PREVIEW | BTRDA RALLY SERIES 2023
03/03/2023The MRF Tyres BTRDA Rally Series makes a welcomed return to the national stage rallying calendar on March 11th. The Malcolm Wilson Stages Rally will once again take up the honours as the season curtain raiser for the 2023 Championships, where an exciting eight-round calender awaits us.
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Factory World Rally Team outfit, M-Sport will once again host the rally for which the boss sponsors, from its team’s HQ at Dovenby Hall, Cockermouth. Organised by the Morecombe, Kirkby Lonsdale and West Cumbria Clubs, this 46th edition of the Rally will take in the beautiful Lake District Forest Stages for a one-day gravel rally covering approx 44 competitive stage miles.
A month later the series will relocate South and into Mid-Wales for Round 2, the Rallynuts Stages on April 15th, where crews will get to sample some of those World Class Welsh stages that have become synonymous with World Ralling in the past. Based out of Builth Wells, the likes of Myherin, Sarnau, Sweet Lamb and Hafren Forest will face the BTRDA competitors.
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A trip up to Jedburgh on the Scottish borders in early May will be on the cards for Round 3 of the series, where the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally will lay on some classic tests in the renowned Tweed Valley and Wauchope Forests. The series will remain in the North for its fourth round at the Kielder Forest Stages Rally on June 17th before returning to Builth Wells, in Wales for the Nicky Grist Stages on July 8th.
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After a month off, next up for the Championship will be the Anglo-Welsh border stages of the Woodpecker in early September (9th) which is based out of Ludlow. The penultimate round of the series, The TrackRod Forest Stages Rally in North Yorkshire at the end of the month (23rd) will tee things up nicely for the season finale at the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally in October (28th). From the Sea-Side town of Llandudno, the season will reach a climax on the World Class stages of North Wales where our 2023 Champs will be crowned.
So who are the ones to watch for at the season opener?
GoldStar
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The reigning BTRDA GoldStar Champ Elliot Payne will return to defend his 2022 title in his Ford Fiesta Rally 2, however, this time around it will be with Tom Woodburn beside him calling the notes. He is likely to be chased down by last season’s GoldStar runner-up, Matthew Hirst.
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Hirst who is a serial Welsh National Champ will return to the BTRDA GoldStar fight with regular Co-Driver Declan Dear beside him in the Ford Fiesta R5 which has served him well in recent years.
Stephen Petch who won the season opener, The Wilson last year and finished third overall in the GoldStar will unfortunately not be contesting the BTRDA this year. But instead has chosen to tackle the British Rally (BRC) and Scottish Rally (SRC) Championships in search of sampling some new events.
Last year’s Woodpecker winner Callum Black will only return to the GoldStar on selected events. He will be at the opening round in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 car as he and Co-Driver Jack Morton, like Elliot Payne, will be contesting the BRC this year.
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Whilst a number of other BTRDA GoldStar drivers such as Ian Bainbridge, Hugh Hunter and Russ Thompson will be present and correct at the opening round, Perry Gardener won’t be. However, Gardener and Co-Driver Jack Bowen are hoping to make their return to the series and get their campaign up and running at the second round, the Rallynuts Stages in April.
SilverStar
Meanwhile, in the SilverStar, reigning Champs Rob Wright & Mark Fisher will return in their MK2 Ford Escort and will be looking to repeat last year’s success. They will, however, have to fight off the likes of Boyd Kershaw and Ben Friend (also in MK2 Escorts), along with Andy Davidson in the VXR-powered sunbeam to name but a few.
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Micheal McDaid who finished third overall in the SilverStar last year is not currently planning to contest the entire BTRDA season. Instead, the Irishman is opting to take part in selected rounds only, possibly where the BTRDA shares events with the Welsh Championship.
BronzeStar
The BronzeStar is shaping up nicely for a well-contested field, however, last year’s winner Pete Gorst is another that won’t be present at the opening round. In fact, Gorst isn’t pursuing the full season this year either, so this will leave last season’s runners-up in Lewis Hooper and James Edwards to fight it out. The pair of Nissan Micra pilots will both be looking to go one better than they did last year in search of the BronzeStar honours.
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But Hooper and Edwards are facing some stiff competition, particularly from the likes of Nigel and Karen Jenkins in their Vauxhall Nova. The Jenkins pairing were three times BronzeStar rally winners last year. Although they only competed in the last four events of the season, they were four very strong performances; so we expect them to be good candidates for the BronzeStar title this year. Another one to keep an eye on will be Steve Black who we haven’t really seen in that Suzuki Swift S1400 since 2021. We know that Steve can peddle this machine around a rally stage, and depending on work commitments we also hope to see him to in the mix with the other BronzeStar protagonists.
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The Malcolm Wilson Stages will get underway early doors on the morning of the 11th. The BronzeStar crews will hit the stages first by heading into the first couple of stages on either side of the Winlatter pass. The crews will have a short stage overlooking Bassenthwaite Lake to contend with before heading off to Greystokes Forest for a first pass of the M-Sport testing ground. They will then head South into Grizedale Forest for two stages which will set things up ahead of the final stage of the rally. A second pass in Greystokes will offer a final chance to secure those podium places and at the stop-line we will then know who our first victors of the year are.
