Rally - Charterhall Chatter

That's the Gossip up on the main website from last weekend's Charterhall Stages Rally. But to find out which 'service crew' needs more training and who was 'mooning' the ladies, you'll need to read it for yourself.

http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/04/04-april-charterhall-chatter/

Rally - Charterhall Stages

That's the full rally reports from Charterhall up on the main website now, with separate reports for the main event and for the Juniors. A record entry of 17 youngsters had turned up for this, and there might even be a few more at Ingliston, but will Alex Vassallo have it all his own way next time?

http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/04/02-april-buckleys-first-win/

http://www.jaggybunnet.co.uk/2013/04/03-april-charterhall-juniors/

Road - Ultimate barge?

Vauxhall has produced the ultimate service barge or management/chase car – a 6.2 litre,

425 bhp V8 monster on the Monaro/Maloo chassis. It's practical too, the Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer is the UK’s largest estate car by load volume.

A six speed 'box manages the power delivery to the rear drive axle with Vauxhall quoting a sub-5 second time for the 0 to 60 sprint - and it's got launch control. It's also got what they call a Bi-Modal exhaust for those who don't live in a noise-restricted zone.

And it's not a marketing one-off either. For the not-so princely sum of £49,500, the VXR8 Tourer can be sitting in your driveway now, complete with 100,000 mile warranty.

Fuel consumption? Don't ask.

Blethers - New MSA Chief

The Motor Sports Association has a new Chief Executive following the retirement of Colin Hilton after 20 years at the wheel.  Normally such an appointment would be greeted with some reservations - better the devil you know than the devil you don't. But that would be churlish and unfair, wouldn't it?

Following a career which started in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector working for the likes of Cadbury, Guinness, PepsiCo and a dog food company, the new man at the top is Nick Bunting.

More recently he spent 14 years with the Rugby Football Union developing many aspects of its operations including funding, planning, resources, facilities, digital and social media. He also joined The Prince’s Initiative with particular emphasis on supporting the over 50s into business creation.

So no motor sporting background there then.

Other posts and duties have included being a director, company secretary and chairman of the Finance Committee at sportscoachUK, the body charged with the development of the standards and the profession of sports coaching in the UK, and he was also a trustee and director of sports charity the Rugby Football Foundation (RFF). He was also the chair the Regional Sports Partnership and the Northamptonshire County Sports Partnership (CSP).

Still no motor sport.

But perhaps there is a reason for that. As an advisor to LOCOG (the Organising Committee for the London Olympics) and a Board Member of the National Skills Academy for Sport and Leisure, the new man might yet bring some fresh thinking to a sport which is bedevilled with problems.

The Forestry Commission is restricting access to rallyists and roads are not being maintained to the standard we would like, despite ever increasing charges. We still don't have a UK-national law for the closure of public roads, despite the efforts of 2300 CC and the Isle of Mull establishing a precedent -  23 years ago for goodness sake! On the racing front, circuits are coming under ever stricter 'noise control' legislation, especially with pressure from folk who buy a house near a race circuit - then complain. And whilst there is a need to ensure safety in our sport, the cost of complying with ever more MSA requirements and the need to invest in more equipment and services places an increasingly intolerable burden on organisers. And we wonder how to encourage newcomers to the sport, not just participants, but the organisers of the future?

We can but hope. Nick Bunting's record is impressive, especially the fact that when he was working with the RFU he helped to generate in excess of £200m external investment into grassroots sport development which benefited many thousands of young people.

So, fingers crossed. Let's give the man a chance. British motor sport has managed to survive this far, let's just see if some real progress can be made this time.

Rally - Peugeot returns to Pikes Peak

Peugeot is going back to Pikes Peak. Remember that film of Ari Vatanen’s winning run in the 406 T16 in 1988? It was called ‘Climb Dance’ and had some really scary bits in it, especially when Ari got a bit close to the edge at times!

This year’s event in Colorado will take place on the 30th June on the new course which has been completely asphalted since Ari’s day – all 20 kms of it and 156 corners. It also climbs from 2,800 metres to 4,300 metres at its highest point, so it’s just a wee bit more challenging than the Rest and Be Thankful!
 
Peugeot have developed a 208 T16 for the job with support from Total, Red Bull, Michelin - and Sébastien Loeb. Citroën allowed the nine-time World Rally Champion to drive the car on an event which he has never contested – and would love to.
 
There’s no detail as yet on the spec of the 208 T16 ‘Pikes Peak’ car, but Peugeot have released a couple of pics.

Rally - BRC snowed off

Next weekend's opening round of this year's British Rally Championship has been postponed. The Morris Lubricants Rally North Wales was supposed to take place this Saturday and Sunday, 6/7 April at Welshpool.

Event Manager Kevin Witton said: "Since Wednesday (27 March) of last week, we have been closely monitoring the adverse weather conditions within and surrounding the Dyfi, Dyfnant and Gartheiniog forests."

"Yesterday, we made a more detailed survey of the gravel roads to be used as special stages and found them all to be covered with significant patches of hard ice. Given the depth of the ice, especially on exposed, north-facing roads and under the trees, and the long-range weather forecast, it is unlikely to thaw before the event is due to start."

"Three of the four clerks of the course - who are responsible for the safe running of the rally and who drove through the stages - unanimously decided that, for the safety of competitors, marshals, rescue and recovery crews and spectators, the event should be postponed."

"This was not an easy decision to make, but - based on what we experienced first-hand - it's the right one. We will now begin discussions with the championship organisers in an effort to find an alternative date for our event, which should have been the opening round of this year's British Rally Championship," added Witton.

Approaching 140 entries had been received for the rally.

Race - BTCC for Vans

At the opening round of the British Touring Car Championship yesterday at Brands Hatch, news seeped out of the proposed new British Touring Van Championship.

Following on from the success of Volkswagen’s Caddy Racer in the Volkswagen Racing Cup over the past five years, there has been much talk of introducing a racing series purely for commercial vehicles. Apparently some of the VW saloon cars racers don’t like getting gubbed by a box on wheels!

Anyway, the real impetus for this new idea has come from Toyota who will debut their brand new Hi-Ace replacement, the Toyota Proace at next week’s Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham.

Already three Toyota dealers have jumped at the chance of racing in the new series and took the chance at the weekend to show off race-prepped vans machines in full team livery.

“The Touring Van Championship is just the kind of cost-conscious racing Britain needs,” said championship spokesman Gideon ‘Gig’ Gleman.

The first full speed outing of the Proace vans will take place at the Nürburgring later this month when they contest the Lastkraftwagenpokal meeting around the legendary circuit’s Flair Loop.

With the first British race planned for July, Toyota are planning a big reveal at a BTCC event where they will join the Avensis touring cars in the British Touring Car Championship for one of the rounds. The cars will be rebranded Avansis as a one-off tribute for this debut.

VW's Caddy Racer is an established favourite

“Volvo raced an estate car back in the ‘90s, so we see it as a natural evolution of touring cars to embrace vans as a holistic, 360-degree engagement with stakeholder behaviours. If you want inclusivity in British motorsport, count us in!” said Gleman.

“Toyota has a fine history of truck racing in America – even Kimi Räikkönen has been behind the wheel of a high-speed Tundra pick-up – so the sky’s the limit,” added Gleman.

Toyota will reveal more news about their racing line-up soon, or not!