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Bruce Robinson Memorial Rally 2003

Lincoln Motor Cycle & Car Club

15th/16th February 2003

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John Haden/Iain Tullie repeated their 2002 success by taking a second succesive victory on the Bruce Robinson Memorial Rally in their Subaru Impreza Estate. The pairing coming home five minutes ahead of their nearest rivals.

The road rally was organised by Lincoln Motor Cycle and Car Club and used a 140 mile route all within close proximity of the club’s base.

The opening sections were relatively easy affairs in the Saxilbury area to the North West of Lincoln, they were designed to get crews into shape for the meat of the action. This took place in the lanes towards Hornscastle, where petrol was taken. Crews then made their way back to Lincoln with sections that took in the infamous Biscathorpe double fords and tests over Binbrook and Wickenby airfields.

Route definition was straightforward but the entire event was plot and bash. All standard sections were timed to the minute but there were two regularity sections timed to the second, one in each half.

Haden/Tullie cleaned all the standard sections in the first half, dropping just 90 seconds on the regularity section; this gave them a lead of a minute and a half. A consistent run through the second half, combined with problems for their closest challengers, meant that by the Finish they had extended this lead to over five minutes.

Bob Marshall/Roger Hage took the runner up spot, they could have been in contention for victory but for a five minute wrong slot in the first half. They were only twenty seconds slower over the second half than the winners. Marshall/Hage were not alone in their wrong slot, they had been acompanied by two other fancied crews, Carl Hawkins/Steve Porter and Guy Robinson/Charlie Wheeldon.

Hawkins/Porter had started the rally badly when they had made contact with a bridge on the opening section, damaging the rear quarter of their Vauxhall Nova. They recovered from this, and their wrong slot, to look a certainty for second place at the Finish, however they didn’t make it as they broke a drive shaft on the final test over Wickenby Airport.

Robinson/Wheeldon caused a stir at the Start by turning up in a four wheel drive turbo charged Proton Persona. Questions were raised as there were doubts as to whether a Persona was ever available in this configuration. However Robinson had the relevant documentation to hand proving that the car, which is basically a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer Evo2, was sold as a Proton Wira.

It was a difficult debut for the car as they lost reverse gear early on in the proceedings. Despite this, Robinson/Wheeldon held fourth place at the halfway point and looked set for a third place finish when they fell foul of Wickenby as well. They overshot a junction and, with no reverse gear, they went to swing around, unfortunately they went off the road and became stuck. They eventually regained the tarmac but lost tweny-two minutes in the process. They were eventually classified in eighteenth place.

Malcolm Holdsworth/Richard Holdsworth made the long journey south in search of ANCC points and held second place at the halfway point. However a wrong slot in the second half cost them time and dropped them behind slower cars, resulting in them being held up at controls and losing further time. This relegated them to seventh at the Finish.

Gavin Smith/Simon Bentley had a good run, holding third place at Petrol they lost out on the runner up spot at the Finish as a short wrong slot was enough to allow Marshall/Hage through.

The top Semi-Expert crew were David Williams/Richard Booth who brought their Renault Clio into fourth place at the Finish. They were just over a minute ahead of the second in class Tim Rodgers/Rodger Cunningham in a similar car. Kevin Hutchinson/Mike Angove were the leading Novices who finished in seventeenth place overall on what was only their second ever rally.

The notorious Biscathorpe Fords caused the retirements of James Ashton/Christopher Brown (Vauxhall Corsa), Chris Faulkner/Chris Thorley (Ford Sierra) and Bernie Watkins/Adam Roper (Vauxhall Cavalier). The latter's engine being destroyed - "one piston at the top of the stroke, three at the bottom". Jamie Gratton-Smith/Richard Hage (Peugeot 205), Graham Nunn/Paul Nelson (Peugeot 205) and Peter Noad/Dave Kirkham (Audi 80GT) were all delayed but managed to continue to the Finish.

Sandie Taylor/Paul Taylor had a short rally as an altenator belt worked loose on their Peugeot 205, this allowed the fan belt to cut an oil pipe and they were out before ten miles had been covered. Others on the retirement list were Stew Dale/Jez Harris, who withdrew at Petrol with the navigator unwell and David Howell/Stephen Taylor, whose Manta had run out of brakes by the halfway halt.

Simon Tate/Richard Wilson (Opel Manta) and Peter Reeson/Nathan Marriott (Peugeot 205) were both sidelined after a collision between the two when the Manta crew had stopped to collect a code board.

Of the forty-seven starters, twenty-eight made it back to the finish at Lincoln.

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OVERALL RESULTS

	Pos	Driver	Navigator	Car	Penalty
	1	John Haden	Iain Tullie	Subaru Impreza	9m 36s
	2	Bob Marshall	Roger Hage	Vauxhall Corsa	14m 52s
	3	Gavin Smith	Simon Bentley	Peugeot 205 GTi	16m 05s
	4	David Williams	Richard Booth	Renault Clio	16m 38s
	5	Owen Turner	Graham Raeburn	Hillman Imp	16m 48s
	6	Tim Rodgers	Roger Cunningham	Peugeot 205 GTi	18m 12s
	7	Malcolm Holdsworth	Richard Holdsworth	Toyota Corolla	19m 22s
	8	Martin Betts	Mick Fern	Ford Escort	21m 11s
	9	Dan Robinson	Ian Gibbins	Peugeot 205 GTi	23m 13s
	10	Mark Slatcher	Justin Chapman	Vauxhall Astra GTE	24m 19s
	11	Dave Chapman	David Taylor	Peugeot 205 GTi	25m 08s
	12	Mark Turner	Lee Burgess	Subaru Impreza	25m 49s
	13	Russ Jones	David Wilson	Mini	29m 14s
	14	Andy Beaumont	Mike Petch	Proton Satria	29m 54s
	15	Graham Nunn	Paul Nelson	Peugeot 205 GTi	30m 10s
	16	Jamie Gratton-Smith	Richard Hage	Peugeot 205 GTi	33m 27s
	17	Kevin Hutchinson	Mike Angove	Vauxhall Astra	34m 22s
	18	Guy Robinson	Charlie Wheeldon	Proton Persona	34m 55s
	19	Nichola Hillier	Dave Broadley	Rover Metro	37m 30s
	20	Peter Noad	David Kirkham	Audi 80 GT	45m 00s
	21	Jason Cutter	George Cowling	Peugeot 309 GTi	48m 19s
	22	Abe Shenker	Steve Brown	Peugeot 205 GTi	52m 17s
	23	James Carter	Jonathan Stockdale	Ford Escort	52m 26s
	24	Bill Chadwick	Alan Edwards	Toyota Celica	57m 15s
	25	Simon Taylor	Ian Faulkner	Peugeot 205 GTi	58m 15s
	26	Bob Wisneiwski	Paul Lettington	Vauxhall Nova	1h 00m 29s
	27	Joe Woodward	Chris Wallet	Peugeot 309 GTi	1h 11m 51s
	28	Paul Davies	Mark Wagstaff	Peugeot 309 GTi	1h 30m 25s
	29	Adrian Green	Paul Hudson	Ford Fiesta	1F 39m 38s
	30	Adrian Ancliffe	John Chadwick	Ford Escort	1F 39m 50s
	31	Keith Astley	Sue Bartley	Vauxhall Astra	1F 54m 05s
	32	John Stephens	Paul Stephens	Citroen Visa	1F 56m 39s
	33	John Ross	Oliver Ross	Subaru Impreza	2F 35m 59s
	34	Nigel Dinsdale	Brian Marquis	Ford Lotus Cortina	2F 1h 25m 09s
	35	Michael Watkins	Graham Cherry	MG Maestro	5F 1h 38m 57s
	36	Chris Rider	James Godley	Citroen Saxo	13F 2h 40m 24s

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