Donington Park will echo to the sound of a capacity entry of rally cars on Sunday, as the Leicestershire race circuit hosts the 63rd annual Dukeries Rally sponsored by Northside Truck & Van.
The opening stage of six is at 9.30am and first car off the start line will be Warsop Vale’s John Griffiths in his MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship leading orange Ford Fiesta R5, co-driven by Mansfield Woodhouse’s Emma Morrison. The pair were third at Anglesey last weekend, ending a run of three consecutive wins, but taking them a step nearer to sealing the Championship title.
Mark Kelly was the Circuit Rally Champion two years ago and hasn’t been out on a rally so far this year. But he is back at number two, with his rebuilt Skoda Fabia R5, along with regular co-driver Neil Colman. Third car away will be former British Rallycross Champion Ollie O’Donovan, with Ashleigh Morris sharing his Hyundai i20 R5, while at four are visiting Scots Alistair and Colin Inglis in a Fiesta Rally2.
<<<<<< Ollie O’Donovan and Ashleigh Morris at Brands Hatch.
David Campling and James Ducker have usually been seen in Subaru Impreza’s or Cosworth powered Ford’s on Belgian closed road events. But this weekend they have a Skoda Fabia R5 too.
Michael Igoe has been a British GT frontrunner for the last couple of years, firstly with a Porsche and more recently a GT3 Lamborghini Huracan. But for this season he has turned his back on circuit racing and made his first ever rally start in January’s Brands Hatch Stages. Having also contested the Snetterton Rally, Igoe was second in last weekend’s Lee Holland Stages at Anglesey and Donington is a circuit he knows well, but only the right way round!
Starting at seven is former biker Kiaran Hankin who is in only his second season of rallying. Partnered by James Swallow, they have the rarer Peugeot 208 T16 R5 and are pushing for podium finishers now. Tony Robinson and Mark Witherspoon start their Skoda Fabia R5 at number eight, before the first of the two wheel drives cars complete the top 10.
Kiaran Hankin / James Swallow at the recent Brands Hatch Stages Rally >>>>>>>>>>>
Seeded at 9 are Jason and Lee Wilson’s Darrian T90 GTR made their seasonal debuts at Anglesey last weekend, with eighth overall and a dominant win in Class 3, while Martin Hodgson and Tony Jones (Ford Escort Mk2) are regular front runners and winners of Class 4. Favourites for the Class 1 win are Anthony Newton / Suze Endean in a 1400cc Vauxhall Nova who often outperform many more powerful cars.
Daniel Bird starts at 11 with a Fiesta R5. He is the son of 1989 Dukeries Rally winner Keith Bird, but Daniel has Keith’s former navigator Tony Hart sitting alongside him too!
Among the other local drivers are Alasdair Stables and Neil Jones in a Vauxhall Chevette HSR and James Garner and Jack Cuttill’s Darrian from Leicester, Chris Ruck and Steve Harris’ Vauxhall Corsa Kit Car from Long Eaton, Tom and Dean Stockdale’s BMW 1M from Worksop and whole horde of Dukeries MC members.
Tickets are available at £17 per adult in advance (until Thursday) on https://doningtonpark.msv.com/DP-23-RALLY/Admission-Tickets
Photo credit M&H Photography for the images from the Brands Hatch Stages
The latest positions / points after Round 5 of the MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship
1 John Griffiths Warsop Vale 294
2 Alasdair Stables Leicester 254
3 James Garner Leicester 249
4 Kiaran Hankin Leyland 237
5 Nick Heard Beverley 219
6 Ollie O’Donovan Iver Heath 213
7 Daniel Poole Nelson 194
8 Paul Murro Hambleton 165
9 Darrell Taylor Folkestone 154
10 Martin Hodgson Wakefield 151
