RACING EXPOSURE :: Club level motorsport e-magazine

19 year old Tom Watson is eagerly looking forward to his first full season of rallying and plans to use this weekends Wyedean Forest Stages as a shakedown ahead of what will be a very busy year for the Swansea based rally driver.

Watson, who only began competing in February 2009, will contest the MSA Welsh Gravel Championship, the Fiesta Sporting Trophy and the country’s premier series, the 2010 MSA British Rally Championship! On top of this the TRT Welding Service backed driver will also contest a selection of International Rallies in Europe during the year.

The ex Motorcross rider will begin his season with the same Ford Fiesta ST that he used in 2009 but will upgrade to the newer, more nimble Ford Fiesta R2 during the first half of the year. As well as chasing championship points on this weekends event Watson will also use the event to become accustomed to his new co-driver, Paul Morris. Paul has a wealth of experience in Fiestas and it is hoped that the pairing will reap dividends in 2010.

I’m really looking forward to getting back in the rally car, especially if it is going to be icy – the Fiesta is such a well sorted car to drive! I received a bare shell for a new R2 rally car for Christmas and so will start building that in the next few weeks!

I want to use the Wyedean to work on my left foot braking as, having only been rallying for less than a year, this is one area that I know I can still improve in!

The team GMF Wyedean Forest Rally is the opening round of both the BTRDA Rally Series and the MSA Welsh Gravel Championship. The action gets underway from Chepstow Race Course on Saturday 13 February.

Andrew Hockridge’s hopes of another strong finish across the Irish Seas was stymied by a faulty throttle body on last weekends Galway International Rally, the opening round of the 2010 Citroen Racing Trophy, but retiring whilst leading his class was small consolation for the rapid Welshman.

Hockridge and co-driver Darren Garrod were back in action in their Geoff Jones Motorsport run Citroen C2R2 Max for the first time since the Fastnet Rally in October. Despite the lengthy layoff Hockridge was fast out of the blocks, with his Signature Cheese backed Citroen topping the scoreboards even though he thought he’d been too cautious in the foggy conditions!

The positive start to the event soon disappeared though as Hockridge and Garrod came to a halt with a faulty throttle body failing to deliver fuel to the engine. Although the part was easily replaced their rally was over! The pair did return on the Sunday and were once more buoyed by their pace, regularly trading times with the top Citroen runners despite consistently catching slower cars. Hockridge took the decision not to contest the final loop in order to conserve the car.

To lead early on was fantastic, especially considering how tricky the conditions were, but when we came to a halt I was pretty frustrated! The car handled perfectly and the tyres were just awesome! Once again the organisation was great and even though we ended the rally with a DNF we still enjoyed the experience.

Brands hatch test

Stock Hatch driver William Hornsey completed his final day of testing ahead of the 2010 Stock Hatch season at a wet Brands Hatch last week.

Again working with driver coach Malcolm Smith, Hornsey was able to get very quickly down to a quick wet lap time. Hornsey said, “it was a tricky day weather wise but we were able to change a few things on the car to improve my confidence and with Malcolm’s help start to understand where to place the car on a wet Brands Indy lap. Overall I came away satisfied with the days work and feel more confident than I have been before about my prospects for the forthcoming season.”

The car is now at preparation experts Lanan Racing undergoing a ground up rebuild in time for the first round on March 13th.

The new Porsche Boxster series

Porsche Boxster Racing is a new racing series which will run as part of the BRSCC Porsche Championship in 2010, at circuits all round the country. The eligible cars will be Porsche Boxster S, 3.2 litre, 986 and 987 models.

The Porsche Boxster is a well balanced mid-engined roadster with good innate handling characteristics. Stiffened and lowered, it makes a wonderfully handling, agile race car. The new race series is for the 3.2 litre “S” version of the Porsche Boxster, which adds significant power to an inherently well balanced chassis. With up to 280 BHP and top speeds in excess of 170 mph the Porsche Boxster will be one of the fastest and most powerful one make series in the UK.

The regulations for the new series will be very tightly controlled to ensure that the cars on the grid are as evenly matched as possible. Extreme modification will not be permitted, so that the cars will be able to run in road legal trim if owners decide to drive their cars to the circuit. At the same time all, the correct racing parts will be added to ensure that the cars are real race cars which will be exciting to drive and race without being excessively fragile.

The organisers will supply a kit of parts that enables competitors to convert a road going Porsche Boxster into a race car.The kit will include the roll cage, upgraded suspension components, race seat, harness, fire extinguisher system and racing wheels. Some components will be “control” items whose specification is set out in the championship regulations and which may be purchased from the championship organisers. These will include the roll cage, the suspension dampers, brake pads, the tyres and wheels. Using the increased purchasing power of the whole championship it has been possible to provide the conversion kit at a substantially lower price than would be available to individual competitors.

More information can be found here.

The Northern Saloon and Sports Car Championship (NSSCC), run by the Darlington & District Motor Club (DDMC) have published the 2010 calendar, comprising 12 rounds, with 5 double header weekends.

Croft Circuit in Yorkshire is the main venue, but the series also visits Knockhill, Mallory Park and Cadwell Park.

17/18th April BARC Croft
8/9th May DDMC Croft
3/4th July BARC Croft
25th July SMRC Knockhill
1st Aug BARC Mallory Park
21/22nd Aug MSVR Cadwell Park
25/26th Sept DDMC Croft

Its only a matter of weeks until the 2010 circuit racing season kicks off.

Before then, if anyone has any press releases or other newsworthy items to publish, let me know, either by filling in the contact form on the top menu bar of this page, or by emailing news@racingexposure.com

Once the season is underway, the site will require a steady stream of news reports please.   I have a recruited a number of volunteers from various racing series who have offered to submit news, but I would like to get a really wide range of news from club level series from around the country.

Thanks for all the comments received so far, the vast majority have been hugely supportive of this venture, but it won’t work without your help.

Meanwhile, after various suggestions, I am trialling a classifieds system which will hopefully get launched soon.   Other suggestions have included an events calendar but this requires quite a lot of maintenance.

Pwllheli based rallying ace Andrew is set to contest this weekends Irish Tarmac Championship season opener, the Galway International Rally, in his Signature Cheese backed Citroen C2R2 Max.

The Welshman has not contested a rally since the Fastnet Rally in October and is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of his distinctive Geoff Jones Motorsport run pocket rocket. Hockridge has a strong record on the Irish lanes, having stood on the podium on four out of his last five visits and will be aiming to add to his trophy collection this weekend.

It’s been quiet a long break for me recently and so I am really looking forward to getting back in the car this weekend. I love rallying in Ireland , everyone is so friendly and the events are good fun!
My work commitments this year mean I probably won’t be able to commit to any championship campaign but I still hope to pick and mix events throughout the season.

The 2010 Galway International Rally is the opening round of the most prestigious championship in Ireland and as such has drawn a strong list of entries, including no less than fourteen registrations for the Irish Citroen Racing Trophy which boasts an on event prize fund in excess of €7000 per event!

For more information on Andrew please visit www.andrew-hockridge.co.uk
For more information on the rally and for live results visit www.galwayinternationalrally.com

The 2010 Citroën Irish Tarmac Rally Championship gets into full swing this weekend with round one of Ireland’s premier rally series taking competitors to Oranmore, County Galway!

The Safety Direct Galway International Rally is the traditional season opener, and the event has received a top class entry with more than 100 crews set to commence battle on Galway’s challenging closed roads.

The 2010 Citroën Racing Trophy also forms part of the Citroën Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, and almost 20 crews have entered the opening round. They will be tussling for prize money totalling almost €20,000!

However, missing from the entry is last year’s Galway winner and reigning champion, Eugene Donnelly. The Maghera man, who holds a record equalling five Irish Tarmac Rally Championship titles, is struggling to put a deal together to contest this year’s series.

“I don’t really know what I’m going to do yet,” Donnelly commented. “I’m not going to Galway but I’ll take stock of things over the next couple of months and see if I can put something together for the Circuit of Ireland. I’d say it’s going to be a difficult year to get something sorted.”

With Donnelly missing from the entry, Gareth MacHale and Brian Murphy are the number one seeds in their Ford Focus WRC. Last year saw MacHale claim his maiden Tarmac Championship victory, and he will be hungry to add more wins to his tally during the 2010 season.

At number two, Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely will provide stiff opposition in their Subaru Impreza WRC, while County Cork’s Keith Cronin, who is the reigning British Rally Champion, also intends to contest this year’s Citroën sponsored series. He starts at number three in Galway, ahead of Aaron MacHale, Patrick Elliott and Kevin Barrett.

Cronin is among the leading lights in Group N, and with bonus championship points up for grabs for all non-World Rally Car entrants, the showroom category might well spring a surprise or two. Kenny McKinstry is the only driver to have sealed the overall honours in a Group N car, and that was back in 1991. Could there be a repeat performance this year?

Cronin will certainly be trying his best, along with fellow Group N contestants Alastair Fisher and Garry Jennings. Meanwhile, Craig Breen will give the Ford Fiesta Super 2000 its competitive debut on Irish soil, and the reigning Fiesta SportTrophy Ireland, UK and International champion could give the series regulars a run for their money.

The Safety Direct Galway International Rally, which also incorporates a round of the Historic Championship and Modified Challenge, gets underway this Friday evening with a ceremonial start in Oranmore. Competitors will tackle stages on Saturday and Sunday, and the winner will be crowned on Sunday afternoon. More details can be found online at www.irishtarmac.com.

2010 Safety Direct Galway International Rally – top 10 entrants

1 Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
2 Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Subaru Impreza WRC)
3 Keith Cronin/Barry McNulty (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
4 Aaron MacHale/TBA (Ford Focus WRC)
5 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
6 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC)
7 Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
8 Garry Jennings/David Moynihan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
9 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Ford Fiesta S2000)
10 Mike Bird/Kevin Keane (Subaru Impreza WRC)