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Wednesday 20th August 2008 - Draft Route Released
The
organisers are pleased to announce the release of draft route details
for the 2008 Roger Albert Clark Rally, the Kall Kwik Bradford
Rally, the Scottish Clubmans Rally and the new
for 2008 De Lacy Night Rally and Kielder Challenge
events.
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Wednesday 20th August 2008 -
Regulations Now Available
As announced in
Motorsport News today, supplementary regulations for the
2008 Roger Albert Clark Rally, the Kall Kwik Bradford Rally,
the Clubmans Rally and new support events organised and
promoted by De Lacy Motor Club Ltd are now available for
download.
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Wednesday 20th August 2008 -
Olivers Mount Here We Come!
Last used for a competitive rally stage in 2000,
the spectacular Olivers Mount circuit in Scarborough is ready to ring to
the sounds of rally cars once again.
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Friday 15th August 2008 - Roger Albert Stalwart Prepares
for November
Many of our
competitors come back year after year and one of the best well know of
these is Dave Hemingway, notorious for his 'Ice Cream Van' chimes which
can be heard as he charges through the forests. Dave was amongst
the first to put in an entry for this year's Roger Albert Clark Rally
and contacted us recently to let us know how his preparations were
progressing.
"We were unfortunately out of the country when the Dukeries rally was
running so missed out a vital part of our preparation in the forests
which, following an absolutely disastrous run on the North Humberside
was quite necessary.
Unfortunately, funds and business commitments don't allow us to compete
in Wales that often so it was planned to do the McRae Stages in Scotland
in late September but again, out of the UK commitments have put paid to
that one so we decided to try our luck at gaining experience at the
loose on Manby in July.
Once again, the weather was unkind to Slaithwaite Motor Club and myself
and the loose was completely impassable. Prior to the event, the car had
been treated to the long overdue re-mapping that it deserved and it has
turned it into a completely different animal. More driveable and
certainly more powerful. A satisfying start had us 20th overall and we
were using the event to experiment with different "settings" such as
tyre compounds, brakes, bushing and seating position. By SS4 we had
moved up into 5th place and gradually improved this by steady hard
driving to attain my best finishing position of second overall.
Considering
myself to be a Manby expert, we now plan to enter the Harold Paylin
Memorial Stages at the venue in October before the car is garaged for
it's annual pre-Roger Albert rebuild where it will be treated to
new brakes and clutch, suspension bushes and a major overhaul which may
even see a new colour scheme, before it is wheeled back out in time for
the event in November.
This year, we hope to improve on the two fourths and a third overall in
the open rally but that will depend on who enters and who makes it to
Carlisle. We certainly hope to be on the finish ramp for the fifth
time."
Thanks Dave and we
look forward to seeing you there!
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Wednesday 13th August 2008 - Overseas Competitors Update!
Since posting the notice regarding the overseas
incentive package for the
Roger Albert Clark Rally
the organisers are pleased to have had enquiries from Belgium,
Finland, Ireland,
Spain and Sweden! Word has obviously got around about what a great
event this is! Not only have we got a fantastic route in store for
you again this year but we are constantly being told that this is one of
the friendliest events to take part in...
If you live outside mainland Britain and would like to compete in the
event in November please contact the Rally Manager, Colin Heppenstall, regarding
our overseas
incentive package. Colin can be contacted
here.
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Wednesday 30th July 2008 - Wilson prepares for Roger Albert
Clark entry
The latest star name to reveal plans to contest the
Roger Albert Clark Rally 2008 is
Malcolm Wilson, who is having a
fresh Ford Escort Mk2 prepared at his M-Sport base in the Lake District.
Speaking to Motorsport News, Malcolm confirmed that the plan is to
tackle the November event for the second time. Back in 2004 he slid out
of the rally on the final day in Kielder when driving the VK-backed Mk2
Escort of Steve Perez.
Wilson started his rallying career in Escorts, but is now best known for
running Ford's WRC programme and the fact that the Roger Albert
does not clash with any WRC events is central to his plans.
"If I can do the Roger Albert Clark I want to go and win. I was leading
the last time I did it so it's unfinished business really," Wilson told
Motorsport News.
The event will again use the Greystoke stage in the Lake District, a
venue now operated by Wilson's team as a major test venue. He first
competed on the RAC Rally in 1977 and won the British Rally Championship
in 1994.
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Tuesday 29th July - Route
News, Work Goes On...
The Leeds end of the event is still being
developed, but unfortunately due to other activities in the Leeds City
Centre and the access problems both on foot and by car that this would
pose, Colin has deferred the City Centre start which, we would have
liked, for a more low key start at Elland Road on the Friday night and
more "razzmatazz" at Temple Newsam on Friday and Saturday.
There is a substantial amount of logging taking
place in the Yorkshire area currently and it is likely that this will
continue up to and beyond the
Roger Albert Clark Rally. Colin has put together a startling
stage in Langdale, which is always fast and fluid. Just one interesting
note is that on the day of the event if you were to try and access
Langdale by taking the route through Dalby via the Forest Drive, then
you would find yourself having to pay not only the fees there but also
again at Langdale. As we near the event watch the web site for details
of the preferred route to Langdale to spectate."
This was just to let you know that we haven't forgotten about you and
that we are working hard to achieve another first class rally for
everyone....
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Monday 7th July - McCormack confirms
Roger Albert Clark entry
Great news for spectators on
the Roger Albert Clark Rally is that young Irish charger Martin
McCormack is committed to entering the 2008 event, having been one of
the stars of the 2007 rally.
McCormack's main focus for 2008 is driving a Citroen C2 on the British
Rally Championship, but he has pledged to return to his beloved BDG-powered
Ford Escort Mk2 for the 'Roger Albert' in November.
Competing on the event for the first time last year, Martin was one of
the stars of the rally and his spectacular driving earned the admiration
of the fans on the stages.
"We'll definitely do the Roger Albert Clark," he said. "I've been
on the phone to Phil Clarke, my co-driver from last year. Getting back
into the Escort is like putting on an old pair of shoes."
Martin also hopes to contest the McRae Stages in September with the
Escort and will then return to England in November. "I'm really looking
forward to doing the Roger Albert again; I loved it last year."
Despite dropping a lot of time stuck in a ditch in Greystoke, McCormack
charged back into contention on the 2007 rally, finishing fourth after
setting the fastest time on 18 of the special stages.
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Tuesday 3rd June 2008 -
Perez And Stratos
Set For 2008 Roger Albert Clark
Steve Perez is determined to
give his Lancia Stratos its best run to date when it contests the Roger Albert Clark Rally for the fourth time this November.
Perez has been a loyal supporter of the rally since the first event back
in 2004 and has a dream of winning the event in the stunning VK-backed
Stratos, the car that attracts more spectator interest than any other on
the rally. "The car was built for the Roger Albert Clark Rally
and the entry
for this year is already in," said Perez.
"At one stage we said we wouldn't take it out on any rally other than
the 'Roger Albert'. But we found that going out and doing rallies
is the best way to develop the car and get it reliable. My ambition is
for the car to win the rally, because the factory Lancia team never did
win the old RAC."
Steve has competed on all four Roger Albert Clark Rallies, starting in
2004 when he slid his Porsche 911 into retirement in a ditch in Kielder.
In 2005 he gave the Stratos its debut run, but retired with engine
problems in Ae forest on day two, before battling to the finish in 18th
place in 2006, despite a catalogue of dramas. Just getting back to
Harrogate that year was a huge achievement. Sadly, in 2007 the Stratos
retired with a blown engine in Yorkshire on first day.
However, Perez believes that 2008 will be the car's best year yet and
having former works Stratos driver Bjorn Waldegard drive the car on the
Robin Hood Stages back in March proved extremely useful. "Bjorn is
probably going to do another rally and some more testing in the car,
because he really helped us a lot with the set-up," said Steve. "It will
be reliable next time!"
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Monday 5th May 2008 -
Preston ready for
'Roger Albert'
Gary Preston and Mike Sones
are among the early entries for this year's Roger Albert Clark Rally
and will contest the event for the fifth
time, using the Ford Escort RS2000 Mk2 that they debuted on last year's
rally.
"We're definitely doing the rally again this year," said Preston. "It
will be the fourth time we've done it. It's just like how it was back in
the old days; driving in the dark, Kielder in the rain, snow and ice;
there is nothing else like it. It's a real highlight of the year."
Gary is something of an all-rounder
in club motor sport, and says that the unique challenge of the 'Roger
Albert' makes it a focal point in his sporting season. "I do a lot of
trials and autotests through the rest of the year, but in rallying this
is the one event of the year that I really want to do," he said.
Sones will again co-drive, although this time around he will know before
the event that he will be sitting in the Escort again. Last year, Gary
entered his Vauxhall Nova, but worked flat out to get the Escort ready.
He kept that secret from Mike, who only found out about the change of
car at scrutineering in Leeds on Friday.
"We'll stick with the Escort this year," said Gary. "Last year was my
first time rallying with rear-wheel drive and it was a very steep
learning curve after 30 years in front-wheel drive. But it was great fun
and I should have made the switch years ago."
Like many crews, they are really looking forward to more stages in the
dark. "The night stages are brilliant," he said. "I've done a lot of
road rallies with Mike, so it's our forte really."
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Friday
18th January 2008 - Platt plans to be back
Having suffered the disappointment of retiring at the start of the first
stage of 2007 Roger Albert Clark Rally, 1970s rally star Roger Platt is
busy rebuilding the transmission of his Renault Alpine.
Platt and his co-driver Pete Gilbert are aiming to get the car out again
soon on some historic gravel rallies, after their long-awaited return to
rallying came to a grinding halt on the start line at Temple Newsam.
Ideally, they will then be ready for another assault on the Roger
Albert Clark in November when they will be determined to get a good deal
further than in 2007!
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Tuesday 6th November
2007 -
Looking
for accommodation near the Yorkshire stages?
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