As of the end of 2024 the SD34 magazine will lose its long time editor. Spotlight has been entertaining the motorsport region for many years and it will be sad to see it disappear. If anyone who has some creative flair and would like to get in volved i am sure SD34 MSG would appreciate your support
From Maurice Ellison
Please find attached the November edition of Spotlight
Lots in this edition to keep you busy for a day or two.
Next Month’s edition (December) will be my last as editor.
Despite pleas for a replacement there is a lack of applicants to take it on
11 Nov 24 – Spotlight Magazine
CLUTCHING AT STRAWS and gearboxes – Phil & George Jennings – BMW Compact 2.8 – 2024 season
PDF Version with images here 2024 Rally Year
It’s been a while since i did one of these but it may be a while before i do another so here it is
This year has been eventful for the BMW and the team of myself & Phil
We started off with our usual trip to Garstang to continue our support for the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally, now surpassing 20 years and despite the raising of the profile to the premier British Rally Championship we went for it knowing it would be a totally different event for us.
The weather was not good making tyre choice unpredictable, but we set of in a heavy hail shower to the trough of Bowland as car 118. We knew it would be a challenge after the recce the week before knowing it would be a bit of a mud bath running at the back of the event. The recce was eventful with me being ill which was a worry, but all was OK luckily before the start
We got to Beacon Fell to find a cancelled stage and were told to reroute to Chipping for SS2. We then spent 2 hours in the local Church Hall car park before being sent back to Myerscough College after the first leg was abandoned due to the front runners crashing out and blocking the stages
Sadly, our event then consisted of the second and final leg of stages which were enjoyable but looking back we only started a competitive stage at 3.30pm arriving at Garstang to a small crowd of people on the finish ramp at 7.30pm. Not great considering the outlay well in excess of £1K for 30 odd stage miles
A bittersweet end to what might be our last North West Stages due to the high entry fees
Off to 3 sisters with our Sponsor now applied for the North West Stages we went to their local venue, which is in the hometown of Unibro Grass Machinery, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Phils employer who kindly helped with some of the costs
Sadly, a very short event
SS1 – off we went from the start, the car immediately stepped out which was very uncharacteristic of the BMW. We continued but soon realised all was not well with the gear changes and drive making horrendous noises. We got to the end and tried to finish SS2, which we did but the car was clearly not going any further, so we packed up and drove the car the 3 miles back home
Thinking it was the gearbox which has broken i got another gearbox later that day
Little did i realise this would be last thing i did to the car until September!
Thanks to the help of Craig Kennedy and his facilities we finally got around to putting the car back on the road. Up on the ramp to remove the dreaded gearbox, nicely positioned to gain good balance in the car but with BMW in their wisdom doing so push the bell housing right up the transmission tunnel making bolt access very difficult, This includes multiple extension bars on a socket set wrench about 4 ft long playing hook the duck trying to get the socket drive into the head of the starter motor bolt. Definitely needs a you tube video on this
Once removed the gearbox the annoying sight that i bought wrong, when the clutch pressure plate fell to pieces. This in turn destroyed the paddle clutch.
Not having a spare, we decided on building it back up with an old clutch. Bad mistake! Once back together and 6 hours later we had a juddery creaky car
3 weeks later after dealing with a lot of inept and pretty useless clutch specialists i went back to CG motorsport in Leeds who provided a new kit. We were attempting to do the October 3 Sisters event organised by Wigan MC but time ran out, or so we thought.
The Saturday before the event Unibro Grass Machinery stepped in again with the help of the use of their 2-poster ramp. Very little room to work but with help from the Unibro team managed to strip it down and rebuild it with the new clutch in double quick time. The new M3 gearbox went on so all was good, so i thought!
At 2pm a quick call was made to Helen Fox and we were in.
The Adgespeed Stages
A nice dry day with mild conditions was a welcome relief after all the rain of recent weeks. The event went pretty well with little to do to the car between the stages and the car feeling as good as it was on the North West Stages. All was good with the world until the last two stages. We reversed the car of the ground sheet to start SS11. A big mass of green liquid on there ended up being the gearbox had emptied its contents of oil!
Undeterred we completed the event with a respectable finish in the top 20. However, driving the car home with a very sticky and notchy gearchange meant only one thing!
Back to our hero helper, Craig Kennedy. With one week to go before the Neil Howard Stages we knew it was make or break for us.
Another 6 hours later we were back up and running again with the old faithful gearbox we used prior to the clutch failure. Full circle or what. We are somewhat experts at BMW gearbox changes. The work included a centre bearing on the prop being changed as it was damaged, and we thought was the cause of some banging and clunking under the car. Something we were about to find out would be ominous
Off to Oulton Park. A first dry event for a few years. Parked next to craig Kennedy who saved us a spot we got ready for the start. A tricky slippy test across the infield but no dramas and despite cars spinning in front of us we were going OK. SI started thinking this would be a good day for once without issues, Then into the watersplash for two runs. No misfires so good there. Throught the gravel section for the last time heading past the pit lane the car started feeling odd, over a rise and a clunk from the rear and then loud scraping noises over the gravel. Hoping it was just the tank guard we were just yards from the finish. Onto the track and it was clear something was very badly amiss. Trundled out into the paddock with the scraping noises. Parked up to see the back wheels at odd angles. Jacking up the car was our worst fears. The rear beam carrying the suspension arms and diff had ripped out of the floor of the car with a large section wrapped under the rear arm.
Not wanting to end like this I went on the search around the paddock. Thankfully Will Owen, the whizz with the welder came to our rescue. Driving the car around to the garage and despite his limited time he spared it to getting the beam welded back onto the car. Not perfect but good enough for the last two stages of 3 fast laps of the circuit in the dark
Phil went for it overtaking several cars, unleashing his inner circuit racer to get us to the end in one piece. More than what can be said for the car
I have not had the courage to look at the damage yet but it will be beyond my repair skills and after 13 years of use it might be time to retire the shell
Hopefully we will be back in some form with a good welder we may end up in 4WD machinery. Lets see what 2025 brings. Hopefully less gearbox changes!
CLUTCHING AT STRAWS and gearboxes – Phil & George Jennings – BMW Compact 2.8
It’s been a while since i did one of these but it may be a while before i do another so here it is
This year has been eventful for the BMW and the team of myself & Phil
We started off with our usual trip to Garstang to continue our support for the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally, now surpassing 20 years and despite the raising of the profile to the premier British Rally Championship we went for it knowing it would be a totally different event for us.
The weather was not good making tyre choice unpredictable, but we set of in a heavy hail shower to the trough of Bowland as car 118. We knew it would be a challenge after the recce the week before knowing it would be a bit of a mud bath running at the back of the event. The recce was eventful with me being ill which was a worry, but all was OK luckily before the start
We got to Beacon Fell to find a cancelled stage and were told to reroute to Chipping for SS2. We then spent 2 hours in the local Church Hall car park before being sent back to Myerscough College after the first leg was abandoned due to the front runners crashing out and blocking the stages
Sadly, our event then consisted of the second and final leg of stages which were enjoyable but looking back we only started a competitive stage at 3.30pm arriving at Garstang to a small crowd of people on the finish ramp at 7.30pm. Not great considering the outlay well in excess of £1K for 30 odd stage miles
A bittersweet end to what might be our last North West Stages due to the high entry fees
Beacon Fell 2
Off to 3 sisters with our Sponsor now applied for the North West Stages we went to their local venue, which is in the hometown of Unibro Grass Machinery, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Phils employer who kindly helped with some of the costs
Sadly, a very short event
SS1 – off we went from the start, the car immediately stepped out which was very uncharacteristic of the BMW. We continued but soon realised all was not well with the gear changes and drive making horrendous noises. We got to the end and tried to finish SS2, which we did but the car was clearly not going any further, so we packed up and drove the car the 3 miles back home
Thinking it was the gearbox which has broken i got another gearbox later that day
Little did i realise this would be last thing i did to the car until September!
Thanks to the help of Craig Kennedy and his facilities we finally got around to putting the car back on the road. Up on the ramp to remove the dreaded gearbox, nicely positioned to gain good balance in the car but with BMW in their wisdom doing so push the bell housing right up the transmission tunnel making bolt access very difficult, This includes multiple extension bars on a socket set wrench about 4 ft long playing hook the duck trying to get the socket drive into the head of the starter motor bolt. Definitely needs a you tube video on this
Once removed the gearbox the annoying sight that i bought wrong, when the clutch pressure plate fell to pieces. This in turn destroyed the paddle clutch.
Not having a spare, we decided on building it back up with an old clutch. Bad mistake! Once back together and 6 hours later we had a juddery creaky car
3 weeks later after dealing with a lot of inept and pretty useless clutch specialists i went back to CG motorsport in Leeds who provided a new kit. We were attempting to do the October 3 Sisters event organised by Wigan MC but time ran out, or so we thought.
The Saturday before the event Unibro Grass Machinery stepped in again with the help of the use of their 2-poster ramp. Very little room to work but with help from the unibro team managed to strip it down and rebuild it with the new clutch in double quick time. The new M3 gearbox went on so all was good, so i thought!
At 2pm a quick call was made to Helen Fox and we were in.
The Adgespeed Stages
A nice dry day with mild conditions was a welcome relief after all the rain of recent weeks. The event went pretty well with little to do to the car between the stages and the car feeling as good as it was on the North West Stages. All was good with the world until the last two stages. We reversed the car of the ground sheet to start SS11. A big mass of green liquid on there ended up being the gearbox had emptied its contents of oil!
Undeterred we completed the event with a respectable finish in the top 20. However, driving the car home with a very sticky and notchy gearchange meant only one thing!
Back to our hero helper, Craig Kennedy. With one week to go before the Neil Howard Stages we knew it was make or break for us.
Another 6 hours later we were back up and running again with the old faithful gearbox we used prior to the clutch failure. Full circle or what. We are somewhat experts at BMW gearbox changes. The work included a centre bearing on the prop being changed as it was damaged, and we thought was the cause of some banging and clunking under the car. Something we were about to find out would be ominous
Adgespeed Stages – Thanks to UK Motorsport Photography
Off to Oulton Park. A first dry event for a few years. Parked next to craig Kennedy who saved us a spot we got ready for the start. A tricky slippy test across the infield but no dramas and despite cars spinning in front of us we were going OK. SI started thinking this would be a good day for once without issues, Then into the watersplash for two runs. No misfires so good there. Throught the gravel section for the last time heading past the pit lane the car started feeling odd, over a rise and a clunk from the rear and then loud scraping noises over the gravel. Hoping it was just the tank guard we were just yards from the finish. Onto the track and it was clear something was very badly amiss. Trundled out into the paddock with the scraping noises. Parked up to see the back wheels at odd angles. Jacking up the car was our worst fears. The rear beam carrying the suspension arms and diff had ripped out of the floor of the car with a large section wrapped under the rear arm.
Not wanting to end like this I went on the search around the paddock. Thankfully Will Owen, the whizz with the welder came to our rescue. Driving the car around to the garage and despite his limited time he spared it to getting the beam welded back onto the car. Not perfect but good enough for the last two stages of 3 fast laps of the circuit in the dark
Phil went for it overtaking several cars, unleashing his inner circuit racer to get us to the end in one piece. More than what can be said for the car
I have not had the courage to look at the damage yet but it will be beyond my repair skills and after 13 years of use it might be time to retire the shell
Hopefully we will be back in some form with a good welder we may end up in 4WD machinery. Lets see what 2025 brings. Hopefully less gearbox changes!
CLUTCHING AT STRAWS and gearboxes – Phil & George Jennings – BMW Compact 2.8
It’s been a while since i did one of these but it may be a while before i do another so here it is
This year has been eventful for the BMW and the team of myself & Phil
We started off with our usual trip to Garstang to continue our support for the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally, now surpassing 20 years and despite the raising of the profile to the premier British Rally Championship we went for it knowing it would be a totally different event for us.
The weather was not good making tyre choice unpredictable, but we set of in a heavy hail shower to the trough of Bowland as car 118. We knew it would be a challenge after the recce the week before knowing it would be a bit of a mud bath running at the back of the event. The recce was eventful with me being ill which was a worry, but all was OK luckily before the start
We got to Beacon Fell to find a cancelled stage and were told to reroute to Chipping for SS2. We then spent 2 hours in the local Church Hall car park before being sent back to Myerscough College after the first leg was abandoned due to the front runners crashing out and blocking the stages
Sadly, our event then consisted of the second and final leg of stages which were enjoyable but looking back we only started a competitive stage at 3.30pm arriving at Garstang to a small crowd of people on the finish ramp at 7.30pm. Not great considering the outlay well in excess of £1K for 30 odd stage miles
A bittersweet end to what might be our last North West Stages due to the high entry fees
Beacon Fell 2
Off to 3 sisters with our Sponsor now applied for the North West Stages we went to their local venue, which is in the hometown of Unibro Grass Machinery, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Phils employer who kindly helped with some of the costs
Sadly, a very short event
SS1 – off we went from the start, the car immediately stepped out which was very uncharacteristic of the BMW. We continued but soon realised all was not well with the gear changes and drive making horrendous noises. We got to the end and tried to finish SS2, which we did but the car was clearly not going any further, so we packed up and drove the car the 3 miles back home
Thinking it was the gearbox which has broken i got another gearbox later that day
Little did i realise this would be last thing i did to the car until September!
Thanks to the help of Craig Kennedy and his facilities we finally got around to putting the car back on the road. Up on the ramp to remove the dreaded gearbox, nicely positioned to gain good balance in the car but with BMW in their wisdom doing so push the bell housing right up the transmission tunnel making bolt access very difficult, This includes multiple extension bars on a socket set wrench about 4 ft long playing hook the duck trying to get the socket drive into the head of the starter motor bolt. Definitely needs a you tube video on this
Once removed the gearbox the annoying sight that i bought wrong, when the clutch pressure plate fell to pieces. This in turn destroyed the paddle clutch.
Not having a spare, we decided on building it back up with an old clutch. Bad mistake! Once back together and 6 hours later we had a juddery creaky car
3 weeks later after dealing with a lot of inept and pretty useless clutch specialists i went back to CG motorsport in Leeds who provided a new kit. We were attempting to do the October 3 Sisters event organised by Wigan MC but time ran out, or so we thought.
The Saturday before the event Unibro Grass Machinery stepped in again with the help of the use of their 2-poster ramp. Very little room to work but with help from the unibro team managed to strip it down and rebuild it with the new clutch in double quick time. The new M3 gearbox went on so all was good, so i thought!
At 2pm a quick call was made to Helen Fox and we were in.
The Adgespeed Stages
A nice dry day with mild conditions was a welcome relief after all the rain of recent weeks. The event went pretty well with little to do to the car between the stages and the car feeling as good as it was on the North West Stages. All was good with the world until the last two stages. We reversed the car of the ground sheet to start SS11. A big mass of green liquid on there ended up being the gearbox had emptied its contents of oil!
Undeterred we completed the event with a respectable finish in the top 20. However, driving the car home with a very sticky and notchy gearchange meant only one thing!
Back to our hero helper, Craig Kennedy. With one week to go before the Neil Howard Stages we knew it was make or break for us.
Another 6 hours later we were back up and running again with the old faithful gearbox we used prior to the clutch failure. Full circle or what. We are somewhat experts at BMW gearbox changes. The work included a centre bearing on the prop being changed as it was damaged, and we thought was the cause of some banging and clunking under the car. Something we were about to find out would be ominous
Adgespeed Stages – Thanks to UK Motorsport Photography
Off to Oulton Park. A first dry event for a few years. Parked next to craig Kennedy who saved us a spot we got ready for the start. A tricky slippy test across the infield but no dramas and despite cars spinning in front of us we were going OK. SI started thinking this would be a good day for once without issues, Then into the watersplash for two runs. No misfires so good there. Throught the gravel section for the last time heading past the pit lane the car started feeling odd, over a rise and a clunk from the rear and then loud scraping noises over the gravel. Hoping it was just the tank guard we were just yards from the finish. Onto the track and it was clear something was very badly amiss. Trundled out into the paddock with the scraping noises. Parked up to see the back wheels at odd angles. Jacking up the car was our worst fears. The rear beam carrying the suspension arms and diff had ripped out of the floor of the car with a large section wrapped under the rear arm.
Not wanting to end like this I went on the search around the paddock. Thankfully Will Owen, the whizz with the welder came to our rescue. Driving the car around to the garage and despite his limited time he spared it to getting the beam welded back onto the car. Not perfect but good enough for the last two stages of 3 fast laps of the circuit in the dark
Phil went for it overtaking several cars, unleashing his inner circuit racer to get us to the end in one piece. More than what can be said for the car
I have not had the courage to look at the damage yet but it will be beyond my repair skills and after 13 years of use it might be time to retire the shell
Hopefully we will be back in some form with a good welder we may end up in 4WD machinery. Lets see what 2025 brings. Hopefully less gearbox changes!
Clip of a deranged BMW
WARRINGTON & DISTRICT MOTOR CLUB AGM – 9th APRIL AT THE PARTRIDGE PUBLIC HOUSE WA44LX AT 8pm
PLEASE ATTEND IF POSSIBLE
See message below from Club Secretary
Hello WDMC Members
We will be holding our Annual General Meeting Tuesday 9th April 2024 8pm at the Partridge Pub Tarporley Road, Warrington WA4 4LX, just off Junction 10 M56. 200yards down the A49 (Tarporley Rd)
All members are welcome and please see below the list of positions available for posts on the committee.
If you are not able to attend on the date proposed, please PM me if you wish to nominate yourself for any of the positions.
All nominations will be processed at the AGM and confirmations will be posted by email and on the website.
Ps
We will soon be looking to undertake the prize giving. Anyone who has a trophy that requires retuning please let myself or Ann know to arrange return.
· Club Chairman
· Club Secretary
· Club Treasurer
· Stage Rally Officer
· Wern Ddu Event Officer
· Safeguarding Officers
· Membership and Web Officer
· Social Secretary
· General Member
WERN DDU GRAVEL AUTOTEST TO KICK OFF FEBRUARY 2024 WITH NEW VENUE AND NEW CLASSES PLANNED
Championship dates for 2024,
Feb 11th
March 23/24th
May 19th
June 30th – Wrexham new venue shalegrass
Oct 20th
Nov 24th
Dec 8th
5x best scores to count for Championship
Entries and regulations open mid January
Regulations carry over 99%
Addition of 2x new classes to existing ones
2 seat sports car class
Rally cars and everything else
April 2022
50 years of Ian Harwood in Motorsport
2023.03.16 – FINAL FLIER FOR IAN HARWOOD EVENING
November 2022
Nice news story of one of the members in the Northwich Guardian – link below
Matthew Steadman contested Neil Howard Rally at Oulton Park | Northwich Guardian
March 20th 2022
No spark but perseverance pays off – Legend Fires North West Stages 2022
The usual build up to our main event of the year was very different with the passing of Dave Read, who always used to give words of advice prior to the event and encouragement to keep going, even when things seemed hopeless. A good friend and club member who will be sadly missed. We needed to get to the start just to honour him and keep the feeling going. Our longest continuous running rally
Apart from the big shopping list of new parts to keep the scrutineers happy we had the added fun of swapping out the clutch which had been left broken since 3 Sisters in October. BCD Clutches in Leeds turned around refacing the flywheel and supplying a new assembly very quickly. Thankfully, fellow club member Craig Kennedy helped out massively with use of his facilities and tools to make the job much easier. Still a tricky task on the BMW, especially around the starter motor, which we would find out to our cost later. We managed to get several pressing jobs done in there which helped also
Just to add cost and salt into my wounded wallet, the tow car’s clutch started slipping on the way back from Craig’s meaning another expensive clutch swap.
On to the eve of the day and a long day it turned out to be. Set up at Myerscough college and off into the hills for the recce. Lots of note changes were needed with lots of extra cautions for me to shout at Phil. Back to Myerscough and as it was just me and Phil at the time with no service crew and Phil’s wife for support, we got the car through scrutineering and ready for the evening trip to Garstang
A late 8pm start up the A6 to join the celebrations. The problems started straight away with the voltage dropping away and the battery light on the dash. We joined the main street with the car struggling to start. Amazingly a car shop stayed open late to help any crews (https://carcaregarstang.com). Without their help we would have struggled as he supplied us with a new battery. Once we left the start ramp the car ground to a halt around the corner. Using the onboard toolkit, we swapped out the battery to get us back to Myerscough.
Thinking a failed alternator was the culprit we got out the spare, only to find out it was the wrong one, probably off our old 4 pot engine. A lengthy set of messages and calls ensued and luckily my brother found one hiding in the garage taken from a broken engine which overheated on a disappointing 2019 LFNWS. So a 1 ½ hour round trip down the M6 to retrieve the replacement and back to the hotel for 12.40am
Rally day and a clear crisp misty early morning greeted us. Lots to do and once we fitted the new alternator it was up the road for fuel. Wow £60 and it didn’t touch the sides. The battery light now out on the return to HQ which was good.
So 09:37 and off we go. Sets up for the Beacon Fell stage feeling nervous as I had little experience on the pacenotes. Firstly, my intercom lead came off, so I had to shout the notes out to Phil. Off we go and into the first caution, downhill into a tightening hairpin right. Heavy fuel load and cold tyres sees us sliding Luckily Phil engaged brain well and avoided us going right off the tarmac and down the steep slope. Unfortunately, the car tipped up slightly leaving no traction on the back wheels. It took several minutes for marshals to make it over to us safely and push us back. Thanks guys. However, by the end of the stage the battery light was on and the engine was misfiring. We drove out onto the road section where it stopped with a flat battery. After about half an hour the car sparked up into life, so we slowly headed for Myerscough.
Once back Phil’s son in law pointed out about the circuit with the starter and the battery and after some poking about in the darkness with a screwdriver and a torch we found the culprit. A ring terminal had got trapped behind the starter when refitting it. Once fitted we were up and running. A word with the scrutineer and the organisers and we were back out for the 2nd leg under super rally rules.
The Lewth stage was short and sweet. Very rough in places but I was just happy to complete our first closed road stage without any drama. On to Beacon fell for our second attempt. We got around cautiously but safely. Sadly, the Saab in front of us came to grief in the car park area after looking like it hit a gatepost. Then in the downhill section at the back of the hill we saw the Peugeot 205 which had crashed heavily. This got my nerves on edge and it showed in my calls with my voice going at some points.
Into the Long Knots and Hawthornethwaite stages which were again cautious and uneventful. I was just happy to get the mileage in after the morning’s disappointment. I started improving with the notes getting quicker and not losing my place helped by me removing a lot of detail from the notes. Nicky Nook went well as Phil remembered a lot from 2019 Back in service the earlier stage stoppages and cancellations meant Lewth being missed and a shortened leg around the North east loop again. The scenery on the road sections was stunning with the perfect weather conditions.
The last leg, Phil got into his stride and with me having a little more confidence it showed in the quicker times, overtaking several cars in the stage and almost catching another at the end of Nicky Nook. The biggest problem was the low sun on the moorland section of Hawthornethwaite with Phil struggling to see and relying on me more in that stage with the notes.
All in all, going over the finish ramp was satisfying and classified as a finisher in super rally was a great thing for us. We even spoke to the marshal who helped us get going on SS1. The crowds were great and people supporting the event at the side of the road gave us a good feeling.
One memory of the day was a little guy in his pedal car at the side of the road section going to long Knots, getting very excited as we passed, and we gave him a wave. Thinking that we were one of the last cars to pass he must have been very happy to see us all that day.
Once done and dusted its now time to take stock and see if we move forward with our other project but it will be sad to see the old BMW go after 11 years competing in it. Never say never though
See you all on the stages soon we hope
Phil & George Jennings – Car 102 – BMW Compact
January 1st 2022
17th January 2022
Dave Read Funeral Arrangements
NOVEMBER 2021
WDMC VISIT M SPORT
On Thursday 11/11/21 a number of club members, who regularly attend the club meeting nights, arranged a visit to M-sport at Cockermouth in Cumbria. The tour commenced at 5.30pm for a duration of 2 hours. On arrival at Dovenby Hall, the home of M-Sport, our party was greeted by Roger our guide for the evening. We were welcomed into one of the rooms, for refreshments, which was decked out with memorabilia from their 2006/2007 successful WRC year (we should have started in the Boardroom but “Mr M Wilson” was holding a meeting at the start of our tour). Following this the 11 members of the tour were given a guided tour of the facilities which included the engineering workshop, engine build and car assembly areas. The latter being where we managed to get a small glimpse of the new Ford Puma hybrid car for the coming season. Having spent quite some time in these areas we were then taken to the new state of the art Evaluation Centre and test track, which cost £25 million to build. This building will eventually be shared by M-Sport and some of the car manufacturers to evaluate performance of new road going cars as well as a shake down facility for the rally cars. M sport will also move their car assembly facility to this building so they can expand the engineering and engine build areas in the existing building, this being a requirement as they’ve won the tender to build the 2022 TOCA BTCC engines.
The new building also houses a showroom which is home to some of the cars M-sport have built and some of Malcolm Wilson’s personal collection. (See pictures below).
Finally we were taken back to the boardroom which had now been vacated by “Mr M Wilson” and we could have a look at the trophies M-Sport have won and helped to win over the years.
Our tour guide, Roger, had a wealth of knowledge having worked there for 16 years which made it a very interesting evening.
A new car is Born
By Stuart Deeley
Well before the first lockdown, Warner (of Warner Lewis RallySport – he who is founder of rallying history) suggested I might like to build a Celica 165 rally car based on a shell which used to be Ove Anderson’s road car.
A simple project which turned into a rather larger project – one day I will learn Rally car build and cheap do not go together.
However from a bare shell Warner (with very little help from me, but lots of help from my bank account) has created something which looks quite good.
Why a 165? I hear you cry. Being originally built before 1990 it fits into historic Class 4b ( one of the few 4 wheel drive cars that does). Compared with the 205 which has now been sold to fund the project, it is lighter ,smaller and more nimble yet has a similar engine spec. Hopefully it will feel like a Mark two Escort but with four wheel drive and a turbo. With an uprated (within regulations) engine, I expect it to fly (sort of).
There are several decal options, – Securicor , driven by David Llewellen, Bastos and Toyota Red driven by Carlos Saint. This Fina one is a Mark Duez style which will fit in when we do the Trasmeira rally in 2022. That’s unless I can find the money to go to Barbados again
The more observant of you will spot the Rallying History Festival door plate, this demo rally will take place in June next year in Telford around the Weston Park stages from the 1980’s. Worth going to watch as there will be Group B cars at full speed.
So, I almost have a car which is completely rebuilt but I’m looking potentialy for a navigator to do some of the ANWCC stages. It’s ten years since I last won the championship and I fancy having another crack. Unlike the Lotus 62, I doubt that I will get overall honours but a collection of good placings might be sufficient.
Anybody who is interested in sitting in please let me know; I would be looking for someone who could give more than just 60kg of ballast, but not necessarily hard cash.
Hopefully the car wil be finished by the new year (only 12 months late but that’s Covid for you) and I will bring it to a club night when they return. Course car at the Questmead perhaps? Or maybe a competitor?
Cheers for now and stay safe
Stuart
cof
Warrington & District Motor Club runs a Rally track day / navigator training course
On Wednesday 9/9/20 Steve Ellison arranged a one off Rally track day at Three Sisters Circuit. This included a pacenote training course which proved really useful along with the much needed use of the circuit for people to blow the cobwebs off their rally cars. The event was well received.
Warrington & District MC organised Marshals Training Weekend at Wern Ddu Quarry
The Weekend proved a great success despite storm Dennis trying to ruin the party. Here are some images from the weekend
Warrington & District Motor Club 2019 Prizegiving
January 2020
Warrington Motor Club’s Dave Read Wins Prestigious award from Motorsport UK
https://www.motorsportuk.org/motorsport-uk-and-jlt-announce-club-and-volunteer-of-the-year-2019/?fbclid=IwAR0ZqYht9t-n7YrAbgnCgmGPhjmM8AuLia03VHSD_b-Y_3Q5Wv2UGkT_ZU0
Dave Read was nominated by Motor Sport (North West) Ltd and awarded the Volunteer of the Year title for his work and tireless dedication organising the North West Stages rally.
Since 1995 Dave has been the ongoing inspiration and driving force behind the successful and popular event. Holding the role of Rally Director his dogged determination and enthusiasm to manage the event has not waned in almost 25 years. He has the knowledge, talent, energy, and resourcefulness to engage support from others and has built an experienced rally management team around him.
Each year Dave has supported other team members in securing new venues suitable for stage rallying in the North West, including stately homes, army camps, water treatment works, disused chemical works and docklands. Most recently, Dave has worked to bring rallying to the public through the use of closed-road stages along New Brighton Promenade, Blackpool Promenade and Fleetwood Waterfront.
Dave said: “I am shocked but honoured to be awarded the Motorsport UK Volunteer of the year Award. Getting recognised for the work I have put in to organising rallies over the last 40 years is very much appreciated. In recent years the workload required to put on a stage rally has increased dramatically, so although the award may be getting presented to me I would like to thank all those who have worked with me to achieve our goal of Closed Road Rallying in Lancashire, you should all feel a part of this recognition.”
Oct 2019
Victory for WDMC Club members at Three Sisters
A bumper entry of Warrington club members turned up for a very wet Adgespeed Stages Rally
Adam Williams & Rachael Atherton were on the pace throughout the day in their Williams Haulage Imprezza and managed the tricky conditions superbly awarding them with an outright win. a first for a WDMC member for some years.
Another excellent result came from Greg Williams and Richard Edwards also in a Williams Haulage Subaru Imprezza finishing 4th overall and 3rd in class
Jonny Kennedy navigating for Dave Roberts in another Imprezza came home in the top ten with 8th overall.
Steve Ellison & Sophie Landen in the Buildbase Escort finished just outside the top ten. No mean feat for a 2wd car.
Erdinc Degirmencloglu & Barry Armer in their recently recommissioned Mk1 Escort finished 23rd overall
Craig & Marcus Kennedy overcame a major oil leak in their first outing with the 1400cc Vauxhall Corsa to finish 44th overall
Finally, Craig & Danny Fairhurst overcame major misfire issues on their Ford Focus to finish 47th overall
JULY 2019
WERN DDU CREATES NEXT GENERATION RALLY DRIVERS
Following successful events at Wern Ddu with Warrington Motor Clubs Gravel Autotests several members took up the opportunity to do their Rally BARS test at the quarry in July 2019. All completed their tests successfully and are now eligible to compete on Motorsport UK Stage Rallies.
Well done to all who made the step up to Nat B rallying
OCTOBER 2019
WARRINGTON CREWS TACKLE WALES RALLY GB NATIONAL EVENT
Matthew Steadman & Stephen Landen went out in the icon of RAC Rallies, The Lancia Delta Intergrale. After extensive test over the summer the team set out from Llandudno on the route following the World Rally championship cars. A steady run in typical Rally GB conditions saw them arrive back after the first day gaining in confidence in the car and the stages.
Saturday was typically wet with the crews heading towards mid Wales around classic stages such as Myherin, Dyfi & Sweet Lamb. Sadly a seal in clutch assembly gave way in the Myherin stage forcing them into retirement.
However undeterred, they plan to be back on the event in 2020
In addition, Andy Williams & Andrew Darlington were out in the Subaru Imprezza and were going very well but retired during the last day with mechanical issues
