BHRC / RD1 / RIPONIAN STAGES 2024
15/02/2024Words By Andy Cook (Xlerate.Media) | Feature Photo By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
This year, the FUCHS Lubricants British Historic Rally Championship takes a new step forward with an expanded calendar. Although similar to previous years, notably, there is an increase in Asphalt events, adding diversity to what is primarily a loose surface playground. [For more details, See Our Championship Preview]
On Sunday 11th February, from the North Yorkshire market town of Thirsk, The Riponian Stages once again raised the curtain on a fresh new season of British Historic Rallying and would provide a challenging event for the participating crews to contend with.
The Riponian became a part of the British Historic Rally Championship in 2022 and serves as an excellent way to begin the nine-event long season on gravel. Consisting of six stages (three of repeated), covering approximately 43 competitive miles, the season opener faced some challenging conditions on the day due to recent wintry weather. The Forests of North Yorkshire were quite soggy, making for a tricky and occasionally treacherous day of rallying for all, from the organisers and competitors to the marshals and fans out on the stages.
Photos By Andrew Scott
The entry list was strong, with a great mix of new, old and regular faces all in attendance, which meant for a good choice of favourites to bet on. However, it’s worth noting that last year’s overall champion, Roger Chillman, has decided to take a break from rallying this year and was not present to defend his title.
Local boy Matthew Robinson who won the event back in 2022 was back and perhaps a favourite for the win? He was joined by a series of regulars which included 2023 runner-up, Nick Elliott, once again campaigning the FIAT Abarth 131, Adrian Hetherington, Rudi Lancaster and 2021 Champion Ben Friend; along with a plethora of other capable crews all eager to compete for the Championship honours. Additionally, Josh Carr, the reigning Category 2 Champion, was out to defend his title and was against the likes of Jeremy Easson, the previous runner-up, along with a few other new faces.
Perhaps the headline stealers in the run up to the event were the trio of Group A, 4WD cars that have registered for the Championship in Cat4, spearheaded by young George Lepley in the stunning Mitsubishi Galant VR. Following a couple of appearances last season, where Lepley won the Woodpecker Stages but retired from the TrackRod, the youngster along with Baz Jordon (also out in a Galant) was joined by Kevin Procter in a Ford Sierra, for what we hope will be a full season-long campaign. Bringing fresh energy and a new generation of rallying machinery to the forefront of Historic Stage Rallying throughout the year, it promises to be an exciting season ahead.
STAGES 1 – 3
The event got underway with a 5.46-mile test in Wass Moor, a stage that in the past was effectively three separate smaller tests, the organisers once again taking advantage of closed road legislation to join the two forest complexes together by a small section of road.
The conditions on that opening test were tough, with standing water and lots of muddy boggy sections, which made for a very tricky start; as the rain poured down the crews were met with a big challenge to kick start their season off with. The conditions, however, did not seem to phase one of the crews, the stars of stage one were Daniel Mennell alongside Co-Driver Richard Wise in their MK2 Ford Escort who recorded a storming time which was some six seconds quicker than George Lepley in the Mitsubishi Galant. Like pretty much all of the crews, Mennell confirmed that the conditions were “Very Slippy” and also reported that they had caught a car in front, he was filled with “mixed emotions” but said “It was great to be back”.
Photos: Daniel Mennell & Richard Wise – By Andrew Scott
Lepley described that opening stage as “really really treacherous” as he struggled to get to grips with the 4WD Galant in what some likened to “Safari Like” conditions “It pulled us wide a few times up the banks and stuff” Lepley commented. A further two seconds behind Lepley was another stunning machine, that Rallye Sports Development FIAT Abarth 131. Sporting a familiar livery and driven by Nick Elliott, it never fails to delight the rally fans out on the stages. Last season’s runner-up thought that it was an awful stage to start the day with “We were off the road, I dunno how we got through it, really slippy everywhere”, a similar story that was reported throughout the field of competitors.
Photos: George Lepley & Dale Bowen – By Andrew Scott | Nick Elliott & Dave Price – By Andrew Scott | Matthew Robinson & Sam Collis – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
Matthew Robinson knows these stages pretty well and was surely the odds-on favourite to take the honours in Yorkshire, but even his local knowledge and extensive experience weren’t enough to ensure an uneventful pass of that opening Wass Moor stage. “It were tricky in there, I had a few rare angles on, I’ll tell ya!” the Yorkshire man exclaimed “There’s a big dip in the middle…. jess it’s rough there!”. Robbo was four seconds down on Elliott and in fourth with just one second separating him and Irishman Barry McKenna who’s said to have had a “Sloppy start” to his day in fifth.
Photo: Jeremy Eason & Mike Reynolds – By Andrew Scott
Meanwhile, Jeremy Easson with Mike Reynolds calling the notes pipped our Category 2 Champ Josh Carr by a single second off the start line on that opening stage, but he had to really work for it. “That was a bit of a bitch in there, to be honest, it kept you on your toes as it was very very slippery” Easson reported. “We knew it would be like that and we were prepared” he goes on to add; his main rival Carr, did not fair up too much better either. “We’ve been in every bank in there, I think” Carr, who hadn’t driven since the Carlise Stages back in October said, but his MK1 Escort was full of water “It was like the third corner, a square left, don’t cut WATER! And Muggins here went right into the middle of it, didn’t he? and filled the car up!” the ever comical Carr recalled.
Photo: Josh Carr & Osian Owen – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
The crews then headed East to the more familiar surroundings of Cropton and Gale Rigg but the conditions in this neck of the woods were no better. The longest stage of the event at 9 miles in Cropton proved to be a bit too much for some, with those who did manage to get through it unscathed reporting that “there were cars off everywhere”.
For our early Stage 1 leaders, Daniel Mennell & Richard Wise, their excitement proved to be their ultimate downfall in Cropton. “I was warned by many people and they all said, watch the blind square left.. and where did we go? … It was a good ride!”. Whilst their MK2 Escort was still in good working order and they were able to continue on, the time loss incurred had not only lost them the lead of the rally but had also dropped them right down to the bottom of the timesheet, removing any chance of getting back in the game. “I’m happy, we are still here, that’s all that matters” Mennell commented.
Photo: George Lepley & Dale Bowen – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
Mennell’s misdemeanour handed the lead of the rally over to George Lepley and Dale Bowen in the Mitsubishi Galant. Two seconds was enough for them to secure their first outright stage win here over Matthew Robinson & Sambo Collis in the MK2 Escort. But in other news, Birthday Boy, Adrian Hetherington appeared to be adapting to the tricky conditions rather well, as his efforts in Cropton had earned him third overall “We just need to hold onto ourselves a wee bit, commitment could be the recipe to disaster” the wise Irishman said. Ben Friend also made a move in Cropton, climbing up the order and passing Nick Elliott to take up the position in fourth overall, despite saying that the conditions weren’t particularly fun to drive in.
Whilst Jeremy Easson was fighting with clutch problems and a loose steering column, Josh Carr had managed to take back that lost second from the opener and pulled out a lead of 13 seconds through the 9 miles of SS2 Cropton to take up the lead of the Cat2 field.
Across the road in Gale Rigg, Lepley laid down a storming time, stopping the clocks some 12 seconds quicker over the 6.86-mile test to his closest competitor Robinson, who continued to have “moments”.
“Can’t believe two stages a mile apart can go from still sh*tty to even more sh*tty, we’re lucky in there again”, “Cropton was fine but in there (SS3 Gale Rigg), down the closed road section we were in a pretty bad gutter and we friction burned our way out”
Matthew Robinson
Photos: Matthew Robinson & Sam Collis – By Andrew Scott | Adrian Hetherington & Ronan O’Neill – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
Adrian Hetherington stopped the clocks on the same time as Robinson through Gale Rigg and continued to hold on to that third spot, keeping ahead of the battle for fourth that was unfolding behind him between the likes of Friend and Elliott. Ultimately a bad stage for Elliott in Cropton had made life a little harder for him, as he now found himself 5 seconds behind Friend at half-time.
“We had a terrible run in two, lost a lot of time and had a few issues. That stage (SS3 Gale Rigg) was a lot better, where we sorta need to be pace-wise and tidiness-wise. Stage 2, (Cropton) we dropped about 20 to Robbo and were all over the place, I don’t really know why, it just didn’t hook up right”, “That stage (SS3) was is a lot better, much happier with that; if we can keep that up, that will be better.” “We’ve gotta fight back now!”
Nick Elliott
As the rally reached the mid-point George Lepley and Dale Bowen had built up an overall lead of 20 seconds over Matthew Robinson and Sam Collies and summed up the morning.
“A real baptism of fire, very very slippy and treacherous out there, it’s good fun, enjoying it, it’s just really hard to judge the braking”
“We’ve had a few moments where we’ve been off the road, I wanna go faster but it’s just a balance of being at the front!”
George Lepley
Category 2 leaders Josh Carr and Osian Owen didn’t really know which of the three morning stages had been the worst “It’s all slippy really, there’s no grip anywhere” was how he described them. The last stage of the morning loop through Gale Rigg, although was 13 seconds quicker than any other Cat2 car, Carr felt that it was slow “It didn’t feel fast, but there’s time to come this afternoon in there, I slowed down twice”.
Photo: Josh Carr & Osian Owen – By Andrew Scott
Carr and Owen were heading back to the mid-day service with a lead of 36 seconds to Championship rivals Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds, who themselves had a bit of a testing morning in their MK1 Escort, what with their clutch and steering gremlins.
Elsewhere, the morning’s challenging conditions resulted in a few disappointed faces, namely Baz Jordon in the other Cat4 Mitsubishi Gallant who double punctured and Kevin Proctor who suffered a broken tension strut to the Ford Sierra, both in the opening Wass Moor test.
Chris Ingram in the David Appleby Engineering prepared Triumph TR7 was another to have a troublesome morning, as if the conditions weren’t enough to contend with, fighting with brake issues throughout the morning loop of three stages did not help.
“Horrific conditions, we’ve got a problem with the brakes, we really need to use this rally to get the car sorted because it’s got so much potential. I wanted to go flat out, but we’ve just got a bit of a brake problem”
Chris Ingram
These conditions in the Yorkshire Forests were a stark contrast to the tarmac roads on the Monte Carlo that he faced whilst driving the Skoda Fabia last month in the World Rally Championship; for now, Ingram and Co-Driver Michael Gilbey were down in 16th overall with it all to do.
Photo: Chris Ingram & Michael Gilbey – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
LEADERBOARD AFTER 3
| POS | CREW | MAKE / MODEL | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #1 G.Lepley / D.Bowen | Mitsubishi Galant VR | 4 / F3 | 22:48 |
| 2 | #4 M.Robinson / S.Collis | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 23:08 |
| 3 | #10 A.Hetherington / R.O’Neill | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 23:17 |
| 4 | #6 B.riend / C.Simmons | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 23:23 |
| 5 | #5 N.Elliott / D.Price | FIAT Abarth 131 | FIA / G2 | 23:28 |
| 16 | #20 J.Carr / O.Owen | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C3 | 24:55 |
| 22 | #25 J.Easson / M.Reynolds | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C4 & C5 | 25:31 |
| 23 | #42 M.Boulton / G.Wild | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C3 | 25:35 |
STAGES 4 – 6
The sun came out for the afternoon’s loop of stages, which in themselves appeared to yield a little more grip this time around, but the conditions of the stages were by now, even rougher than the morning pass.
Lepley and Bowen set about making it through to the end of the rally, after struggling throughout the morning with getting the braking right, the first stage of the afternoon, the repeated run through Wass Moor was a lot better. “It was a bit more of risk versus reward approach in there and I backed out in some corners” Lepley revealed “A lot better and I really enjoyed it” having extended the overall lead by a further five seconds.
George Lepley & Dale Bowen – By Andrew Scott
Photos: Matthew Robinson & Sam Collis | Nick Elliott & Dave Price – By Andrew Scott
Behind him in second, best of the rest Matthew Robinson was finding some of that extra grip for the second pass of Wass Moor, despite commenting that the stage was “fairly rough and rutted”. Nick Elliott came out from service fighting, he and Co-Driver Dave Price posted the third fastest time in Wass Moor 2 which was 4 seconds down on Robinsons’ time.
“That stage felt better for us, the car felt much better but our time was slower than this morning which is really odd, we felt that we were in a different league for speed and consistency.” “We’ve gotta chase him (Ben Friend) down.”
Nick Elliott
This was enough to level him on overall times with Friend, which then appeared to fuel a three-way scrap for the final podium position between them and current third-place holder, Adrian Hetherington, who had a seven-second in hand over the pair.
Jeremy Easson had sorted the issues with his MK1 Escort in-service and finally managed to get a clean stage in “That was the best stage so far”, “We’ve had the steering column coming loose and clutch issues, which has been a nightmare but that was the first competitive run we’ve had really and it went well I feel.” Easson had indeed picked up his second Cat2 stage win of the day in Wass Moor 2, repeating his morning efforts in the stage, but was staring at a time deficit of just over half a minute to leaders Josh Carr & Osian Owen who simply said “We’ll keep sending it”.
Photos: Jeremy Easson & Mike Reynolds – By Andrew Scott
Lepley improved on his time on the second pass of Cropton, beating his morning run by 5 seconds, whereas Robinson was some 9 seconds slower than his first attempt. This allowed third-place man Hetherington to almost half the gap between them heading into the final stage of the rally, with 9 seconds separating them.
Photo: Ben Friend & Cliff Simmons – By Andrew Scott
Behind, Friend and Simmons responded to Elliott and Price, Friend had posted the third fastest stage time in Cropton but Elliott, like the morning loop, clearly had another bad run on the stage. Dropping 8 seconds to Friend, Elliott had pretty much put an end to that fight for fourth place now.
Reigning Category 2 Champion Josh Carr secured the opening round victory in Yorkshire alongside Co-Driver Osian Owen in their MK1 Escort, having crossed the finish line nearly half a minute before Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds; with Tim Pearcey & Steve Pugh rounding out the Cat2 podium.
Photo: Josh Carr & Osian Owen – By Andrew Scott
Picking up three Cat 2 stage wins, Carr will walk away with maximum points to get his title defence off to the perfect start. “We’re getting quite good at this, aren’t we?” Carr said, however, he will not compete at Round 2, Rally North Wales in March, where a number of others, such as Andrew Stokes and Mark Tugwell will be back in action to begin their Category 2 BHRC campaigns.
Heading into the final stage of the rally, the second pass of Gale Rigg, George Lepley and Dale Bowen with their 39 seconds buffer just had to bring it home now and were primed and ready for glory.
A slightly disappointed Nick Elliott brought the FIAT Abarth 131 home in 5th overall, and will no doubt pick out that Cropton test as being the one stage that perhaps caused him the most aggravation; It may be of some consolation that Elliott and Price take the FIA Class honours?
“We’ve had a few minor problems including the driver, 5th is a bit disappointing, with what we’ve been through, we are just pleased to get through to the finish undamaged. The stages have been very difficult and the car has been much better this afternoon, so the potential is there, we’ve just gotta get it all hooked together at the same time”
Nick Elliott
Photos: Nick Elliott & Dave Price – By Andrew Scott | Ben Friend & Cliff Simmons – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
2021 BHRC Champs Ben Friend and Cliffy Simmons who return to the series this year came out slightly better than Elliott, winning that skirmish with Elliott for fourth overall and gaining third place on the Category 3 podium in their MK2 Ford Escort.
“We’ve done the best we could really” “Happy with that, it’s been a tricky day”
Ben Friend
Adrian Hetherington, although entered the final stage with 9 seconds to chase down, the chances of getting them and some more from Matthew Robinson were rather on the slim side. Birthday Boy Hetherington was very happy with his result and lightheartedly said “We were trying to get second, but that’s a good start”. In reality, taking runners up on the Cat3 podium to local man Matthew Robinson in his own back garden is more than a decent result and is well-deserved.
Photos: Adrian Hetherington & Ronan O’Neill – By Andrew Scott | Matthew Robinson & Sam Collis – By Dan Morris (Apex Capture)
Overall runners-up and Category 3 winners Matthew Robinson and Sam Collis, who were perhaps a firm favourite from the off, crossed the finish line in their Ford Escort MK2 with 11 seconds in hand to Hetherington, having signed off what he described as “a bit of a shabby day” with the final stage win in Gale Rigg.
“We could hardly put a stage together but it came together a bit in the middle didn’t it?” Robinson goes on to say “Cropton wasn’t great, got done over in there, but that one (SS6 Gale Rigg) was alright, a bit rough but I just tried to drive Banner’s style.”
FINAL LEADERBOARD
| POS | CREW | MAKE / MODEL | CAT / CLASS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #1 G.Lepley / D.Bowen | Mitsubishi Galant VR | 4 / F3 | 45:43 |
| 2 | #4 M.Robinson / S.Collis | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 46:20 |
| 3 | #10 A.Hetherington / R.O’Neill | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 46:31 |
| 4 | #6 B.Friend / C.Simmons | Ford Escort MK2 | 3 / D5 | 46:41 |
| 5 | #5 N.Elliot / D.Price | FIAT Abarth 131 | FIA / G2 | 47:06 |
| 13 | #20 J.Carr / O.Owen | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C3 | 49:46 |
| 15 | #25 J.Easson / M.Reynolds | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C4 & C5 | 50:15 |
| 22 | #21 T.Pearcey/ S.Pugh | Ford Escort MK1 | 2 / C4 & C5 | 51:32 |
Despite the overall glory going to a 4WD Group A machine, Robinson will lead the British Historic Rally Championship standings, although the Cat4 machines can win the rallies, they can not score towards the overall Championship. Perhaps this was the biggest talking point to come out of the season opener, the Riponian, the sights and sounds of the Mitsubishi Galant VR driven to victory by young George Lepley.
“It was good, certainly tricky out there”, “You could do not a lot wrong and go off the road”, “This afternoon was about not taking any risks, It’s great to be back, there’s lots of potential and it’s been so enjoyable.”
George Lepley
Photo: George Lepley & Dale Bowen – By Andrew Scott
A focus of attention before the rally and the subject of much discussion post-rally, there is, however, no denying that in the hands of the young up-and-coming talented Master Lepley, this machine can perform and performed well in those especially challenging conditions in Yorkshire.
Let us also not forget that this machine itself is some 35 years old; it and other machinery of this generation absolutely deserve a place in British Historic Stage Rallying. Every rally fan, regardless of their generation should embrace the prospect of more variety out competing on our stages, we simply can’t go on with an endless field of MK2 Escorts dominating the leaderboards. Times are changing and this could well be the catalyst for the boundaries of Historic Rallying beginning to shift, think of it as Cat4 is replacing the dwindling Cat1.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS | ROUND 1
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Robinson | 31 |
| 2 | Adrian Hetherington | 26 |
| 3 | Ben Friend | 23 |
| 4 | Nick Elliott | 21 |
| 5 | Barry McKenna | 17 |
NEXT TIME . . .
The Motorsport UK British Historic Rally Championship, sponsored by FUCHS Lubricants will relocate to Welshpool, Wales on March 16th for the second instalment of the Championship. The Get Jerky Rally North Wales will offer up 45 stage miles across 8 gravel stages in classic and wold famous Welsh forests such as the Dyfnant and Dyfi Forest Complexes.
