Richard Kershaw and son Mason won the very first Yorkshire Hill Rally by just one second in a dramatic conclusion to the three day event, which was round four of the Motorsport UK British Cross Country Championship as well as round five of the Defender Rally Series.
Kershaw, in his Lofthouse Freelander, took an early lead on the short opening stage, nine seconds ahead of Johnnie Drysdale and Tony Rae. Kershaw and Drysdale were extremely closely matched on the remaining three stages of Friday afternoon, setting equal times on two stages and Drysdale being quicker by one second on the other to leave Kershaw leading by 8 seconds going into day two. Simon Adams and Rita Tamolina set joint fastest time on stage four to lie in third in their ex-Jason Rowlands Lofthouse Freelander.
Although the opening day was four relatively short stages there were some crews who had issues. Stephanie Lee and Rachael Dilworth were the first to have drama when their car cut out on the start line and wouldn’t restart. Other competitors bump started the car and they were able to complete the stage, albeit almost at the back of the leaderboard. They would battle back to sixth overall before retiring early on day three.
Edd Cobley and John Tomley were another crew with problems early on. Their Defender stopped as it was accelerating away from the start line. Faulty injector seals were found to be the cause and a social media appeal to get parts resulted in one of the event sponsors, RCM 4×4, opening his business in the evening to supply new seals. Cobley was able to restart on day two but further problems forced him out with two stages to go.
Day two consisted of two loops of three stages, starting with the very challenging terrain of an old airfield near Driffield. BXCC title race leader Paul Rowlands dominated here, he was 44 seconds faster than anyone else over the 7.5 miles of the stage to take the overall lead by one second from Kershaw. Kershaw was back in the lead after stage six and Rowlands’ hopes of victory were ended on stage seven when fan issues on his PAR Homes Racing Can-Am Maverick X3 lost him around nine minutes. He continued though, before his event ended in a ditch in SS14.
Rowlands was being navigated by Martin Cole, who stood in at the last minute when Rowlands’ usual navigator was ill. Cole had never co-driven for anyone and had no experience of the navigation but he was enjoying the event.
“The first two stages were a bit rusty but we did improve in three and four to lie 11th overnight,” said Cole. “We jumped from 11th to first on SS5 with a blistering time. Sadly the fan issue meant the car went into limp mode, costing a huge chunk of time and dropping us to 22nd.”
“It was all to play for on Sunday to try and get back into the top ten. We got up to tenth after SS13 but we slid into a hedge in SS14 and then we dropped into a ditch trying to get out which put us out of the event, both OK other than bruised pride!”
Kershaw continued his pace to finish day two 1:01 ahead of Adams, with Ian Gregg and Jason Noakes in third, just one second behind Adams.
After two days of sunshine conditions changed on day three, torrential rain making some of the tracks treacherous. It was Gregg who made the most of the conditions, putting his Gregg Motorsport Polaris into the lead after the first two stages of day three.
With two stages to go Gregg had built a lead of 54 seconds over Kershaw with Jason Rowlands, who had been keeping out of trouble in his Can-Am Maverick X3, in third.
It was a cruel end to the event for Gregg though, his car being slowed by engine management issues which saw him pipped for the win by just one second by Kershaw.
“It’s a shame we lost the win but I’m still very happy with the result,” said Gregg. “I absolutely loved the event, the car went well, especially when it got wet and slippery.”
As well as winning the event Kershaw took maximum points in the BXCC and he was thrilled with the result.
“I’m very proud to have won the first ever Yorkshire Hill Rally, especially with it being relatively local for me,” commented Kershaw. “We’d built up a good lead by the end of the second day and I didn’t listen to Mason and took it too easily at the start of day three. The conditions were tough after the rain but you just have to take it as it comes. Hopefully the event will continue and I’ll be back!”
Jason Rowlands continued with his trouble-free run on day three to take the final podium position.
“It’s been a good weekend,” said Rowlands. “The rain made things interesting, my co-driver Matt had to lend me his goggles for the final stage as it was hard to see with all the mud and no windscreen! Thanks to the PAR Homes Racing team and Dad for helping me get a great result.”
Phil Bayliss and Lance Murfin got their best BXCC result of the season with fourth overall and first in class.
“All at Team OFG loved the whole event,” said Bayliss. “Our car, Blaze, ran faultlessly and the result puts us in a good position in the BXCC going into the last two rounds. Thanks to my Dad for paying the entry fee!”
Richard Watson and Paul Hughes rounded off the top five in their Milner Evoque, surviving a moment when the car went up onto two wheels in front of the TV cameras!
Mike Faulkner and Peter Foy were on the pace in their Fouquet Nissan before a hub failure caused them to lose a wheel, forcing them into retirement.
Faulkner commented: “It was great to be part of the inaugural Yorkshire Hill Rally, we were disappointed with the retirement but pleased with the improvement in place. The event provided a mix of surfaces and a challenging environment which, as competitors, is what we are keen for. To set some top stage times on our first hill rally was pleasing. We will regroup and aim to improve again at the remaining BXCC rounds.”
Peter Widdop made it to the finish despite a very challenging event in his Milner R5. Widdop and co-driver Marion Andrieu, who had travelled 800 miles from France to be at the rally, had a good start on day one, throwing the car around the stages like a Mk2 Escort. It all went wrong on the first stage of day two when the gearbox broke. Peter takes up the story:
“The service crew came with the trailer and we loaded up and took the car back to my Discovery Centre business for the H-pattern box we built the car with originally, rather than the one that broke. This meant altering the gearbox mountings and building up a different length propshaft. We then had a trip to Pudsey to try and find a clutch that matched the gearbox from Andy West but we had no joy. Fortunately another NORC member, Dean Hoskins, had a second-hand clutch which meant we could get the car back together and then return to the event service area around 10.30pm on Saturday.”
“I enjoyed the Sunday stages and we even managed to set a fastest time on one of them which justified all the effort in getting the car repaired, Once in parc ferme Marion and partner Sam, who had been helping in service, had to make a rapid dash to Portsmouth to get the ferry home and they made it! It was a huge effort by the entire team.”
The RS Offroad team of Reece Mathieson and father Sean got their first finish in the Freelander previously raced by the late John Pickering.
“It was a successful event for us,” said Reece. “Our aim was a finish, which we achieved. Not only that, we also finished second in class, our first trophy in the Discovery.”
“We’re still learning the car and the variety of terrain certainly gave us some great experience. We had no issues other than losing a headlight and indicator in amongst the maize fields! It was a super enjoyable weekend and a special one too. We were running number 25 in memory of John ‘Pick’ Pickering and we know he would’ve been proud of our effort. Pick’s partner Val came to the event to support us and spurred us on to the finish. It seems somewhat spooky, but right, that we finished 25th overall! Thanks to our sponsors Millers Oils, Terrafirma and DDS Metal Services for their help in making our Discovery into what it is today.”
In the Defender Rally Series Mark Thomas and Phil Mackay took another win ahead of Nathan Burrell and Matthew Kirby.
The Yorkshire Hill Rally was supported by Birchall Foodservice, PAR Homes, Voxcloud, The Discovery Centre, RCM 4×4, Gregg Motorsport, Fairview Farm Log Cabins and Holiday Accommodation, Fairview Farm Machinery, NickyGrist.com, OR Tyres and PD Extinguishers.
The BXCC will conclude with two rounds at Walters Arena in Wales on 12th and 13th October and, after the results in Yorkshire, it’s all to play for in the title battle.
For more information please visit crosscountryuk.org.
