Moore Triumphs on Pirelli Challenge Rally

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Category: British Rallying

Thursday, 05 May 2011

Moore took control of the event from the off, setting the fastest time on the opening stage in his yellow liveried Renault Clio, and in turn pushing round one winner and pre-event favourite Matt Edwards into second place.

The seven second advantage over Edwards and the rest of the competition grew further after stage two, when Edwards suffered terminal suspension failure. His retirement not only impacted the rally, but will also have a profound effect upon the championship.

One driver, who was to make a larger impression later on in the day, was the Doncaster youngster Jack Rowe. The former motocross rider was sitting in seventh place after stage one, but put in the performance of a lifetime to climb to second overall by the finish.

The 13.4 mile Bower stage provided the second test of the day, but one which Moore gratefully accepted, once again claiming the fastest time ahead of the impressive Rowe.

Behind Moore a tremendous battle was starting to flare up, and one which would last the entire event. Fourth, fifth and sixth place were separated by only three seconds after SS3 and the top ten by only 1 minute 46 seconds.

After another stage winning time by the ever so likeable Moore and Morrison, their third in succession, they had pulled out a lead of 49.9 seconds, and one which they were never to relinquish.

After service the crews headed to the short 5.25 mile Shepherdshield stage where the fight for the podium was on. Damien Smith and co-driver Frazer Hutchinson were quickest, leading the now four-way Fiesta battle that included the Bulldog Challenge Rally second place man Phil Scholes, with Jack Rowe and Mark McCulloch.

With Fiesta SportChallenge points and pride also at stake, it was a fight no one wanted to be on the wrong end of and the stage times reflected it.

Russ Thompson in another Clio was trying and succeeding to cling onto the Fiestas and the ensuing Ford battle, but it wasn’t to last as his gearbox broke with just one stage to go.

Jack Rowe took his first stage win on Pundershaw to cement his great drive and really put the pressure onto his competitors. Rowe repeated the feat on the final Chirdonhead eight miler to secure his second place, a great result for the novice wheelman.

Another ex-motocross rider, Damien Smith scored his second podium of the year, finishing third ahead of Phil Scholes by a mere ten seconds.

After missing the podium by such a small margin, Scholes was clearly disappointed, but acted with complete class at the finish. “I’m gutted, I’ve never driven so hard in my life, we picked up a puncture on the last stage but I don’t think I could have caught Damien” he said. “It’s never nice to be on the wrong end of a battle like that but being in battles like this is why we all go rallying” he added after congratulating the podium-sitters.

“That was epic” announced Smith as he emerged from the cockpit of his Fiesta ST. “We came over the flying finish sideways, and nearly ran out of fuel on the road section back” explained the visibly exhausted Yorkshireman.

If it wasn’t for the performance of Moore then we would be eulogising over the performance of the second placed man Jack Rowe.

The 17 year old only passed his driving test in December having decided to give up the bike racing due to injuries. The Pirelli Challenge Rally was only his fourth ever outing, and to take the Fiesta SportChallenge honours and second overall was some achievement.

“We made the right tyre choice this morning which helped the front end grip, but this afternoon was just flat out in fifth throughout the stages.” he said. A brave move for somebody that had never driven in Kielder before.

But the crown prince and princess of the weekend were Simon Moore and Emma Morrison who dominated the field with a real display of how to tame the awesome Kielder. The north east driver was hot from the off, setting fastest stage time upon fastest stage time to arrive at the finish 37.4 seconds ahead of Rowe and Alex Lee.

“I’m really chuffed; it’s my first ever Challenge win and it was great to know the pace was there after we beat Matt (Edwards) on the opening stage. The new suspension worked fantastically well and gave us an edge on the fast straights”. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, as he described an incident on the final stage which had all four wheels off the road! “I thought I’d thrown the rally away, I just kept my foot in and the car pulled itself back” he added with a huge sigh of relief.

If you can handle the excitement, the next round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship’s support series the BRC Challenge heads to the fast tarmac roads of Scotland.

The Jim Clark Challenge Rally takes the competitors onto tarmac for the first time this season over the weekend of the 27th and 28th May within the Scottish Borders.

To follow all the goings-on during the season, check out the new website at www.rallybrcchallenge.co.uk and follow us on twitter at @BRC_Challenge.