Provisional Dates for 2018

Here's the list of provisional dates and venues to date for the 2018 Britpart MSA BCCC and Freelander Challenge:

R1 - 7/8 April - Tbc

R2 - 12/13 May - Fron
R3 - 2/3 June - Forrest Estate

R4 - 21/22 July - Ceri

R5 - 8/9 September - Radnor

R6 - 27/28 October - Walters

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Walters 2017

Please click here to see the images.

Birchall wins at Walters as Gould retains title

Justin Birchall won his second Britpart MSA BCCC event of the season as Martin Gould finished third to retain the championship title. 

With the crews facing horrendous weather conditions it was Birchall who was quickest on the first run, completing the course 18 seconds ahead of Andy Degiulio with Mike Moran in third. Drivers not fairing so well included Ben Duckworth and Richard Coleby who both retired after stopping on the first run

Birchall continued to build a lead throughout the six runs of day one despite having to change the gearbox on his Lofthouse Freelander. Degiulio maintained his second place and Gould, who needed to finish in the top nine to guarantee the title, was in third. 

Conditions improved for day two and the crews faced another five runs of the course. The top three held their positions to the end although the day was not without drama for Birchall, his car snapping a propshaft a mile into one run which meant he had to complete the course in front wheel drive.

"We've had a tough year but it's great to end with a win," said Birchall. "We had a gearbox issue on day one and fortunately we had a spare so the team were able to change it. We lost some time on day two with the snapped prop but we had enough time in hand to hold on to the win. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, I love the tracks at Walters,"

After he was denied a potential win at the last round Degiulio was happy with second place, his best result of the season: "It was nice to get to the finish, especially after our Bovington retirement. It was a good course and the car went very well. The organisers deserve a medal for keeping the event going in the awful conditions on Saturday."

Gould rounded off the top three to give him the championship win: "We had a lot of work to do on the car after Bovington and, as usual for us, it was very last minute to get the car ready for Walters. The course was quite different to last year, it was a proper offroad course. We pushed enough to maintain concentration but, with the championship at stake, we reigned in our pace a bit to make sure we finished. I'm delighted to retain the BCCC title."

In the BCC Trophy Paul Rowlands took another win in his Can Am DS to win the Trophy championship. Jon Damrel, whose Insanity Racing team had to fit a new engine to the Tornado after Bovington, finished in second.

Michael Wilson won the Freelander Challenge event ahead of Graham White and Ian Morson. 2017 Freelander Challenge champion Pat Masters rolled his car early on day one.

In the Clubman class Jason Rowlands took his Yamaha to victory with Phill Bayliss in second in his Land Rover 90.

1 Justin Birchall/Jonny Koonja (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:44:02
2 Andy Degiulio/Paul Jones (Milner R5) 01:46:32
3 Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:47:36
4 Richard Wynne-Williams/Matt Lowe (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:51:36
5 Mark Jacques/Adam Nicholson (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:52:53
6 Rob Bool/Aaron Burch (AT Challenger) 01:56:07
7 Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 01:58:13
8 Steve Smith/John Griffith (JRG Clio V8) 02:27:13
9 Ian Bartlett/Gary Bartlett (3M Challenger) 02:30:00

BCCC title down to the wire at Walters

The 2017 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship title will be decided next weekend at this season’s final round at Walters Arena and several drivers are still in with a chance of claiming the crown.

With four wins to his name this year 2016 champion Martin Gould is in a good position to retain the title but, with only one dropped score allowed and a retirement at round three, any major problems for Gould could see the title go elsewhere. Gould currently heads the leaderboard on 345 points.

“The last round at Bovington was very tough on our car and we’ve had a lot of repairs and maintenance to do,” said Gould. “We discovered that we had cracked brake discs so we were lucky to win really, one more run and we could’ve been out of the event. We need to finish inside the top nine at Walters to guarantee the title.”

Justin Birchall is in fifth place on the leaderboard with 324 points but, having already had a retirement, he can count all the points he scores at Walters which puts him in the best position to profit should Gould retire. Birchall's car is back to full health after problems at Bovington, with a broken earth wire to the injectors now fixed.

Ryan Cooke is in second place at the moment, just four points behind Gould. Cooke has finished all the events so far so will have to drop his lowest score after Walters. Steve Smith and Richard Coleby, who are in third and fourth place respectively, are in the same position. 

In the BCC Trophy Paul Rowlands leads the way on 333 points ahead of Jon Damrel on 307. Damrel was forced out of the last round after the engine on his Tornado drank some of the course. His Insanity Racing team were flat out fitting a new engine at the time of writing but they are hoping to be at Walters. 

With a win at Bovington Pat Masters took a 66 point lead in the Freelander Challenge which meant that he retained the title he won last year. The battle for second place is close, Ian Morson is currently second with 216 points, just three ahead of Graham White. Mike Smith is fourth with 196 and Michael Wilson is fifth on 195 in his Gibsons of Kendal-supported car. 

In the Clubman class 2016 Trophy champion Phill Bayliss will do his second BCCC event of the season and Paul Harris will return in his GSR Maxilight. Other Clubman entries include Steve Hallett in a 3M Challenger and Roger Thomas in a Peugeot 206.

The event takes place at Walters Arena near Glyn Neath in South Wales. Spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com/spectator.html. The action starts at 10am on Saturday with racing continuing until around 4pm. Day two starts at 9am. Pictures from the event will be available on www.facebook.com/msabccc on Sunday night.

"Static cam" action from Bovington

Gould battles to Bovington BCCC win

Martin Gould overcame several problems with his Buxton 4x4 Rivet to take his fourth Britpart MSA BCCC win of the season.

The event was held at the Bovington MoD tank training facility and, as usual, a very challenging course awaited the crews.

Gould was quickest on the opening run but he faced tough competition with Ben Duckworth, Justin Birchall and Andy Degiulio all challenging for the top spot. Degiulio's victory hopes were ended with broken front diff on his Milner R5 but the battle between Gould, Duckworth and Birchall continued with just 29 seconds separating the top three positions after day one's eight runs.

The course and the conditions proved to be very difficult and the attrition rate was high. Amongst those not making it to day two were Adrian Marfell who had gearbox problems on his Fouquet and Mike Moran who had a power steering pump failure on his Lofthouse Evo.

Birchall was fastest on the first run of day two to move into second place but he was then forced into retirement after a sensor broke and a replacement couldn't be sourced. With Duckworth having fuel pressure problem on his Milner LRM-1 Gould was able to extend his lead to over three minutes at the conclusion of the event.

"It was a very difficult event and we had our fair share of problems including oil issues and a broken gearstick linkage," said Gould. "I really wanted to win this one so we threw everything at it. I'm very happy with the result, lots of crews didn't finish and the venue is extremely tough on the cars so getting to the end is a big achievement."

Duckworth's second was his best BCCC result of the season: "I'm happy with that, we tried really hard and it was good to be challenging for the win. We had fuel pressure and charging issues which held us back a bit but we overcame those. I really enjoyed the event, it was a brilliant course - our car went well in all the rough sections. Thank you to all the organisers."

Mark Jacques was another driver getting his best result of the season, taking his Lofthouse Freelander to third. Rob Bool was fourth and Britpart's Paul Myers overcame a broken track rod end to finish fifth. Steve Smith was sixth and Ryan Cooke was seventh after a tough event which included a maximum after losing a wheel in the "Alpine" section of the course. Rounding off the BCCC finishers was Richard Coleby who battled suspension problems on his Polaris RZR.

In the BCC Trophy it was Paul Rowlands who took the win in his Can Am DS as his main rivals both retired, Jon Damrel's Tornado stopped at the end of the opening run with a waterlogged Tornado and Joe Quirk was forced out with a broken engine in his Yamaha.

The Freelander Challenge saw Pat Masters and Mike Wilson finish on exactly the same time after 14 runs of the course. Graham White finished in third place.

Jason Rowlands won the Clubman category in his Yamaha YXZ SS with a time that would've placed him third overall had he been doing the BCCC.

BCCC Results:
1 Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:55:14
2 Ben Duckworth/Matt Cook (Milner LRM-1) 01:58:18
3 Mark Jacques/Adam Nicholson (Lofthouse Freelander) 02:03:39
4 Rob Bool/Aaron Burch (AT Challenger) 02:12:16
5 Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 02:26:04
6 Steve Smith/John Griffith (JRG Clio V8) 02:26:47
7 Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 02:36:13
8 Richard Coleby (Polaris RZR XP Turbo) 02:40:47

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Bovington 2017

Please click here to see the images.

BCCC title contenders set for penultimate round

The penultimate round of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship takes place in Dorset next weekend and the title race is still wide open.

Justin Birchall heads the championship leaderboard on 323 points after a win, two second place finishes and a third so far this year. Adrian Marfell, contesting his first BCCC season, is in second with 305 points ahead of Ryan Cooke on 277.

The next four crews are separated by just 10 points with Steve Smith on 265, Richard Coleby on 262, Martin Gould on 259 and Mike Moran on 255.

In the National B BCC Trophy championship a second place finish last time out in Ceri saw Jon Damrel take the lead in the title battle with 306 points. Joe Quirk is in second on 257 following his round four win and Paul Rowlands is in third with 247 points.

2016 Freelander Challenge champion Pat Masters continues to head the leaderboard as he attempts to defend his title. Masters has 221 points with Ian Morson in second on 176 and Graham White in third on 171.

At the time of writing there are three crews scheduled to start the Clubman class, Steve Llewellyn in his Tornado, Paul Harris in his GSR Maxilight and Jason Rowlands in his Yamaha YXZ SS.

The event will be held at the Bovington MoD tank training facility with the action starting at 10am on Saturday. Day two will start at 9am with the action expected to finish at around 3pm. Unfortunately spectators are not permitted at the venue.

Please visit www.facebook.com/msabccc for post-event photographs.

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Ceri 2017

Please click here to see the images.

Gould returns to winning ways in Ceri

Martin Gould returned to winning ways at round 4 of the BCCC despite only finishing repairing his car the day before the event.

Gould’s Buxton 4x4 Rivet suffered major engine damage at the last round, he got the car back on Thursday but then had several jobs to do on it as well as running the engine in. Fastest time on the opening run proved that the car was in good health. 

Gould continued to head the leaderboard throughout the opening day's five runs. building up a lead of 47 seconds over Adrian Marfell in his Fouquet-Nissan. 

Six further runs took place on day two and Gould extended his lead, finishing 1m 12s ahead of Marfell.

“We couldn’t have made a better start,” said Gould. “After the first run it was a case of keeping the momentum up and building a lead. The course was great, the best in the championship I think. We were fortunate to be able to race the Rivet, the timescale for building the engine was very challenging but it was achieved. I'm very pleased with the result, it means our championship is right back on track after the disappointment at round three."

Marfell took second place, equalling his best ever BCCC result: "We're starting to gel with the car now and I'm getting used to the tyres. I'm happy with second, we had a nice battle with Justin and our fastest time of the event was only one second off Martin's so that's pretty good."

Justin Birchall completed the top three in his Lofthouse Freelander ahead of Ben Duckworth and Andy Degiulio.

In the BCC Trophy it was Joe Quirk who took the win in his Yamaha YXZ1000R ahead of Jon Damrel's Land Rover Tornado. Ashley Jones' event ended on run one after a collision with a log whilst round three winner Paul Rowlands put his Can AM DS off the road and was fortunate not to roll down the hillside.

Graham White won the Freelander Challenge for the second time this season, 2016 champion Pat Masters was second and Michael Smith was third.

The Clubman category was won by Phil Ibbotson in his Metro 6R4 Evo ahead of Toby Jefferson and Greg Clement.

BCCC Top Ten:

1 Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:11:13
2 Adrian Marfell/Paul Bartleman (Fouquet Nissan) 01:12:25
3 Justin Birchall/Jonny Koonja (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:13:20
4 Ben Duckworth/Matt Cook (Milner LRM-1) 01:14:25
5 Andy Degiulio/Paul Jones (Milner R5) 01:16:29
6 Steve Smith/John Griffith (JRG Clio V8) 01:18:56
7 Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 01:19:42
8 Mark Jacques/Adam Nicholson (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:20:18
9 Richard Coleby (Polaris RZR XP Turbo) 01:21:36
10 Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 01:23:45

BCCC crews countdown to Ceri

After a seven week break the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship will resume next weekend when round four takes place in Ceri forest near Newtown in Wales.

Justin Birchall goes into the event leading the title race on 248 points after a win at the previous round in Scotland. Along with several other BCCC drivers, Birchall used the mid-season break to demonstrate his car to the thousands of people who attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In second place, 24 points behind Birchall on 224 points is Adrian Marfell. It is Marfell's first season in the BCCC but he has scored good points on all three rounds so far in his Fouquet-Nissan.

Third place is held by Ryan Cooke who has had a consistent season, taking his Milner LRM-1 to fourth place on each of the three rounds.

Competing in the BCCC for the first time in several years is Lee Mansfield in his Xylo Racing Milner R5 and he lies in fourth place. The last round took its toll on the car though and he faces a race against time to be ready for Ceri.

"We've replaced three suspension arms and the rest have been rebushed," said Mansfield. "One of the dampers was damaged and is being rebuilt and we've also had the gearbox out, rebuilt the steering rack, fitted new steering arms and new front brake discs. After our brush with the scenery we've had to repair the bonnet, door, cab and windscreen too. We still have a lot to sort so there will be a few late nights. We're booked in to Staffordshire Signs for new graphics on Thursday so that's our deadline!"

Another driver who has been busy with his car is Martin Gould. The 2016 champion retired from the last round with engine problems on his Buxton 4x4 Rivet and delays getting parts have meant that it's not certain what car he'll be in at Ceri.

"It's touch and go whether the Rivet will be ready," commented Gould. We had issues getting race engine parts at short notice, the rebuild is on the go but if it's not complete will bring our Mattserati. This won't be ideal as it's not as quick as the Rivet. Hopefully we can join the party again and get back to winning ways."

In the National B BCC Trophy championship  Paul Rowlands won at Forrest Estate to make it three different winners in the first three rounds. Rowlands heads the leaderboard on 246 points and, after scoring good points on all three event, Jon Damrel is in second on 225.

Freelander Challenge champion Pat Masters has made a good start this season with two wins in the three events. Masters has 166 points, 33 ahead of second placed Ian Morson. Graham White, who has one victory this season, is in third on 110.

The Clubman category has attracted a strong entry including Rick Mann, Toby Jefferson, Greg Clement, Paul Harris and Phil Ibbotson.

The event starts at 10am on Saturday with action continuing until around 5pm. Sunday’s runs will commence at 9am and the event is expected to finish around 3pm. Spectator information is available on www.marches4x4.com. Pictures from the event will be online at facebook.com/msabccc on Sunday evening.

Forrest Estate "static cam"

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Forrest Estate

Please click here to see the images.

Birchall battles to BCCC win at Forrest Estate

Justin Birchall won his first BCCC event of the season after a very challenging event at Forrest Estate in South West Scotland.

Martin Gould, winner of the opening two rounds, led early on but his Buxton 4x4 Rivet succumbed to engine problems on the fourth run which handed the lead to Birchall. Despite a blown diff and some punctures Birchall built a lead of 1m 31s over the eight runs of day one with Adrian Marfell in second in his Fouquet Nissan.

There were a further seven runs on day two and Birchall continued to head the leaderboard, his winning margin ending at 1m 40s. Marfell claimed his best BCCC result to date with second.

“I’m very pleased with the result, it was a really tough weekend which was hard on the cars and crews,” said Birchall. “After the diff blew we tried a new competition version but that was pulling the car to the side so we ended up using a standard one which wasn’t ideal but we did enough to clinch the win.”

Lee Mansfield and Ryan Cooke had an event-long battle in their respective Milners with Mansfield eventually taking third and Cooke fourth. Both crews had their share of issues over the weekend with Mansfield surviving a high-speed brush with the scenery and Cooke suffering major clutch problems.

Another pair of drivers enjoying a close fight were Rob Bool and Mark Jacques, Bool bringing his ex-championship winning car home in fifth ahead of Jacques in sixth. Britpart's Paul Myers was seventh, just 20 seconds ahead of the JRG Clio V8 of Steve Smith.

Mike Moran set some quick times in his Lofthouse Evo but problems with the car on day one resulted a maximum which dropped him down the leaderboard. Richard Coleby completed the top ten in his Polaris.

In the BCC Trophy Paul Rowlands took his Can-Am DS to victory ahead of the Insanity Racing Tornado of Jon Damrel. 

Pat Masters repeated his round one win in the Freelander Challenge ahead of Team Sheepie's Ian Linford. Ian Morson was third.

2016 BCC Trophy champion Phill Bayliss returned to the BCCC in style with a win in the Clubman category.

BCCC Top 10
1. Justin Birchall/Jonny Koonja (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:49:45
2. Adrian Marfell/Paul Bartleman (Fouquet Nissan) 01:51:25
3. Lee Mansfield/David Roberts (Milner R5) 01:54:28
4. Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 01:55:10
5. Rob Bool/Aaron Burch (AT Indy Challenger) 01:58:59
6. Mark Jacques/Adam Nicholson (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:59:29
7. Paul Myers/Martin Myers (Land Rover Tornado) 02:00:30
8. Steve Smith/John Griffith (JRG Clio V8) 02:00:50
9. Mike Moran/Tony Coid (Lofthouse Evo) 02:05:54
10. Richard Coleby (Polaris RZR XP Turbo) 02:09:50

Ten points in it as BCCC title fight heads to Scotland

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

After winning the first two rounds Martin Gould leads the title race on 172 points and, having won at Forrest Estate last year, he'll be hoping for another victory as he continues his 2016 championship defence. Justin Birchall is 10 points behind, overcoming problems on both of the first two events to take two second place finishes. In third place is Adrian Marfell in his Fouquet-Nissan who has 144 points, just ahead of Ryan Cooke on 141. 

Behind Cooke there are five crews separated by just two points, with Richard Coleby, Lee Mansfield and Ben Duckworth on 131 and Mike Moran and Steve Smith on 129.

In addition to his Polaris RZR race car Coleby will be bring a Polaris General Deluxe to the event.

"Clerk of the Course Robbo asked if we could supply a vehicle for getting around the site," said Coleby. "We've got him a nice General Deluxe which has the RZR chassis, Fox suspension, 100bhp and a Bluetooth sound bar so it should keep him entertained for the weekend!"

In the BCC Trophy both Paul Rowlands and Joe Quirk have 160 points, Quirk having won the previous round in Radnor forest. Jon Damrel is in third despite rolling his Tornado at round two while round one winner Simon Adams, who missed round two, is in fourth.

Graham White currently leads the Freelander Challenger but he'll be missing Forrest Estate. Instead, his car will be raced by his usual navigator Martin Cooper. Pat Masters is five points behind White and his Freelander has been fully repaired  after clutch problems at Radnor. Michael Wilson will have Ian Letman back in the navigator's seat after he missed the previous round.

At the time of writing there are two Clubman entries, with Steve Carroll bringing the Freelander he also used at Pikes Peak and Jason Rowlands returning in his Yamaha YXZ SS after competing in his first BCCC event at Radnor.

The event will be held at Forrest Estate which is near St. John's Town of Dalry. It will start at 10am Saturday which action until around 4.30pm. Day two will start at 9am with the event finishing at approximately 3pm. Spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com/spectator.html. 

"Static cam" video from Radnor 2017

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Radnor 2017

Please click here to see the images.

Gould races to Radnor win

Martin Gould took his second Britpart MSA BCCC victory of the season after a very tough event in Radnor forest with Justin Birchall in second and Ben Duckworth in third.

Birchall was fastest early on in his Lofthouse Freelander, with two quickest times in the first three runs. Gould was not far behind though and on run four he was 10 seconds quicker than Birchall to move into the lead in his Buxton 4x4 Rivet-BMW. At the end of the eight runs of day one Gould held a lead of 38 second over Birchall with Ryan Cooke in third in his Milner LRM-1.

Gould and Birchall were pretty closely matched on day two, with Gould's lead maintained at around 40 seconds until the final two runs. Birchall was quickest on last two to bring the winning margin down to 16 seconds.

“It was an extremely hard event,” said Gould. “The course was very rough in places and it was a real test of the cars and crews. We got our lead up to around 40 seconds with two runs to go and then we backed off a little to save the car. It’s been another good battle with Justin.”

Birchall fought back to finish just 16 seconds behind Gould to repeat the second place he achieved at round one.

“We didn’t quite have the pace to keep up with Martin, I think the extra weight of our car counted against us on the many extremely undulating sections of the course. I’m happy with second, in keeps the pressure on in the championship fight.”

After issues with his car cutting out on the first day Ben Duckworth battled back to take third in his Milner LRM-1.

"I'm really chuffed with the result after our problems at round one and during the first day here," commented Duckworth. "The course was pretty harsh with plenty of real offroad stuff but that's what it's all about. I'm really looking forward to the next round in Scotland now."

Cooke had some problems in day two and dropped to fourth with Adrian Marfell rounding off the top five in his Fouquet Nissan.

In the BCC Trophy Joe Quirk held on for the win in his Yamaha despite steering rack issues in the latter part of day two. Round one winner Paul Rowlands took his Can-Am DS to second despite a couple of maximums after engine damage. Jon Damrel overcome a run one roll to finish third of the Trophy crews in his Land Rover Tornado.

Pat Masters led the Freelander Challenge after day one but a suspected collapsed clutch release bearing caused him to take a maximum when his car stopped on the course. He then did two runs with no clutch and was rewarded with fourth place and third in the FLA class. It was Graham White who came through to take the win ahead of Michael Wilson. Alex Howard was third in his turbocharged car, winning the FLB class in the process.

Toby Jefferson won the Clubman category in his GSR 206 ahead of the Yamaha of Jason Rowlands. Sian Rogers completed the top three in her Mitsubishi Pinin.

BCCC Top 10:

1. Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:33:55

2. Justin Birchall/Jonny Koonja (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:34:11

3. Ben Duckworth/Matt Cook (Milner LRM-1) 01:37:56

4. Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 01:39:40

5. Adrian Marfell/Paul Bartleman (Fouquet Nissan) 01:41:10

6. Lee Mansfield/David Roberts (Milner R5) 01:42:41

7. Mike Moran/Tony Coid (Lofthouse Evo) 01:43:06

8. Andy Degiulio/Paul Jones (Milner R5) 01:43:13

9. Steve Smith/John Griffiths (JRG Clio V8) 01:47:11

10. Rob Bool/Aaron Burch (AT Challenger) 01:51:03 

BCCC ready for Radnor rendez-vous

After an action-packed opening round, crews in the 2017 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship will head to Radnor forest in Wales next weekend for the second round of the season.

2016 champion Martin Gould heads the leaderboard on 86 points following his Pikes Peak win. Gould has been busy working on his Buxton 4x4 Rivet-BMW to get it ready for Radnor.

“With one week to go the car is in a thousand pieces,” said Gould. “We’ve fully rebuilt the gearbox after an issue at round one caused damage to the main shaft – very expensive!”

“We’re hoping to get it all put back together by Sunday night. I’m looking forward to Radnor, it’s been a few years since I raced there so roll on next weekend.”

In second place, with 81 points, is Justin Birchall who overcame electrical problems on his Lofthouse Freelander last time out. Adrian Marfell is in third on 75 points after a successful first BCCC event in his Fouquet-Nissan, a car which, like Gould’s Rivet, has won the French offroad championship.

Andy Degiulio is hoping for a better event after fuel issues with his Milner R5 at Pikes Peak.

“The fuel was getting too hot and losing pressure,” said Degiulio. “We lost a lot of time as we had to keeping slowing and stopping to let it cool. We’ve fitted a bulkhead and heat shield around the fuel tank, the fuel system has been re-piped and we’ve also fitted blower fans and a shroud. I’ve tested the car on the road and it seemed ok but we’ll have to wait until run one at Radnor to see if the problems are fully fixed.”

Yamaha YXZ1000R driver Darren Johnson finished 8th in round one and he’s had new suspension fitted to his car ahead of round two.

Simon Adams leads the way in the National B BCC Trophy championship after an opening round win. The Can-Am Maverick driver has 86 points, 6 ahead of Paul Rowlands who survived a roll to finish second in his Yamaha YXZ1000R. Fellow Yamaha driver Joe Quirk is in third on 74 points. After missing round one Steve Anning is planning to be out in his Peugeot M3.



Pat Masters made a successful start to the defence of his Freelander Challenge title, his round one victory giving him 61 points. Mike Smith is in second with 55 points and Graham White is third with 49. After missing the opening round 2014/2015 champion Ian Linford will return in his Team Sheepie car which will feature a number of modifications from last season. Michael Wilson will also be back for round two and he’s focusing on having a fun event rather than worrying about the championship.

In the Clubman class Justin Brooks will be looking to repeat his success at round one in his Yamaha. Toby Jefferson will be out again in his GSR 206 after finishing third at Pikes Peak. Jefferson has fitted new tyres, a new wheel bearing and new brake calipers ahead of the event. Sian Rogers has entered in her Mitsubishi Pinin while Jason Rowlands, son of BCC Trophy driver Paul, will compete in a Yamaha. Returning for the first time since Ceri last season is Phil Ibbotson who'll be in his Metro 6R4 Evo. Former BCCC driver Karl Gudgeon will be navigating for him.

Unfortunately spectators are not permitted at the venue, access points will be manned to enforce this. 

Please “like” facebook.com/msabccc to keep up to date with the latest BCCC news and pictures.

BCCC TV Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak news round-up

Andy Degiulio's BCCC season got off to a difficult start as he had fuel vaporisation issues all weekend but he battled on to finish 14th. "I kept losing fuel pressure when the car was driven hard," said Degiulio. "I had to stop numerous times on the course to let the fuel cool down so I could get back to service. I decided to carry on to get a finish and drove round at low RPM to get the laps in. I need to redesign the fuel delivery system before the next round. I still enjoyed the weekend and all the other BCCC crews made myself and my wife Paula feel very welcome."

Ben Duckworth set some very quick times early on be he was hampered by various electrical gremlins on his Milner LRM-1 and eventually retired.

After an extensive rebuild of his Bartletts 3M 206 Ian Bartlett made his BCCC return at Pikes Peak but was sadly forced out of the event on day one with a broken gearbox.

Richard Coleby finished 7th and 2nd in class in his Polaris RZR XP Turbo despite putting the car on its side on his penultimate run. Coleby commented: "It's massively encouraging to run the car as hard as it would go, set some great lap times ahead of some really fast cars and challenge for the class lead."

Lee Mansfield made his BCCC return after ten years away and finished 9th in his Xylo Racing Milner R5. "The car had a few issues over the weekend as it had been stood for so long which doesn't help. I was trying to learn how the car behaves, it was certainly a handful but we all had a great weekend it's a credit to all the people involved in making it happen, and more than happy to be in the top ten."

In the BCC Trophy class the Insanity Racing crew of Jon Damrel and Nic Blundell were enjoying their new manual gearbox and they had a fairly troublefree event to finish fifth.

Ian Evans, more known for flinging front wheel drive rally cars around, made his Trophy debut in his Coronda 2WD and was going well until being forced out with suspension damage.

Justin Brooks had to withdraw his BCCC entry due to work commitments but he entered Pikes Peak as a Clubman in his Yamaha and won the category in a time that would've placed him fifth in the BCCC.

In the Freelander Challenge Brian Chase used his new suspension to good effect as he was fastest on the first run but towards the end of the run his automatic gearbox went into neutral and the engine over-revved, resulting in top-end damage which forced him out of the event.

Finally, Pikes Peak saw the welcome return of Katy, crewed by Debbie and Graham. They had many customers as cars kept falling off and breaking down - the things BCCC drivers will do for a piece of flapjack!

"Static cam" video from Pikes Peak 2017

Images from Britpart MSA BCCC Pikes Peak 2017

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Gould takes the points at Pikes Peak

Reigning champion Martin Gould got his Britpart MSA BCCC title defence off to the best possible start when he won at the opening round of the 2017 championship at Pikes Peak.

In contrast to the blizzard at last year's event, the crews were greeted by unseasonably warm and sunny conditions as they headed out to tackle the first run of what would prove to be a very challenging course.

Gould was immediately on the pace, setting the fastest time on run one ahead of Ben Duckworth's Milner LRM-1 and Adrian Marfell, who was making his BCCC debut in his Fouquet Nissan. The opening run didn't go well for some crews with Mike Moran stopping on the course with a broken propshaft and Justin Birchall dropping over a minute to Gould after issues with his Lofthouse Freelander.

After day one's five runs Gould held a lead of just over a minute from Marfell, with Birchall in third despite further problems when an oil pipe came off causing an engine fire.

The sunny conditions continued for most of day two and with a healthy lead Gould set consistent times to maintain his lead, despite a puncture on the final run.

"It’s been a great weekend,” said Gould. “There were a lot of unknowns with all the new cars and drivers in the championship this year so it was good to be on the pace. We tried to be consistent to build up a lead and then we eased off slightly on the second day. The plan worked well, it’s an excellent start to our season."

Birchall set some very quick times on day two and he moved up to second place on the penultimate run.

"We had a great scrap," commented Birchall. "We lost around two minutes with our problems on day one so we pushed hard on day two to try and get to second place. The mist came down for our later runs and the track became very slippery in places but we did enough to get the position. It's going to be a great battle at round two!"

Marfell completed the event in third ahead of Ryan Cooke's Milner LRM-1 and Adam Evans, who was giving the BRP Can-Am Maverick it's BCCC debut.

In the BCC Trophy it was Simon Adams, also in a BRP Can-Am Maverick, who took the win. Paul Rowlands was second in his Yamaha YXZ1000R despite a roll on day one and Joe Quirk, also in a Yamaha, was third.

Defending champion Pat Masters won the Freelander Challenge with Challenge debutant Michael Smith in second and Graham White in third.

Justin Brooks won the Clubman class in his Yamaha YXZ1000R ahead of Martin Cox and Toby Jefferson, both of whom were in GSR 206s.

The next round of the BCCC is on 13/14 May at Radnor forest.

BCCC Results

1. Martin Gould/Simon Kerfoot (Buxton 4x4 Rivet) 01:29:38 

2. Justin Birchall/Jonny Koonja (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:30:42

3. Adrian Marfell/Paul Bartleman (Fouquet Nissan) 01:31:04

4. Ryan Cooke/Darren Cooke (Milner LRM-1) 01:35:22

5. Adam Evans (BRP Can-Am Maverick) 01:36:36

6. Mark Jacques/Tom King (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:37:16

7. Richard Coleby (Polaris RZR XP Turbo) 01:39:24

8. Darren Johnson (Yamaha YXZ1000R) 01:40:33

9. Lee Mansfield/David Roberts (Milner R5) 01:41:01
10. Mike Moran/Tony Coid (Lofthouse Evo) 01:41:26

From barn to BCCC!

Lee Mansfield will return to the BCCC for the first time in ten years when he races a Milner R5 with David Roberts co-driving.

Three weeks ago the car was sat in a barn where it had been for 19 months. Since then their Xylo Racing team have had a hectic time preparing the car for competition.

"We bought the car three years ago and the intention was to race it straight away," said Mansfield. "We only managed to compete a couple of times in our local club event and then setting up a new business and renovating houses got in the way so the car was parked in my father's barn gathering dust."

"We decided three weeks ago to get the car out of the barn and get it ready for the BCCC. I raced in the championship a few years ago and I'm really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and seeing what we can achieve. With being flat out with the preparation I've not had any time to drive the car so the first run at Pikes Peak will be the first time I've driven properly for a while."

"The car has a 5.2 litre Rover V8 which has been built by John Eales at JE Developments. It produces around 365bhp and 390 lb-ft of torque so it should push along nicely. We're just about ready for round one, all that remains it to get some graphics on it to complete the transformation from barn to BCCC!"

BCCC title battle to start at Pikes Peak

Crews in the 2017 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship will begin the battle for the title next weekend when round one of the series takes place at Pikes Peak in Wales.

Leading the crews away will be 2016 champion Martin Gould in his Buxton 4x4 Rivet. The BMW M3-engined car has had some work done over the winter to increase power and reduce weight. 

"I'm really looking forward to the challenge," said Gould. "As well as the competitors from last year we're going to be up against several quick new drivers and cars too, it promises to be a great season."

Ryan Cooke’s Milner LRM-1 will be car two and he’ll be looking to build on the win he achieved at the final round last year. The Lofthouse Freelander of Richard Wynne-Williams is at car three. Wynne-Williams led the championship for much of last season in what was his first season with the Lofthouse and he's been busy testing his car at Sweet Lamb in preparation for his BCCC campaign.

There will be a new machine at car four as Andy Powell debuts his Walker Adams Revolution. After racing a 5.7 V8 beam-axle Simmbugghini in recent years it will be a big change to compete in the 1.0 independent Walker Adams.

"It will certainly take some time to get used to the new car, it's totally different to what I am used to - I'm going from one extreme to the other," said Powell. "I'd been considering switching to a UTV-style car for a while as they're getting increasingly popular for competition use."

Rounding off the top five is Mark Jacques in another Lofthouse Freelander. The car has been modified over the winter and now features a flat-shift and a new ECU.

Steve Smith starts at car 6 in his JRG Clio V8 with Justin Birchall's Lofthouse Freelander at car 7. Birchall will have Jonny Koonja co-driving, Koonja returning to co-driving after driving in the championship last year. Richard Coleby is at car 8 in the Polaris RZR XP Turbo he took to second place at the final round last year. 

Britpart's Paul Myers will be in his usual Land Rover Tornado and he will start at car 9. Ben Duckworth is next up in the Milner LRM-1 he used to take three wins in the 2015 BCCC. Winner of the title in 2014 and 2015 Mike Moran will be in his Lofthouse Evo at car 11. It will be his first full BCCC season in the car which he used to finish third on the Border Hill Rally last year.

The championship has attracted several new crews this season and the first of these off the start line will be Andy Degiulio in his Milner R5. Degiulio has been testing his car to get used to the all-terrain tyres used in the BCCC.

"We had a day at the Phil Price Rally School last week," said Degiulio. "I wanted to get some miles on the car and get used to how it reacts on the new Insa Turbo Ecorace AT tyres as I'm used to racing on mud-terrains. I want to be on the pace for round one as we'll be up against some tough competition and I'm expecting some ferocious battles."

Ian Bartlett makes a return to the championship in his Bartletts 3M 206. The car has contested the BCCC before but it has been having an extensive rebuild for the last couple of years. Rob Bool, who entered a couple of Clubman rounds in 2015 and 2016, will bring his AT 4x4 Indy Challenger. The car is no stranger to the BCCC having previously been owned by Mike Moran who competed in it for several years.

Another driver stepping up to the championship after contesting Clubman events is Justin Brooks who will use a Yamaha YXZ1000R. 

"The friendly atmosphere at the events was a factor in committing to the championship as was the no-nonsense format that fits in well with my work commitments," commented Brooks. "Both my co-driver Caroline and myself are excited at this year's prospects and very much look forward to round one, we're hoping it'll be a wet course and nice and twisty to suit our car."

Joining Brooks in a Yamaha is Darren Johnson who had a successful BCCC debut in the final round last season. Returning to the championship for the first time in 10 years is Lee Mansfield. The Nuneaton-based former Bowler champion will use a Milner R5. Adam Evans will give the new X3 Racing BRP Can-Am Maverick its BCCC debut. The car was recently tested in Tong Forest, including being driven by former BTCC driver and star of Emmerdale Kelvin Fletcher. Rounding off the new drivers is Adrian Marfell who will be in his Fouquet Nissan.

In the BCC Trophy 2016 title winner Phill Bayliss will not be defending the championship so it will be the Insanity Racing Tornado of Jon Damrel who will be first away. The team have undertaken extensive modifications to the car over the winter including converting it from an automatic transmission to manual.

"We've certainly been very busy since the end of last season," said Damrel. "Fortunately the big jobs are complete and we finally got to run the engine for the first time a few days ago which was a major milestone. We've still got a lot of smaller jobs to do but hopefully we'll be ready for Pikes Peak."

2014/2015 champion Nick Pritchard will return in his Goka Buggy ahead of the Peugeot 206 M3 of Steve Anning. Paul Rowlands will be be next away before two new Yamahas which have been built by Landranger Deeside and which will be driven by Ashley Jones and Joe Quirk.

At the time of writing there have been seven registrations for the Freelander Challenge. Pat Masters will return to defend the title he won last year. Next up will be Alex Howard followed by Ian Morson and Graham White. Brian Chase will be out in his V6-engined car and his Ravenol-backed machine has had an extensive rebuild since it was last in action.

"The car has been rebuilt by Harry Hockly Motorsport and has new Bilstein suspension with an increased ride height which should hopefully mean no more dragging the sump guard on the course," said Chase. "I'm pleased to be contesting the Challenge again, I'll have flying Frenchman Ben Le Gendre in the co-driver hot seat."

Double Freelander champion Ian Linford will once again race his Team Sheepie Freelander while Michael Wilson will contest his second Challenge season in his Gibson's of Kendal-supported car.

In the Clubman class Toby Jefferson will be first away in his GSR 206 and he'll be followed by Steve Llewellyn who will be in a Land Rover Tornado. Ben Clay is next up in his Tomcat 100. Clay competed in the Trophy championshp last season and is doing selected Clubman rounds this year. Other Clubman entries include Richard Keasey in his Rakeway Ridgeback and Steve Carroll in a Land Rover Freelander.

The event takes place at Pikes Peak near Devil's Bridge in Mid-Wales. The action starts at 10am on Saturday with day two starting at 9am. Spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com.

Insanity Racing battling to be ready for Pikes Peak

The Insanity Racing team are facing a last minute rush as they aim to start their BCC Trophy season at Pikes Peak in less than two weeks time.

The team have been extremely busy over the winter with their job list including replacing the automatic gearbox with a manual, moving the engine further back in the chassis, replacing the transfer box with a Rakeway single ratio box and creating a new gearbox cross-member to support the gearbox.

They've also totally stripped out and replaced the interior floor and tunnel inside the cabin to make room for new seats. The changes also meant altering the configuration of the propshafts and a total redesign and construction of the exhaust system. As if they hadn't done enough already the team also rewired the entire car!

"We've certainly been very busy since the end of last season," said driver Jon Damrel. "Fortunately the big jobs are complete and we finally got to run the engine for the first time a couple of days ago which was a major milestone. We've still got a lot of smaller jobs to do but hopefully we'll be ready for Pikes Peak."

Damrel and co-driver Nic Blundell finished second in the Trophy championship last season and they'll again be up against the likes of Nick Pritchard and Steve Anning as well as some new crews for 2017.

The championship will start on 8/9th April at Pikes Peak in Mid-Wales. For more information please visit www.marches4x4.com.