BHRC / RD6 / ARGYLL RALLY 2024
30/06/2024WORDS BY ANDY COOK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW SCOTT
The Motorsport UK FUCHS Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship would venture to the picturesque Cowal Peninsula in Scotland for the sixth round of its 2024 season.
The Dunoon Presents Argyll Rally has earned a good reputation among the Asphalt Championship fraternity since it joined their series back in 2022. When speaking to Xlerate ahead of the season, BHRC Championship Manager Colin Heppenstall talked of how he wanted to add “well-known” Asphalt events with “good reputations” to the expanded Championship calendar this year and the Argyll, along with the Manx were the ones that everyone “loved” or “raved about”.
There was, however, a concern about entry numbers for such Asphalt events ahead of the season commencing and Heppenstall acknowledged that “Historic crews, traditionally haven’t liked Asphalt”. This in itself seems a little odd when one considers that gravel is likely to be more of a car breaker; you would be forgiven for thinking that Asphalt would therefore be the more attractive option for the historic machines to compete on.
In an attempt to attract some of the Historic crews out on these Aspahlt events, the previous round, The Manx (which would also be a more costly event to tackle because of the logistics of being on an Island), was a doubleheader, but the Argyll was not and perhaps doesn’t quite have the big reputation that the Manx has with rallying folk.
Not taking anything away from the Argyll Rally which IS a magnificent event in its own right and HAS proven itself over a short time since the Mull Car Club revived the event back in 2017. There was, however, a further noticeable drop in British Historic Championship registered crews for this round, not only compared to the Manx which came before it, but a typical Gravel event on the mainland.
Of course, the Argyll does have a rich history of its very own in rallying, over the pages in the Scottish rallying history books. Throughout the 1970s the likes of Andrew Cowan, Ari Vatanen, Billy Colman, Jimmy McRae, Roger Clark, Russell Brokes and Tony Pond could be seen in the forests tackling what was known as the Burmah Rally in the British Rally Championships.
Whizz forward to the present day and although the event as a whole had attracted a very healthy 113-strong entry; sadly just a handful of them were British Historic Rally Championship-registered crews. Those whom had made the trip would line up in Dunoon for the two-day event, which covered 72 competitive miles across 18 closed road stages. With its street stages in the town centre in front of a mass of rally fans and locals, coupled with its challenging tests on the stunningly beautiful Cowal Peninsula, the event delivered a class event and more the fool those who didn’t make an appearance.
Last time out on the doubleheader Manx Rally, Mr Manxman himself, Mark Higgins triumphed in his TR7 on the opening day and Irishman Micheal McDaid piloted his Ford Escort MKII home through a final stage showdown to take the maximum points on day two.
LEG 1 | STAGES 1 – 7
Mark Higgins would be back in the “Works-spirited” David Appleby Engineering-built Triumph TR7 and would open up the proceedings on the short opening super special street stage through the town centre of Dunoon with the fastest time. Stopping the clocks just a single second quicker than Seb Perez in the Porsche 911 RS, he would, however, not be able to repeat it for the second pass of the spectator-friendly test. Having sat the Manx out, a returning Dan Mennell would be the one to show his early intent here, taking the stage win by six seconds, before the crews headed out into the surrounding areas for a further five stages.
Photo: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | By Andrew Scott
Not wanting to be left out, Perez and Co-Driver Gary McElhinney would take their first stage win in SS3 Tarsam Dam, which runs alongside the beautiful Loch Tarsen. They would still trail not only Higgins but Mennell also, as the pair were now on level pegging and joint leaders of the rally. Higgins having to coast over the finish line after some issues at the jump. Luckily its all down hill from here and the momentum was enough to get the crew round the last few corners and down the hill to the finish line.
“our only problem being self inflicted after a heavy landing which disconnected a plug, but luck was on our side this time and we coasted the last mile over the finish.”
Mark Higgins
Photos: Mark Higgins & Carl Williamson | By Andrew Scott
Higgins and Co-Driver Carl Williamson would take charge of the rally in the very next test, SS4 Fearnoch; the stage was still only a short one but Higgins had found six seconds to take up the definitive lead of the Historic field. As the darkness descended on the stages, once again Higgins (like he had done previously on the Manx) showed a real master class in night rallying in that TR7. The experience of the Manxman would see him well, securing a string of stage wins throughout the final three nighttime stages (SS5, SS6 and SS7) to end the day with a lead of 35 seconds.
Photo: Dan Mennell & Keith Wise | By Andrew Scott
Behind the rally leaders, Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney in their Porsche 911 RS were just about on top of the battle for second with Dan Mennell & Keith Wise in the MKII Ford Escort RS1800. It was a close tit-for-tat skirmish with the pair trading blows on every stage and the evening ended with just two seconds separating them after the opening leg of 24 miles.
LEADERBOARD | LEG 1
| POS | LEADERBOARD | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #22 M.HIGGINS / C.WILLIAMSON | FIA / H4 | 24:00 |
| 2 | #23 S.PEREZ / G.MCELHINNEY | CAT 2 / H4 | 24:35 |
| 3 | #43 D.MENNELL / K.WISE | CAT 3 / H5 | 24:37 |
| 4 | #79 D.PEDLEY / G.PEDLEY | FIA / H5 | 28:36 |
| 5 | #72 M.SIMPSON / D.GIBBONS | CAT 3 / H5 | 29:32 |
| 6 | #72 N.KITCHING / K.WILSON | CAT 3 / H5 | 29:53 |
| 7 | #83 S.MAGSON / S.BIELBY | RALLY2 / 4 | 31:59 |
LEG 2 | STAGES 8 -18
In the daylight of the next day, the crews would re-set and go again for a full day of action comprising of 47 miles across eleven more stages. Higgins set out to build on his overnight lead and began his day by boosting it by a further 9 seconds over two passes of the Fearnoch test.
Photo: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | By Andrew Scott
SS10 Kilmodan would allow the crews to settle into a slightly longer run at a little over 5 miles and Perez would once again populate the top of the timings sheets, but a loan single second over Higgins wasn’t really going to cut the mustard in the grand scheme of things. Perez would pick up another stage win in the longest test of the day SS12 Loch Fyne at 6.4 miles in length, but elsewhere the rally was certainly not looking “fine” for Dan Mennall. Mennell & Co-Driver Keith Wise would sadly crash out of the event and from that podium place following a high-speed spin which ripped the rear axle off of their MKII Ford Escort after taking a jump rather enthusiastically.
“First time on the tar and loved every second of it, what a buzz! Would like to thank everyone for the kind messages asking if we are ok etc, couple of broken ribs and that’s it luckily.”
Dan Mennell
ON THE SOCIALS
VIDEO
By the end of the morning loop, Higgins & Williamson had extended their lead over Perez & McElhinney to over a minute with David & Grace Pedley in their MKII Ford Escort RS1800 rounding out the top three registered BHRC crews.
Photo: Mark Higgins & Carl Williamson | By Andrew Scott
Mark Higgins would sure up his dominance over the afternoon loop of stages and with a full house of five stage wins, he and Co-Driver Carl Williamson would romp home to victory in their FIA Category Triumph TR7. With a final margin that was just shy of two minutes, the pair would take to the top step of the Motorsport UK, FUCHS Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship podium for their second time this year.
“The last leg of the rally meant we could put some slicks on the car and really enjoy the last few stages after the wet start. We were able to win the historics by 2 minutes, First non R5, so a great result for the team.
Mark Higgins
Big thanks as ever to Carl, this rally was very busy on the notes and probably one of the toughest UK events on tarmac we have done. Also huge thanks to all the boys at Dave Appleby Engineering for the amazing car, which never stops surprising me. She really is so much fun on the black stuff.
Photo: Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney | By Andrew Scott
Best of the rest Seb Perez & Gary McElhinney were simply outgunned in their Category 2 Porsche 911 RS, despite being able to pick up the odd fastest stage time amongst the historic field. Runners-up on the overall British Historic podium following a strong performance was a good result and the pair would also walk away with maximum points in the Category 2 title, whilst the rest were sat at home with their feet up; they would also leave Dunoon leading the overall drivers standings.
The battle for the final overall BHRC podium spot would heat up on day two of the event. David & Grace Pedley began their day with a sizable gap to Mike Simpson & Dale Gibbons who slowly but surely ate away at it throughout the morning’s loop.
Photos: David & Grace Pedley | Mike Simpson & Dale Gibbons | Nick Kitching & Kevin Wilson | By Andrew Scott
By Stage 16 in the afternoon loop, Simpson & Gibbons had not only caught the Pedleys but had overtaken them moving into P3 with just two stages remaining. David & Grace Pedley tried to fight back but Simpson & Gibbons would hold them off, eventually crossing the finish line back in Danoon with a small margin of just three seconds. On only their second BHRC outing, Mike Simpson & Dale Gibbons would not only secure that final podium place but would also net maximum points in Cat3 ahead of Nick Kitching & Kevin Wilson, who finished 5th BHRC crew. Pendley’s only consolation was second in the FIA Category behind Higgins.
FINAL RESULTS
| POS | LEADERBOARD | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #22 M.HIGGINS / C.WILLIAMSON | FIA / H4 | 1:07:06 |
| 2 | #23 S.PEREZ / G.MCELHINNEY | CAT 2 / H4 | 1:09:05 |
| 3 | #90 M.SIMPSON / D.GIBBONS | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:17:38 |
| 4 | #79 D.PEDLEY / G.PEDLEY | FIA / H5 | 1:17:41 |
| 5 | #72 N.KITCHING / K.WILSON | CAT 3 / H5 | 1:19:17 |
GALLERY
All Photos By Andrew Scott
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| POS | OVERALL DRIVERS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEB PEREZ | 131 |
| 2 | RICHARD HILL | 105 |
| 3 | ADRIAN HETHERINGTON | 98 |
| 4 | MARK HIGGINS | 97 |
| 5 | RUDI LANCASTER | 84 |
| POS | CAT2 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SEB PEREZ | 100 |
| 2 | BEN SMITH | 54 |
| 3 | PHILIP HARRIS | 51 |
| POS | CAT3 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | RICHARD HILL | 80 |
| 2 | ADRIAN HETHERINGTON | 74 |
| 3 | RUDI LANCASTER | 64 |
| POS | CAT4 | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DANNY COWELL | 40 |
| 2 | GEORGE LEPLEY | 20 |
| 3 | BAZ JORDON | 18 |
| POS | FIA | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MARK HIGGINS | 80 |
| 2 | DAVID PEDLEY | 54 |
| 3 | STEVE WARD | 52 |
NEXT TIME
The Infamous military roads of Epynt, Wales will await the crews for Round 7 of the Motorsport UK FUCHS Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship. The Tour Of Epynt will resume the battle on the Asphalt on July 20/21 where an expanded two-day event will see night stages feature on the agenda.
