Wales Rally GB Boss Andrew Coe talks to Overdrive

Wales Rally GB, the British round of the World Rally Championship moved from South to North Wales last year. Chief Executive Andrew Coe talks to Rosemary John about the event's plans for 2014, and beyond.

Land Rover Defender Challenge at Autosport International

If you think Land Rover Defender, you probably don't think rally car! Off Road racing experts Bowler Motorsport see it differently and have taken Solihull's finest and given it it's very own Rally Challenge. With a raft of technical innovations including an anti-flop gearstick, the Defender is sure to pack a punch on the rally stage. Rosemary John meets up with Jon Chester from Bowler to find out more.

Disappointment for Wright on Dukeries Rally

David Wright pushing hard on the Dukeries Rally. Photo courtesy of Songasport

Bentham’s David Wright was robbed of the chance to push for a victory on last weekend’s Dukeries rally when a driveshaft snapped dropping him down the leaderboard.

Wright got off to a great start in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9 and, after setting the fastest time in stage 5 he was up to second overall, just 11 seconds off the leader. With another five stages still to go Wright was confident of making up the time to take the win but disaster struck on the start line of stage 8 when the driveshaft broke.

With no service halt after stage 8 Wright was forced to do two stages with the damaged shaft which dropped him to 13^th on the leaderboard. The problem was fixed for the last stage and Wright made it to 12^th place and 4^th in class.

“The first few stages went really well,” said Wright. “I was very happy to be beating all but one of the World Rally class cars, the Dukeries stages have a lot of long straights which are a major disadvantage for our car.”

“I think we had a great chance of winning the event but the snapped shaft put paid to that. It was a very disappointing way to end what could’ve been a fantastic rally for us.”

Wright’s next event will be the Nicky Grist Stages in July although he will also be appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed as part of the International Rally Drivers Club display.

4X4s set off to support Help for Heros

At 10.30am on Saturday 15^th June 2013 a spectacle of 4x4 vehicles crewed by 100 adults (and 7 children) will gather at Littlecote House Hotel, Hungerford in Berkshire ready to start out on the 2013 Help for Heroes 4x4 European Rally; a 12 day, 2,000+ mile adventure following the path of the 1944/5 Allied Invasion through Europe.

The inaugural rally in of 2010 had a goal of raising £20,000 for the charity; it went on to raise £121,000. The rally has since become an annual fixture in the calendar and has grown to become the largest independent event raising funds for H4H the rally – raising in excess of £600,000 for Help for Heroes. This, its fourth year, has already raised £110,000.

This non-speed touring assembly consists of over 40 vehicles and is crewed by serving and ex-military personnel, as well as civilians and families with children. Many of the serving/ex-service participants have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. The adventure will be part military history tour (including museums and cemeteries) and part off-road driving, and is open to road-legal 4x4 vehicles. As well as the driving, the teams have to complete daily tasks which include navigation, driving skills, observation, quizzes and competitions.

The organisers rely on the support of supporters such as Land Rover

Tim Price-Bowen, one of the organisers said “The hospitality and assistance we receive across Europe is second to none and everyone involved is so helpful. Some we meet still even remember D-Day itself! The Rally also has a wonderful sense of camaraderie, fun and adventure; and all for such a fantastic cause. Of course, we must also acknowledge the involvement of our event partners such as Jaguar Land Rover, the AA, o2, and others who provide invaluable support each year and who are key to our success.”

The route uses the byways of Salisbury Plain the Rally, and stops at military bases including before embarking on the Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth to France. In addition to visiting WWII historical areas in Normandy, the H4H 4x4 Rally route will take in the WWI battlefields of the Somme and Ypres. It will then visit Arnhem in Holland and ‘Operation Market Garden’ before heading south to Bastogne in Belgium where the Germans made a final push – the famous ‘Battle of the Bulge’. The journey continues to the Alsace region of France - with its Maginot Line fortifications. The route then journeys into Germany and Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial; with its horrors of war. The event concludes 12 days after leaving the UK – the final part being a visit to Hitler's "impenetrable" Eagle's Nest high in the Bavarian Alps at Berchtesgaden.

Every car is fitted with a ‘satellite’ tracker kindly provided by Skytag-GPS. You can follow the rally in real time at; http://www.h4hrally.co.uk/livetracking/

For more information about the Help for Heroes 4x4 European Rally visit www.h4hrally.co.uk or follow them at www.twitter.com/h4hrally (@h4hrally) and www.facebook.com/h4hrally or contact Keith Bowen tel: 07766 712851 email: info@h4hrally.co.uk

To donate please visit http://www.bmycharity.com/H4H4X4Rally2013

Twingo Trophy returns to British Rally Championship in 2013

Fast action from last year's Twingo Trophy - expect more of the same as part of the 2013 British Rally Championship

The Twingo Renaultsport Trophy UK will follow all seven rounds of the MSA British Rally Championship in 2013, joining the UK’s premier rally series for the second year running.

The Twingo R1 Trophy provides the winner with a fantastic Renault Sport Technologies-funded prize drive in a Twingo R2 Evo on the final round of the French Rally Championship. The R1 crews also benefit from an on event prize fund with parts vouchers of £500, £300 & £200 going to 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd respectively on each of the seven rounds.

There are some updates to the Twingo R1 for 2013 too, with the facelifted shape, new competition dampers and an ECU upgrade to increase torque being homologated for the start of the new season, it makes an ideal car in which to fight for the British Junior Rally Championship title. Also new for 2013, right hand drive versions will be permissible with donor cars being sourced in the UK, it should make it even cheaper to build a car with second hand low cost examples being readily available.

Competitors using the Twingo R2 will be recognised with their own Renaultsport awards relating to their overall position in the new RallyTwo Championship. Running alongside the R1 cars with parts and technical support on all BRC events, the eventual R2 winner will be presented with his or her trophy at the prestigious British Rally Championship Awards Ceremony.

In addition to being eligible for the new BRC RallyTwo Championship, both versions of the rapid little Twingo will be vying for a yellow jersey nomination and a place in the Pirelli Star Driver competition to win a prize drive in the 2014 BRC.

All users of Renault rally cars will benefit from the presence of Monster Sport Europe who will attend all of the rounds with a parts supply vehicle, hospitality area and support.

Competitors running Twingo and Clio should contact MSE direct to make them aware of any parts requirements they have ahead of the new season.

For more information visit www.renaultsport.co.uk or www.twingotrophy.co.uk

Rockingham lines up action packed Calendar for 2013

BTCC is sure to be a fan favourite at Rockingham in 2013

WITH the new motorsport season just around the corner Rockingham has announced its exciting racing line-up for 2013, which will again feature action on both two and four wheels at the Northamptonshire circuit.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship leads the action on four wheels and will again be the headline race meeting when it returns in the autumn. Rockingham hosts Round Eight of the UK’s premier tin-top series over the weekend of September 14/15.

Following a successful return last season, the UK’s largest bike racing series, Thundersport GB, is back over the weekend of July 27/28, to offer the chance to watch an awesome array of motorcycle racing on Rockingham’s 1.94-mile International Motorcycle Circuit.

It’s also a summer date for 750 Motor Club, which is one of the UK’s leading motor racing organisers with championships to suit all tastes. The club will hold its maiden race meeting at Rockingham over the weekend of July 13/14.

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship will provide a touch of glamour over the Bank Holiday weekend of May 5/6, when some of the world’s most prestigious supercars will provide bumper-to-bumper racing at breathtaking speeds.

Rockingham Chief Executive Charlotte Orton said: “We are looking forward to a fantastic 2013 season at Rockingham. We have secured some great race meetings this year from grass roots motorsport through to the UK’s premier motor racing series.”

The British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC) will raise the curtain on the new season over the weekend of April 6/7, while British Automobile Race Club (BARC) are pencilled in for two visits on May 10/11 and August 10/11.

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Rockingham 2013 Race Calendar

April 6/7 BRSCC Race Weekend

May 5/6 Avon Tyres British GT Championship

May 10/11 BARC Race Meeting

June 1 Britcar

July 13/14 750 Motor Club

July 27/28 Thundersport GB

August 10/11 BARC Race Meeting

Sept 7 BRSCC Race Weekend

Sept 14/15 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship

Dec 7/8 Rockingham Stages Rally

To reinforce Rockingham’s commitment to making motor racing accessible and affordable to all fans, adult admission prices start from just £10 per day, while children aged 16 and under get in for free.

Don’t forget if you buy a BTCC Sunday race day ticket before March 1, you will receive free entry to Saturday’s qualifying day. Advance tickets can be purchased either online at www.rockingham.co.uk or via the ticket hotline on 01536 500500.

All tickets include a grandstand seat with a unique panoramic view of the entire circuit and access to the race paddock, allowing an exclusive insight into the hard work which goes on behind the scenes to keep the drivers and cars on track.

For more information visit the race events page on the Rockingham website.

David Wright takes on the Wyedean Rally

David Wright aims to get his 2013 season off to a flying start on the slippery Wyedean rally

Bentham's David Wright will start his 2013 rally season next weekend when he contests the Wyedean Forest rally in his Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, York Brewery, Millers Oils, Owen Developments and Grove Hill Garage-backed GPM Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The Chepstow-based event is the opening round of the BTRDA rally championship which Wright is intending to contest this season.

"I can't wait for the season to commence," said Wright. "I'm keen to get the year off to a good start after our disappointing retirement from the Grizedale Stages at the end of last year."

"I enjoy the Forest of Dean stages that the Wyedean uses although I am hoping that conditions will be better than last year when the stages were covered in sheet ice - it becomes a bit of a lottery when we have zero grip."

"Thanks to the support from my sponsors we are starting the year with the aim of contesting the full BTRDA championship. I will be trying to repeat the title win I achieved in 2009."

The rally starts from Chepstow racecourse on Saturday morning with the crews facing tough stages such as Speech House and Serridge.

Rally 2 Raise back in action

The Rally 2 Raise Nissan Micra in action

After a very successful 2012 where £2,500 was raised for four charities the Rally2Raise project will continue in 2013.

The project, founded by Aberdeen's Rachel Clark, is using motorsport to raise funds and awareness for charitable causes and for this year the Nystagmus Network will once again be supported.

John Sanders of the Nystagmus Network said: "The Nystagmus Network funded research in Leicester University and Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2012. We helped more than 800 people directly by email and phone and thousands more through the support and information on our website.”

“We also published our ‘The Challenge of Nystagmus’ book and wrote a new ‘easy guide to nystagmus’ for teachers. All of these achievements were only possible thanks to the support of Rally2Raise and many other fundraisers and donors. We hope to do a lot more in 2013 and are really pleased that Rally2Raise continues to support us."

In addition Rally2Raise will help raise awareness of the Bottle Stop campaign, a campaign started by Jane Sherriff after her husband tragically died after being attacked and stabbed with a broken glass bottle at a corporate event In London. The aim of the campaign is to ban glass bottles from late night pubs and clubs.

Rally2Raise has already had a great start to the year with the news that the Saltire Rally Club have very generously agreed to continue their support, part of which will involve the Rally2Raise Micra running as course car on the popular Saltire Classic rally in March.

Colin Wallace of the Saltire Rally Club said: "The Saltire Rally Club were delighted to support Rally2Raise in 2012. We look forward to continuing our association in 2013 and contributing to the superb work of the nominated charities.”

Rachel is hoping to compete on selected Scottish Rally Championship events this year but her first event will be running as course car on the E.Watson and Son Coneyhatch rally time trial next Sunday.

Rachel commented: "I'm delighted that Rally2Raise was such a success last year and we are hoping to build on that this year. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported us, we raised far more than I expected and I think the awareness raising, particularly of the lesser known causes such as nystagmus, went really well."

"We have decided to continue to support the Nystagmus Network this year. My son suffers from nystagmus and I want to do all I can to help find a cure for it. We will also help raise awareness for Bottle Stop. Both myself and fellow Rally2Raise team member Katherine have seen the trauma due to glass incidents through our work. Jane has been through her worst nightmare in losing her husband and she has founded Bottle Stop to try and prevent more families from going through that pain. The cause really resonated with us.”

"I can't wait for the season to start, Stonehaven and District Motor Club have kindly let me run as course car on their time trial so that will be a good way to blow away the cobwebs. Hopefully we will be able to run on a few of the Scottish championship rounds again this year but that will depend on funding – if anyone can help with the costs of running the Rally2Raise Micra please get in touch via our website.”

For more information please visit http://www.rally2raise.co.uk or follow the team on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/rally2raise and Twitter @rally2raise.

Tora! Tora! Online racers warm up for 2013

With winter testing well underway for TORA's GT Championship which kicks off on the 20th January, now seemed the perfect time to release the TORA 2013 Promo video.
Featuring the core series from The Online Racing Association's well established racing organisation, the video should certainly whet the appetite for the season ahead!
TORA's core championships for 2013 are;

TORA GT World Championship
TORA International Sports Car Championship (ISCC)
TORA Touring Car Championship
TORA Endurance Championship
TASCAR
TORA Rally

The TORA GT Championship enters its 10th season in 2013 and as usual the TORA staff have pulled out all the stops to make this the biggest and best online championship in the world.
With three titles up for grabs (Sprint, Endurance and World Championship) the pressure is on to see who can be competitive over a range of distances and with different technical challenges. A number of works teams have entered the series and with backing from SRT, Aston Martin Racing, Marc VDS and many other well known sports car teams, there really is no better virtual championship on Earth.
TORA, along with Turn 10 and GT Omega Racing are proud to have the following prizes for the 2013 season;

Main prize: 1 x GT Omega Racing seat chosen at random to anyone who races in the series. Each race entered will give you a "ticket", and the more tickets you have, the better chance you have at winning! So if you take part in all 10 races, that's 10 chances to win!

1 x DLC code chosen at random for a racer, for each Sprint series race - Standard Car Pack of their choice
1 x DLC code chosen at random for a racer in each class, for each Endurance series race - Standard Car Pack of their choice
1 x DLC Expansion Pack (Porsche / Rally) code for a racer chosen at random, who competes in 8 out of 10 races in the World Championship
1 x TORA T-Shirt for a racer chosen at random, who competes in 8 out of 10 races in the World Championship

The winner of the World Championship will win a Forza Horizon T-shirt, TORA T-Shirt and a signed Forza Horizon poster.

Cholmondeley Pageant of Power returns for 2013

A Noble M600 gets some air over Cholmondely's famous Bridge

The organisers of the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power have confirmed that next year’s Pageant will take place from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 June.

The Pageant of Power (www.cpop.co.uk) takes place on the Cholmondeley Estate in Cheshire, and celebrates power and performance in its many forms. In 2013, the sixth year of the event, the Pageant will feature a record number of supercars, race and rally cars, superbikes, helicopters and powerboats, as well as an awesome aerial display..

Organisers promise the event will be more interactive than ever, and will host a sequence of dramatic challenges, such as supercars vs. rally cars. ‘Noise’ will be a notable theme, with attendees encouraged to vote for their favourites in orchestrated ‘noise-off’ battles between evocative machinery – classic and modern, from thunderous aero-engined cars to wailing Formula One racers.

Competitors and other participants will be asked to unleash the full fury of their performance machines. Those of a sensitive disposition will be pleased to hear that in 2013 everyone who buys tickets before April – young and old – will be given a free pair of ear plugs.

Caterham's SP300R gets a run out at the Pageant

“The Pageant has firmly established a reputation as a must-attend event and we’ve witnessed growing numbers every year since its inception,” explains James Hall, Event Director at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power. “With such a large and varied collection of machinery on show for crowds this year, attendees will be hard-pressed to find a more evocative range of sights and sounds anywhere in the UK.”

For further information on the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power and for video highlights from the 2012 event, please visit www.cpop.co.uk.