Welsh International Rally 4^th May 2008
Round three of the Heart of England Rally Championship and our first visit to Epynt in a competitive situation. We have spectated for many years at Epynt Military Ranges nr Brecon in Mid Wales and fully appreciate how difficult this event was going to be both on car and crew. Over 170 miles in total , 13 stages all on fast tight tarmac military roads with no room for error.
To come off the road at Epynt usually means at best the end of your event with minor car damage and a vehicle needing recovery or at worst a totally destroyed car and injured crew. For anyone interested type in Epynt+Rally on You tube and you can get to see some very spectacular action.
However our aim for this event was to finish at all costs to gain maximum championship points from this round. No heroics and no going off the road! We spent the Saturday afternoon reccying the stage routes and making our own pace notes. This took over four hours plus much discussion well into the Saturday evening after scrutineering and signing on in Brecon.
We were seeded car 73 in a field of 120 and although in the last third of the running order felt that we were good to go on Sunday morning. Up bright and cheerful, if not a little apprehensive! We arrived in Brecon at the Theatre Brynchnyog for our due start at 8.19am.
Once waved off from the ceremonial start we had a 25 mile run on public roads to out first stage of the day. Along the way we managed to call into Service for a quick fluid/ tyre check and then off to stage 1. This was the longest of the day at over 20 miles and would include all the most notorious routes/ jumps and "blind" crests that this venue can throw at the teams (such names as Devils leap, the steps, Dixies are places of legend in the rally world). We expected it to be an exhausting stage and we were not wrong. The pace notes worked well and we felt we had a good turn of speed until around 12 miles into the stage when we were flagged down by marshals. There was a car on fire further up the stage ahead of us and we had to allow the fire/ rescue truck to get to the incident. This meant that for approx 10 teams we had to drive the remainder of the stage at "normal " road speed and exit the stage to gain a "notional time". This was disappointing as we were keen to see how we had coped with this unusually long stage , but "Hey Ho" that's rallying!.
The car only needed a brief check in service and we were soon back out onto stage 2 in good time. The stages during the morning went without incident Sian's confidence in both the pace notes and her ability grew stage by stage , indeed by stage 7 we were catching up the cars in front of us which gave us much more confidence in our abilties. By lunchtime and with plenty of effort we had moved up to 48th position. A brief lunch halt and another service check on the car and we were off for the afternoon stages. In general these were a reverse run of the mornings stages and it threw up some interesting "flat left over crest" moments. Still we stayed on the black stuff and ran a consistent rally to finish 40th overall and 9th in class. We finally finished at Brecon HQ in a typically Welsh downpour!
Considering it was our first time at Epynt we were very pleased with the result and we have gained good points from the event in our championship as we finished third highest Heart of England competitor. This means that we now lead the championship after three rounds overall, in our class and in the front wheel drive challenge sections. Sian is again leading under 21 yr old driver.
So we have everything to play for on the remaining events for 2008, our next outing is the Rally of the Midlands, based in Hinckley on the 20/21st June. Please come along and support us on our most local event this season.
THANK YOU to our sponsors, service crew and to our supporters for trekking down to Wales last weekend it was good to have some support "on event"
Also a big thank you to Andy Baker at AB Motorsport for preparing and looking after our 205.
Sian, Hywel and all the team at Red Dragon Rallying.

AGBO Rally 9^thMarch 2008 - Sian and Hywel Tidey
Round one of The Web Benefit Heart of England Rally Championship 2008.
"Well, we were all up at around 3.30am to get to Weston Park for Scrutineering at our allocated time of 6.00am!
The "Milkman" shift came around all too early on Sunday morning especially as Hywel was suffering from a bad head cold and Ben and Callum ( service ) had been out until 3.00am on a night out in Leicester!
We had a trouble free run from Lutterworth up to Telford and once having dropped off the trailer went to scrutineering at our allocated time of very early o'clock! Once through noise and scrutineering we proceeded to signing on and then a very welcome cuppa back in service. Our start time was 8.15 am and for the first few stages Hywel was about as much use in the co drivers seat as a sack of spuds!.
Anyway we had a good run on the first few stages learning the general layout of the venue and getting to know the technical sections where previous cars had thrown lots of mud onto the road, making conditions very tricky, especially where the sun had yet to dry off the surface.
Also as Matador have now stopped Motorsport tyre production (We had recently done a cracking deal with the importer!! Sods law as usual) we had to make a last minute change in tyre supplier. After much searching around we settled on using some TOYO tyres for the first few events of 2008. The tyres proved really good once Sian has got confident with them and our stage times in the afternoon got better and better.
Unfortunately because we drove cautiously during the morning stages we lost a good deal of time to our fellow class runners and at one point had dropped to 67th o/a. However with some good runs in the afternoon, Hywel feeling better as the paracetamol kicked in we finished a somewhat disappointing 58th o/a
From a shakedown point of view the day was a success as we have now got confidence in the new tyres and feel that they are better than the Matadors we used to run and not far behind the Dunlops that we have used a couple of time (Dunlops ar considered the premium moulded slick but at over £130 per corner out of reach of most clubmen budgets!)
Big thank you to the organisers, marshals and of course our crew , looking forward to our next run out at MIRA. (Horiba D'Isis stages) on 12th April.
New engine end of March , 165bhp 1600cc running full group A spec including Webers and fully mapable engine management so we should be really flying at MIRA"!

Sian Tidley - Hopes for 2008 (and beyond)
After a successful first year in rallying in 2007 when I achieved best under 21 yr old driver in the AWMMC Championship awards, I am hoping to build on my experience to get a good solid result in this years championship.
This year I will be competing primarily in tarmac events within the AWMMC Heart of England Championship althought towards the end of 2008 I hope to do some testing and possibly compete in a couple of gravel events.
I am particularly looking forward to competing in this years "Rally of The Midlands" in June, which is a great local event for all involved. For me there are a good variety of stages and the types of surface covers most of what you are likely to encounter on asphalt events.
With our new engine in February I will no longer be at any disadvantage with horsepower on the longer stages and I hope that reliability is there from day one. With a concerted, consistent effort throughout the season, continued help and support from my Co-driver, Service Crew, AB Motorsport, our sponsors and family and friends I hope that 2008 proves to be my year!

Sian Tidley - 2007 Season Review
I have had a good year in 2007 and apart from one off on the Whitedials stages back in May have a 100% finish record. I am hoping to drive a tactical season and aim for consistent finishes rather than any heroics on the Heart of England Championship events, mind you we hope to squeeze in a few more (Rockingham is always a good Laugh) depending on our levels of sponsorship. I will be concentrating my efforts for the next two yrs on tarmac and may then venture into the forests in 2010.
My highlights this year have to be our second run through MIRA on the Rally of the Midlands, my co driver and I got it together and we felt that the longer stages suite us well we really well.
Another highlight was being able to spend time in a group N Impreza rally car on stage in mid Wales in June at the Phil Price Rally School. The car ws great fun to drive and "apparently" I am a "born natural" according to the school owner Phil who was co driving with me!. So I think that an Impreza may be on the agenda in the future , sponsorship deals permitting of course.
In the meantime and for the foreseeable future, my 205 will do just fine! I don't feel that I have had any low points during 2007 although my off at Wilbarston into the trees was probably the biggest single dissapointment having to spend a couple of hours standing around in heavy rain waiting for recovery didn't do much for my enthusiasm!
I have learned a good deal during the year, with the car now set up properly for tarmac and the brakes and transmission fettled, it now remains to be seen how much of an impact I can make in the 1600cc class with the new engine we hope to have in a few months time.
A few thanks you's:- A big thank you to Andy Baker not only for his expert prep of the 205, but his willingness to share his experience and knowledge of these awesome little cars. Andy you are a star!
Thanks also to the team at RDR who of course we couldn't go rallying without. Thanks to all our sponsors , again without you guys we couldn't do it! Finally a very special thanks to my parents for making this all happen , without their enthusiasm , dedication to the sport and their faith in my abilites I wouldn't have been here at all!, Cheers guys!!
Have a great 2008 and remember to keep it shiny side up!

Finally rockin' at Rockingham.
After what seemed like a very long break from rallying, our last event being the Rally of the Midlands back in June, we were really looking forward to this event, The Rockingham Stages, on December 8th and 9th.
The weather forecast looked, well, wet and it wasn't wrong!
We arrived at the venue on Saturday morning to set up camp in service, no sooner had we got the shelter erected the heavens opened. It continued to rain more or less constantly untill around 4.00pm and this made for interesting conditions during the Saturday afternoon and evening (stages 1 to 4). Sian arrived at Rockingham with the bad news that she had been made redundant from her job at Research Subaru the day before. Credit to Sian for setting this to one side and focusing on the rally.
We passed through scrutineering with no problems and got the car readied. Stage one arrival soon came around and 5,4,3,2,1 GO we were off.
Oh dear! Owing to my wildy wrong selection of rear tyre compound we ended up spinning six times on stage one, losing over two minutes on our expected stage time. Sian did well to get us to the end of the stage without actually getting a stage max having run off onto the grass, which for those that did meant recovery was the only option, so wet were the conditions.
Stage 2 very wet!
We arrived back in service and I was reminded that it was my tyre selection! Anyway we put the problem behind us and focused on a couple of Bacon sandwiches and a cup of tea (cheers Mary!).
With the correct selection of tyre on the rear the car actually handled in the wet conditions. Although we were way off the pace having lost so much time on stage one we were determined to give it our best shot. We were lying 87th o/a at this stage and it was all beginning to look like a very long uphill battle type of event. You start to think that dark forces are working against you! As we settled into the next stage (3) in the dark we were now feeling as though we were on the pace and clawing some time back on our fellow class 2 competitors.
Passage Control, end of stage 3
Owing to an off and the Rockingham curfew of 6.00pm we did not get the chance to run stage 4 and were given a notional time , which we were disappointed with as we both felt we could have improved a little and given our position every second saved was important. Hey ho that's rallying though! Sunday morning soon came around at we were at stage start, focused on the job in hand.
We had a reasonable run, getting into the groove, and stages 6 and 7 ran without drama our climbing steadily up the field to around 74th at this point. The car ran without a hitch, tyres were performing well and everthing was coming together well. However with limited stage mileage left it looked unlikely that we would be able to make a significant impact on anyone other than those running immediately in front of us. We decided to focus our attention on learning the new suspension and transmission set up , together with the new brakes.
As Sian found grip she didn't think we had and brakes which were much better than anticipated she was able to set some good stage times toward the end of the event. We finished a disappointing 65th overall, but did learn a lot about our re-engineered car.
Many thanks as always to the Organisers and Marshals , our fellow competitors and of course our service crew for keeping us on the road. Especially the rapid repair to the intercom between stage 5 and 6, thanks guys!
At speed on stage 8
A big thanks to Andy Baker (AB Motorsport), for all the hard work put in on the 205, it does exactly what it says on the Tin!.
Finally a special thanks to Ben Burt and Ian Hamer who, having expired on the start line of stage 7, were allowed to continue in the event in a non competitive status. Ian offered to run behind us to pace Sian and its surprising what a good turn of speed you can get out of a 1600 205 when you are being chased by a 270bhp mk11 Escort!!! Cheers chaps!
Looking forward to seeing you all out on the Heart of England Events in 2008.

Fraser conquers Britain's best at first attempt
Machars Car Club member, Fraser Jones and co-driver Lee Burgess, took part in two rallies on consecutive weekends, the McRae Forest Stages Rally and the Trackrod International. Fraser, 25 a Marketing Manager for The Inside Line, from Ayr and Lee Burgess, 33 an Electrician who works for Midall & Stones Electrical Services, from Brimington in Chesterfield took part on the Colin McRae Stages on the 29 September 2007, the stages named and partly funded by the late, great Colin McRae MBE.
The crew were competing in the penultimate, VK sponsored, Fiesta Sporting Trophy round where their main aim was to test the car in readiness for their first outing in the British Rally Championship a week later.
Fraser was trying to drive the car quickly whilst at the same time safely enough to finish in one piece but finding that balance was made difficult by the differing Mcrae Forest rally conditions. The first stage was extremely rocky and punctures were an issue, unfortunately Fraser did get a puncture and dropped 30 seconds to the front running Fiestas, therefore removing any chance of a win in this closely fought Championship.
The second stage was very slippy and muddy so Fraser decided to take a cautious approach, with the chance of winning gone it was felt best to get through the stage without any further problems. They then decided to push on a bit over the last two stages, setting joint second and third fastest fiesta times respectively, and coming home 5th fiesta only one second behind 4th place after 45 miles of competitive driving.
Fraser and Lee then took the plunge by competing in their first International rally, the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire on 6 October which involved over 100 miles of competitive driving on Europe's fastest forest roads with some straights being over one kilometre long.
Being an International rally the crew were, for the first time, able to make their own pace notes instead of using those compiled by the organisers, the whole event was a fantastic experience but not without its dramas.
The first stage went well as the crew came out of their first ever International forest stage which was 14 miles long one second ahead of the reigning R2 British Rally Champion Matt Beebe.
Coming out of Cropton 1 after the first loop of stages the car had dropped gearbox oil because the driveshaft had popped out but fortunately it was only 8 miles to get the car back to main service area at Pickering Showground. The boys were however, forced to push the car the final 300 metres back to service as the driveshaft had slipped out of the gearbox completely meaning no drive to the wheels.
AB Motorsport were able to replace the driveshaft and fill it back up with oil within the 30 minute service to send the pair on the way to the second loop of stages.
These stages went well until the third last, Housedale 2, when Fraser couldn't select third gear and dropped some time trying to get it on the next stage, Gale Rigg. Again the pair were flying going into this stage and found that they were second in their class to a much more powerful Honda Civic which has 240bhp to the Fiestas 160bhp. The boys took the decision to back off slightly to ensure a finish in their first ever International event and one of the longest days in modern rallying including the World Rally Championship.
To their amazement Vessa Mikkola, former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola's son, was parked up on the side of the road as his bonnet had flown up on his Honda Civic smashing his windscreen and not being able to see he'd slid off into a ditch. This promoted Fraser and Lee into a class lead!
On the last stage Fraser and Lee could afford to back off with a two minute margin over their nearest rival James Wozencroft in the Suzuki Swift. Still without third gear the CCM Group backed team were relieved to have already built up an impressive lead.
With no dramas in the last stage the AB Motorsport car was brought home by the boys in an incredible 14th overall position against much more powerful 300bhp 4 wheel drive Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions. This meant the crew were 1st two-wheel drive car and 1st in class R2. A fantastic result for their debut British Rally Championship event and so much so that it sounds like the pair will be competing in all the Sky Sports televised British Rally Championship rounds next year if they can put a budget together and find more sponsors.
The pair would like to thank Andy at AB Motorsport, CCM Limited for their continued support, along with The Doctor, Peggler, Yorkie and Dave for their assistance and of course Dangerous Dave and Sandra for cheering us on through the stages.
Anyone interested in sponsoring Fraser and Lee for their 2008 British Rally Championship assault please contact Fraser on 0792 107 3675 or e-mail Fraser@the-inside-line.co.uk. Sponsorship does not have to be cash as it can be product deals, hospitality arrangements or simply corporate drive days in which you or your clients could get a passenger experience rides in the rally car on a real forest stage at speeds over 100mph.

Introducing Sian and Hywel Tidley
"June 2006 (no thats not a typing error) whilst we all marshalled at Higham stage the discussion amongst Sian and Hywel was how we really ought to bite the bullet and get a rally car and do this event in 2007.
Well June 2007 arrived and so did We! Our Peugeot 205 1600 stage car was on its fourth outing since purchasing it from S.Wales .
Our previous run out in May on the White dials stages at Wilbarston left us with dented ego's after spinning of in style and hitting a tree! A couple of weeks work bashing and spannering in preparation for R of M meant that we were ready to roll off the start line on Friday evening along with some 70+ other crews.
Sian was looking forward to the event and I also was looking forward to co driving in what would be my first multi venue event for approx 20 years.
Our strategy was to enter , enjoy and finish! We were less concerned about where we finished rather than worry about a class 1,2 or 3 we decided to settle into the event and learn from the experience.
Well our first stage at Argents Mead saw us drive a perfect stage Hand braking the hairpins perfectly , Sian not putting a foot wrong . We completed the stage in 38 seconds tying with a number of other fast cars.
Saturday dawned overcast and we entered auxilary service unsure about tyre choices. The weather forecast was pretty unhelpful and as we would not be back in service until mid day we decided that tyre selection would be critical.
Having chosen to run on our trusty Matador moulded slicks off we set. Sian was a little nervous on arrival at Higham , although having marshalled at this location we had never driven it before. "The Killing Fields" was a reference we had heard ( cars not people) and this did nothing to give us more confidence.
Stage 2, we ran at max less 10% just to get a feel for the place. Awesome is a word I would use to describe it. Others may have different views of course, but I thought the stage was brilliant. Lots of technical sections, adverse camber, different surfaces etc, all providing a good challenge. The stage being nearly 20 miles long allowed Sian and myself to get into a good rhythm. Me reading off notes and Sian gaining confidence with every mile she drove.
We completed Higham in a comfortable 19.32 and proceeded to service at Hinckley where only tyre and level checks were needed the car running so far without a hitch.
Then off to Mallory to stage 3 and 4.
Mallory was good, short tight and plenty of chicanes to keep you on your toes. We missed the tyre walls and completed both stages , giving us an overall 38th position , not bad when we started at 55.
Back over to Higham and after a tight road section ( missed turning on route!) we arrived at the time control with seconds to spare. Higham 2 was a slightly different layout and suited us well, we ran through the stage with only one minor overshoot on a hairpin and completed the stage in 17.02 having witnessed a number of front running cars broken down on stage.
Back over to Mallory for more fun and a clean run through both stages saw us return to Higham 3 in 33rd position overall. Our plan was coming together and we were climbing the leader board slowly and reassuringly.
Sian was now showing a good turn of speed and only the long straights at Higham were making us realise that a 1600 205 is not really suited to this type of stage. Back into service at the end of a long day saw us in 33rd position overall.
Sunday dawned cloudy and with a real threat of rain we were glad that we had selected intermediate tyres for our Sunday run out. Merevale was brilliant , although short it gave us the chance to show how good the little 205 is on short twisty stages. Sian drove very well and after the two runs through we still held 33rd overall.
The rain then came down and cars were starting to spin off at Bramcote. Not a stage for high horsepower rally cars ( unless having 4 wheel drive) the mixture of surfaces caught a good few out including A golf which embedded itself in the perimeter fencing and which, as a result had an interesting rear wheel toe setting, probably about 45' toe out!!
Arbury was very good , again like Merevale short and technical with the infamous canal bridge of course, Sian got a little "air" although she was under strict team orders not to break anything !
Unfortunately run two through Arbury was cancelled owing to an off by car 101 Mark Gamble/ Stephen Link in a Citroen C2. Back into service we discovered that our cooling fans were no longer working so a hasty rewire by Hiedi ( chief mechanic) saw us with one fan working on a manual overide switch.
The rain continued and once back out we were running through Merevale in reverse. This time through we noticed how much more slippery some of the corners were where previous cars had run wide or cut and dragged mud onto the road. One hairy moment saw us go through a cattle grid/ gate a bit more sideways than perhaps we should of , but no damage and no harm done! Second run through we noticed that there didn't appear to be any gate posts left at the flying finsh so we put 2 and 2 together and guessed that the 205 stuck on the grass verge at stage finish just might have had a little coming together with said post(s)!
Back to Arbury , stage 19 for the final time and our run through was stopped prematurely by a broken cattle grid just before the canal bridge , we had a good run through first time and stage was cancelled for the second run. This left us slightly disappointed as we think we were on for a really good time through the last stage, the plan was to give it all as it was the last stage , never mind, we all drove through the stage together in convoy due to aforementioned broken grid.
Returning to Nuneaton we were delighted to learn that we finished the event a 30th overall and 5th in class.
So we had achieved our aims, firstly to actually compete on the event and secondly to finish the whole event.
Our sincere thanks to our Service crew :- Mary, Heidi, Kev, John, Ben and Callum, guys we couldn't do this without you !!!!
Thanks also of course , to the organisers, marshals and fellow competitors for a great event we will be back next year FOR SURE !!!!!"

Scottish success for Jones
Ayr man Fraser Jones further underlined his pace in forest stage rallying at the weekend. Finishing first in class 6 against many more powerful vehicles the pairing of Jones and co-driver Neil Thomson from Dunfermline astounded many of the front runners in the Scottish Rally Championship.
With many of the front running championship contenders now calling for support for the young Scotsman to step into 4 wheel drive machinery and challenge for overall honours , Jones commented;
"Its flattering to think that we are held in such high regard and it is a huge ambition of mine to compete in a four wheel drive car, but we will have to try and seek more sponsors to enable us to do so."
All rounds of the Scottish Rally Championship that the team compete on are financed by family, friends and favours. With two outings so far providing a first and a second place finish the support has been well justified and plans are afoot to challenge on a further three Scottish Rally Championship rounds.
Neil Thomson commented; "We enjoy battling with the four wheel drive cars and we have proved again this weekend that we are on the pace with them. Our target has to be two wheel drive honours though as realistically it is within our grasp this year. Next year things could be different if we get the breaks we need."
Aside from the Scottish Rally Championship campaign Fraser competes with Chesterfield based co-driver Lee Burgess in a British Rally Championship. Jones is currently backed by CCM Group, AB Motorsport, The Garage Door People and Allen Ford who enable him to compete in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy UK (FST UK).
The British Championship has over 25 registered competitors with Fraser being the only Scottish driver to have won a round so far. Having suffered mechanical difficulties on 2 of the 4 events so far the Championship campaign has stalled slightly and the team are lying in 6th place, but having been in a podium position on every round so far hopes are still high of gaining the title.

Overall podium again for AB Motorsport
Ayr man Fraser Jones and Lee Burgess from Chesterfield had a tough weekend on the notorious Isle of Man lanes last weekend.
After the superb pace shown on the Pirelli rally a few weeks earlier to take the win, the pair were seeded first on the road for the RBS International Manx Rally and expectations were high for a repeat success.
The rally did not get off to a good start on the Friday evening when an early puncture in the heavy rain compromised the handling. Despite the puncture Fraser and Lee only dropped 4 seconds to the stage winner.
On to the second stage and the boys had a new problem to deal with, heavy fog. The crew set off into the stage at full pace and it was not until the halfway point in the stage that the fog closed in and hampered the progress. Despite visibility of only 3 metres the crew pushed on regardless relying on the pace notes to guide them through the stage rather than sight. However only 20 metres from the end of the 9 mile stage Fraser was caught out by a tight bend.
Machars Car Club member Fraser said; "I was just driving too fast for the conditions, we had a long straight into a tight corner and I misjudged how quickly the corner would come up on us".
The car left the road and was thrown into the air, landing heavily on its side wedged between a grass bank and a fence. Despite the best efforts the car was not moving and required a tractor to extract it.
The AB Motorsport team worked wonders on the car until 4am on the Saturday morning to ensure the CCM backed car could rejoin for a full day of competition in the Trophy Rally. Unable to score Championship points they used the remainder of the event to test various tarmac settings for later in the year.
The team were delighted that all the hard work was well worthwhile as they were rewarded with a third position overall in the Trophy rally which was won by a 4 wheel drive Subaru Impreza.
The next event is back to the gravel forest roads for the Severn Valley Rally around Builth Wells in Wales, June 2nd.

Fraser flies home for maiden Fiesta win
Twenty six year old Fraser Jones has blitzed the field in Carlisle this weekend winning the second round of the UK Fiesta Sporting Trophy. The event ran alongside the Pirelli National Rally on Saturday.
The lad from Ayr showed immense pace, in his CCM backed Ford Fiesta ST to also finish third in the National event against the more powerful four-wheel-drive cars.
This now catapults the Scot from seventh to second in the championship heading into round three, the RBS Isle of Man International Rally on tarmac, a surface favoured by Jones. After winning three of the opening four stages Jones had a comfortable cushion of 15 seconds over his closest rival allowing him to cruise through the closing stages. For SS5 though, Jones decided to consolidate his lead and set a time of 4mins 38s over five miles of special stage to set not only the fastest FST time but the fastest time overall in the National event.
It was a tremendous victory for the CCM team with correct tyre choice and precise set-up by AB Motorsport playing an important role on the extremely tough rutted surface for the front-wheel-drive machines.
Conditions were testing for the 22 strong FST field as several of the top players were caught out by the unpredictable surface. With international competitors already passed through the special stages loose gravel and exposed rocks became a hurdle for crews to juggle throughout the day.
Budget permitting the next round for Jones will be the RBS Isle of Man International Rally, 11 - 12 May.
Fraser Jones said: "Today was pretty fantastic, it all went to plan. We intended to start fast and pull out a lead on the first four stages which worked really well. After service we were able to keep up the pace and even set fastest time overall on the national rally on SS5. Our previous best result was fourth on the Park Systems Rally in 2006 so we are delighted."

Jones gets off to a flying start with new sponsor!
Ayrshire man Fraser Jones has started his 2007 rally season as he means to go on. Having attracted a new sponsor in property moguls CCM Group, Fraser and the AB Motorsport team have been allowed to concentrate on the sport.
In the past three weeks Fraser has competed in two rallies racking up some impressive results in the process. The first event was The Snowman Rally in Inverness which despite its name was bathed in sunshine and dry conditions. The team immediately turned heads in the Highlands.
Iain Urquhart commented; “The boys in the Fiesta were the quickest and most committed all day, wait till you see it on TV, the camera doesn’t lie”
Despite the Ford Fiesta being down on power compared to the cars in the same class Fraser and Co-Driver Neil Thomson (Inverness) managed to bring the car home 1st position for Front Wheel drive cars by over 2 minutes, but they were desperate to beat the World Rally Cars.
Co-Driver Neil Thomson; “We managed to win 3 of the 5 stages against the World Rally Cars, but it was the long straights on the first stage that cost us the time. The Fiesta struggles to get above 100mph whereas the World Rally Cars will reach 130mph.”
Next up for the team was the Malcolm Wilson Rally which is the first round of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy in which Fraser will be competing this season with new co-driver Lee Burgess.
Lee; “We were chasing for the top spots setting a fastest time in stage 5 and stage 6 we were flying but toward the end the Driveshaft snapped and we struggled through to the finish.”
The car was forced to limp through the 7th and final stage with only one wheel drive losing over a minute to the leaders and eventually dropping the Ayr man to 7th overall.
Fraser; “After such good pace early on, and a great battle for the top positions where we were swapping between one and three seconds over 8 mile stages, it was heartbreaking to be forced out of the podium positions with mechanical failure”
The next event for the CCM Group backed AB Motorsport team is the Pirelli Rally on April 21st in Carlisle

Simply the best!
Chosen as one of 12 throughout the UK, Chris Reid, reigning 2006 Quaife PSOOC Rally Challenge Champion, recently made a significant step forward in his rallying career. The MSA British Rally Academy backed by the UK Motor Sport Association, enrolled Chris Reid into their development programme.
Reid received the exciting news while working on his Parent Farm in Scotland.
"It was a Total shock to hear that I had been selected. I new that panel members had been viewing my progress in 2006 even watching on a number of events. My success in 2006 had undoubtedly helped and its a great feeling to be one of twelve selected for the 2007 Academy" commented Reid.
MSA British Rally Academy has an aim of taking British rallying participants of National Status to British Rally Championship competition level. The scheme compliments and builds on the success of the MSA British Rally Elite, the brainchild of 2001 World Rally Championship co-driver Robert Reid.
It was introduced for the 2005 season with the aim of developing young talent and easing the transition for drivers and co-drivers from the British Rally Championship to the World Rally Championship.
The Academy features a workshop based learning structure where the twelve selected participants undertake training in physiology, conditioning, psychology and driver and co-driver development.
Successful participants in the Academy will be given the opportunity to progress to the Elite scheme which builds on the training by focusing on one-to-one development sessions and specific development needs of the Elite scheme participants.
Reid continues, "2006 was a big step forward for me, without running my own car I was able to concentrate on my pre-event preparation and fitness. I have learned so much previewing each event and amending my notes and more importantly creating my own notes on the Mewla National and Twente Rallysprint in Holland."
With limited budget for 2007 Reid aims to embark on a two year programme with the Fiesta Sporting Trophy.
Raising his profile in 2007 with selected rounds of the series, and fact finding on the remanding rounds while securing a budget for the 2008 season.

Testing with BRC Champion Mark Higgins
2006 205 Scholarship Champion Chris Reid, spent a day with Mark Higgins while he prepared for Wales Rally GB this weekend.
Mark who has been loaned a Ford Focus WRC 04 by Steve Perez and sponsored by Pirelli, completed some 40 miles at the families rally school in Mid Wales. "Like 1000's of others I look at Drivers in World Rally Cars and think it must be easy, but when you have actually seen what the cars are capable of and how calm and skilful a driver like Mark is, it makes you understand that competing at this level really is a different world".
Chris would like to thank Mark and Steve Perez for the chance of a life time to passenger one of the worlds leading drivers in such a fantastic car!

Fireworks for Stefan has he burns up the Competition
Stefan Davis and co-driver Pat Cooper contested the final round of the PSSOC Quaife Challenge the Conrad Eurogio Rally based in Hengelo in Holland, setting fastest times on 11 from 14 stages and winning by 3:32 minutes.
They don't celebrate Bonfire Night in Holland so they have lightening bright lamp pods and flaming red and sparking brake discs as their spectacle to light up the night!
The crew got off to a flying start on the spectator lined closed tarmac roads taking a massive 10 second advantage over the entire field. Not only that the crew set 27th fastest overall out a field of over 100 serious international cars, not bad for 140 BHP 20 year old Peugeot 205.
Stage 2 the night was setting in. It would be the first time Stefan was to ever compete in the dark.
Stefan said "I know it sounds strange but running the lamp pod can slow you down, you only drive as fast as your eyes can see, and you see a lot further in natural light, but not under trees I found out, DOH!". The lamp pod was off, which was fine until a tree lined section of the stage where it was so dark the road could not be seen until 3 big trees appeared out of the dark. The crew span out and lost at least 15 seconds, starting up, reversing and getting back in the right direction. They still only lost 7 seconds to the fastest of the field through the stage Chris Reid.
Stefan lost 4 of the spot lights on Stage 3 due to an electrical fault. "It was just near impossible to see where to brake. The Holland roads are very low on scenery, and are completely flat not 3D like in the UK, it makes life very difficult if you don't have the lights". Despite losing the lights Stefan was only a second off the fastest Scholarship Car and set 2nd fastest time in the field.
Stefan charged on through Stages 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 and gained himself an amazing 21 second lead over the rest of the field by the end of the night. An 11:30 PM finish meant no food before bed for the crew who grabbed what sleep they could before the 6:30 AM re start in the morning.
So onto day two, daylight! A re-seed of the field overnight means you start in the order you finished in. Unbelievably Stefan and Pat started the rally as number 70 but their pace through the night saw them re starting an amazing 30th. "I was leaving Parc Ferme where the cars are kept over night; I saw the look of shock in one of the Dutch competitor's eyes. He was sat in a mint 2006 Subaru Impreza, he realised I was leaving Parc Ferme before him in my 20 year old home built 205, it was a funny sight" Said the British Junior.
The streets were paved with spectators - 11,000 Continentals mainly Dutch. "It really gets the adrenalin going when you can see that many, you say right nice and smooth but the buzz you get your just flat out everywhere because everyone jumps and cheers when you on the limit! You can't disappoint can you!" Said Stefan. Stefan set a time 4 seconds clear of the leader and charged on through the next 2 stages setting fastest times on all before service.
Service was a little humble for Stefan. With budgets so tight the team was Andrew Davis (Stefan's dad) himself and Pat the co-driver giving the car a quick once over. A funny sight amongst the big international teams, even funnier that they where beating a lot of them and clear of the Peugeot Scholarship field now by a staggering 41 seconds. So stage 12 the start of the loop of 3 stages again. Stefan charged through the stage but a half spin on cold tyres in front of his family, supporters and sponsors that had come to watch meant he dropped a little time, 6 seconds off his previous. Little known to Stefan however, his closest rival Chris Reid who was pushing hard to try and keep up found some big rocks and a lamppost in front of the spectators and parked his 205 there.
Stefan was un aware so carried on full steam ahead only to find out on return to service to find that he need not of because he had just won the Scholarship by over 3 and half minutes and his 3rd round on the trot! Stefan also finished 3rd International Driver and a staggering 26th Overall in the rally. Stefan has finished joint 1st in the 2006 Quaife PSOOC Rally Challenge and came a close 2nd by only 3 stage times which add up to a total of 2.1 seconds throughout the year so a fantastic season and fantastic platform for the launch of the Junior World Rally Campaign for 2007.

Speed up for Trackrod
Scottish Junior Rally driver Chris Reid and navigator Lee Burgess finished 3rd on the recent Yorkshire, Trackrod Rally.
Reid was recently crowned Quaife 205 Challenge drivers champion, after securing the championship on the previous round in Wales.
With extensive damage to his AB Motorsport run Peugeot 205 on the Welsh event due to a leaping sheep, it looked unlikely that Reid had enough budget to contest the remaining two events.
Championship co-ordinator Kev Furber stepped in and offered, as Reid's championship prize, a funded drive on the remaining two events of the year. 'We only had the budget to do five events this year, but with the help of Kevin we can complete the remainder of the season. Hopefully I can secure the fastest times table, which is the second half of the championship. With this I can claim the overall title for 2006'
commented Reid.
Supporting his campaign and title chase are AB Motorsport who have provided Reid the chance to use their highly successful 205, vacated by fellow team mate Stefan Davis, who has opted to run his own car for the remaining rounds. 'Things really went our way for this rally, as my own car was too badly damaged at the end of the Mewla National. The team were up against it to get it ready in time' said Reid.
The rally started very steady for Reid as he acclimatised to his new steed. With different suspension setup and close-ratio gearbox, Reid was immediately playing second fiddle to Davis, trailing by two seconds after the first half mile spectator stage.
The limited speed with the new gearbox hampered Reid's performance, 'with long straights I'm limited to about 95MPH, the standard box will do 130MPH' said Reid Stage 3, Gale Rigg, Reid regained and advantage by taking fourteen seconds from Davis over the seven miles, he was adapting his driving style to suit the new setup which were showing results.
High moor, stage 4, Reid was trailing Davis now by twelve seconds, he made a charge for the lead as he was finding feet in the new car, but disaster stuck. Two miles into the 9 mile stage, Reid clipped a rock pulled out by the previous car and he suffered a puncture. Not wanting to damage the car, Reid changed the puncture dropping four and a half minutes.
Still charging, Reid set three fastest times over the next five stages. To highlight his efforts, Reid took the stage six win from Davis by just 0.3 seconds over the eighteen miles. Reid lost any chance of victory, but winning stage nine, Reid claimed third and ninth overall.
As mentioned, Reid still heads the fastest time table and needs a further two fastest stage times to secure the overall title.
Chris Reid and Burgess would like to congratulate Stefan Davis and his new stand in co-driver 16year old Ella Flynn for putting in a superb performance, just a shame the battle ended all too early.
Also thanks to SnavenitraM, Quark Motorsport, AB Motorsport and Kev Furber for their continued support.
The final round of the Championship will be the Twente Rally, Holland

AB stars Sheepish Reid crowned Champion
Aberdeen resident Chris Reid underlined his potential as one of the U.K's top rally drivers with a near perfect performance on this weekend Mewla National Rally where, by finishing second, he successfully wrapped up the 2006 Quaife PSOOC Rally Challenge with 2 rounds to spare.
23 year old Chris, on only his first ever tarmac rally was the class of the field all day, revelling in the fast and technical nature of the roads around the Epynt Military Area in Mid Wales and, despite only needing to finish 5th to put the 2006 title beyond the grasp of any of his rivals, was immediately on the pace.
6 fastest times over the opening 6 stages gave the young farmer a comfortable lead of over 2 minutes from his nearest rivals and despite insisting he was not pushing hard, had found a comfortable pace that was leaving his rivals trailing.
At midday service the AB Motorsport crew discovered that the bottom end bearings in the engine were failing, resulting in a lack of outright horsepower! However with such a lead Chris could throttle back and maintain a comfortable gap over the remaining 6 stages. Even so Chris was still quickest over the 12 miles of Stage 9, extending his advantage to over 3 minutes with only 3 stages left to go! With such a commanding lead the champion elect happily conceded time over the next couple of stages and as the rally entered the final stage, a short 3 mile blast over the top of the ranges, Chris was still 2 and a half minutes ahead. However fate was to play a cruel last minute joke on the young man. Half way through the stage a sheep ran into the road on a very fast section and with Chris travelling at an estimated 70mph there was no chance to react. With a sickening crunch the front of the car sustained the majority of the impact and the engine cut out immediately.
Despite the car being fairly badly damaged Chris, who originally built this car himself, forced the bonnet open, reconnected wires that had been knocked loose in the impact, and managed to get going again. However the car was mortally injured and with coolant and oil leaking it was a testament to Chris's mechanical sympathy that they were able to nurse it to the finish. With the bonnet latches broken Chris had no option but to complete the stage with the bonnet open and his head hanging out of the window Jim Carrey style!
Despite dropping nearly 2 minutes in the final stage young Reid would cruelly be robbed of victory when he accrued 1 minutes worth of road penalties nursing the failing Peugeot back to the final time control in Builth Wells! Even with all of these last minute setbacks the young man would eventually be classified second in class, a galling 46 seconds behind Stefan Davis!
"Today has been incredible. This rally has been so much fun and I haven't been able to wipe the smile of my face. We found a comfortable pace immediately and were happy to pull out an advantage without having to take any risks. To hit that sheep in the final stage was really cruel luck but at least we managed to make it to the finish, even if the car looks a bit bent now! Enthused the newly crowned champion, who then added slyly I've never really been a great fan of mutton!"
With the title now well and truly wrapped up Chris can relax and concentrate on his next step." I'm not sure of our plans now. Everything has been poured into competing in the championship so now its time to try and source the sponsorship for the next step. Last time the 205 title was won like this was by Richard Burns who then went on to drive for Subaru:
"I'm not sure if they have my phone number so perhaps I should call them instead?"
You could be forgiven for thinking that, after his recent dominant performances on gravel, that this kind of showing by Chris was to be expected but considering this was his first experience of rallying on tarmac, plus he had never completed a recce before and yet, even with these handicaps was still setting times comparable with the top Ford Fiesta ST150's this really and truly was a remarkable performance by the young farmer!
"I'd just like to say a final thanks to everyone who has assisted me this year, from the team at AB Motorsport, to Quark Motorsport and SnavenitraM, as well as my family for all their support - this wouldn't have been possible without all of you!"

Finally First for Stefan and Pat
Stefan Davis and Pat Cooper contested the fifth round of the Quaife PSOOC Rally Challenge. The Mewla National Rally, held on 28th August 2006 is an extremely fast tarmac rally over the military testing ranges in the Brecon Beacons. The crew had a traumatic day but came through to take Davis' first ever rally win.
The first two stages Stefan and Pat had been too hesitant and found themselves 5.3 seconds down to their AB Stars team mate Chris Reid after the first two stages.
"It was just a confidence thing, we cant afford to test before events so we have the car set-up then just have to try and drive it flat out from Stage 1, its hard work sometimes " said Stefan.
The crew decided too push on through the next stage before service and was absolutely flying until a minor over exuberance on Stefan's part saw them spinning off the road at 95 mph
"It was the fastest accident I have ever had, I just came over a bit Colin McRae and went into a corner absolutely flat in 5th about 20 mph quicker than I should have and just thought, this is gonna be a big one!".
Davis managed to spin the car using the handbrake and somehow span through the air over an 8 foot bank and landed on a muddy access road below. Without hesitation Davis started the car, hit reverse and then drove on. Unfortunately the crew suffered a puncture and was forced to stop and change it, losing about three minutes in the process. The pair dropped all the way down to 7th place in the Scholarship.
Never to give up the crew give it their most through the remaining stages setting 6 fastest stage times and actually catching the rally leader through one of the stages! " We knew we had to catch Chris in every stage to win so we just went for it! " said Davis.
Unbelievably when the teammates were starting to get downheartened they saw their main competitor Chris Reid at the side of the road, a dead sheep nearby. The sheep had run across the road just as Chris was passing and took the whole front end of his car out. Reid arrived at the finish control with the car undrivable and was actually towed to the finish ramp. This was enough for the pair to take 1st place and Stefans first ever victory.
A big thanks to AB Motorsport for a great car and keeping them going throughout the day!

Swansea makes it number 4!
23-year-old Scottish driver Chris Reid and his co-driver Lee Burgess continued their domination of the Quaife PSOOC Rally Challenge.
With Reids 4th rally win of 2006 taking victory by 51 seconds after a daylong battle with their AB Motorsport team-mates Stefan Davis and Patrick Cooper who were driving identical 1.9 Peugeot 205s.
Reid had already won 3 rounds and this result places him in an almost insurmountable points lead!
After 2 stages Reid held a small lead of 13 seconds over newcomer Frazer Stannard with Stefan Davis just 1 second further back.
Stage 3, Walters Arena, was going well until a very tight chicane near the end of the stage caused Reid to stall his car and lose 10 seconds to a flying Davis, reducing his lead to just 4 seconds.
With stage 4 Rheloa being cancelled, the rally was to be decided in the last Resolven stage.
Everyone expected the final 15.8 mile Resolven stage to be a major part of the event, but with 3 drivers all close enough to take the victory, Reid was under immense pressure to deliver a cool-headed drive to ensure a safe run and secure more points to maintain his lead of the championship.
Reid´s plan of staying cool took a turn for the worse when he spun his 205 early in the stage loosing over 30 seconds. He was infuriated by this mistake and opted to attack the remaining twelve miles at full speed.
Unbeknown to Reid, Davis was also having problems with his 205´s rear brakes, forcing him to limp to the finish. Reid´s final pace through the Resolven stage netted him an incredible twelfth fastest overall in the Clubman´s Rally and a stage time 44 seconds faster than his closest 205 rival.
The next round of the championship is the Mewla rally held over the Epynt military ranges in mid Wales, on the 26th August. Chris would like to thank his Navigator Lee for doing a superb job, and the whole AB Motorsport for doing a faultless job in preparing the car.

3 wins in a row for Reid
Round three of the Peugeot 205 scholarship took place on Sunday with the Rally Marketing Mid Wales Stages, based in Newtown, mid Wales.
Junior rally driver Chris Reid started this event full of confidence after winning the first two rounds of the championship. After stage one, only one second separated Reid from his closest rival and AB Motorsport team mate Stefan Davis, but by stage two Reid and his new navigator for the event Lee Burgess had started to work well together. they posted the fastest Scholarship time to move into the lead by six seconds.
Dust coming into the car seemed to be the only problem the crew had to deal with. They completed the next short stage before heading back to service with an increased lead, after setting fastest time, of 19 seconds.
Next up was the longest stage of the rally, all was going well until around 3 miles into a 9 mile stage when Reid hit a rock lying in the middle of the road, ‘’I was fully committed into a fast left hander when I noticed a rock that must have been disturbed by the previous car, there was no way of avoiding it and we hit it with the underside of the car’’ commented Reid at service.
The resulting damage caused the car to splutter and cut-out through the remaining 6miles, and caused Reid a few heart stopping moments as he pushed to the limit trying not to lose his lead.
Back in service the AB Motorsport team managed to sort out all problems in less than 30 minutes, sending the car back out in first class order for the remaining 5mile stage.
Again Reid went fastest in the last stage and set 10th fastest time overall on the rally out of 120 starters including many more powerful group N Subaru’s and Mitsubishi’s. Reid finished the day with a lead of 33 seconds from team mate Stefan Davis and only trailing 17seconds from Simon Moore in the modified class.
The third win puts Reid in a very commanding position in the championship going into the next round in Swansea next month.
Chris would like to thank Lee for doing an excellent job on their first event together, AB Motorsport team for doing another faultless job in preparing the car and also to fellow competitor Simon Moore and his father Ken for sharing chase car.


Two in a row for Aberdeenshires Chris Reid and AB stars.
Round two of the Peugeot 205 scholarship took place in the infamous 'killer' Kielder forests on Saturday, with the Pirelli International Rally.
Reid, fresh from a round one win on the Malcolm Wilson rally back in March, made a slow start setting fourth fastest time through the opening 5 mile stage (a front puncture near the end not helping matters) but soon got into the flow of things on stage two, becoming fastest Scholarship crew and moving into the lead.
Stage 3 once again saw Reid and new navigator for the event, Phil Peak setting fastest time by 13 seconds to AB Motorsport team mate Stefan Davis.
"That stage was awesome, we were pulling over 100mph in places, but the AB Motorsport team have done a superb job in setting the car up and it gives me a lot of confidence on the faster parts of the stage'' said Chris at service.
After a short service it was on to stage 4 and 5 where Chris set equal fastest then fastest time respectively to hold a comfortable lead going into the last 1.5 mile spectator stage, amazingly Reid was fastest by just 0.2 seconds from a hard pushing team mate, and just 2 seconds slower than the fastest more modern and powerful Fiesta cup car!
In the end Chris Reid and Phil Peak won the 205 Scholarship with a winning margin of 33 seconds, took 9th overall in the rally and 2nd in class.
The next round of the Championship is on the 25th June on the Mid Wales Stages rally. Chris would like to thank Andy Baker and all at AB Motorsport for doing a faultless job in preparing the car for the event - and also a big thank you to Phil for stepping in at the last minute to navigate and for doing such a superb job on the day.


Dizzy New Heights for Davis
Stefan Davis and Co-Driver Pat Cooper contested the Pirelli National Rally on Sunday 14th May, the 2nd round of the Peugeot 205 Scholarship.
Stefan reached dizzy new heights the day before the rally by warming up the adrenalin glands on a 230 foot abseil down an office block in Canary Wharf for Cancer Research. With the abseil successfully completed the team set off on the 400 mile trek to Cumbria.
The crew got off to the a flying start setting fastest time in the Scholarship some 6 seconds clear of their closest rival though unfortunately not the Flying Fiestas so the hope of big prize money looked unlikely.
Stage 2 became the victim of a stage closure. Unfortunately for the crew the closure occurred before they got their run whilst the other 205 leaders had a run at the stage.
Stefan had to wait an hour whilst they were re-routed to the next stage.
"We were flowing well, then suddenly we ended up with like a near on 2 hour gap before driving again whilst the other crews ploughed on through business as usual, it makes it hard work when you lose your flow" said Pat.
The crew went on to set fastest time again on Stage 4 and just 0.2 seconds separated the top 2 on the final spectator stage.
Stefan said "We really had our hearts set on winning this one, and we got off to the perfect start. To be honest I think it's always nice to come out of Killer Keilder unscathed as it claims so many victims each year. We have a lot more pace to come and we are still adjusting to each other at the moment, guess we will just have to wait until round 3 in Wales."


The Pirelli International Rally - 13th and 14th May 2006
Cumbria biggest sporting event, the Pirelli International Rally, the offers competitors the unique opportunity to sample two days of high speed action in the legendary Kielder Forest with the 115 miles crammed into a exciting Saturday/ Sunday format to reduce competitor costs and demands on time.
The Rally, the opening round of the British Rally Championship, starts outside Carlisle’s picturesque Old Town Hall followed by first of three visits to the unique P-Zero Spectator stage, described by Britains finest rally drivers as the best in the country , this will also be the venue for the highly popular Pirelli International Rally Show. Running in Europe’s largest man made forest means that road mileage can be kept to a minimum, leaving drivers to concentrate on the long, fast, undulating stages that are a feature of the Kielder countryside and which have proved a stern challenge to generations of rally drivers, going back to the days when the area was the backbone of the Lombard RAC Rally.
A feature of the Pirelli International Rally is the friendly welcome competitors receive from both the organisers and the army of volunteer marshals who turn out every year to keep the rally running . Run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, the Pirelli International Rally has an warm ambience that competitors really appreciate, come along and sample it for yourselves.

Round one win for AB stars Chris Reid in the Lake District.
Inverurie based junior rally driver Chris Reid took victory in last weekends Malcolm Wilson Rally the first round of this years Peugeot 205 scholarship.
Having not driven his car since last June, Reid took a steady approach to the start of the event, 4th fastest time on stage1 was soon followed by fastest times on the next 2 stages as Chris's confidence grew. But trouble was not far away as the car ground to a halt en route to service with an electrical problem, after some frantic wobbling of wires the car restarted and the crew continued to service. But within minutes of leaving service on the way to the long Grizedale stage the car stopped again with the same problem! But with help of championship co-ordinator Kev Furber and last years championship runner up Tom Curtis the problem was traced to a faulty coil.
Stage 4 was the longest of the event, 12.5miles in all, and a cracking run through saw Chris take 25 seconds from his nearest competitor and open up a lead of over half a minute.
Stage 5 saw yet more drama when a power steering pipe burst spraying oil on the exhaust sending blue smoke pouring from under the bonnet and filling the cockpit making it hard to see and breathe!
Chris "I thought I'd damaged the engine so backed right off to make sure I got to the end! I was just glad it was only the steering" Back at service the car had its problems sorted and the crew were able to continue with everything fully functional.
Just another 4 short stages were to follow and with a lead of nearly 1min 30 Chris was able to back off and save the car '' A lot of people have retired today with broken cars due to the rough conditions, so I spent the last four stages driving around pot holes and trying to avoid any rocks that lay in the road!'' said Chris.
Going into round 2 AB Motorsport backed driver Chris is leading not only the 205 1.9 scholarship but also the Peugeot over all championship which is open to any modified Peugeot and also the fastest stage time Championship after setting fastest time on 5 out of 9 stages!
Round 2 will be held in the infamous Kielder forests on the Pirelli National Rally the first round of the BRC the United Kingdom’s top rally series.
Chris and Dylan would like to thank everyone who helped them out on the day, in particular, Andy Baker and the AB Motorsport team for preparing a cracking car, Kev Furber and Tom Curtis for their roadside support, Sue and Gordon for running chase and also fellow AB stars competitor Stefan Davis's chase car crew for their help.

A strong 5th finish for Kit.
The year started off with some winter testing for Kit to get used to some changes made to the car, and also to get used to driving on Gravel as it had been nearly six months since his last gravel event.
The Malcolm Wilson Rally did not have a brilliant start for Kit with his car cutting out on the first stage, losing him somewhere in the region of two minutes. The cause of the cut out was a faulty temperature sender unit, speaking about the problem Kit said "we had identified a problem during testing, but we thought that we had fixed it, but it has happened again and hopefully this will be the end of it". The main aim for Kit was to pull himself as high up the leaderboard as possible to try and gain as many points as possible after lying in last place out of the ten 1.9 scholarship entrants. During the rest of the rally Kit didn't encounter as many problems, although there were a lot of challenges presented mainly due to the excedingly rough conditions on the Lake District stages, Kit encountered two punctures on stages and although he didn't have to change them it cost him more time.
Despite all these problems Kit was able to pull himself up to fifth scholarship car and was able to set some competitive times along the way.
Talking after the rally about his result Kit said "it was very frustrating to have had all the problems we have today, we were setting times about the same as the people who finished on the podium and we could have been challenging for some high championship points if it wasn't for our misfortunes.....we need to be able to capitalise when other people have had set backs".
The next round is the Pirelli National Rally on 14th of May, but Kit is hoping to get in some testing before then, with the car all ready to go Kit is hoping for a good result on the Carlisle based event.

Davis Double
Stefan Davis contested the Malcolm Wilson Rally [March 11] and the Rally of Kent [March 12] at the weekend, the former the first round of the Peugeot 205 Scholarship.
Davis, who had a new co-driver for the Malcolm Wilson Rally in the shape of Pat Cooper, made the long 400 mile drive to snowy Cumbria determined to make the most from his time spent with current British Rally champion Mark Higgins and his new position as professional driver of AB stars rally team.
The pair got off to a good start, though Davis felt it was way off the pace inside the car. The four leading crews set times only 1 second apart on Stage 3 and Davis' confidence in the new car was beginning to grow. The crew got faster throughout the day until the rally was cut short by mechanical failure on Stage 7. The clutch give up the ghost just half a mile from the end of Stage 7 and despite all their efforts they could not get the car to go any further, much to despair of the new pairing. They were in seconnd position in the Scholarship at the time and looking forward to taking the points and building their alliance for the following rounds.
After the finish of the Malcolm Wilson Rally, Davis made the long haul back to Kent to contest his local event, where he was paired up with old co-driver and dedicated mechanic John Bond. Bond had been out of the co-driving seat for over a year so it was going to take a little while to get back into the swing of things. The team got off to a steady start and picked up the pace as the day went on. The crew had contested the Rally of Kent twice before so knew the stages quite well and decided to push on. Delighting the local spectators with his committed driving Davis was setting some amazing times. The Kent Crew were only 10 seconds off the winning car of Will Nicholls on Stage 6. The crew were an amazing 2.25 seconds per mile off the £200,000+ Subaru World Rally Car through the Bedgebury Forest! "Its amazing how fast he is now - it's only been a year. I was struggling to keep up some of the time and the scenery was going past way too fast and close at times," said Bond. The crew got faster and faster as the day went on and set 10th fastest time on the last stage and finished 12th overall as well as picking up a trophy for second in class. An impressive performance considering they only had a little 150BHP Peugeot 205 and they embarrassed many a better machine finishing faster than Mitsubishi Evolutions and Subaru's. Davis is now looking forward to the next Scholarship round which is also round one of the British Rally Championship, the Pirelli Rally based in Carlisle.

Easter surprise for Stefan from the Maidstone Mall Monster
Stefan Davis laid on a fantastic promotional stand for his sponsors this Easter weekend. (More pictures here).
The stand received attention from every passer by and hopefully will encourage local business to join this venture. Stefan also received a little surprise gift from a surprise character.
The Maidstone Mall Monster donated Stefan his first tyre of the rally season. The Monster gave Stefan the £65 tyre as a little Easter gift and he will be running it out on the British Rally Championship Pirelli National Round based in Carlisle, Cumbria on the 13th of May.
Stefan said "It's fantastic to get this local support I just need a lot more of it to make it work. I now have one tyre but everyone knows a car needs four. Also at the speeds I drive at I tend to go through pretty quick too and need a lot more to win the rally".
Stefan hopes enough local companies will be encouraged to donate a tyre, and help the Maidstone lad to win the next rally. Please contact Stefan on 07866675163 to help.

Twice British Rally Champion tutors Stefan Davis
Stefan Davis' recent tuiton day with twice British Rally Champion Mark Higgins

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