Birchall battles the elements to take BCCC win

 

Justin Birchall returned to the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship in style as he took a win in the opening round at Pikes Peak.

Blue skies and sun greeted the crews as they got their cars ready on Saturday morning but by the time run one started snow was falling around the course. It was Birchall who set the fastest BCCC time on the opening run in his Lofthouse Freelander, three seconds ahead of the Milner LRM-1 of Ryan Cooke. In third was Ben Duckworth who was using a Milner R5 as his usual LRM-1 was not ready.

Birchall continued to set the pace throughout day one and he held a lead of over two minutes overnight.

Other BCCC crews didn’t fare so well on day one. Steve Smith, who had flown in from Dubai the day before the event, didn’t even make the start on run one after problems with his Clio. Richard Coleby rolled his Polaris out of the event mid-way through the day after setting some quick times. Martin Gould, whose Buxton 4x4 Rivet was not ready in time, broke a shaft on his Polaris.

Cooke’s hopes of challenging for the win on day two were dashed when he was forced to stop his car on the third run. With a good lead Birchall backed off slightly but in doing so he broke a propshaft on the penultimate run. The shaft was replaced and Birchall completed the final run of the event to win by over three minutes from Duckworth.

“I’m very happy with the result,” said Birchall. “It was a fantastic course and the very changeable weather made it extremely challenging. I think we broke the propshaft by going slower in one of the rutted offroad sections so we went back up to normal pace on the last run.”

In third place was Colin Gould on his first event in his Clio V8. Gould commented “I’m extremely pleased with third, I’m still learning the car and we’ll get quicker – the car has the pace, the driver needs to improve a bit! It looks like it will be a good championship, there are some very talented drivers and quick cars out this season.”

Mark Jacques’ Chevy-powered Lofthouse Freelander was fourth with Andy Powell, who had a new engine in his Simmbugghini, was fifth despite suffering brake problems on day one.

In the BCC Trophy Phill Bayliss enjoyed a successful first event as he took the win in his Land Rover 90 ahead of the Tomcat 100 of Ben Clay. Steve Anning was third.

2014/15 Freelander Challenge champion Ian Linford had suspected head gasket problems on the recce lap so decided not to start. Brian Chase was leading the Freelanders after day one but electrical problems dropped him to third behind Graham White and Pat Masters.

Chris Bird led the Clubman category after day one and he was setting times which would’ve seen him leading the event overall. He didn’t contest the second day so it was Toby Jefferson who was the first Clubman home. In second was Phil Ibbotson who was using his Metro 6R4 for the first time since 2013. Jonny Koonja was third, driving on his first event for around ten years after spending recent years in the navigator’s seat.

BCCC Top 10

1. Justin Birchall/Louise Birchall (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:39:39

2. Ben Duckworth/Mathew Cook (Milner R5) 01:43:07
3. Colin Gould/Aaron Burch (Clio V8) 01:48:24
4. Mark Jacques/Simon Last (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:50:48
5. Andy Powell/Evalda Kazla (Simmbugghini) 01:51:18
6. Richard Wynne-Williams/Ian Jones (Lofthouse Freelander) 01:54:56
7. Neil Davey/Tony Barley (Yamaha YXZ1000R) 01:57:55
8. Richard Green/Richard Griffiths (Tomcat 100) 02:00:25
9. John Thorne/ (Yamaha YXZ1000R) 02:01:41
10. Paul Harris/Karina James (GSR Maxilight) 02:08:53

High quality entry set to start BCCC season

 

Myherin forest in Mid-Wales will echo to the sound of racing engines next weekend when the 2016 Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship season gets underway, together with the accompanying BCC Trophy and Freelander Challenge championships.

After winning their second BCCC title last year Warrington duo Mike Moran and Tony Coid will once again run at car 1 this season. They’ll be in a new Lofthouse Evo which should be debuting at round two of the championship.

Andy Powell will be at car 2 in his Simmbugghini and he will have a new navigator with Efka Kazla joining him. Ryan Cooke will be next off the start line in his Milner LRM-1, looking to build on the third place he achieved in 2015.

At car 4 will be Mark Jacques, with Steve Smith rounding off the top five in his JRG Indy Clio V8. Smith will resume the class battle he had last year with Richard Green (Car 7 - Tomcat 100) and Paul Harris (Car 10 - GSR Maxilight).

Neil Davey runs at car 6 and, having sold his GSR 206, he'll be debuting a Yamaha YXZ1000R UTV. Joining the UTV battle will be ex-BTCC driver John Thorne (car 11) in a similar machine to Davey's and Richard Coleby (car 18) who will race a Polaris RZR XP Turbo.

Britpart's Paul Myers returns in his Land Rover Tornado at car 8, one ahead of Ben Duckworth who will use the Milner LRM-1 he took to three victories last year.

Alan Thomas will contest his second BCCC season in his Warrior Indy and he'll be hoping for better luck after having to miss two events last year waiting for engine parts. At car 14 will be Martin Gould in his Buxton 4x4 Rivet, a car that was previously used in the French Tout Terrain championship by Manu Castan.

Contesting his first full championship season since 2012 will be Justin Birchall who will run at car 15. Birchall debuted his Lofthouse Freelander at round four last year and was immediately on the pace.

“We did two BCCC rounds last year and they went really well,” said Birchall. “I expect there will be a great battle for the championship this year as there are several drivers who could potentially take the title, it’s the best quality entry list for many seasons. What makes it especially interesting is that quite a few drivers will be in new cars, it’s very hard to predict who will win.”

Another Lofthouse Freelander will be next off the start line with Richard Wynne-Williams returning to the championship and he'll be followed by former-BCCC champion Colin Gould who has bought brother Martin's Clio V8 and also has a Polaris available to use.

In the BCC Trophy Nick Pritchard and Steve Anning, who finished first and second in 2015, will both return to the championship as will Jon Damrel in his Insanity Racing Tornado. They’ll be joined by two drivers making their Trophy debuts, Phill Bayliss in a Land Rover 90 and Ben Clay in a Tomcat 100.

At the time of writing the Freelander Challenge had received 10 registrations, a record for the opening round. Running at one and two in the Challenge will be the Team Sheepie cars of Ian Linford and Louisa Felice. Linford has been busy upgrading his car over the winter, including fitting a V6 engine. He’ll also have a new navigator with Wil Hoole joining the team. Felice will once again be partnered by Jess Reynolds as she embarks on her second season of competition.

Pat Masters will be third Freelander away ahead of Alastair Moore-Myers and Paul Cumpstone. They'll be followed by Richard Roberts before four new crews - Alex Howard, Michael Wilson, Brian Chase and Graham White.

Six drivers have entered the event as non-championship "Clubman" entries. Martin Cox and Toby Jefferson will both bring their GSR 206s. The Metro 6R4 Evo of Phil Ibbotson will be seen at a BCCC event for the first time since 2013 while Sian Rogers will compete in her Mitsubishi Pajero after contesting the Trophy championship last year. James King will compete in his 3M 206 and an entry has also been received from Warren Roper.

John Pickering will bring his Discovery for the "Sunday Cup" competition.

The event starts at 10am on Saturday and there will be action up to around 5pm. Day 2 starts at 9am with the final run expected at around 2pm. Spectator information is available at www.marches4x4.com/spectator.html. Pictures from the event will be available on Sunday evening at www.facebook.com/msabccc.

Moran to debut new car for 2016 season

2014 and 2015 Britpart MSA BCCC champion Mike Moran will be debuting a new Lofthouse Motorsport-built car this season having sold his title-winning  AT 4x4 Indy Challenger.

The new car will use the same basic spaceframe as the Lofthouse Freelander which won the BCCC in 2013 in the hands of Dan Lofthouse. However, the frame will be substantially lighter.

Continuing the weight saving theme, the large capacity engine usually used in "prototype" offroaders has been replaced with a 450bhp Mitsubishi Evo 9 unit built by AMS, driving through a Drenth gearbox, Milner reverse transfer box and Nissan Skyline differentials.

"We are going against the grain by using a 2.0 litre engine in a lighter-framed car," said Moran. "We should get much better braking performance and a faster corner exit speed though."

"The bodywork will be different from the Lofthouse Freelander, it'll be more in the style of an American Trophy truck with an open pick-up style rear. Again, this is to keep the weight down. All cooling elements will be supplied by Allisport and cab seats and belts by Motordrive."

"The UK offroad scene is rapidly changing with more European-spec cars and UTV buggies coming into the sport. The new car is designed to let us try and compete with these machines."

The car is expected to debut at round 2 of the championship in May.

Entries levels already higher than 2015



With one month to go until the start of the season organisers of the Britpart MSA British Cross Country Championship have released information on the drivers who have entered the BCCC, BCC Trophy and Freelander Challenge so far. Entry levels are already higher than 2015, with 31 cars spread across the three championships.

In the BCCC Mike Moran will be returning to try and make it three titles in a row. With his championship-winning car sold Moran is having a new machine built by Lofthouse Motorsport which will hopefully be ready for round 1. Joining Moran will be several championship regulars such as Paul Harris, Richard Green and Steve Smith together with some drivers who are either new to the championship or are returning after a break. Amongst these is Martin Gould in his new Rivet-BMW and brother Colin who'll be driving the Audi-engine Clio previously raced by Martin. Richard Coleby will make his BCCC debut in his factory Polaris and Justin Birchall will make a full return to the championship in his Lofthouse Freelander.

2015 BCC Trophy winner Nick Pritchard will defend his title and he'll be joined by the likes of Jon Damrel in his Insanity Racing Tornado and Phill Bayliss who'll be out in his Land Rover.

Ten cars have so far registered for the Freelander Challenge including 2014/15 champion Ian Linford who has fitted a V6 engine in his car for this season. Ravenol's Brian Chase will be joining in the Freelander fun along with several other new crews.

All three championships start in April at Myherin forest, entries are still available - regulations can be downloaded from www.marches4x4.com.

In addition to the championships a Clubman event will also run at each round. Interest has already been strong in the round 1 Clubman event with Phil Ibbotson, Toby Jefferson, Sian Rogers and Martin Cox planning on entering.

Entries as at 11th March:

BCCC
Martin Gould
Colin Gould...
Paul Myers
Mike Moran
Richard Wynne Williams
Justin Birchall
Paul Harris
Richard Green
Steve Smith
John Thorne
Alan Thomas
Richard Coleby
Ben Duckworth
Mark Jacques
Neil Davey
Andy Powell

BCC Trophy
Jon Damrel
Nick Pritchard
Steve Anning
Phill Bayliss
Ben Clay

Freelander Challenge
Ian Linford
Louisa Felice
Pat Masters
Brian Chase
Alastair Myers
Michael Wilson
Paul Cumpstone
Alex Howard
Richard Roberts
Graham White