Members Event Reports

LOCAL RALLY CREW TAKE CHAMPIONSHIP HONOURS

 Lee Burgess and Joe Pattison have been competing in the 2008 Peugeot 205 Yokohama Challenge.  Lee, 34 an electrician from Brimington, Chesterfield and Joe, 40 a kitchen fitter from Whittington, Chesterfield, took part in the final round of the challenge the Roger Albert Clark Rally, named after the late, great Motorsport driver.

The pair, having won 3 other rounds earlier in the year, needed only to finish the event to secure the beginners title on their first attempt.  The crew had won rounds at Twyford Wood near Grantham, the Mid Wales Stages and the Swansea Bay Rally.

The Roger Albert Clark Rally started at Leeds United Football Club, Elland Road, Leeds on Friday 14^th November 2008, taking in one stage at Temple Newsam.  Due to earlier accidents, the crew didn’t start the stage until 11.00 pm on Friday night, returning to the over night halt back at Elland Road.  The second leg of the rally included a daytime run through Temple Newsam and then off to 2 stages in the North Yorkshire Moors followed by a stage at Oliver’s Mount near Scarborough.  Then it was back to a service halt at Pickering Showground where the crew had to fit the lamp pod to the front of the car in readiness for the night stages on the second loop, through the forests and Olivers Mount once again before finishing the rally back at the Showground.

When the crew returned to the Showground results showed they had finished 21^st overall, 9^th in the up to 1600cc engine class and 1^st in the beginners class, taking the championship in style. 

Lee and Joe would like to thank their sponsors: Midall and Stones Electrical Services; Geoff’s Plumbing and Heating Services; Maris Pumps; AB Motorsport; Newey and Eyre Electrical Wholesalers; and Ultimate Signs. 

Lee and Joe would also like to thank Richard ‘Pebble’ Whetstone, Tracy Wood, Andy baker, Neal Pegler ,Rich Oxley, Andy O'kane, Jim Whitby, Phil Clowes and Craig Burgess for all contributing to keeping the car going throughout the season servicing and bashing out the bumpy bits without you lot I couldn't have done it 

Lee and Joe are actively seeking sponsorship for the 2009 Yokohama 205 championship, any interested parties should contact lee by email at lee.midderbyshiremc@yahoo.co.uk or telephone 07971 673222.

Photo courtesy of Martin Taylor Motor Sport Photographer.

Lee Burgess and Joe Pattison in special stage 9 Langdale on their way to winning the 205 Challenge beginners championship.

Mid-Derbyshire Members At It Again!

Mid-Derbyshire Motor Club members, Fraser Jones and Lee Burgess, took part in two rallies on consecutive weekends, Fraser, 25 a Marketing Manager for The Inside Line, from Ayr in Scotland 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 and be more familiar with 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 conditions of each stage.  The first stage was extremely rocky and punctures were an issue, unfortunately Fraser did get a puncture and dropped 30 seconds in doing so to the front running Fiestas, therefore removing any chance of a win.  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 third and fourth fastest fiesta times respectively, and coming home 5th fiesta with just one second between them and 4th place.

Fraser and Lee then took the plunge by competing in their first international rally, the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire on 6 October 2007.  What a difference it made using their own pace notes instead of those compiled by the organisers, the whole event was fantastic apart from the first loop of stages coming out of Cropton 1.  The car had dropped the gearbox oil because the drive shaft had popped out but fortunately it was only 8 miles to get the car back to main service area at Pickering Showground where AB Motorsport were able to replace the driveshaft and fill it back up with oil 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 get third gear and dropped some time trying to get it on the next stage, Gale Rigg, when it appeared to have come back.  Again the pair were flying going into this stage and found that they were second in their class, R2, so took the decision to back off slightly to ensure a finish.  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 apparently flown up into the windscreen and he’d slid off into a ditch, this now meant the pair were leading their class!  On the last stage Fraser and Lee really backed off with third gear having gone again and wisely went for fourth gear after second bringing the car home to 14th overall, 1st two-wheel drive and 1st in class R2.  A fantastic result for their first British Rally Championship event and so much so that it sounds like the pair will be competing in all the 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 and  CCM Limited for their continued support, along with the Doctor, Pegler, 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 Lee on 07971 673222 or e-mail lee.midderbyshiremc@yahoo.co.uk.

Severn Valley Clubman’s rally

Nineteen Ford Fiesta ST’s started round four of the Vodka Kick supported 2007 Fiesta Sporting Trophy, the Severn Valley Clubman’s Rally, based at the Royal Welsh Showground in Bulith Wells, Mid-Wales. In contrast to the endurance nature of the previous round on the Isle of Man, FST crews were back to the more familiar, short, sharp format on gravel stages. With bright sunshine and rising temperatures road conditions meant tough decisions for drivers as to which compound of BF Goodrich tyre would be best suited to the fast Stages. Temperatures upwards of 20 degrees Celsius required the harder ‘9’ Compound tyre for the long abrasive stages but recent rain that left damp patches under trees meant the medium ‘8’ compound tyre was the correct choice. The first loop of stages were, the 10.5 mile Crychan West stage and the 5.2 mile Cefn stage. As crews returned to service in Bulith Wells it was Tommi Walster that lead by 8 seconds from Tom Curtis. Round two winner Fraser Jones, from Ayr, with co driver Lee Burgess was in third place a further 9 seconds behind Stage 3, Radnor, at 17.3 miles was not only the longest stage of the rally but one of the longest stages of the championship and the hot dry weather would only help to increase the pressure on crews. Fastest on stage was again Walster, just beating the 18 minute barrier, a fantastic achievement. Second fastest on the stage was Alastair Fisher, 19 seconds down on Walster while Jones was third quickest Fiesta. The final loop of stages included the 5.6 mile Gwibedog stage, the six miles of Halfway and the 5.5 mile Route 60 stage, Walster set fastest times on all three stages with Alastair fisher setting two second and one third fastest times In this loop, myself and Fraser knowing we had to get better points this round for the championship decided to use two of our four joker tyres for a maximum attack approach unfortunately on the last stage in the notes were 3 crests in a row with a 90 right after the third and we come unstuck going to fast into the 90 right shot straight on into a bank damaging the suspension and steering we managed to get out the stage but dropped 30 or so seconds resulting in a drop to 7^th position not a good result for the championship after our non finish on the Manx.

Thanks once again to AB Motorsport Andy, Steve and the doctor and CCM limited our sponsors

 Fraser Jones and Lee Burgess

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MID-DERBYSHIRE MOTOR CLUB MEMBERS WIN ON TWO CONSECUTIVE WEEKENDS

 Local co-driver, Lee Burgess, navigated for former Chesterfield resident, Andy Baker, on the Spring Stages held at Alamein Barracks in Driffield on 15 April 2007.

Lee Burgess, an electrician from Brimington and Andy Baker, the proprietor of AB Motorsport rally car preparation firm, based in Leamington Spa were seeded as Car 1 in Andy Baker’s Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi for the event, which was a round in the Peugeot 205 Challenge and Rear Wheel Drive Challenge Championships in which 90 cars entered.

After the first stage, the crew were 30 seconds down but powered back up the leaderboard, setting the fastest time on 3 consecutive stages and cruised to a 31 second victory.

Andy and Lee would like to thank their service crew, Wiggle, Alvin and ‘the Doctor’.

Photo courtesy of www.motorsportinternational.tk

On 21 April 2007 Lee Burgess navigated for Fraser Jones from Ayr, Scotland on the Pirelli International Stage Rally based in Carlisle, competing in the Fiesta ST Championship in which 22 Fiesta’s entered.  The pair set the fastest time on 4 of the 7 stages to win the ST Championship round and put them 3rd overall in the Pirelli National Rally.  The crew are now 2nd overall in the Fiesta ST Championship standings having snapped a drive shaft on the previous event, the Malcolm Wilson Stage Rally.  The event is due to be broadcast on Motors TV on Tuesday, 1 May 2007 at 6.30pm.  The next round of the Fiesta ST Championship is the RBS International Manx Rally being held on the Isle of Man on 11^th and 12^th May 2007 which will be broadcast on Motors TV on Tuesday, 5 June 2007 at 6.30pm.

Fraser and Lee would like to thank CCM Limited and AB Motorsport for their sponsorship and support and their service crew, Andy, Steve and ‘the Doctor’.  Fraser and Lee are also actively seeking further sponsors, should you be interested in sponsoring the crew please contact Lee on 07971 673222 or e-mail lee.midderbyshiremc@yahoo.co.uk.

If you would to place a report here please contact us here info@mid-derbyshiremc.co.uk

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