Tight at the top as the BCCC heads to Scotland

The Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship reaches its midpoint next weekend when round three takes place at Forrest Estate in South West Scotland.

Despite rolling his car at the last round at Bovington it is Justin Birchall who leads the championship after two events. Birchall has 154 points and he is 13 ahead of Ryan Cooke who finished second at Bovington in his Milner LRM-1.

There is a very tight battle for third place with seven crews separated by just 10 points. Andy Powell has used the new engine in his Simmbugghini to good effect to hold joint third place on 137 points with Richard Wynne-Williams. One point behind is Neil Davey, who survived a somersault in his Yamaha YXZ 1000R last time out.

Colin Gould is in sixth on 133 points after using his Clio V8 at round one and his Polaris at round two. Continued engine problems with the Clio mean that the Polaris will be in action at round three too. Mark Jacques lies in seventh on 132 in his Lofthouse Freelander with John Thorne two points behind him in his Yamada YXZ 1000R. Completing the current battle for third is Paul Harris in his Bristol Street Motors-supported GSR Maxilight.

Round two winner Martin Gould is presently in tenth place after retiring from the first round but he’ll be looking to move up the leaderboard in his Buxton 4x4 Rivet.

In the Trophy championship Phill Bayliss leads the way with two wins from two events. In between BCCC events Bayliss competed on the Welsh Hill Rally and managed to get a finish despite an off.

Ben Clay is in second place in the Trophy, 12 points behind Bayliss and Jon Damrel, in the Insanity Racing Tornado, is a further 17 points back in third.

After a second place at round one and a win at round two it is Pat Masters who leads the Freelander Challenge crews with 116 points. Brian Chase is in second on 104 with round one winner Graham White in third on 102.

Team Sheepie’s Louisa Felice is in fourth in her Mansfield 4x4-backed car while teammate Ian Linford is hoping for better luck after problems, including a fire at round two, have limited his points scoring opportunities so far.

In fifth in the Freelander Challenge his Michael Wilson in his Gibsons of Kendal-supported machine.

“We’ve had some work to do on the car after Bovington” said Wilson. “We had a very heavy landing on the first run of the event so we’ve had to re-jig the radiator cross member but we should be all ready for Scotland.”

The event takes place at Forrest Estate near St John’s Town of Dalry. Saturday’s action will start at 10am with day two starting at 9pm. Spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com/spectator.html. Photographs from the event will be on display at www.facebook.com/msabccc.

BCCC TV: 2016 Round 2 - Bovington North

BCCC TV: 2016 Round 2 - Bovington North

BCCCTV: 2016 Round 1 - Pikes Peak

Images from BCCC Bovington North

Please click here to see the images.

Gould wins on Rivet debut

Martin Gould took his Buxton 4x4 Rivet to a Britpart MSA BCCC win on his first event with the car after a tough battle with Justin Birchall and Ryan Cooke.

Birchall led early on but such was the level of competition that after four runs he was only one second in front with Cooke and Gould tied for second.

Run five saw Gould move into the lead for the first time, a position he would maintain to the end of the event as Birchall rolled his Lofthouse Freelander and dropped to sixth.

"The event has been a lot of fun," said Gould. "We had a great battle and it's a shame Justin rolled his car. The course was very hard on both car and driver, it was a real challenge so I'm delighted with the win."

With Birchall out of contention it was Cooke who took second I his Milner LRM-1.

"I'm chuffed with second, I'm very happy to get to the end of the event with no problems," commented Cooke. "The nerves were building up waiting for the last run of the day, especially as we got held on the start line due to an incident on the course, but we made it through. Hopefully we can put in another good performance at the next round."

Steve Smith moved up to third, with the new engine in his Clio performing well. Smith was tied on time with Richard Wynne-Williams in his Lofthouse Freelander.

Andy Powell took his Simmbugghini to fifth, a repeat of his round one result. After somersaulting his Yamaha on the first run of day one and clipping a concrete bollard on day two Neil Davey was fortunate to come away with seventh. In eighth was Alan Thomas who had Mike Moran in the passenger seat as Moran's own car was not ready for the event.

John Thorne was ninth in his Yamaha and Paul Harris rounded off the top ten. Harris was set for a great result but brake problems and a puncture on the final run dropped his GSR Maxilight down the leaderboard.

In the Trophy category Phill Bayliss took another win in his Land Rover 90 with Ben Clay in second and Jon Damrel in third. Both Steve Anning and Nick Pritchard retired on the second day.

Pat Masters won the Freelander Challenge ahead of Brian Chase and Alex Howard. Alastair Moore-Myers was fourth and Graham White survived a very heavy landing after a jump to take fifth.

BCCC Top 10:
1. Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:16:00
2. Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 01:17:48
3. Steve Smith/John Griffiths (JRG Clio V8) 01:23:48
4. Richard Wynne-Williams/Ian Jones (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:23:48
5. Andy Powell/Evalda Kazla (Simmbugghini) 01:25:27
6. Justin Birchall/Louise Birchall (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:28:11
7. Neil Davey/Tony Barley (Yamaha YXZ1000R) 01:28:37
8. Alan Thomas/Mike Moran (Warrior Indy) 01:28:53
9. John Thorne/ (Yamaha YXZ1000R) 01:31:19
10. Paul Harris/Karina James (GSR Maxilight) 01:34:30

BCCC crews set for Bovington battle

Crews in the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship will head to Bovington in Dorset next weekend for round two of the 2016 series.

Justin Birchall leads the title race after the first round at Pikes Peak. He has 86 points, 5 ahead of Ben Duckworth. Colin Gould is in third on 75 points. Mark Jacques is in fourth after debuting his Chevy-powered Lofthouse at round one with Andy Powell in fifth.

Bovington will see the UK debut of Martin Gould’s Buxton 4x4 Rivet. The car, which was very successful in the French Tout-Terrain championship, was scheduled to compete at round one but various issues with it meant that Gould had to use a Polaris instead.

“We are really looking forward to debuting the new car at Bovington,” said Gould. “I’m excited to be finally getting behind the wheel and mixing it up with the rest of the field. We’ve rectified the issues that prevented us from using the car at Pikes Peak so we’re hoping for a strong season and a push for the top spot.”

After crashing out at Pike Peak Richard Coleby has had his Polaris rebuilt ready for Bovington.

“Jac Mackinnon and the Agricar team have been hard at work,” said Coleby. “All four front arms, a drive shaft and both rear trailing arms were bent beyond repair. However, the chassis and cage held up incredibly well considering we rolled three times. The car is looking even better than before and we’re ready for round two.”

Joining the BCCC after a successful Clubman event at Pikes Peak is Jonny Koonja. He’ll be in his Simmbugghini as he continues his return to driving after several years co-driving.

2014/2015 BCCC champion Mike Moran sat out round one as his new Lofthouse car was not ready. The frame has now been finished so if all the parts can be bolted to it in time then the car could debut next weekend.

In the BCC Trophy Phill Bayliss has a 6 point lead over Ben Clay with Steve Anning in third, a further 4 points behind. Bayliss has fitted in competing in a club event in Lincolnshire between BCCC rounds.

In the Freelander Challenge Graham White leads the pack on 61 points with Pat Masters in second on 55 and Brian Chase in third on 49. After engine problems prevented him from starting round one current champion Ian Linford has fitted a new engine to his Freelander and should be appearing at Bovington. Ian Morson has now registered for the Challenge and he has put an entry in for round two.

At the time of writing four Clubman entries had been received. Jeremy Callow will be first away in his Polaris, followed by Steve Llewellyn in a Tornado 90. Rob Bool has entered his ex-Mike Moran AT 4x4 Challenger and Oisin Riley completes the Clubman entries in his TMC M3.

The event will be held at the Bovington army training venue and it will start at 10am on Saturday with day two starting at 9am. Unfortunately, as the site is on MoD land, there will be no access for spectators.

Pictures and news from the event will be available on www.facebook.com/msabccc.