, which scored a famous victory in Kielder in April, while the Pinto-powered Escort Mk1 of Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson should head class C3. Their opposition includes the similar car of James Slaughter/Phil Peak, back in fine fettle after an off on the Isle of Man, and the road-rally specification RS2000 of brothers Michael and David Pedley. Lining up against the Escorts will be the Saab 99 of Jim Valentine and Andy Harris and the Porsche 914 of Richard Morgan and Tim Madeley.

Class C2 has a strong line-up, topped by the amazingly rapid 1600cc Escort Mk1 of Vincent Bristow/Tim Sayer and including the Escorts of Neil Rudd/Brian Hodgson and David Kirby/Sean Kennedy.

Category 3

Local hopes for victory in category three rest with Omagh's Ryan Barrett, partnered by Paul McCann from the Isle of Man, in his Escort Mk2. Although this is Ryan's home event, he has never tackled these stages before but his performance on the Isle of Man last month suggests that he will be hard to beat.

Will Onions and Dave Williams top category three in the championship in their Escort Mk2 after a strong run on the Isle of Man, even though Onions has only limited asphalt experience. This will be his first time in Ulster and he goes up against a strong field that includes Manxmen Connor Corkill/Rob Fagg and Welshmen Gareth Lloyd/Ryland James, while Roger Kilty/Lynette Banks are closing in on the leading pace in their Escort Mk2.

Ranged against the Escorts in category three will be the Triumph TR7 V8 of Stephen Hall/Aggie Foster and the Vauxhall Chevettes of Rob Smith/Shaun O'Gorman and Tony Thompson/Steve Hartley.

Watch British Historic Rally Championship highlights on Motors TV.


Paul Lawrence

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