The story of Isuzu UK's first BCCC event

Isuzu UK have released a video documenting their first BCCC event:

Regs out for round 2

The regulations for round 2 of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship are now available.

The event, on May 10th and 11th, will be held at Hafod-Y-Dafal which is near Ebbw Vale in South Wales.

Clubman entries for the full weekend or either day are welcome.

Please click here to download the regulations.

Photographs from BCCC 2014 round 1



Please click here to see the images.

Cox takes first BCCC win at Pikes Peak

An eventful opening round of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship was won by Martin Cox in his GSR 206 Evo 9 after two tough days of competition in Myherin forest.

Cox got his event off to a flying start, setting the fastest time by 9 seconds on the opening run of the course. Andrew West, making his full championship debut after two Clubman wins last year, was  second in his Milner R5 with Martin Gould’s Audi-powered Clio in third.

Cox continued to hold his lead throughout the seven runs of day one although two fastest times by West meant the advantage was down to 26 seconds going into the second day.

With Gould’s event ending with differential problems early on it was Mike Moran who ended the day in third, setting one fastest time on the way.

Cox kept out of trouble on day two, while still setting a good pace, to end up with a winning margin of over six minutes. West dropped to third after alternator problems and a blown header tank resulted in a maximum time with Paul Myers finishing in second in his Land Rover Tornado despite rolling his car over the flying finish at the start of the day.

Cox commented: “I’m very happy with the result, I’ve been waiting 12 years for today! We had a great battle on day one and then it was a case of maintaining reliability and staying on the road while other drivers were having problems. The course was brilliant, it’s the best in the country in my opinion. Thank you to all of the marshals and organisers for a great event.”

Moran finished fourth after being forced to stop with a broken propshaft on his AT 4x4 Indy Challenger. Richard Green took his new Tomcat to fifth ahead of Mark Jacques, who was giving a BCCC debut to his 3M Challenger.

Steve Smith had an eventful weekend in his JRG Clio V8, which appeared with missing wings on more than one occasion, but he overcame the problems to finish 7^th. Despite setting some quick times Paul Garner finished 8^th after breaking a shaft near the end of the event.

Ryan Cooke was 9^th in his Milner LRM-1, a fastest run time on day one offset by an off on the final run. Former BRC driver Jason Sharpe gave the Isuzu UK-supported D-Max pick up its debut and claimed 10^th place.

Alan Thomas won the Trophy class in his Warrior Gemini while Ben Gott took the Race2Recovery Freelander to victory in the Freelander Challenge category ahead of Ian Linford who finished second on his first event.  

BCCC Results

1.            Martin Cox/Paul Carson (GSR 206 Evo 9) 2:12:12
2.            Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 2:18:59
3.            Andrew West/Peter Widdop (Milner R5) 2:27:53
4.            Mike Moran/Tony Coid (AT 4x4 Indy Challenger) 2:28:29
5.            Richard Green/Richard Griffiths (Tomcat 100) 2:33:01
6.            Mark Jacques/Simon Last (3M Challenger) 2:33:40
7.            Steve Smith/John Griffiths (JRG Indy Clio V8) 2:42:08
8.            Paul Garner/Giles Tinkler (GSR V10) 2:54:08
9.            Ryan Cooke/Lee Channing (Milner LRM-1) 2:54:48
10.          Jason Sharpe/Russell Sharpe (Isuzu D-Max) 2:59:25

BCC Trophy winner: Alan Thomas (Warrior Gemini) 2:35:40
Freelander Challenge winner: Ben Gott (Freelander) 2:55:50

BCCC crews ready to start 2014 title battle

The 2014 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship will start next weekend with the opening round being held at the popular Pikes Peak venue in mid-Wales.

With 2013 champion Dan Lofthouse having sold his car it will be Paul Myers who leads the field away at car 1 in his Land Rover Tornado ahead of Warrington duo Mike Moran and Tony Coid in their AT Indy Challenger.

Andy Powell starts at car 3 with Phil Ibbotson in the passenger seat of the Simmbugghini. Ibbotson usually drives a 6R4 in the championship but he decided to take a break from driving this year. At car 4 is Ian Bartlett who will be starting the season in a Tomcat as his usual Bartletts 3M 206 is still being rebuilt. Rounding off the top 5 starters is Steve Smith in his V8-engined JRG Clio.

Moving up to the main championship this year after two Trophy championship victories is Paul Harris in his Bristol Street Motors-supported GSR Maxilight. Joining Harris in moving up is Mark Jacques and Simon Last who will be doing their first BCCC event in their new 3M Challenger after giving the car a successful debut in a club event in March.

Paul Garner will contest his second full BCCC season in his GSR V10 after showing great some strong performances last year. Also in a GSR, a 206 Evo 9, is Martin Cox who will be looking for a better year and mixed fortunes in 2013. Another driver who had a mixed 2013 was Ryan Cooke and he'll again be competing in his Milner LRM-1.

Contesting the championship for the first time will be Andrew West and Peter Widdop in their Discovery Centre Milner R5. West and Widdop won two Clubman rounds last year so they’ll be aiming for a good championship result.

Richard Green will make a full return to the championship this year after missing most of the 2013 events while his new Jaguar-powered was being prepared.

The Isuzu UK D-Max of ex-British Rally Championship driver Jason Sharpe will be making its championship debut at Pikes Peak after being unveiled at the Autosport show in January.

In the BCC Trophy championship Alan Thomas will be first off the start line in his Warrior Gemini. He’ll be joined by Steve Anning, Nick Pritchard and Steve Holder.

The Freelander Challenge has had six registrations. 2012 champion Nick Lines heads the entries with the Dynamic Metals-backed Race2Recovery team and championship newcomer Ian Linford joining the Challenge battle for 2014 along with 2013 crews Paul Cumpstone, Ian Letman and Alistair Moore-Myers.

The event starts at 10am on Saturday 12^th April and there will be a full day of competition. Day two starts at 9am with the event finishing early on Sunday afternoon. Spectators can access the course via the Myherin Arch, a map showing the route in is available to download from www.marches4x4.com.