Rallycross at Knockhill on the 30th

[Alpina]

So who is going?
I have a busy weekend. Road rally on the 28th, SIDC track day on the 29th and then the rallycross on the 30th. Whew!

[Queen]

Hi Alpina
I will be there and about six other rallycross marshals at the moment. It will be a good day, but we will miss Pat Doran. Which is a shame. At least we can look forward to his other car coming out later in the year.

[BertMk2]

According to last weeks Motorsport news Will Gollop probably won't be there either as he's still rebuilding the engine after it's Lydden detonation. (and I thought engines were supposed to be more durable when running the restrictor!).

The absence of the RS200 is a big loss - that car has so much presence both on and off track. Hopefully we'll see Pat out on track in the Fiesta later in theyear.

Does anybody know if Manning has got his engine fixed?

[Stevie A]

This will be the only event i wont be going to this season as its slap bang in the middle of my university finals. With definitely no Doran, Gollop and Bellerby and other top drivers doubtful, its probably the best round to miss out of any of them. Not to mention 6 hours each way driving.

Doran will be a big loss for the championship....probably the most popular driver and certainly the most popular and spectacular car. I just hope he'll give the RS200 a final farewell......maybe at Lydden or Brands later in the year.

If last year was anything to go by, the event will be pretty good. Really well organised, big crowd, good facilities and there was even decent weather last year. The only niggle is that you can't see all of the circuit.

[Queen]

Pat is keeping his RS and going to do one offs with it. Which is good news for us all. Will is waiting for parts for his car. As for Dave Bellerby he is hoping to come and watch Blyton this weekend if he is all packed up and ready for his holls.

[BertMk2]

This weeks motorsport news mentions that Pat is keeping the RS200 and is thinking about hitting Pikes Peak with it! That would be awesome, Pats RS200 and Stig Blomqvist in the Mach2 RS200 - that would be an awesome sight and sound! We just need to convinve them both to put in an appearance at the rally supercar day at Castle Combe (although the Mach2 car may actually be in the states at that point as they're doing Pikes Peak this year)

[touringlegend]

Wouldn't miss the Rallycross for the world, I thoroughly enjoyed last years event, although maybe this time I'll take some goggles, save dust getting in my eyes..

[Cryos]

will gollop keeps blowing engines cos its an **** engine!! 1 event per engine vs. carnegies 7 event engine .

did i read in MN that doran is retiring the RS200?

[Stevie A]

quote rxie:
"will gollop keeps blowing engines cos its an **** engine!! 1 event per engine vs. carnegies 7 event engine"

What do you expect???!! Gollop is the only driver to use a Ford Zetec engine. It's only had 1 year worth of development.......the Cosworth YB engines have been around in competition since the mid 80s in the Sierra Cosworth.

The Zetec engine has more potential, mainly due to the fact that it's so much lighter than the YB engine.....it just needs development time. The YB engines are pretty much off the shelf items these days......hence the number of focus/escorts in rallycross.

It's good to see someone willing to go a different direction (like Gollop did when developing the Peugeot Mi16 engine in the 306) and believe me the Zetec and possibly the Ford Duratec engines are the future.

The YB engines should have finished their homologation in rallycross as they haven't been used in production for some years now but for some reason are still allowed to be used. From a business perspective, this was a major factor in Gollop developing the Zetec because when the homologation does run out on the YB engines, he'll be the only driver with an eligable engine. He'll then be able to sell his developed engines to the rest of the Ford drivers.

Pat is retiring the RS200......he's running an Escort WRC for the rest of the year before moving to his new Fiesta......and yes that's running a Ford Cosworth YB engine!!!

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by Stevie A
The YB engines should have finished their homologation in rallycross as they haven't been used in production for some years now but for some reason are still allowed to be used.

I thought I'd read something last year about this - I'm sure the YB was due to be out of homologation either this year or next. I'm not sure if there was a get around though that allowed people to use the engines - something must have happened regarding this if Pat is building the new car with a YB.

As you say YB's can be plucked off the shelf putting out decent bhp figures as they've had years of development. Gollops Zetec is probably the most highly developed Zetec engine that's been built - given how little development time it's had it's certainly putting out a decent amount of power. Gollop has always been willing to try something a bit different: Bi-turbo 6R4, MI16 pug, 1800T Corolla, Zetec Turbo Focus.

When the YB does eventually reach the end of its life Gollop will be laughing, the development effort put in now will be paid back big time - just look at the amount of Ford supercars out there, they'll need engines and Gollop is the one engine builder that will have a proven unit.

Good news that Pat will be out in an Escort - just to keep things ticking over!

[winnie]

Where has the escort come from that Doran will be driving.

[Stevie A]

It's a WRC machine that was supposed to be a doner car for the Fiesta, but he's bringing forward the building of the Fiesta's engine and putting it in the Escort for the rest of the year....while the Fiesta chassis is developed. I presume the engine will be transferred over to the Fiesta at the end of the year.

The new engine wont be ready 'til July though.....so he'll miss the Knockhill and Croft rounds of the series.

[Cryos]

the secret to carnegies car is that they sleave the cylinders, something gollop has not!

[BertMk2]

The entry list for Knockhill is up on www.rallycrossuk.com it's early days yet though so I guess there's still plenty more to go on it (at least I hope so - the supercars and supermodifieds are looking abit light).

[BertMk2]

The entry list is still looking a bit thin although it's good to see that Binks has got the MINI going again so quickly after the Lydden accident.

[Dunnes]

Anyone know what happened to the Audi, im sure i saw it on the entry list earlier in the week. Got quite excited about seeing a new car/racer especially when the entry looks so thin for the modified/supercars.

[BertMk2]

Not sure what happened to that - I had a look on rallycross.nl but that doesn't have an update on the TT. Sellar is a doubt too apparently

Frank O'Connell is entered in a Clio - not seen that one before but it's a shame that the TT won't make it.

[Dunnes]

Could be a quiet sunday then, thought collard may have turned up unless he had a problem with his rear axle after lydden.

I hope the track is kind to the cars other wise we could see some very small races, wonder whether ladbrokes would take a bet on the 6R4 being the only car in the Supercar Final......

[BertMk2]

Quiet? Not a word usually associated with rallycross! I'm sure there'll be plenty of action even if the top end of the field is a bit thin.

I think I'd put my money on Carnegie in the supercars although Gibson does seem to have the reliability edge. In the modifieds it looks quite open with a few of the top guys missing - I'll go for Howlin or Binks. Stock Hatch has to be Horsley (or Roy G or Carlos if they're there ), Minicross - Matt Roach? (he was driving like a man possessed at the Lydden winter rounds). The juniors is fairly tight but I'll go for Greer.

Apologies to all those drivers whose weekends I've just ruined by predicting them a win

[Dunnes]

ok maybe quiet was the wrong word to use but it will be the first time ive been to a meet without the snap crakle and pop of the RS200 and the dolphin sounds of Gollops Focus.

Still looking forward to the event tho, i could quite happily see the minis battling against each other, dont quite think we will get the bouncing minis of Lydden again tho that was fun!

ID tend to agree with you on the supercars but maybe McClusky can get his restrictor sorted and cause an upset. He's my outside bet of the weekend, although he may need Carnegie and Gibson to make a few mistakes.
Howlin seems a good bet, he always impresses me how he keeps that beast in a straight line but is prone to a few mistakes so maybe tapscott/bellamy can collect some high scores.

Horsley and binks are definates for their respective races but the kids is always interesting, very competitive but i would agree with Greer or Powis as at Lydden.

Never been to knockhill so i dont know what the track is like for accidents/overtaking etc but i got a feeling a big shock result is going to happen and the supercar final is best place for it!

[Stevie A]

My money would go on Manning to win. Although Carnegie won last year, Doran and Manning were comfortably quicker than anyone until Manning's engine failed (again) and Doran had clutch problems in the A-Final and Superfinal.

Howlin will be a good bet for modified success......pretty sure he was fast at Knockhill last year as well.

[BertMk2]

Is Knockhill a power circuit then? Howlins Fiesta is quick but seems to lose out on the handling at some circuits. If Mannings car stays reliable he'll certainly be challenging (probably moreso than Gibson). Mundy was going really well at Lydden too so the supercars should be close

[Stevie A]

Knockhill has the longest straight in rallycross apparently.....and half of it is uphill. Des Wheatley reckoned he was pulling 125-130mph last year in his modified metro. Supercars????

Having been to Kirkistown this year, i would argue that the start/finish straight there was as long but at Knockhill the cars probably come out of the final corner already doing 50-60mph.

[Dunnes]

didnt that cause alot of the cars to retire at kirkistown this year tho, so surely this means that we may get even more retirements potentially.

This all bodes well for my shock of the year (see previous post), which i have now decided will be adrian horsley in the superfinal (is that possible)

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by Dunnes
This all bodes well for my shock of the year (see previous post), which i have now decided will be adrian horsley in the superfinal (is that possible)

Not possible - only modifieds and supercars are allowed in the superfinal (would be interesting though!). There could be quite a few of the modifieds in it if the supercars blow up.

I though Brands had the longest straight in Rallycross? Carnegie was clocked at 140mph along there last year, the braking at the end of the straight was impressive too - Bellerbys car picked up it's rear end every time!