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De Lacy Motor Club are proud to announce this years Roger Albert Clark Rally.
A significantly revised route, new stages and a reduced entry fee are the main points from the unveiling of the 2009 Roger Albert Clark Rally.
Now firmly established as a must-do event on the British rallying calendar, the Roger Albert Clark Rally re-creates the classic RAC Rallies of the 1960s and 1970s, covering four days in November and taking in classic gravel stages in Yorkshire, Kielder, Scotland and Cumbria.
The sixth running of the event will maintain the event's reputation as a real test of man and machine, with a forest stage on Friday evening (13 November), a daunting 13-stage leg on Saturday, stages in the Scottish borders on Sunday and the now-traditional Kielder sting-in-tail on Monday morning (16 November) before a Carlisle city centre finish at 12 noon.
"Building upon the success of previous years, we have taken the opportunity to condense the route to reduce competitors costs while still offering great value," said rally manager Colin Heppenstall from De Lacy Motor Club. 'Two new venues have been included into this years route which has allowed us to change the format of some of the stages to offer greater variation."
The four-day adventure will start at Pickering Showground in Yorkshire for documentation and scrutineering on Friday. Colin said "Using the Events Centre gives the Rally a great opportunity to start the 2009 event in style, incorporating all the facilities and a special stage within the venue. This will give spectators an excellent opportunity to see the cars and crews up close".
The competition begins with a stage in the showground and then a long stage in Langdale forest in the dark of Friday evening. On Saturday evening crews will have their first taste of Kielder, with new to the event stages in Shepherdshield and Chirdonhead.
The total road route has been trimmed by 130 miles, while stage mileage is trimmed by just 20 miles. The entry fee has been reduced by £230 to £1650 for entries received by 30 June.
Five individual support events will run alongside the main rally, including the Kall Kwik Rally on Saturday, the De Lacy Night Rally on Saturday night, the Clubman's Rally on Sunday (Ae complex), the Greystoke Challenge on Sunday afternoon and the Kielder Challenge on Monday.
Fans of the rally are now being urged to support the event by joining a new motor club that is being set up to promote the event. With the blessing of Roger Clark's family, the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd will give competitors, marshals and spectators a unique opportunity to support the event, which draws thousands of fans into the British forests each November.
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Famous Escort Set For Roger Albert Clark Rally
The Ford Escort Mk2 used by Timo Makinen and Henry Liddon to win the 1975 RAC Rally will be one of the star entries on this year's Roger Albert Clark Rally.
'LAR 801P' was one of the first works RS1800s built and after its success on the '75 RAC Rally it was driven in 1976 by Ari Vatanen to win the British Open Rally Championship. It was later used by Roger Clark as a recce car for the East African Safari Rally, but has been used very little since the early 1980s.
Now, thanks to the commitment and expertise of Dave Watkins, the car is back in immaculate condition and is ready to go rallying. The Yorkshire Escort aficionado is determined to use the famous car in historic rallying and had set his sights on contesting the Roger Albert Clark Rally in November.
"It's as original as I can make it," said Watkins of the car that runs in the period colours of Allied Polymer. But I still want to go historic rallying with it and I want to be out on the Trackrod Rally and the Roger Albert Clark Rally."
As might be expected, the car had a dramatic time in Vatanen's hands during the 1976 season. "It had a new shell after Ari Vatanen virtually destroyed it," said Watkins. "He'd rolled it three times during the year. A friend of mine in New Zealand used to work at Boreham and he used to repair Vatanen's car. He used to dread going to work on the Monday after a rally!"
Watkins has done the Roger Albert Clark Rally twice before, and finished ninth in the 2004 in his previous ex-works Mk1 Escort, 'FEV 5H'. In 2005, he went off in into a ditch in Ae forest and retired.
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Progress Update... 6 weeks to go till we head for the ferry and the wife thinks i've permanently moved into the shed. Starting to get a bit paranoid checking, rechecking, dismantling, reassembling and checking again every last component, nut, bolt, bulb etc on the Mk2. Made a to-do-list of things to sort out beforehand and it nearly scared the bejaysus out of me, but will it all be worth it in the end?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StOWz0uHgQA Oh yeah!!!
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QUOTE (jmrallytech @ Oct 1 2009, 12:59 AM)
Progress Update... 6 weeks to go till we head for the ferry and the wife thinks i've permanently moved into the shed. Starting to get a bit paranoid checking, rechecking, dismantling, reassembling and checking again every last component, nut, bolt, bulb etc on the Mk2. Made a to-do-list of things to sort out beforehand and it nearly scared the bejaysus out of me, but will it all be worth it in the end?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StOWz0uHgQA Oh yeah!!!
Cracking Video John - that PREPFAB white porsche now resides with Todd Falvey - it was in Cork last night outside the door of the hotel - he traded this for it
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Le Mans Winner Enters Roger Albert Clark Rally
Guy Smith, winner at Le Mans in 2003 for Bentley, will tackle the 2009 Roger Albert Clark Rally alongside his father Peter in what will be Guy's third-ever rally.
The world-renowned sports car racer will contest the four-day rally in a historic specification Ford Escort RS2000, while Peter will be in his regular Porsche 911 for his first attempt at the 13-16 November rally.
"It's in at the deep end," said Guy. "I'm just doing it for fun and the aim is to try and get round without crashing. It will be like doing four or five rallies in one go. It's a bit of a busman's holiday and it is something we can do together for fun."
Guy made his rallying debut in June, having been encouraged to try the sport by Peter. After a long break from rallying, Peter returned to historic events in April 2008 and contested a full BHRC season this year in the Porsche. XS Racing will look after both cars, with Howard Pridmore alongside Guy and Russ Langthorne, as usual, on the maps for Peter.
"I've not done this event before," said Peter. "I did the Clubmans RAC in 1978. It will be an adventure and it is perfect for me that it starts in Yorkshire!"
Guy recently took his family for a day out to Scarborough and took the opportunity to have a look at Oliver's Mount, which features prominently on the opening day of the Roger Albert Clark. "That's tarmac, so we should be OK on that bit!"
Roger Albert Clark Rally 2009, 13th - 16th November
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