Unless otherwise clearly indicated, results on this site have been declared final and are therefore not subject to query or protest
Clerk of the Course: Graeme Stone
Route: 105 Miles
Maps: 120
Starters: 50
Winners: Andy Baker/Lee Burgess (Peugeot 205 GTi)
Matlock MC's AB Motorsport 'Half Night' Rally which offered a 105 mile route with seperate contests for modern and historic cars.
The event started at Chesterfield, then took crews throught South Yorkshire, before moved on to Retford and the Clumber and Hardwick Park areas. The format was the same for both rallies in the first half with all time controls timed to the second; in the second half this format continued for the modern rally, while historic crews were timed to the minute.
The rally was a round of both the East Midlands and North Eastern Road Rally Championships, while the Historic Rally was a counter towards the East Midlands Historic series.
There were three significant non-starters from the original entry list, these were Steve Webster/Bob Duck, Jon Lawson/Chris Pringle and Malcolm Russell/Adrian Gladwin. However their places were filled by reserves.
The rally developed into a three way battle that was not resolved until the final section. The crews involved were Andy Baker/Lee Burgess (Peugeot 205), Tim Tordoff/Ian Frazer (Vauxhall Nova) and Guy Robinson/Gary Evans (Vauxhall Nova). They eventually finished in that order but not before all had hit problems towards the end. Baker/Burgess stalled on the final test and it took a little while for the car to fire up; Tordoff/Frazer wrong slotted on the penultimate section and Robinson/Evans suffered a puncture just a few miles from the Finish.
There were retirements among the leading crews; Jamie Gratton-Smith/Richard Hage put their Peugeot 206 GTi into a ditch and although the car was severely damaged they were unable to regain the road and Mark Whitford/Steve Porter had the engine fail on their Toyota Corolla.
The Novice class was won by the Metro of Nicola Hillier/Dave Broadley, who were wseven minutes clear of the second placed Graham Reason/Peter Reeson Peugeot 205), these being one of the reserve crews who only got a start on the night. Shane Swindells/Aiden McHaiffe (Peugeot 205) were third in the class.
The Historic Rally was won by the Porsche 911S of Steve Perez/John Pickavance, their pace was such that at the halfway halt their penalties would have placed them fourth in the main event. Terry Pickering/Paul Robinson (Triumph TR3) had trailed the Porsche by a minute and a half at the petrol halt and this gap had grown by a further two minutes by the end. Third place was taken by the Audi 80GT of Peter Noad/Peter Cox, with the Volvo Amazon of Dave Hughes/Richard Dix in fourth. Pre-event favourites, Peter Valentine/Mick Valentine, had only been in third place at Petrol, but then missed to code boards in the second half and finished fifth. Of the 17 Historic starters all made it to the Finish.
TOP TEN RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Andy Baker | Lee Burgess | Peugeot 205 GTi | 6m 45s | |
2 | Tim Tordoff | Ian Frazer | Vauxhall Nova | 6m 54s | |
3 | Guy Robinson | Gary Evans | Vauxhall Nova | 7m 13s | |
4 | Bob Marshall | Roger Hafe | Vauxhall Corsa | 9m 52s | |
5 | Jamie Turner | Graham Raeburn | Rover Metro | 11m 23s | |
6 | Simon Randall | Paul Davenport | Ford Escort | 16m 10s | |
7 | Andy Stinchcombe | Malcolm Young | Ford Sierra | 19m 19s | |
8 | Nick Topliss | Mick Fern | Vauxhall Nova GTE | 19m 27s | |
9 | Owen Turner | Andrew Dadswell | Hillman Imp | 22m 41s | |
10 | David Williams | Richard Booth | Renault Clio | 22m 49s |
AB MOTORSPORT HISTORIC RALLY RESULTS
Pos | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalty | |
1 | Steve Perez | John Pickavance | Porsche 911S | 10m 24s | |
2 | Terry Pickering | Paul Robinson | Triumph TR3 | 12m 51s | |
3 | Peter Noard | Peter Cox | Audi 80 GT | 22m 27s | |
4 | Dave Hughes | Richard Dix | Volvo Amazon | 24m 19s | |
5 | Peter Valentine | Mick Valentine | Mini Cooper S | 25m 55s | |
6 | Tony Barron | Dominic Barron | Triumph TR4 | 34m 42s | |
7 | Brod Purdy | Ric hands | Hillman Imp | 42m 21s | |
8 | Pam Butterworth | Shon Gosling | Land Rover | 43m 54s | |
9 | Wes Massam | Bernard Northmore | Volvo PV544 | 45m 17s | |
10 | Chris Jenkins | Kevin Chaffey | Mini | 45m 53s | |
11 | Tony Brooks | Ian Young | Saab Sonett | 48m 55s | |
12 | Ken Watts | Simon Foster | Volvo Amazon | 2F 103m 57s | |
13 | Mike Kimmens | Steve Kimmens | MGB GT | 4F 99m 20s | |
14 | Graham Gilmore | Michael Watkins | MG 1100 | 5F 44m 07s | |
15 | Andy Nash | Malanie Kanarek | Sunbeam Tiger | 5F 63m 59s | |
16 | Damon Green | Tony Green | Volvo Amazon | 10F 114m 44s | |
17 | Maurice Williams | Malcolm Lamb | Austin A40 | 11F 93m 09s |