Around the tracks
Bellm bags first historic rally win
British Historic Rally Series: Robin Hood Stages
Ray Bellm underlined his status as a contender for the Armajaro MSA British Historic Rally title by taking his Ford Escort Mk1 to a close victory on the opening event, the Robin Hood Stages.
Bellm and Marc Jones beat off a fierce challenge from the similar car of David Stokes/Den Golding to win the post-historic event by just 7sec, having been 1sec down before the final Clipstone stage. “This is a milestone for me: I’ve learnt how to drive quickly and neatly,” said Bellm. Stokes was left to rue fuel vapourisation that cost time on the final stage.
The historic category was equally closely fought as Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride just beat Geoff Stewart/Jim Kitson and Francis Tuthill/Nick Kennedy in a battle of the Porsche 911s. Racers Patrick Watts and Nick Leston made their rally debut in a Sunbeam Tiger and came seventh.
In the concurrent HRCR Classic Stage Rally Challenge, Will Nicholls and Nick Broom took their Mk2 Escort to victory, despite having to push the car over the final finish line after an ignition lead became detached
Ultimate touring machine
VSCC: Pomeroy Trophy
James Diffey continued his dominance of the VSCC Pomeroy Trophy event at Silverstone in February. Switching from his ‘Nash to a BMW 2002 saloon (above) Diffey won the annual contest to determine the best grand touring car for the fifth time.
A series of tests plus high-speed trial, gave Diffey a good margin over Charles Knill-Jones (Morgan +4) and Adam Ealand’s TR3A.
The Edwardian Trophy went to James Collins’ 1913 Ford T, while the best pre-war car was Winston Teague’s Frazer Nash Falcon.
ERA duo star down under
Philip Island Classic
Duncan Ricketts and Martin Walford were stars of the annual Philip Island Classic race meeting in Australia. The ERA duo dominated the historic single-seater races, with Ricketts winning twice in R12C and Walford once in R1A.
The 33-race programme also featured a podium finish for Roger Ealand in his Marcos GT against more powerful sports an GT cars.
However it was the ERAs’ day; the second race was the highlight as Walford and Ricketts were split by local Jim Russell in his 1935 Ford as they crossed the line within half a second. Dean Butler claimed fifth in his Miller Indycar.