 Pheasant Plucker Rally 2000 |  Carpetbagger Rally 2003 |
Pheasant Plucker Rally 2000 | Carpetbagger Rally 2003 |
The Road Rallying team champions of 2000 are The Association of North West Car Clubs. Their team produced a stunning result on the 061 Road Rally to lift the trophy. Individually Jason Stone & Paul Holmberg were crowned the champions, head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
Class awards went to David Marsden/Jason Crook (Semi-Experts) and Richard Oxley/Rachel Hill (Novices). Paul Wilson/Jonathon Broadbent won the millennium challenge event, completing a shorter route.
After changes to the rules to allow a Road (as opposed to Navigational) Rally to be the Inter Association Challenge, the 061 attracted 61 crews from around the country. The North and Midlands were well represented but contenders traveled from as far as Scotland and the South Coast to take part. With so may regional champions in the field it was clear that some seedings were a little awry: LCAMC gods Mike Biss/Cath Woodman found themselves a lowly 18th on the start line.
Leading the field away from the Buxton start were Guy Robinson/Charlie Wheeldon in their now familiar white Nova. Tucked in at car 2 were reigning EMAMC champions Martin Smith/PRAR, Martin's Corolla fresh from an outing on the Kent Forestry stages. Stone/Holmberg came together at 3, aiming to make amends for their disappointing run on the Drystone. Paul Wright/Mark Goodman were slotted in at 4, just ahead of Richard Hill/Daniel Stone at 5. Hill/Stone were using Mike Monaghan's yellow mk II Escort, Mike having a go on the maps.
At six came Carl Hawkins/Ian Tullie, Ian having stepped in to replace Dave Campbell who emigrated to Australia last year. Derek McLean/Lock Horsburgh (ESACC) started at 7, having brought their Maestro down from Scotland. Richard McLachlan/Paul Barret were at 8, just ahead of Tim Tordoff/Ian Frazer in a Red Nova. Rounding out the top 10 were the AWMMC of Richard Roe/Chris Ware in a Sunbeam.
The format of the event was quite simple: some of everything. Each half started with a big hand out and a long neutral section to get it plotted in. This gave about half the route and all the neutrals/transports and rejoins. The rest of the instructions came in through the window: a mix of map references and tulips. With short sections and tight intermediate controls there was plenty for both crew members to contend with!
The first section proved to be quite eventful for some. It started with fast run into a tricky slot left, just right to see who's brakes were up to temperature. Crowds of spectators made finding the slot at Fawside Edge easy, but it still needed precision. The tiny white at Newtown din't prove as tricky as the map made it look, but still only six cars were clean at STC3. First departure was Hawkins/Tullie, they managed to get the Nova stuck at 90 degrees to the rally route having destroyed a drive shaft (again). Cars were stuck behind them until the Nova had been given the heave ho, but that's rallying.
The next section didn't prove as taxing, although some crews down at the unfashionable end of the field had already started collecting fails. A short neutral brought crews to the East of Butterton, and the start of one of those classic "Derbyshire" sections. As usual it was the twisty lanes which took their toll, and as usual there were few problems at the head of the field. The next few sections and the first Regularity to Grindon were just openers for the unfamiliar crews. Many crews posted clean sheets at ITC10, but by STC13 the only cars clean were Stone/Holmberg Biss/Woodman and the ANWCC crew Dave Jones/Robert Duck. Making black marks on the road were Robinson/Wheeldon, their Nova having becoming the second one in need of a new driveshaft.
The pre-plot section through the Goyt Valley saw a major sorting out of crews. The route ran onto map 118 to allow the Fernlee white to be used, with a Neutral down the A5004 to the usual Goyt start control on Wild Moor. With the map being of little use this was one point where local crews could press home their advantage. Going particularly well were Clive Baty/Steve Porter, making up 8 places. At the end of the short section down to Petrol the standings were:
1 Stone/Holmberg 205 0:05 2 Biss/Woodman Nova 0:11 3 Jones/Duck 205 0:39 4 Smith/PRAR Corolla 1:30 5 Michael Pedley/David Pedley Escort 2:00
Although 30 miles shorter than the first half, the second half was no restbite. Several crews failed to maintain the pace and surrendered their positions. A clear run through the Youlgreave triangles allowed McLachlan/Barrett to make up 3 places to 8th. Tissington Ford featured on the section up to ITC34. This saw some juggling of places with the Pedley brothers slipping back to 6th, behind Ian Scott/Jez Harris. Also going backwards were Doug Kingsley/Ben Greenfield, who had been running as high as 8th earlier on in the night.
The final sections were all given a pre plot. The route used the Hartington whites, Long Dale and finished with a test of the handbrake at Wheeldon Trees. This provided the final sort out: a minor overshoot by Smith/PRAR allowed the flying Peldeys to squeeze them, and Scott/Harris out. Similar trouble allowed Jones/Duck to nip ahead of Biss/Woodman. Baty/Porter continued their late run to 9th, but for them the real damage had been done on the first section.
