MSN Circuit Rally Championship Round 4
Brands Hatch – Report by David Harbey
24 January 2022
Christmas excesses past, by mid January the pull of standing on a chilly spectator bank is strong again. There’s not a lot of racing on the tracks in the UK over the winter, but there is rallying so I headed south for my first taste of motorsport in 2022.
The MSN Circuit Rally Championship runs from November to April with the Brands Hatch round held on the 15th January.
This time a new PistonClick contributor, Paul Hallam, was also present. The vagaries of the stage layout limited the ability to get to the service area the short way from Druids where I was parked, so Paul and I didn’t actually get to meet on the day.
Credit Paul Hallam
However, we do have the benefit of Pauls photos from the service area.
Credit Paul Hallam
Meanwhile, I had started the rather misty cold day at Druids to take advantage of the cars going the “wrong” way for Stage 1 and 2 - stages were run in pairs in alternate directions. I also got down to slower shutter speeds in short order.
Old and new was represented – from the latest Polo, i20 and Skoda to an Escort, 106 and a drifting BMW.
The RACE Performance Puma cat which is familiar to PistonClick readers was also looking good at Druids, here are a few words from the team as they tackle the businesses end of a day at the MSN Rally Championship.
RACE Performance Report:
So - We survived the cold at Brands Hatch for Round 4 of the MSN Rally Championship and it turned out to be a right event!
The Mighty Deuce barked her way all the way down to Kent from HQ and with Service set up as soon as we arrived, we had somewhere warm to escape the January cold!
The Pooma decided to throw a tantrum and not fire up straight away (she’s a princess and doesn’t like the cold…so, spark plugs removed and pre-warmed she struck straight up and Scrutineered without any further issue.
Credit Paul Hallam
Into SS1 and SS2 and as is now getting typical, we were too conservative and even having a pathetic half spin costing a few seconds. So, giving ourselves a steeper mountain to climb, we went to see Michelin and got some fresh wets to assist…
Now - we were cooking, from finishing SS2 in P51, SS3 was more like it as we finished P23. Time to rock and roll and we kept on keeping on for the rest of the day, SS6 finishing in P18 for example!
We also had the pleasure to briefly host Richard and his lovely daughter Lizzie. Richard is the gentleman who originally fabricated the Puma in 2001 for its Rallycross origins and to be able to show him what we’ve done with his creation was frankly awesome.
Ultimately, P23 Overall was the result, P1 in Class D2 for the Championship and P5 in Class C on the event after a legendary comeback from Gary Mason to beat us by one lowly second into P4! Top effort from them!
But - works are required as the cat has developed quite the breathing issue which we were keeping an eye on throughout the day and not quite kicking her head in completely. We also need to work on our auxillary light positions as to be honest, they’re completely poop as they are, so look out for a refreshed PoomaCat coming to Snetterton…
Appreciate the support from all as always - bring the noise!
For Stage 3 and 4, I walked round to Paddock Hill Bend where, facing away from the circuit, you can see the cars run down the hill to the support paddock and where there is a jump. The Escort was spectacular getting some good air under its wheels but the Ferrari rather more careful.
There’s more than just the jump there – up at the top of the hill, the cars run past the Kentagon and various other paddock vehicles (the backgrounds aren’t always particularly exciting).
My trusty step gave me a clean shot over the top of the fence.
Back down the hill, I experimented with a shot as the cars pass the Paddock Office. I was close up to the heavy fencing and was rather pleased with the result.
A little further down was a shot over the fence (with step) as the cars headed into the lower paddock.
Time for a lunch break and afterwards the cars were running the “right” way through Druids. Seems they had decided to have Fiesta racing for the afternoon.
Cars are set off at 30 second intervals and the multi-lap nature of the stages had some of the leading cars close together.
We still had our Escorts as well …
And that Puma
The final two stages were due to start in dusk and run into darkness. The Tilburn’s Escort delivered the pyrotechnics !
Our other adopted rally crew – son and father Adam and Ray Ripper were out again in their Micra.
The former shopping car was being hustled along quite nicely to third in class by Adam.
Ray’s report of their day for his motor club, with photos supplied by PistonClick, can be found here on the Middlesex County Automobile Club (MCAC) Website
The next MSN Rally Championship round will be at Snetterton on February 19th – will you be joining us ?
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