Circuit Rally Championship - TJS Self Drive Alan Healy Memorial Rally

Cadwell Park

2 April 2023

The first large event of the year at Cadwell Park was the seventh round of the MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship - the TJS Self Drive Alan Healy Memorial Rally held last weekend. Oddly the last event of the 2022 season I attended at Cadwell was round 2 of the Circuit Rally Championship NHMC Cadwell Stages.

 I headed off with a few shooting buddies to capture the action on a cold but bright spring morning and to see if the competitors had learnt anything from their last visit to Cadwell. Some had, some hadn't as there were quite a few incidents on the day, but thankfully everyone walked away from some very second-hand looking cars. 

We have been to most of the rounds of the Circuit Rally Championship and have enjoyed watching the battle for the overall championship pan out. As with all rallying it's not just about the quickest times, it's about finishing all of the stages and getting those all important points.

With one round left to go it’s the pairing of John Griffiths and Emma Morrison who lead the pack.

Last time out at the Donington Park Dukeries Rally, Griffiths and Morrison had a rear differential failure on stage four so they had to retire, picking up minimal points. This allowed Ollie O'Donovan and  Ashleigh Morris in car #5 to claw a few points back.

O'Donovan is now just 21 points behind Griffiths. The final round will be the Altratech SMC Stages Anglesey on 16th April 2023.

The overall winners on the day by just six seconds were Mark Kelly and Neil Colman in the #2 Skoda Fabia R5.

But for now let's take a step back and review the rallying last Sunday. There was a large crowd out for this event, as there always is, as it has generated a large following over the years. Modern and classic rally cars heading every which way round the Cadwell track and service roads are always a crowd pleaser.

And again, as I did for Donington, I downloaded the nine stage maps from, in this case, the Cadwell MSV site to study before getting track side. You need to do this as not all of the track is used on each stage and they could be driving in the opposite direction or only using that part of the track once; usually it's twice round the stage and off.

You can of course buy a programme on the main gate with all of the stage and driver/co-driver information not only as a guide for the day but as a souvenir. I would recommend this as peering at a picture on your phone is not ideal.

My first stop of the day was the excellent Cadwell café where the cars were heading straight towards me from the lower paddock area. This is an excellent viewing location as you can see a lot of the track and the cars get very close as they slide right and then left into the holding area before heading off to the chicane behind the mountain.

This is where I headed next. Previously, this location has been difficult to photograph as barriers and fences have obscured the view. In my opinion the Border Motor Club (Lincs) has got the risk assessment spot on for this location. The chicken wire had gone, with substantial water containers with straw bails in front providing the protection.

We know motorsport can't be 100% safe, but by pushing the spectators back a few feet and placing well thought out barriers it gave us all a great view of the action, including the little ones, as there is a slightly raised area. Last year, family members were hoisting their children up onto their shoulders to get a better view, negating the pointless chicken wire barriers.

Up next, the Cadwell mountain, one of the best known locations in UK and quite rightly so, with excellent views of vehicles tackling this deceptively trick corner. Complex always pleases. For this rally the mountain was used in the right and wrong direction.

The wrong direction down the mountain did cause a few problems with a few over cooking it on the exit. Two happened while I was in this area, but unfortunately I only saw the last seconds of the incidents as I was on the other side of the track looking the other way!

Screeching tyres and scraping metal heralded the first incident when one of the classic Escorts launched itself into the Sunday sunshine. I just caught the last of it as the car got itself back to shiny side up dirty side down. The marshals were quickly on the scene helping the crew, who were a bit shaken up, out of a now very second hand looking car. 

At almost the same spot another Escort came to grief, hitting the barriers. Only post incident pictures this time of Stephen Sawley and Rob Johnson. Again the crew were a fine, testament to the safety gear within The Ford Escort Mk2 and all of the cars.

I checked out a few other locations before the final stage of the day. This time the chicane at the bottom of Coppice, where I gained a great view point.

My final location for the day was Hall Bends whilst the cars were going the correct way round the track. It's one of my favourite places to take photos at any track in the UK. There are numerous angles and you can't get much closer to the action at any other track.

After an incident at a Thursday British Superbike test a few years ago a new fence has gone up, but this doesn't restrict the spectators' view much at this location. It does however take away one of my favourite shots looking down on the vehicles. The march of the safety fence continues but I suppose if it stops one person being injured it has to be a good thing?

Overall, the Circuit Rally Championship is a good event for spectator and photographer alike. Modern rally cars going hell for leather ,with classic rally cars sliding sideways are always going to keep you entertained. The two lap 8-9 stage programme ensures there is plenty of action, and when it goes a bit wrong the excellent marshals are quickly on the job to get the racing going again.

The final round is the Stockport 061 Motor Club Altratech SMC Stages over on Anglesey Sunday 16th April.