British Rallycross title fight

[Peter S]

After three rounds it looks like the season will be a straight three way fight for the title between Gollop, doran and Carnegie. Which one do you think will come out on top, or will an outsider start putting a string of results together to break the emerging pattern?

What do you think?

[BertMk2]

Looking at the way the season has started Gollop has got to be the favourite. I can see plenty of other people winning events throughout the year but Gollop does appear to have the edge at the moment.

Gollop, Doran, Carnegie, Manning, McCluskey, Holfeld and Gibson are all capable of winning events so it should be an interesting year - I don't think that Cross, Mundy and Grant have got the machinery to challenge for wins and I'm not sure that Briggs has got on top of the 6R4 yet. (can't think of any other supercar drivers but I've probably missed someone)

[Peter S]

I somehow dont think we will see much more of Gibson after Lydden.

I think next year there is going to be a massive influx in new cars as i know a number of them are being prepared at this minute. Others also plan to switch to new models for 2004 which will be even better.

Shame Dave Ward pulled out of the modified though. Although he may have his new car up and running by the end of the year.

[BertMk2]

I've missed something here, why will Gibson be missing after Lydden and why has Dave Ward pulled out? They're both competitive cars so it's a shame to lose them.

[Peter S]

Dave ward has pulled out as he is building a brand new vauxhall corsa (full story news on www.rallyracing.nl) which is indenitcal to a super 1600cc corsa....maybe to new division 1a rules...not sure though. He cant race and build at the same time, so he will be back with the new machine hopefully at the end of the year.....his old one is for sale.

As for Lawrence Gibson then he claims he cannot win the championship so he may not compete after lydden. He spat his dummy after mondello with the organizers there and said he may not race there ever again.

also i did hear rumours about him possibly retiring at the end of the year. Unless he gets a modern car which is more competitive

[Hog]

I heard that someone comprehensively destroyed a 6R4 over the Irish weekend. Is this true? If so, who was it?

[Peter S]

Lawrence Gibson did quiet a lot of damage to his metro over the weekend with massive front end damage, although it should be repearable.

The Metro 6R4 of Terry Briggs is nearly fossilised after it had a massive differential failure followed by a comprenshive engine blow up. diff failue put him out at Croft as well. That may end that Metro as well. It looks like his Audi TT will be back in action.

the only metro that has a sufficent heart rate left is that of George Tracey which finished a long way back in the a final.

the end of the group b era could soon be here.

[BertMk2]

End of the group B era? Bugger. I know it's inevitable but it will be less interesting without those beasties, I'll have to make sure I get plenty of photos down at Lydden.

The newer cars may go quicker but they just don't have the same presence - park a focus next to an RS200 or 6R4 and see which ones people take the most interest in. The RS200 looks quick just sitting there doing nothing.

[Peter S]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Pat Doran's
RS 200 next year when he has his proposed new Car out. Hopefully it will be placed in the museam, in fact most parts are new so some parts may be carried over into a new car

Due to the new regs which will be brought in, the Group B machines wont have a chance. They are starting to be left behind now in the compeition race, as Gollop and Carnegie are looking like a class act, with Manning and Holfeld not far behind.

If the 6R4's did race next year there would be that much weight put on them (due to them not having a turbo and therefore no restrictor) that they would mearly be making up the numbers.

The old Group B cars are now getting very very exspensive to run and keep going, and as the pace is getting hotter and hotter at each round, the new cars will soon be flooding in. The cars are becoming so unreliable and parts so obsolete that drivers will be more wise to go modern.
I think this is there "swansong year"

The two Focus's by the end of the year will be a long way ahead, as they both are developing all the time. Dont forget they could fit the new focus wrc kit as well, when they want. That would make them look super sexy. Cant wait until Haffey comes back at the end of the year which will be superb. Hopefully he will have a ERC legal machine to take on Gollop and Carnegie.

It also hinted on Men and Motors that Mcluskey may replace his 306 as well.....dont know how true that is though.

[BertMk2]

Doran was talking about using his RS200 to do the Pikes Peak hillclimb once he's finished racing it but after that who knows?

The trouble with the supercar class is that apart from the group B machines the choice seems to be Escort or Focus, it would be more interesting if there was a wider variety of cars (moving to the Euro regulations should help this in theory). It seems that everyone who brings out a new car at the moment is going for a Focus (the Escorts are older cars changing owners).

Would the 6R4's get the weight penalty for not having the restrictor? Seems a little harsh considering they're NA engines and therefore in theory already at a disadvantage.

[Peter S]

It wont be the case next year. The reason why they are doing this is because they can only develop a 650 - 750 bhp engine for either a Focus or a Escort, so the choice of cars is limited. Thats why the new restrictor regulation have been brought in. WIth the new restrictor it means that the current model of engine in the car can be used as it is more about torque than outright power, so versions of the rally engine can be used. Next year there will be a big variation, in the different makes that are used within the series.

Yes the non turbo cars will have extra weight. All cars will have to run at 1120kgs next year (as FIA regs require) (it is currently 1030kgs) and run with the 45mm restrictor in place. There will be an increased penalty for non turbo cars, as it is only fair due to the power band not being altered. The increase in weight will hurt group b cars anyway so they will be tailenders.

So next year there will be probably 3 Focus's (Gollop, Carnegie and Cross) and the 2 escorts (manning and Holfeld) but expect a massive amount of different cars in the supercar class. Kevin McCann has a brand new Subaru impreza coming out very soon (only because of next years regs..otherwise it wouldnt have been possible). Pat Dorans and John Haffey's new cars will be different as well, from what i have been told, giving greater variation. Then there is of course Tony Bells Toyota Corolla to chuck into the equation and there is already a lot of variation.

From what i am told the GB series doesnt want to ban the group b cars as they have provided the numbers for years (the same applies to the old minis in modified etc) so the best way to get rid of them is to gradually phase them out by having rules that do this. It is in the best interests in the future of the sport.

I have talked to a lot of europeans about there thoughts and they really want to the british round of the ERC reinstated but the reiterated that the Group B cars have to go first to present the right image.

[BertMk2]

It would be good to get a round of the ERC over here (even better if it's at Lydden) as they already have a wide variety of cars being used and should provide an interesting comparison with the UK drivers.

If Doran and Haffey are replacing their cars what are the other group B drivers doing with theirs? Will Terry Briggs' Audi TT conform to the new regulations? If Gibson quits then that's pretty much it for the group B regulars.

[Hog]

Yeah - why can't we have an ERC round back at Lydden? And we want 8 car grids like we run in the UK, not the 5 across the grid how we used to run it.

[Peter S]

The FIA european championship will never ever go to Lydden, that is 100% assured. The only tracks that have the licence to hold the event which run rallycross events is Croft and Brands Hatch as they both have been subjected to RAC/FIA track inspections for safety. None of the other rallycross circuits have.

Hog, we run now run 5 car heats like the fia requriement. If we have enough ERC cars then we will get it back but the costs of travelling here are way higher for the europeans, which is why the sport is so succesfull in central europe.

Doran and Haffey will more than likely have ERC spec machinery. The chassis regs wont be the same as Europe as you are still allowed the stupid spaceframe regs for the moment so Terry Briggs Audi TT can still be used, as can the Metro but the regs make it so much so that they wont be competitve with all the extra weight and the restrictors, as Group B cars werent designed for this. Group B should have gone a long time ago, and would have it hadnt been for John Moloney who was a 6R4 collector and he just kept selling them on. Briggs Audi TT doesnt conform to European regs. Basically we need at least a couple of cars in division 1a and division 2 before so it will make sur ethat the british round would have enough cars in each class. Thats why it is so vital for drivers to start to use the ERC type machinery. Then we will get a true comparison with how good the present british drivers are with those in europe.

[BertMk2]

Presumably a lot of the modified cars don't conform to euro regulations either? If so we can expect a lot of new modified machinery to appear at some point.

Terry Briggs should ditch the TT at the first available opportunity, I've only seen it in action once (it's first outing) and it looked terrible to drive (not only that but without any comparable opposition it's hard to judge how good/bad it actually is).

Brands would make more sense for the ERC round (if it ever happens) as it's obviously much closer for the continental boys.

[Peter S]

No, not many modified car conform, although some can race in the supercar class in europe providing they are not spaced framed and are homologated. In britain may be Dave Wards car may conform if it had weight added, which could make it eligible for division 1a, as for the rest then no.

I know one modified driver that is considering doing the dutch and belgium rounds of the ERC in the supercar class

The spaceframe regs are really poor, which make the cars look like uncompetitive airfix kits....they will never ever compete with a full blown division 1 supercar.

As for the ERC round then it should go to Croft. Croft have been the number one supporter of rallycross over the years and have stuck by it. Brands arent interested in it and i they dont have the best interests of the sport at heart. Simply Brands want a one off end of year event and wont run one in the summer (which is why they have the gb champs in november). As for being closer then as most are swedes and norwegians, it is much easier for them to get to Croft than Brands (hence the success of the Grand Prix)....as they have a deal with Fjordline which goes into Newcastle. All the drivers seem to prefare Croft as well, as it is arguably the best and most professional rallycross circuit in the country which has the concern and priority of Rallycross as one of the main concerns. After all they brought back the Grand Prix so would also deserve the European round.

One idea mentioned by someone british person heavily involved in the sport was to have the European final round at Croft, with practicing on the Friday, European championship final on the saturday and then British Rallycross Grand Prix on the Sunday. Now wouldnt that be class.......we can only dream!