MAXUS DUKERIES RALLY – DONINGTON PARK – SUNDAY 5th DECEMBER
Frank Bird and Jack Morton repeated their 2020 win on the MAXUS Dukeries Rally at Donington, by taking victory again in their Fiesta Rally2, after securing the fastest time on all six stages. In what was the 62nd consecutive Dukeries Rally the event made use of a gravel infield section of the Donington circuit for the first time in many years.
It was damp for the opening 9 mile stage, but Bird managed to pull out an immediate 18 second lead over Neil Roskell/Andrew Roughead’s Fiesta R5. Former MSN Circuit Rally Champions Barry Morris/Tom Hutchings’s Darrian was third quickest, a further 14 secs down, with Rob Hughes/Sion Cunniff’s Fiesta R5, Ollie O’Donovan/Ashleigh Morris’ Hyundai R5 and Paul Murro/Callum Cross’s Fiesta R5 the rest of the top six.
“We had the wrong tyres on running super soft and had the water pressure light on for the whole stage,” said Hughes. Lyndon Barton/Simon Hunter’s Fiesta also had problems, “we had the water pressure light come on and it went into limp mode. Then we found that a boost pipe had come off too,” Barton explained. Out on SS1 were Tony Robinson/Paul Spooner, after their Skoda Fabia expired on the infield.
Bird added another 14 secs to his lead on stage two, “we are on wets but it’s still very slippery,” he said. In second Roskell had also consolidated his place,” we lit it up a bit on wet tyres and I wanted it to stay wet too,” he added. Morris was still in third, but up to fourth was Alistair and Colin Inglis’ Fiesta, “we slid off wildly at the Old Hairpin on stage one though,” they explained.
O’Donovan was still in fifth, but now tied with Barbadian visitors Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood, as Hughes slipped to seventh. Ben Dimmack/Tom Murphy’s Mitsubishi E9 had also started well to hold an early eighth, with Murro and Mike English/Andy Robinson’s Fiesta R5 the rest of the top 10. Murro had slipped back a little after a slight excursion, “I misread a crest and went off through the tyres,” he explained. “We lost time on the opener when we slid off, nudged the tyres and stalled,” said English.
It wasn’t a good day for the some of the MSN Circuit Championship regular’s either. Josh and Tamsyn Davey’s Darrian missed the split on SS1 and took a maximum. “No excuses really, then we stalled at the Hairpin’s as we had no bottom end grunt,” Josh explained. Josh Payton/Jamie Vaughan’s Escort had led their class after SS1, “then we put slicks on and couldn’t stop. As I touched the brakes we went off and were stuck in the gravel on the Melbourne Loop,” said Payton. Martin Hodgson/Tony Jones also hit trouble, stopping with the fuel leak on their Escort on SS2, after holding second in class D on the opener.
While Bird continued on wets for stage three, Roskell opted for slicks and down came the rain as they waited at the start. “It didn’t work and I lost loads of time,” Roskell admitted as the lead grew by a further 26 seconds. Despite being only two-wheel drive, Morris was still consolidating third, while O’Donovan had moved into joint fourth with Inglis, who had also opted for slicks. Hughes was back up to sixth too after Maloney had a slight off on the infield. Dimmack was still eighth but had Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt closing in with their Nissan powered Metro 6R4. “Tyre choice is easy for us, it’s the four slicks we’ve got,” said Jasper.
With Roskill back on wets for stage four, both he and Bird were comfortably quickest, as the lead grew to 1min 16 secs. Behind them Morris was still comfortable in third despite a slight misfire, but O’Donovan had pulled out four seconds on Inglis, after the Scots had a brief excursion and clipped a barrier. Hughes tried slick rears and wet front and despite a small spin was still sixth, with his gap over Maloney reduced by two seconds. Jasper’s progress continued as he moved up to eighth, with Dimmack and Rob Swann/Darren Garrod’s Fiesta completing the top 10, after English went off. “Someone said the Old Hairpin was flat in fifth, it wasn’t,” he said.
With one pair of stages left and the final run in the dark, tyres choice still varied considerably. Bird stayed on wets to securing his win, but Morris having changed to wets on SS5, his pace on the final run brought the gap to second placed Roskill down to only two seconds at the finish. O’Donovan, Inglis and Hughes held station to complete the top six, with Hughes second quickest overall on the final stage. Maloney retained seventh, but Swann came with a late charge and from 10th after SS4, he finally came home eighth, with Jasper ninth and Murro snatching 10th after Dimmack picked up a 30 secs penalty on the final run, dropping him to 12th, behind English and the new Fiesta Rally2 of Jamaican crew Jeffrey Panton/Michael Fennell.
In the classes there was no beating Jonathan Hudson/Adi Collins’ Suzuki Swift. “We had a new gearbox in and tried slicks on stage two, then went back to wets,” said Hudson after topping Class A by 44 secs from Matt and Adrian Walk’s Fiesta. James Hardy/Nick Wilkins’ Micra was third from SS2, while Dawid Ostrowski/Robert Bekas’ edged out the similar Micra of Kay Thompson/Charlotte Banner for fourth on the final stage.
Chris Ruck/Steve Harris’ Vauxhall Corsa Kit Car led Class B all day. “The only real problem we had was being held up badly on stage four, when a car was stuck,” said Ruck. He was 17th overall too taking his class win by 49 secs over Alex Cannon/Alan Carfrae’s Fiesta R2, who made the top 20 too in 19th. Richard and Adam Kay’s Corsa vacated an early third when their engine let go on stage three, which left Paul Sheard/Callum Young’s Mazda MX5 to oust Gary Russell/Liam Carfrae’s Peugeot 208 R2 for third from stage four.
With Davey and Payton both out of contention after two stages, Phil House/Nick Beaumont’s Escort ruled Class C. “We changed to wet front and slick rear from stage three and stayed on them,” said House. Overall, he was 16th, with Stephen Sawley/Rob Johnson’s Escort snatching second from Matt Wood/Val Thompson’s Astra, despite a 30 secs penalty on SS2.
Ryan Connolly/Chris Allen’s Ford Puma was third after a late charge too, demoting Lucy Wigley/Emma Cooper’s Renault Clio on the final stage.
Third placed Morris was way ahead throughout in class D, but with Hodgson suffering early problems, it left the rest of the podium places wide open. Ciro Carannante/Simon Coates’ Porsche Cayman held the position for the first two stages, until they lost drive. From there it was James Garner/Jack Cuttill’s Escort, with Clive Hitchman/Jeremy Griffiths’ BMW second. Alasdair Stables/Neil Jones’ Chevette HSR had to settle for third, after a 30 secs penalty on SS3.
There were only two starters in class E1, with Peter Robinson/Steve Tugnutt winning the Impreza duel over Nathan Yates.
In E2 it was Bird, from Roskell, O’Donovan and Inglis, with Paul Gorge/Matthew Pimlott taking the MX5 class and Chris Thompson/Ron Roughead’s Escort Mk1 the Historics.
Published by Peter Scherer for Dukeries Motor Club. December 6th, 2021
