2022/23 Circuit Rally Championship - Dukeries Rally - Round 6 - Part 1

Donington Park

12th March 2023

Photographing the MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship, in this case round 6 from Donington Park, has been a staple for the PistonClick photographers for a few years. Some of us have been stamping around forests and circuits for longer than we would care to mention! Take a look at our previous rally reports at the end of this article to see some examples of our previous work from the last few years. 

The Northside Truck & Van Dukeries Rally was advertised at maximum capacity of 85 cars with 68 making the final stage. One of the casualties on the day, were and still are, the overall leaders in the championship - John Griffiths and Emma Morrison in the Ford Fiesta R5 car number 1. 

They looked to be on form taking a five second lead in the first stage but started to fall back down the running order on stage two and three. It was not to be their day after the rear diff failed on stage four and they were out.

All the cars on Sunday were being driven hard and driven well which is why I love going to these winter events, not only as a photographer but as a spectator. I do like the modern rally and circuit cars. The Fiesta R5, Skoda R5 and Hyundai i20 R5 are great to watch, and in the right hands, were flying round Donington.

In previous years we have seen a smattering of Metro 6R4 and Cosworth Escorts but they are getting fewer and fewer. The Metro 6R4 has never been a cheap car but they, like a lot of classic metal, are now not being thrashed round competitive stages in the numbers they used to, and are more likely to be found in a warm garage as an investment piece. You do see them at historic events but not driven hard like the cars last Sunday.

There comes a point when it's not viable to put these cars out on track in a competitive environment as they are just too valuable, not just in monetary terms but in historic value as well. Take for example the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 that sold at the Race Retro Silverstone auctions for £590500. It was not a rally car but that’s very strong money for an RS500. 

Fortunately there are still plenty of the fans' favourite, the Ford Escort, out on track. Are they historic cars or have they just kept doing what they were designed to do and have now become historic/classic by the fact they just keep going? Regardless, they are great to watch, kicking out the back end and sliding round the corners like they have for over 50 years!

We had three different stages to watch the action, all run twice to make up 55 miles in six stages. As usual with the Circuit Rally Championship, it used all of the available tarmac and access roads to make up the course. From the top of Coppice to Redgate and everything in-between was being used, with the odd tyre wall chicane placed around to mix it up a bit. 

This gave the team plenty of places to shoot from and get some walking in. I have been keeping a log of how far I walk on our trips to the track. I'm not the most active or quickest on the team but I, according to my phone, travel between 5 and 7 miles while visiting Donington Park. 

That’s following the infield starting at Redgate, popping to the outside at Coppice using the tunnel, taking the outside track to McLean then doubling back and heading for the Roberts / Foggy Esses down Starkey's Straight. 

The most popular area of the track for the spectators last Sunday was on the final two stages. This was the access road infield of Redgate corner. Why so popular? Maybe it was because it was the only bit of "dirt" road that we were going to see the cars on, and it ran through a wooded area. Also, with the spectators lining the top of the hill opposite it gave a great view of the action as the cars headed down the track towards you.

To work out where the best viewing areas are, the stage maps, competitor lists and timetable were all available to download before the event from the Donington MSV website. This is very helpful when planning your visit to the Circuit Rally Championship as the cars will not be going in the conventional clockwise track direction all of the time. It's worth checking these documents out before you get to the track.

So, to conclude our visit to the Dukeries Rally, former British GT racer Michael Igoe and Will Atkins in car #6 took maximum points for the second consecutive round. Mark Kelly and Neil Colman were second overall in car #2, Ollie O'Donovan and Ashleigh Morris in aptly car 3 were third. 

The overall leaders remain John Griffiths & Emma Morrison car #1 who retired on the day but still head the championship with 294 points with Alasdair Stables in second place on 254 points. 

The next round of the Circuit Rally Championship will be the Alan Healy Memorial Cadwell Park Stages on Sunday the 2nd April, we will be there.