BHRC / RD 4 & 5 / MANX RALLY 2024
21/05/2024WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES WARD (CHICANE MEDIA), DAVID HALES & BHRC
For Rounds 4 & 5 of its 2024 season, The FUCHS Lubricants, Motorsport UK, British Historic Rally Championship would return to the Isle of Man for the first time since 2017 for a doubleheader points scoring opportunity. A place that has a rich history in Motorsport and indeed British Rallying, the Isle of Man offers up the ideal playground of quality closed roads around the stunningly picturesque Island for a two-day event covering 126 stage miles, which was a very welcomed return to the series.
Photo By Chicane Media
Organised by Manx Auto Sport Club, the iconic Rally Isle of Man (previously known as the Manx International Rally and the Manx Trophy Rally but affectionately and simply referred to as “The Manx”) was first held in 1963 and boasts an impressive back catalogue of winners which includes: Elfyn Evans, Malcolm Wilson, Richard Burns, Pentti Airkkala and Ari Vatanen, along with multiple event winners Colin McRae (x2), Jimmy McRae (x2), Roger Clark (x3), Russels Brokes (x4), Tony Pond (x4) and Manxman himself, Mark Higgins, who boasts the most wins with five between 1989 to 2009.
Higgins would be back out and competing once again on his home stomping ground and looking to add to his impressive CV, this time it would be in the stunning David Appleby Engineering Triumph TR7, bringing that oh-so-nice V8 burble to the Manx lanes once again, with a touch of nostalgia in reminiscence of the seventies and eighties.
Last time out through the gravel stages of Mid Wales, Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney took their Amigos Tequila Porsche 911 RS to an overall victory on the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages, beating the TR7 of Higgins by around 26 seconds in what might be a sign that the reign of Category 3 MKII Escorts is perhaps beginning to be challenged?
LEG 1 | STAGES 1 – 9
The opening leg of the rally would begin late Friday morning with two 3.5-mile blasts along the southern shoreline for Pooil Vaaish 1 & 2. Round 3 winners Seb Perez and Co-Driver Gary McElhinney would begin right where they left off and were the ones to set the early pace with two fastest stage times here. The pair would lead Gareth James & Steffan Evans in the MKII Ford Escort RS1800 by 7.5 seconds after those first two runs.
Photos: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | Garteh James & Steffan Evans | Source: British Historic Rally Championship / Russ Otway (90Right)
But there was trouble already for Higgins, although his opening run was good, the second fastest and just 3.7 down on Perez, the second pass was not so promising. The TR7 was seemingly stuck in second gear which lost him a chunk of time, some thirteen seconds to that matter, putting him on the back foot so early on in the rally was a far from ideal start.
With two no-score rallies already recorded this season, Irishman Michael McDaid would not be looking for a repeat of his DNF last time out at the Severn Valley Stages. He and Co-Driver Declan Casey had made the transition on the sealed surface pretty well and were third after the opening two stages, a further 1.6 down on James & Evans.
Moving in land for Stage 3 Eary, and Higgins was managing that problematic gear selection issue; despite being back in the mix, he still was not able to match the pace of the Porsche 911 RS being driven by Perez, who took another 2.5 seconds but there would trouble heading Perez’s way in the very next stage.
Photos: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | Mark Higgins & Carl Williamson | By David Hales
Perez’s Porsche would suffer an issue with the fanbelt which would see him drop down the leaderboard to third in the final stage of the loop. Higgins meanwhile had a big push in the 7-mile Injebrecktest test (SS4) winning the stage by a margin of 12.4 seconds which catapulted him back up the leaderboard and into the overall lead of the rally. Just 3.3 seconds would separate the Trumph TR7 of Higgins & Co-Driver Carl Williamson and Gareth James & Steffan Evans (Ford MKII Escort RS1800) as the crews prepared for a planned 5 stages that would see them head into the darkness for the second loop.
As dusk began to fall, Higgins and Williamson, now with a new gearbox installed, began to take charge of the rally in the TR7, adding a further 1.3 seconds to their lead having recorded the fastest time in SS5 Kristal, before stages 6 & 7 we dropped due to a non-rally related incident.
With just two-night stages remaining on the schedule for the first day, Higgins had the win firmly in his sights. Confirming that the combination of local knowledge and experience was unbeatable in the dark, he would complete those two-night stages (SS8 Ellerslie & SS9 Little London) with two fastest stage times. The final stage would see a recorded time that was a whopping 46.6 seconds quicker than any other BHRC registered crew, ending day one in style.
Photo: Mark Higgins & Carl Williamson | By Chicane Media
Mark Higgins & Carl Willamson would secure the first outright BHRC win for the Triumph (plus their third FIA Cat win), crossing the finish line at the end of day one with a significant margin of 56.4 seconds to second place crew, Gareth James & Steffan Evans in their MKII Ford Escort RS1800, who would also pick up the Category 3 honours.
Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney would hold on to that third-overall BHRC podium position, also securing the Cat2 win in their Porsche 911 RS. Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper would secure 4th overall (runners-up Cat3) in their MKII Ford Escort RS1800, with Rudi Lancaster & Guy Weaver (also in an MKII Ford Escort RS1800) rounding out the overall top 5 BHRC crews.
Photos: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney – By David Hales | Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper – Source: British Historic Rally Championship / Russ Otway (90Right) | Rudi Lancaster & Guy Weaver – By Chicane Media
FINAL RESULTS RD4
| POS | LEADERBOARD | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #37 M.HIGGINS / C.WILLIAMSON | FIA / H4 | 50:47.1 |
| 2 | #31 G.JAMES / S.EVANS | CAT 3 / H5 | 51:43.5 |
| 3 | #38 S.PEREZ / G.MCELHINNEY | CAT 2 / H4 | 52:28.0 |
| 4 | #47 R.HILL / P.COOPER | CAT 3 / H5 | 52:42.8 |
| 5 | #58 R.LANCASTER / G.WEAVER | CAT 3 / H5 | 53:09.6 |
LEG 2 | STAGES 10 – 15
The very next morning the crews reset, and headed out to tackle a further 66 miles over six more stages in those infamous Manx lanes, beginning with the 7-mile Switchback test along the eastern coast. But for the overnight leaders, Mark Higgins and Carl Williamson, this stage would prove to be a jump too far for the Triumph. That awesome V8 sound fell silent on landing as it cut out over the jump. Eventually, they found the offending wire and were able to fix it, but taking a stage maximum would see them tumble down to the bottom of the leaderboard which hurt.
Photo: Gareth James & Steffan Evans | By David Hales
Garth James & Steffan Evans started their day the right way by picking up their first stage win; getting the better of Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney in the Porsche by just 2.3 seconds, this moved them into P1 for the second leg of the rally. Michael McDaid & Declan Casey followed the Porsche which would see them lie in third overall ahead of Andrian Hetherington & Ronan O’Neill (4th) and Rudi Lancaster & Guy Weaver who rounded out the top 5 on the opening stage of the day.
Photo: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney – Source: British Historic Rally Championship | Michael McDaid & Declan Cassey | By David Hales
James & Evans would carry on that speed into the northern St Judes stage where there was a stage stoppage which resulted in notional times for a handful of crews. However, James had still set a time that was nearly 16 seconds quicker than Perez, which boosted his lead over McDaid to 14 seconds (who by the luck of notional times was now holding second).
Photo: Gareth James & Steffan Evans | By Chicane Media
The final stage of the morning loop (SS12 The Baldwins) would be the end of that charge by Gareth James & Steffan Evans, after a promising start to the second day, they would retire their MKII Ford Escort RS1800. One man’s loss was, however, another’s gain, the unfortunate demise of James & Evans would benefit Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper. Who, after a big push in their MKII Ford Escort RS1800, would leapfrog McDaid in the stage, moving into the lead for the final loop of three stages.
Photos: Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper | Mark Higgins & Carl Williamson | By David Hales
Higgins was back on form and topping the timing sheets once again, picking up the stage win in SS12 before service and returning back to the stages for the final loop determined to make a statement. He would peddle the Triumph TR7 through the three-afternoon stages the quickest and would dominate the timing sheets. With every stage win, his speed increased, gaining 3.4 in SS13, 22.3 in SS14 and a whopping 43.8 over the final test of the rally.
This impressive performance had clawed him back a significant amount of time, he and Co-Driver Carl Williamson would climb back up to end the rally in 13th; leaving the Manxman wondering what if, following that unfortunate electrical issue on SS10 which perhaps cost him the glory?
Higgins wasn’t the only one to be on a mission through the final loop of the rally, Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney were looking to recover a bad run that they had through SS12 before service; but for now, all eyes would be on the battle for the top spot between the pair of MKII Escorts being driven by Hill & McDaid.
Photos: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney – By David Hales | Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper – By By Chicane Media
McDaid recorded the third fastest time in SS13, the repeated pass of The Switchback test but Hill returned fire in the penultimate test (SS14 St Judes 2). Hill and Co-Driver Patrick Cooper were holding on to a 3.7-second lead heading into the final twelve and a half miles of the rally but could they maintain it?
Michael McDaid & Declan Cassey would throw caution to the wind and give it everything in that final test and would be rewarded as the Irish pairing would peddle their MKII Ford Escort through the final stage 4.1 seconds faster than Hill & Cooper. After an intense battle out on the iconic Manx Lanes, McDaid and Cassey had emerged triumphant, taking the win at the final throw of the dice and coming out on top of that battle with Richard Hill & Patrick Cooper. There was however, to be some consolation for Hill, despite having the win taken from him at the final hurdle, his efforts on the Manx would see him leave the Island the overall leader in the driver’s standings.
Photo: Micheal McDaid & Declan Cassey | By Chicane Media
Rounding out the overall BHRC podium and securing their second maximum points score in Cat2, were Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney. The pair had a pretty good couple days in the office of their Porsche 911 RS securing a decent points haul over the two days. They just about nipped the MKII Ford Escort RS1800 of Rudi Lancaster & Guy Weaver to that final overall podium place by 0.6 seconds; Andrian Hetherington & Ronan O’Neill would round out the top five in their MKII Escort.
Photo: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | By Chicane Media
Elsewhere Danny Cowell & Sarah Jane Coole would be awarded Cat4 in their plucky Talbot Samba Rallye and Mark Higgins would take home FIA Cat honours in the Triumph TR7 V8, both of them taking maximum points over both legs of the rally.
FINAL RESULTS RD5
| POS | LEADERBOARD | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #28 M.MCDAID / D.CASEY | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:02:30.5 |
| 2 | #47 R.HILL / P.COOPER | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:02:30.9 |
| 3 | #38 S.PEREZ / G.MCELHINNEY | CAT 2 / H4 | 1:02:45.6 |
| 4 | #58 R.LANCASTER / G.WEAVER | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:02:46.2 |
| 5 | #36 A.HETHERINGTON / R.O’NEILL | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:03:13.3 |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| POS | OVERALL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | R.HILL | 105 |
| 2 | S.PEREZ | 102 |
| 3 | A.HETHERINGTON | 98 |
| 4 | R.LANCASTER | 84 |
| 5 | M.MCDAID | 68 |
| POS | CAT2 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | S.PEREZ | 80 |
| 2 | B.SMITH | 54 |
| 3 | P.HARRIS | 51 |
| POS | CAT3 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | R.HILL | 80 |
| 2 | A.HETHERINGTON | 74 |
| 3 | R.LANCASTER | 64 |
| POS | CAT4 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D.COWELL | 40 |
| 2 | G.LEPLEY | 20 |
| 3 | B.JORDAN | 18 |
| POS | FIA | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | M.HIGGINS | 60 |
| 2 | S.WARD | 52 |
| 3 | N.ELLIOT | 40 |
NEXT TIME
The FUCHS Lubricants, Motorsport UK, British Historic Rally Championship will have to wait over a month until it recommences on the Asphalt once again. A newcomer to the series, the Argyll Rally in Scotland will offer up a fresh and exciting new challenge for the crews, with what promises to be another two days of fierce competition over closed roads on July 20/21.
