THE VOICE OF BRITISH MOTORSPORT READERS’ Q&A

MICHAEL VERGERS

The Formula Ford 1600, oval racing and

sportscar legend tackles the MN posers, p14
n FEBRUARY 16 2023 n EVERY THURSDAY n £3.99 n FORMERLY MOTORING NEWS

Hyundai star returns to form with second on Rally Sweden after stage-winning heroics

BREEN GETS HIS HUNGER BACK ON

BIG WEEKEND FOR IRISH RALLYING

Tanak (r) took glory for the M-Sport squad

By Graham Lister
Craig Breen hit back from his troubled 2022
season by fighting for victory on Rally Sweden
last weekend.
The 33-year-old Irishman won four stages and led
for large chunks of the World championship counter
only to lose out on a maiden WRC win due to tyre
and hybrid issues on the penultimate day.
Despite having to settle for second to M-Sport’s
title-leading Ott Tanak, Breen said his outing in the
Scandinavian snow had been “absolutely brilliant”.
He added: “We can be very proud of what we’ve
achieved. It leaves me hungry for the future now.”
Breen’s Hyundai boss Cyril Abiteboul said the
team’s returning star had “been mega all weekend”
and praised his “speed and performance” alongside
co-driver James Fulton.
There was more Irish success in Sweden when
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy pair William
Breen was on form Creighton and Liam Regan won the Junior WRC
season opener by 0.6 seconds in a dramatic finish.
on Rally Sweden Report, page 20

KELSEYmedia
THE VOICE OF BRITISH MOTORSPORT

REPORT REPORT
CHILMAN GRIFFITHS
PICKS UP KEEPS UP
THE PIECES HIS RECORD
Escort man stars as historic More success for Fiesta man
season gets going p24 on circuit rally contest p25
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COMMENT
Photos: Hyundai, Red Bull Content Pool, Motorsport Images, Jakob Ebrey

ISSUE MJ3372 FEBRUARY 16 2023

IN THIS ISSUE
P4

WHY BREEN CAN’T

Craig Breen was on superb form all weekend in Sweden on his return to Hyundai i20

STOP SMILING Honda eyes reunion with McLaren

T
he knocking on the door is getting louder from
Craig Breen – surely the breakthrough maiden Japanese firm in talks with British team about Formula 1 partnership
World Rally Championship victory can’t be too far
away? The popular Irishman finished a handful of
seconds behind Rally Sweden winner Ott Tanak last P14
weekend but it was the style of his event-long attack
that was so impressive.
His bosses at Hyundai were left with a little egg on their faces too.
With Breen only contesting a partial campaign, they asked the second-
placed driver to throttle back and allow the title-chasing Thierry
Neuville to motor into runner-up position. However, a late slip-up by
the Belgian meant that it was in vain and Breen held on to his position.
The fact that Breen was in a situation to help the squad in this fashion

Readers’ Q&A: Michael Vergers

did wonders for team harmony and it has gone a considerable way to
banishing the memories of a shocking 2022 season for Breen with
M-Sport. It has also calmed the waters for the South Korean
manufacturer, which was an unhappy place last term as Tanak and The Flying Dutchman tackles the Motorsport News posers
Neuville battled to establish supremacy in the pecking order.
While it was hard to wipe the smile from Breen’s face given his
performance, there was also a lot of grinning coming from the
M-Sport team itself. It struggled through a tough 2022 season with
only one win in the opening round from part-timer Sebastien Loeb.
P20
When Tanak re-signed with the team, Malcolm Wilson knew that he Tanak takes
was the tonic he needed. The success-hungry driver, fresh from the
choppy waters at Hyundai, had a point to prove. M-Sport also knew it for M-Sport
that the Puma Rally1 machine was perhaps better than it had been Ford Puma man claims gold on
made to look by the incumbent pilots in 2022. The faith of both tense Rally Sweden showdown
Wilson and Tanak appears to be well placed.
Also in this issue, we put the Motorsport News readers’ questions
to Dutchman Michael Vergers. He was one of the icons at the cutting
edge of the ultra-competitive Formula Ford 1600 days and his P24 Chilman top
passion for the Kent-engined single-seaters has never left him.
While his Formula 1 aspirations were thwarted by a lack of finance,
on historic
he went on to forge a highly successful career in sportscars and rally opener
oh-so-nearly made his way to a NASCAR ride in the States. It is a
Escort man survives the attrition
fascinating read, and it starts on page 14.
on the Yorkshire series curtain-raiser
The national rally scene was well and truly underway last
weekend too, and we had reporters at the opening round of
the British Historic Rally Championship, the Riponian Rally,
and at the Circuit Rally Championship at Snetterton. It
News: Racing
News: Rallying
4
9
P27
News: Sporting Scene 12
reminds us all the season is upon us, and it is time to News: Historics 13
relish the battles that lay ahead. Q&A: Michael Vergers 14
Report: Rally Sweden 20
Column: Matt James 23
Matt James Report: Riponian Rally 24
Editor, Motorsport News Report: Snetterton Stages 25
matt.james@kelsey.co.uk SUBSCRIBE TO MN 26
Column: Stephen Jelley 27
What’s on/readers photos 31 EXCLUSIVE COLUMN: BTCC ace Stephen Jelley
FOR MOTORSPORT NEWS STAFF CONTACT DETAILS PLEASE SEE P31
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RACING NEWS
Photos: Motorsport Images

McLaren won titles

with Japanese power

Honda has been encouraged by championship success with Red Bull

McLAREN AND HONDA IN CONTACT OVER

POSSIBLE TIE-UP FOR 2026 AND BEYOND
Japanese firm said to be in talks with British team over future Formula 1 collaboration
By Matt James
Sources have reported that initial
contact has been made between
McLaren and Honda about a
possible tie-up for grand prix racing.
The two parties, which famously took
four Formula 1 World championships in
a row with Ayton Senna and Alain Prost
in the red and white cars from 1988-1991,
last worked together in 2015-2017,
when an uncompetitive powerplant
soured the relationship.
Honda switched to an alliance with
Red Bull and has taken two drivers’ titles
with Max Verstappen and, even though
the Japanese giant had announced it was
pulling out of F1 at the end of 2020, there
is thought to be a change of heart within
the firm’s top brass. F1’s stated aim of
making the sport more environmentally
sound through the development of
carbon-neutral technologies, is thought
to appeal to Honda, along with the new
engine regulations, which rely more
heavily on electrical power. According
to a the-race.com report, Honda wants to
open up talks with a new team and
McLaren has been identified as a target,
and Williams is also a possibility.
Honda will continue to work alongside
Red Bull Powertrains to provide motors
for the parent team and sister squad
AlphaTauri until the end of 2025. Red
Bull announced a link-up with Ford
as an engine partner two weeks ago,
while Honda has already expressed an
interest in staying on the F1 grid as an
engine supplier.
While Honda’s registration with the FIA
of its intent to compete into the fresh era of
powerplants – alongside Red Bull Ford,
Alpine, Ferrari, Mercedes and Audi – does
not compel the firm to compete, it does
make it easier to open the gateway to an entry.

WILLIAMS PLANS TO LEARN FROM LESSONS FROM 2022

The new Williams FW45 will be an “We were a bit constrained then by
evolution of last season’s machine the radiator layout and not wanting to
while efforts have been made to iron completely change that. So, we’ve had
out any weaknesses in 2022 version, an opportunity to work on that and lay
according to team bosses. things out a little bit differently. They’re
The British outfit, which underwent probably the main visible things. But,
some upheaval at the end of last season as philosophically, it’s an evolution.”
team principal Jost Capito and technical The FW45 will be driven by returning Ben Sulayem: no F1 fiddling
director Francois-Xavier Demaison were Alex Albon, who is entering his second
forced out, was due to run its new car on season with the team, and F1 rookie BEN SULAYEM STEPS AWAY
Monday this week after a livery launch.
Williams’s head of vehicle performance
Logan Sargeant. Robson also ruled out
buying more components from rival FROM F1 TO REFOCUS
Dave Robson said: “The regulation teams. It currently uses a Mercedes FIA president Mohammed Ben
changes around the floor dominate gearbox, but he said that the team will Sulayem to step down from the day-
some of [the new design], and then strive to remain as independent as it can. to-day running of Formula 1 as he
I think the other thing that you’ll find lGulf logos appeared on the Williams at says a new structure in place for
that is most obvious is a bit of an update the launch of the new car and the oil firm grand prix racing will allow him to
to the sidepod package, which is an says it has not ruled out a complete brand focus on other aspects of his remit.
evolution of what we did for the of the car, like it did during its previous The 61-year-old, who took the
Williams has revealed the colour scheme of its 2023 grand prix racer Silverstone upgrade package [in 2022]. association with McLaren. reins at the sport’s governor shortly
after the controversial end to the
2021 F1 season, has been on a
ALFA ROMEO FIRST GENUINE 2023 CAR TO HIT THE TRACK recruitment drive and the FIA has
appointed a new CEO under his
Alfa Romeo has taken the wraps off the Guanyu Zhou sampled the car in Spain tenure, as well as promoting Nikolas
last Sauber-built car to carry its name in for a filming day. Tombazis to the position of director
grand prix racing before the squad begins Alfa Romeo technical director Jan of single-seater racing. Tombazis
its transition to becoming the Audi Monchaux said: “I am very proud of will now have a more hands-on
factory operation. what we have achieved over these last approach to grand prix racing.
The team was the first to get its new months, because creating a new car is Ben Sulayem was elected after a
machine, which it has described as always a massive effort from the team. campaign that said he would be a
an evolution of the 2022 machine with “This car is an evolution of last year, “non-executive” president. He has
major tweaks surrounding the gearbox reflecting the new regulations and also been in hot water recently with
and rear suspension, on track last week introducing major changes in the some historical comments that were
with a run at Barcelona. areas where we found improvements unearthed about his views on
Both 2023 racers Valterri Bottas and to be needed.” Alfa Romeo stole a march on its F1 rivals by hitting the circuit first females, his comments about the
value of F1 and his interference
with some of the rules in 2022.
FIA AND F1 BOSS DOMENICALI AT LOGGERHEADS ON DRIVER CENSORSHIP IN 2023 An FIA spokesperson said: “The
president’s manifesto – it pledged
Formula 1’s commercial bosses “personal, religious and political Talking to the Guardian, Albon and Valtteri Bottas, have hit ‘the appointment of an FIA CEO to
have said that grand prix drivers statements”. Drivers such as Lewis Domenicali said: “We are talking out at the plan. At the Alfa Romeo provide an integrated and aligned
will be free to express any views Hamilton and the retired Sebastian about 20 drivers, 10 teams and launch, driver Guanyu Zhou said: “I operation’, as well as to ‘introduce a
they want to in 2023, despite Vettel used their F1 platform to many sponsors, they have different don’t think [the FIA’s approach] is revised governance framework’
the FIA’s insistence that such publicise various causes. ideas, different views. I cannot say the right way to do it. We are human under ‘a leadership team focused on
opinions shouldn’t be made In contravention to the FIA, F1 one is right, one is wrong but it is so we can say the stuff we want to, transparency and growth’. These
without prior permission. president Stefano Domenicali right, if needed, to give them a but we are not against anyone. We goals have been planned since the
The FIA set out new rules that has said that he would not block platform to discuss their opinions.” are just saying the truth or trying to beginning of this presidency.”
Zhou: outspoken forbade racer from expressing such comments. Several drivers, including Alex be the real person inside and out.”
Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328
Peugeot: ready for WEC...
PEUGEOT RAMPS
UP PREPARATIONS
AHEAD OF 2023 WEC
French firm Peugeot has undertaken
two long-distance tests with its
9X8 sportscar and is planning
a third before the start of the 2023
season at Sebring.
The team made its debut in the final
three rounds of the World Endurance
Championship in 2022 but the car
only saw the end of four of the six
entries split across its two machines.
This year will represent its return
to La Sarthe for the first time since
2011. The cars have tested
extensively at Paul Ricard and
in the Algarve with one further
development session planned.
Technical director Olivier
Jansonnie told Autosport that the
two tests so far had drawn mixed
results. “At this stage of the
programme we have a mixed
feeling, not black and white,” he
said. “We had confirmations of
some failures and we also brought
in some new systems that were
pretty good from the start.”
The first round of the World
Endurance Championship
takes place at Sebring, Florida,
on March 17.
lStoffel Vandoorne has joined the
Peugeot programme as its test and
reserve driver, combining that role
with a similar position for Aston
Martin in F1 and his Formula E
racing. “It’s great to be a part of the
development of the Peugeot 9X8
Hypercar,” said the Belgian. “The
9X8’s unique concept has everybody
talking about Peugeot again. We can
build a very strong future together.”
FORMULA E: HYDERABAD EPRIX BY SAM SMITH
CHAMPION VERGNE GETS HIS FORMULA E MOJO BACK
Vergne fended off the late attacks in Hyderabad
Evans was punted out by his team-mate Bird
LEGGE TIES UP DEAL TO RETURN
TO THE INDY 500 WITH RAHAL
British female racer to tackle the famous brickyard after a decade away
Legge’s last Indy 500
was back in 2013
TSUNODA TOLD TO STEP UP AS ALPHATAURI LAUNCHES
AlphaTauri revealed a the team by highly rated
revised livery for the 2023 Dutchman Nyck de
season at a launch during Vries. Tsunoda finished
New York fashion week 17th in the standings
on Saturday and team with 12 points.
boss Franz Tost says Tost said: “Last year,
he wants driver Yuki Yuki struggled with the
Tsunoda to unlock more car. This year, as I expect
pace from the season. we will have quite a
Tsunoda is entering competitive car, Yuki
his third season with must always aim to be in
the Faenza-based crew, Qualifying 3 and finish
and he will be joined in the races in the points.
Jean-Eric Vergne enjoyed a
spectacular return to form
for the DS Penske operation
after he led home Nick
Cassidy in a tight finish at
the first ever Hyderabad
EPrix last Saturday.
Double Formula E champion
Vergne hit the front on lap nine
when polesitter Mitch Evans
took the first of his two
mandatory attack modes.
When Vergne took his, Sebastien
Buemi took a brief lead but Vergne
soon asserted his authority when
the Swiss driver darted off-line to
grab his extra 50kW of power.
However, the four-time
Le Mans winner fluffed his lines
and missed the in-track activation
loop ensuring that he slipped
further behind Vergne.
Evans, who had momentarily
dropped to fourth after his early
attack boost, cleared the Nissan
of Sacha Fenestraz to come back
By Matt James
British racer Katherine
Legge will return to the
Indy 500 this year, a decade
after her last start in the
American classic.
The 42-year-old has inked
a deal with the Rahal Letterman
Lanigan machine. She will
join full-time racers Graham
Rahal, Christian Lundgaard
and Jack Harvey in the
Honda-powered squad.
Legge has forged a career in
IMSA sportscar racing in
the USA and was previously
involved with Rahal’s electric
programme. She was a race
winner in the team’s Jaguar
I-PACE assault.
She competed in Champ Cars
in 2006 and 2007 and has made
He is a very highly skilled
driver and now has a lot
of experience with two
seasons in Formula 1.
For this reason, of course,
he has to score many
more points than he
did last year.”
AlphaTauri finished
ninth in the constructors’
standings in 2022 with
Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly
at the wheel. AlphaTauri will have a fresh new look for the 2023 grand prix season
into the picture for a potential
move to the front.
However, on lap 12 Evans was
bundled off the track by his own
team-mate Sam Bird at the Turn 3
hairpin. Both cars were damaged
beyond repair and an embarrassed
Bird was left to apologise profusely
to his team and his Kiwi team-mate.
The incident also delayed other
top six runners including Max
Gunther and Fenestraz who both
eventually finished outside the
top 10 after getting stuck amid
the crashed ‘Big Cats’.
It opened up a gap for Nick
Cassidy to exploit in his Envision-
run Jaguar, and while one Kiwi
lay crestfallen, the other was then
tailing leader Vergne in the final
stages of the race.
Despite harrying Vergne for
several laps, and with more battery
energy at his disposal, Cassidy was
unable to make a move stick and
was forced to settle for second.
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 5
several IndyCar appearances,
including the Indy 500 in
2012 and 2013.
Legge said: “I am thrilled to
be back at Rahal Letterman
Lanigan Racing for the biggest
race in the world, the Indy 500.
“Bobby [Rahal] gave me my
first chance to win races for the
team in the Jaguar I-PACE series
a few years ago and it feels like
a homecoming of sorts to be
back with the team.
“I’m hoping I can learn from my
team-mates and team members,
and transition smoothly back to
open wheel racing for May.
I can’t wait to get to work!”
Team boss Bobby Rahal,
himself a former Indy 500
winner, said: “I’ve been a fan of
Katherine’s for many years and
know that, in the right situation,
Buemi took third on the road
but was immediately slapped
with a penalty for a power
overspike on his machine.
Antonio Felix da Costa took
his first podium for Porsche in third,
while team-mate and points leader
Pascal Wehrlein claimed fourth.
That was a heroic performance
from the ex-Sauber F1 driver,
as he raced through the pain barrier
after bruising his back in a hefty
free practice accident.
Mexico City winner Jake Dennis
looked set to grab at least another
podium in his Andretti Porsche but
was pushed off the track at the
hairpin by an over enthusiastic Rene
Rast just as the race went green after
the only safety car of the event.
That was triggered by Jake
Hughes, who bizarrely saw a chunk
of another car’s front wing wipe his
mirror off in the early stages of the
race. The tether from it then entered
his cockpit and jammed in his
Photos: Motorsport Images
Briton will race at Indy
she can be competitive and
figure into the outcome at the
end of the race. It is nice to
have her back with us to work
together at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway for the first
time. I know she looks at this
as a chance to show everybody
what she really can do.”
FEBRUARY 11
steering wheel causing him to shunt
at the exit of Turn 3.
Sergio Sette Camara raced to
his best-ever Formula E result in
fifth. The Brazilian was just ahead
of Oliver Rowland, Norman
Nato and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Completing the top 10 were
Andre Lotterer’s Porsche and
Edoardo Mortara’s Maserati,
the latter of who raced through from
the back after swiping his nose off
in an incident in the opening laps.
Results
When: February 11 Where: Hyderabad Street
Circuit Laps: 32 laps + 1 added
1 Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske) 46m01.099s;
2 Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) +0.400s; 3 Antonio
Felix da Costa (Porsche) +1.859s; 4 Pascal Wehrlein
(Porsche) +2.855s; 5 Sergio Sette Camara (NIO 333)
+3.523s; 6 Oliver Rowland (Mahindra) +7.138s;
7 Norman Nato (Nissan) +7.318s; 8 Stoffel
Vandoorne (DS Penske) +7.564s; 9 Andre Lotterer
(Andretti) +8.703s; 10 Edoardo Mortara (Maserati
MSG) +9.073s. Pole: Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS
Racing); Fastest lap: Nico Muller (ABT Cupra)
1m14.656s (84.90mph). Championship (after
4/16 rounds): 1 Wehrlein 80; 2 Jake Dennis 62; 3
Vergne 31; 4 Sebastien Buemi 31; 5 Nick Cassidy
28; 6 Sam Bird 28.
 SUNDAY 23RD APRIL 2023
SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT

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RACING NEWS
Photos: Jakob Ebrey

DOUGLAS DOUBLE
DRIVER DEAL
Race-winning outfit Douglas
Motorsport has signed Formula
Ford graduate Shawn Rashid and
Brazilian rising star Lucas Staico
to its 2023 GB3 driving strength.
All three of Douglas’s GB3
drivers won races in 2022,
while Douglas fought for the
title in GB3’s predecessor
BRDC British Formula 3 in
2020 with Ulysse De Pauw.
American 26-year-old Rashid
finished fifth in 2022’s National
Formula Ford standings with
Ammonite Motorsport, while
17-year-old Staico won more
than 20 karting titles in South
America then last year on his GT Cup Merc in
single-seater debut finished
British GT move

GREYSTONE GT ADDS
runner-up in the Brazilian
Formula 4 championship.
Rashid said: “The road to
this moment has been long and
gruelling. My relentless work

MERC FOR BRITISH GT

ethic and passion, combined
with Douglas Motorsport’s
prestige and history, are sure to
result in something truly special
this year.”
Staico added: “It’s a high-level
championship and the right way
to start my journey in Europe.”
Meanwhile American 19-year- Team takes on a new brand for its second car to
be driven by GT Cup pairing Price and Macleod
old Jason Conzo will drive for
Oldfield Motorsport in GB4’s Macleod (l) and Price have had GT Cup wins
opening two events.

Rashid has high hopes
By Graham Keilloh
Greystone GT has an all-new
driver line-up and a new car brand
for its second 2023 British GT
championship entry with Mike
Price and Callum Macleod
sharing a Mercedes GT3.
Price and his GT Cup partner, three-time
British GT race-winner Macleod, have
switched to the Greystone team to join
the already announced McLaren 720S
GT3 duo Andrey Borodin and Oli Webb.
Price began racing in 2017 in the
Porsche Club Championship, and
has Britcar and Porsche Sprint
Challenge experience.
He then stepped up to GT Cup in 2021,
and alongside Macleod finished third
in the GTH standings in a Balfe GT4
McLaren. The pair then graduated last
year to GT Cup’s top GT3 class aboard a
RAM Mercedes and took two victories
on their way to fifth in the points. Macleod
last year also occasionally partnered
eventual British GT champion Ian
Loggie in his RAM Mercedes. This
will be Macleod’s first full-time British
GT season since 2019.
Greystone GT made its British GT
debut last year with Stewart and Lewis
Proctor sharing a 720S in the Silver-
Am class, and it added a second 720S
in late-season one-off entries.
Price said: “Every time we’ve [Macleod
and I] moved up a level, our performance
level has raised with it. That’s absolutely
the aim this year.
“Greystone GT are a new team for me,
but I think they’re the right fit. Mark
[McLoughlin, team principal] has built
a proper racing business with the right
infrastructure to continue growing and has
lots of good people within the team.”

SHERWOOD BACK FOR

FULL F4 CAMPAIGN
GB4 race-winner Jack Sherwood
is returning to Chris Dittmann
Racing for a full campaign in
British Formula 4 this season.
Sherwood completed a full GB4
campaign with Elite last year, and
added British F4 appearances
with CDR in the season’s final
four meetings, claiming two
top-10 finishes.
Sherwood said: “We did a couple
of test days at the end of the season
and the pace was promising, by the
end we were really fast.
“My previous bit of experience in
the car is going to be an advantage
as there’s not too many second-year
drivers on the grid so far, but it will
still be super competitive.
“It would be amazing to win the
championship. My main goal though,
is to pick up a few podiums and as
many points as I can and just see
where that leaves us.”
Sherwood back for more F4
British GT entry not
just about racing
MENTAL HEALTH FOCUS IN NEW GT4 EFFORT
Ian Gough and Tom Wrigley will pilot
a new Race Lab-run McLaren Artura
GT4 in British GT this season with
mental health charity The Lions
Barber Collective.
The charity will have a paddock
pop-up hairdressers in British GT’s
six UK rounds this season offering
free haircuts to all – including fans –
as its research indicates men would
rather talk to their hairdresser than
a doctor or family member about
their feelings. The hairdressers are
trained to recognise, ask and listen
for signs of depression.
The hairdressers also includes a race
simulator and a ‘beat the pro’ challenge
where spectators can compete for prizes
against Race Lab’s British GT drivers.
Formula Ford regular Gough makes
McLAREN 720S GT3
EVO IS UNVEILED
his category debut this year while
2016 Ginetta GT4 Supercup
champion Wrigley has his first full-
season programme since finishing
third in 2018’s Porsche Carrera Cup
GB standings.
Automotive innovation hub FastR
is also part of the effort and Ginetta
ace Fin Green is onboard in a driver
development role.
Race Lab is also set to run two GT3
McLarens in British GT this season, McLaren has unveiled the upgraded Evo version of its
one of which will be driven by Britcar successful 720S GT3 customer racing machine. The new car
and Ferrari Challenge champion will be homologated for this season and can be ordered
Lucky Khera and team sporting now as a new-build or an update package. It features
director Euan Hankey. The latter improvements from learnings and feedback on the existing
shared a GT3 McLaren with Mia car, including more overall downforce, more consistency
Flewitt in British GT last season. in traffic, improved serviceability such as a more easily
The second crew was to follow as adjustable rear wing, and stronger uprights in wheel-to-
Motorsport News went to press. wheel contact.
8 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328

RACING NEWS
Photos: Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Jakob Ebrey

OSWICK GETS
750MC AWARD
Club Enduro racer
Joel Oswick is the
latest winner of 750
Motor Club’s John
Miles Young Driver
Award that offers a
financial boost to
up-and-coming talent.
The award is named
in honour of the late
vehicle dynamics guru
and former Formula 1
racer Miles, who had a
long-time attachment Century to be
to 750MC. The winner

CENTURY EXPANDS TO
receives a £1000 cash four-star in ’23 Burton is hunting overall Carrera title in his second year
prize donated by family,
friends, club members
and former colleagues
of Miles, matched
by 750MC with

FOUR-PORSCHE ATTACK
£1000 credit against
entry fees for the
subsequent season.
Former karting star
and full-time mechanic
Oswick raced in his
first proper season in
2022 alongside Dan
Ausano in the German
Autowerks squad. He
was instrumental in Frontrunner team adds three cars to its Carrera Cup GB entry while Burton stays
working with the team
to develop its BMW E36 By Graham Keilloh crown with Century in 2021 in the Rosland Gold Racing knowledge and more hunger than get to say it’s happening,”
328i and the driver duo then switched to Carrera Cup by Century team, and aims to ever. There’s one goal this year he said.
won Club Enduro’s Multiple-champion Century last year in a Century expansion fight for the title. and I’m confident we now have The quartet is completed by
Class C title plus Motorsport will expand to a in partnership with gold Burton said: “Last year was a the perfect recipe to deliver.” Henry Dawes, fresh from the
narrowly missed four-strong Porsche Carrera specialist Rosland Capital. promising year for Century and Burton will joined by James GT4 Supercup and making his
the overall crown. Cup GB line-up for 2023 Burton finished fourth in the myself with wins, podiums and Kellett, who took last year’s British GT3 debut, both with
The award’s judging expanding from its single-car Porsche table with two wins, pole positions but there were Ginetta GT4 Supercup title with Century, and Angus Whiteside
panel, in line with entry last season with British and took the rookie crown. lessons to be learnt for myself and Rosland-Century. “Announcing who finished third in Carrera
Miles’ ethos, takes GT champion Gus Burton. Twenty-year-old Burton for the team. We’re going into this I’m racing a Porsche has always Cup’s 2022 Pro-Am contest
into account technical Burton won British GT4’s 2023 returns for a second season season with more drivers, more been a dream for me and I finally with Toro Verde GT.
ingenuity, development
and prowess as much as

TCR UK INTRODUCES £75,000 PRIZE FUND

on-track racecraft and

PARKER AND FOSTER JOIN DUCKHAMS EFFORT

results. Applications are
open for 2023’s award.
Eligible drivers are
aged 30 or under and
have no more than three
years’ racing experience
on March 1, and race
in at least five 750MC
meetings during 2023.
Oswick got honour
Adam Smalley and Harry
Foster are set to race in
iconic Duckhams colours
in 2023’s Porsche Carrera
Cup GB as Duckhams
Yuasa Racing links up
with champion Team
Parker Racing.
Smalley raced in the
yellow-and-blue livery
in a Duckhams Yuasa
Racing Redline Racing
entry last year, and
finished runner-up
in the Carrera Cup
standings to Team
Parker’s Kiern Jewiss.
Smalley confirmed
last month he has
switched to multiple
Porsche champion Team
Parker for this season,
with his eyes firmly on the
Carrera Cup crown, and
Smalley brings his colours to Team Parker
he is now joined both by
the Duckhams effort
and by reigning Porsche
Sprint Challenge GB
champion Foster.
Foster with Team Parker
last year, on his full Sprint
Challenge debut, scored
six wins in the final seven
races, ending the year
with more victories
TCR UK organisers
for the first time in the
championship’s history
have introduced a cash
prize fund worth
£75,000 for 2023.
In each of its seven
events this year £1000
cash will be awarded to
the overall pole position
winner, while the race-one
winner receives £1500,
than the rest of the
grid combined.
Foster said: “I was
really hoping I’d be able
to do the Carrera Cup this
season and progress to the
next level. When I heard
the news from [team boss]
Stuart Parker I was over
the moon as he told me on
my 21st birthday.”
TCR UK racers will compete for cash in 2023
second place gets £1000
and third place gets £500.
For the race-two
reversed-grid races
the finishing prizes are
£750, £500 and £250
respectively. These prize
amounts also apply to race
three at Knockhill, 2023’s
only three-race event.
The 2023 TCR UK
overall champion will
receive a £15,000 cash
prize, the runner-up
gets £10,000 and the
third-place driver gets
£5000. The Tom Walker
Memorial Trophy
winner and Diamond
Trophy winner also
receive £2500.
In another 2023
addition, its official fuel
supplier Carless Racing
Fuels provides the ‘TCR
Driver of the Day’ award
at each event with the
winner getting a 54-litre
keg of fuel.
Championship manager
Ashley Gallagher said:
“It’s so rare in modern
motorsport that
championships are
able to offer actual cash
prizes for competitors,
as opposed to credit
towards something.”

SINGER ELLINGTON BACK IN ROVER TOMCAT AFTER 25 YEARS

Singer-songwriter Lance
Ellington is to return to
Rover Tomcat racing in
the MG Cup this year after
a quarter century away
from competition.
Ellington, who appears
on the BBC’s Strictly
Ellington will be back in Tomcat Come Dancing, raced a
Daily Mirror-sponsored
Tomcat 220 Turbo in the
Dunlop Rover Turbo Cup
in the 1990s. This year he
will race a Tomcat hired
from Castle Combe
champion Gary Prebble in
selected MG Cup rounds,
hopefully starting with MG
Car Club’s Brands Hatch
April 1-2 season opener.
Ellington also wants to
appear in Hyundai Coupe
Cup this year before
completing a full season
of something in 2024.
He told Motorsport
News: “I’ve been wanting
to get back and do
something for quite a
while. I love the Tomcat,
they were very quick but
they were a lot of fun. I did
more racing in the Tomcats
than anything else. I
thought it would be an
ideal place to pick up.
“Because as a kid I did
all my training at Brands
Hatch that has a very
special place in my heart,
and probably my best
results have been at
Brands. I’d like [on my
comeback] to feel that
I’m still competitive.”
Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328 motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 9

RALLY NEWS

ABITEBOUL PRAISES “MEGA” BREEN AS

IRISHMAN FINDS LOST WRC FORM
Hyundai team chief elated after runner-up Breen fights for victory in Sweden
Photos: Hyundai, Rally Sweden, mcklein-imagedatabase.com

Mikkelsen: Middle East run

Breen stunned
with his speed
By Graham Lister
New Hyundai team chief Cyril
Abiteboul said Craig Breen was
“mega” after the Irishman returned
to form with a fine Sweden podium.
Breen managed two podiums in 13
attempts during his troubled season
away with M-Sport in 2022 but on his
first start of the year since returning to
Hyundai, the 33-year-old bagged four
stage wins and led from SS5-SS13. He
could have notched up his first WRC
win had a tyre delamination and hybrid
failure not cost him precious time while
he was in the thick of the fight on
Saturday afternoon.
After watching Breen bag his fifth
podium for Hyundai in the World
championship, ex-Renault Formula 1
head Abiteboul said: “Craig has just been
mega all weekend, in terms of his speed
and performance, but also his attitude
in understanding the team situation.
Overall, a tremendous team result.”
Abiteboul’s referenced to the “team
situation” followed a bodged attempt
to promote Hyundai’s number one
Thierry Neuville into second place to
boost the Belgian’s title push. However, a
The Irishman (r) is now hungry for more success
muddled Powerstage left Breen in second
with Neuville in third.
“We had an opportunity to try and move
Thierry up the standings,” Abiteboul said.
“We supported that strategy by electing to
take a penalty for Craig. It didn’t work out
as planned; the gods of speed decided
otherwise and we completely respect
that. We’re all still smiling.”
Of his first podium since Rally Italy
last June, Breen said: “I needed it for my
own state. It’s been a rough old couple
of months, over a year basically. I won’t
say I lost the confidence, but for sure it
was difficult to keep the belief all the
MIKKELSEN,
OSTBERG PLAN
QATAR BATTLE
Andreas Mikkelsen is due
to start his first stage rally
since early November after
being entered for Qatar’s
Middle East championship
counter this week.
The former factory Hyundai
and Volkswagen WRC
driver and WRC2 and ERC
champion will form part of
time. But to be fighting at the front, a three-strong Sports Racing
already on Friday it was great but there Technologies Skoda Fabia
was still some doubt with our road Rally2 entry, which will also
position. As much as everybody else was feature his fellow Norwegian
questioning it I was questioning it myself Mads Ostberg and Finn
as well. Until you are at a level playing Emil Lindholm.
field with your competitors you can’t Based at the Lusail karting
really be sure. But to continue to speed centre, the event features 13
into Saturday and again today we have stages over a 130-mile timed
to be really happy. It just leaves me route and gets underway
hungry for the future now.” with a superspecial stage
With Dani Sordo expected to return to at the karting track
the third Hyundai in Mexico, Breen’s tonight (Thursday).
next WRC outing is likely to be the Local legend Nasser
Croatia Rally from April 20-23. Al-Attiyah is the top seed.

WILSON URGES MORE RESPECT FOR WRC BATTLERS

Malcolm Wilson says the World
Rally Championship deserves
more respect based on the
results of the fourth ice- and
snow-coated stage of Rally
Sweden last weekend.
Seven-tenths of a second
covered the top four after the
16-mile run with all three Rally1
manufacturers represented
among the leading quartet.
Takamoto Katsuta took the
Katsuta was narrowly fastest on an epic Rally Sweden stage stage win for Toyota, 0.3s
faster than World champion
team-mate Kalle Rovanpera.
Ott Tanak was 0.2s down on
Rovanpera in the lead Ford Puma,
while Craig Breen was a further
0.2s behind the M-Sport man in
his factory Hyundai.
Speaking to fans in the Rally
Sweden service park after
Friday’s leg, Wilson said: “If
you think there was one stage
26 kilometres long and four cars
were separated by 0.7s, three
different manufacturers. It’s
incredible and it’s something we
need to get across to all the fans
and the rest of the rally world,
even the general public. It’s less
time than you see between the
fastest F1 car and probably the
10th-fastest car on a qualifying
lap. It’s an incredible sport, so
please keep supporting it.”
Ex-Renault Formula 1 boss
turned Hyundai WRC team chief
Cyril Abiteboul said: “I’m used to
circuit racing, a very different
type of racing, but this is
something, quite unique. The
images from the helicopter
at sunset, it’s just amazing.
“Those close up images are
great but still they don’t give
credit to what the guys are doing.
So we also have to think about
how we give that feeling of
speed even better, to be closer
to the action because it is
just remarkable.”

COLIN’S CREST IS BACK FOR SWEDEN’S ALL-NEW EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY

Colin’s Crest is set to be used once more
following confirmation that the Vargasen
stage will be included on the route of
the European championship-counting
Royal Rally of Scandinavia in July.
Vargasen – and the Colin’s Crest
jump in particular – was a highlight of
Rally Sweden when the event was based
in the Varmland region of the country.
But it hasn’t been used since 2019 due
to various cancellations and the event
moving north to Umea for 2022.
Given its name as a tribute to the
late Colin McRae, the Colin’s Crest
section traditionally attracted thousands
of spectators, while marker posts were
added to measure how far cars jumped.
McRae’s nephew Max McRae is set
to contest what will count as round
three of the Junior ERC Championship
from July 6-8.
Glenn Olsson, who used to run Rally
Sweden but is now heading up the new
Royal Rally of Scandinavia, said: “The
event is going to be based in Karlstad
and we are planning to do the Powerstage
on Colin’s Crest. The rally will be 50%
festival and 50% rally. We’re going to try
to attract the traditional fan base around
Varmland. We have a really good feeling
the drivers are going to want to come and
we’re really looking forward to this.
“We have been struggling with the
[right] winter [conditions] for many years
[for Rally Sweden in Varmland] and we
always said we’re longing to do an event
in the summertime and now we can.”
Karlstad, located three hours by car
west of Stockholm, was Rally Sweden’s
long-term home. It will host the Royal
Rally of Scandinavia service park.
Simon Larkin, part of the ERC
promoter team, said: “We’ve found a
fantastic new home in Umea for the WRC
but Varmland was a fantastic [WRC] host
for many years and it’s great we can keep
the knowledge, experience and the
fanbase in Varmland for the ERC.”

BRIT CO-DRIVER EDMONDSON LINKED TO SCANDINAVIA RALLY RUN WITH SOLBERG

Elliott Edmondson is expected
to be on co-driving duty when
Royal Rally of Scandinavia takes
place for the first time in July.
Edmondson will partner
Oliver Solberg on the European
championship round with
Solberg one of several top
Scandinavian drivers set
to compete.
Other leading local names
linked to tackling the Karlstad-
based gravel event include
Johan Kristoffersson, Mads
Ostberg, Pontus Tidemand
and Ole Christian Veiby. World
champion Petter Solberg is
being tipped to a course car-
driving role along with his older
brother Henning.
Meanwhile, Junior WRC
champion Tom Kristensson is
another Scandinavian driver
expected to take part after he
announced an ERC campaign
in a Citroen C3 Rally2 run by
the Hungarian Tagai team
and co-driven by Torstein
Eriksen, Andreas Mikkelsen’s
regular navigator.
Colin’s Crest will be used on July event
10 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328

RALLY NEWS

FOURMAUX ADDS WRC EDGE

TO MALCOLM WILSON RALLY
French M-Sport driver to keep sharp with Lake District outing in March Down Rally was the best
Photos: mcklein-imagedatabase.com, Martin Walsh, Ben Lawrence
DOWN IS VOTED BEST
By Paul Lawrence
ARC RALLY OF 2022
WRC2 contender Adrien Fourmaux will add The Down Rally has won
star quality to the opening round of the British the Protyre Motorsport UK
Rally Championship, the Malcolm Wilson Rally. Asphalt Rally Championship
Fourmaux has stepped down from WRC1 to WRC2 ‘Rally of the Year’ award for
for the 2023 season with the M-Sport team and will use 2022 based on votes cast by
the Lake District event on March 11 to accrue more seat the registered competitors.
time ahead of his next WRC2 outing on Rally Mexico. The event, which is organised
Fourmaux, 27, started his ‘23 campaign in WRC2 by Rathfriland MC and
on Rally Monte Carlo, but missed Sweden last Ballynahinch & District
weekend and will now use the opening BRC round Motor Club, featured some
as a lead in to Rally Mexico, which starts five days of Northern Ireland’s best
after the Malcolm Wilson. stages, including the famous
The Frenchman is familiar with the stages in the Hamilton’s Folly test.
Lake District as he has tested extensively with M-Sport The Down Rally will be
in Greystoke forest and won the corresponding event back this year as round six
in 2020, when he finished the day more than a minute- of the Motorsport News-
and-a-half clear of the regular BTRDA frontrunners. supported championship on
That included being fastest by 32 seconds through Saturday, July 22. The route
10.5 miles of Grizedale North. will take in eight special stages
Fourmaux tweeted: “I am happy to announce and 60 competitive miles.
I will participate to the opening round of the British Clerk of the course Andrew
Rally Championship! I have some good memories Gilmore said: “Thank you
here as I won it in 2020.” to everyone who makes
For those competing on the opening BRC event, the running of our event
Fourmaux will be a real marker for this year’s possible, from our competitors,
Fourmaux will run championship contenders and it is possible that volunteers, sponsors, marshals
the Frenchman will return to the championship for and the wonderful committee
on Malcolm Wilson future rounds this season. that dedicate their spare time to
make it all happen.”

JONATHAN JACKSON TAKES PRIME RALLY ROLE AT MOTORSPORT UK

Leading co-driver Jonathan
Jackson has been appointed
to one of the most significant
roles in UK rallying.
Jackson, 33, will take on the
role of head of rallies and cross
country at Motorsport UK at
the end of February. Jackson’s
appointment was announced
three days after he partnered
Meirion Evans to victory on
the opening round of the Irish
Tarmac Rally Championship
in their VW Polo GTI R5.
As well as being a leading
co-driver, having contested up to
20 rallies a year since he started
in 2010, Jackson is also a trainee
clerk of the course and has
worked with Formula 1000
and on the BTRDA rallies
committee. As a lifelong member
of North Wales Car Club, he is
part of the organising team for
the Cambrian Rally.
Jackson will join Motorsport
UK reporting to John Ryan,
safety and sporting director, and
will be Motorsport UK’s prime
representative in relation to all
rally and cross-country matters,
focusing on the strategic
direction of rallying to secure
its long-term sustainability.
Jackson said: “I’m absolutely
delighted to be joining
Motorsport UK. As someone
who has been a passionate,
lifelong fan of the sport, it’s a
great honour to have been
selected for this position. I’ve
been very fortunate to have been
able to experience a number of
great things during my time in
the sport so far, both in and out
of the car. We have a fantastic
discipline full of some of the
most enthusiastic and most
knowledgeable people. I’ve no
doubt there’s a lot to be done
and many challenges lie ahead,
but I can’t wait to get started.” Jackson (right) will take up Motorsport UK position

RACER-TURNED-RALLY DRIVER TILLEY ENTERS BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Kyle Tilley will contest several
asphalt rounds of this year’s
British Rally Championship as
well as a couple of events in
Ireland, including Killarney’s
Rally of the Lakes.
Tilley, 34, the 2021 Asian Le
Mans LMP2 Am champion and
sometime NASCAR racer, has
turned to rallying in recent years
particularly in the US where he
Tilley will focus his attention on BRC asphalt rounds is based for most of the year. He
started with a Group 4 historic-
specification Ford Escort Mk2
on the 2022 Riponian Rally.
He has experience in a Ford
Fiesta R5 in North America but
has acquired a Citroen C3 Rally2
and is keen to do more rallies back
in his native Britain.
“The level back home and the
level in Ireland is like nowhere
else in the world apart from WRC,”
Tilley told MN. “So for me, still
learning, it gives me an opportunity
to push myself and gauge myself
against some of the quickest guys
out there without doing it at a
WRC event.
“My British championship
schedule is all of the asphalt rounds
apart from Ypres, and obviously I
know more what I’m doing on
asphalt than gravel so we’ll be on
a bit more of a push there rather
than a learning experience.
“We’ll do those events and then
we’ll see come the end of the year
how they’ve gone and, if we’re in a
position to put something together
championship wise, we’ll make a
decision if we purchase a gravel kit
for the Citroen for the last two.”
Tilley’s year will also include
the majority of the American Rally
Association season and the Roger
Albert Clark Rally in November
in his Escort Mk2.
Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328
RALLY NEWS
Evans is flying
EVANS WANTS GALWAY WIN
the flag for Wales
TO BE ITRC SPRINGBOARD
Volkswagen Polo driver aims to keep up momentum with Irish attack
By Martin Walsh
Meirion Evans hopes that
victory on the season-opening
Galway Rally will be his
springboard to winning
the coveted Irish Tarmac
Rally Championship.
The Welsh driver is bidding to be
OVER 160 ENTRIES
LODGED FOR
AGBO STAGES
Many stage rally competitors
have been left disappointed after
not getting an entry for the AGBO
Stages after the Weston Park event
was massively over-subscribed.
The organisers from Owen
Motoring Club for the March 12
event in the Shropshire Parkland
received a massive 166 entries
for the 80 places available.
Weston Park, which comprises
a series of narrow asphalt roads
through parkland, has always
been a popular venue and the
AGBO is traditionally a season
NEW DATE FOR POSTPONED BOVINGTON STAGES
The Bovington Stages planned
for March 4-5 has been rescheduled
for August 19-20.
The Dorset asphalt venue is an
MoD property and permission
for Bournemouth and District Car
the first driver from outside the
island of Ireland to win the title
since Russell Brookes in 1989 and
will now head to round two, the
West Cork Rally on March 18-19.
His father Melvyn, who runs
the VW Polo GTi R5, is a former
winner of the West Cork, with
victory in a Subaru Impreza
Lucky drivers managed to get an entry for the AGBO
opener for a number of
championships. However,
a total of 166 entries is even
higher than everyone expected.
A field of 80 cars plus 25 reserves
has been revealed.
Clare Jennings from the
organising team said: “The venue
is unique in its nature as a stately
Club to run the March event has
been withdrawn due to priority
military training.
A spokesman for the Bournemouth
club said: “After careful
consideration of championship
WRC in 2002 and again in 2006.
Evans and co-driver Jonathan
Jackson won the final ITRC round
of 2022, the Ulster Rally, and put a
marker down for 2023 with victory
on the title opener in Galway. Once
again, Evans had a mighty battle
with current champion Josh
Moffett (Hyundai i20 R5).
home and draws in people from
all over the country.”
Some of those unable to get a
place on the AGBO have now
transferred their attention to the
Dukeries Rally, which runs at
Donington Park on the same
day as a round of the Circuit
Rally Championship.
calendars, and venue availability,
the event has been rescheduled for
August 19-20. The organising team
fully realises the disappointment for
competitors, marshals and officials,
but the situation is out of our hands.”
Photos: David Harrigan, Martin Walsh, Ben Lawrence
Evans said: “I was nervous when
I retook the lead because I know
what Josh can do, he can pull a stage
out of the bag. So, I had to really
focus. We didn’t slow down at all
and we just had to push on. We had
a bit of a breather entering the final
stage, but we still had to go pretty
strong. I’m delighted. It’s on now to
SAM MOFFETT WANTS TO
FINISH HIGHER IN WEST CORK
Irish Tarmac Rally Championship
returnee Sam Moffett was
satisfied with his third-placed
finish on the Galway International
Rally where he gave a debut to his
all-new Hyundai i20 R5.
Moffett said: “Third-placed
points, yeah, I’m happy enough.
It would be nice to have been a
bit higher up, but more seat time
is required. I got a great feel for
the car and I’ve got to be happy
with it.”
Moffett’s last sealed-surface
outing in a Hyundai i20 R5 was
in the 2021 Kerry Winter Rally
when he drove his brother Josh’s
current car to victory. Asked for a
comparison, he said: “I’m not sure
about sharpness but definitely the
feeling in the car is good, set-up
and braking is very good and it
allows you keep the foot down
and push that bit harder.”
Having taken a sabbatical from
the ITRC, he’s now back in the
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 11
MACBETH SET
TO SAMPLE R5 ON
THE SNOWMAN
Scottish Rally
Championship
regular Scott Macbeth
will get his first taste
of R5 rallying on
next month’s SRC
opener, the Snowman
Rally on March 4.
Macbeth, who
usually drives a
Mitsubishi Lancer
E9, will hire a
Ford Fiesta R5
from McKinstry
Motorsport in
Northern Ireland for
some of the gravel
events, but will retain
his Mitsubishi for
use on the asphalt of
the Jim Clark and
Argyll rallies.
Macbeth, 30, told
MN: “I’ve never even
sat in an R5 but I’m
looking forward to
trying it. We’ve gone
for a right-hand-drive
example as I wasn’t
keen on left-hand
drive given I’ve no
experience. I’ll see
how the first event
goes in it but due to
work commitments
and so on I won’t be
doing a full season.
I don’t think I’ll be
much faster but
it’s worth a try.”
Macbeth has
West Cork and hopefully try and been a regular top-
win this championship: we 10 overall finisher
were so close last year.” in the Lancer across
Evans was the first overseas the last two Scottish
driver to win in Galway since Rally Championship
Mark Higgins (Subaru WRC) campaigns, with a
won the event in 2008. His best of fifth place
attention now switches to on last year’s
Clonakilty for round two. Snowman event.
Sam Moffett has high hopes for the West Cork Rally
chase once more and has turned On the pace at the top, he
his attentions to the West Cork added: “Yeah, it’s good. I think
Rally. He explained: “I would the first pass over the stages
be hoping to go one better [than is where you can make the
Galway] and continue to battle difference. With tyre choices
for the lead. We kind of fell off you have to gamble sometimes
on Saturday evening, so we and in Galway we were on the
need to get back up there and wrong side of that gamble, but
stay with the guys.” we will take that.”
12 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328

SPORTING SCENE NEWS

CHAMPION EKSTROM TAKES UP WORLD

RX SPORTING DIRECTOR ROLE FOR 2023
Racer and champion to handle sporting matters and format of the mixed-surface sport
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool, Nitro RX, QEV
By Hal Ridge
World Rallycross drivers’ champion
and team owner Mattias Ekstrom
has been recruited by World RX
bosses to work within the series
in 2023.
Ekstrom has become Rallycross
Promoter’s sporting director, working
alongside series boss Arne Dirks and the
wider team in an effort to “develop and
grow World RX in every area as the series
prepares to embark upon the second
season of its exciting electric era,” said
a statement by the championship.
Following in his father Bengt’s
footsteps, double DTM champion
Ekstrom made his rallycross debut in
2013, created his own EKS team for
the 2014 campaign and claimed both
the drivers’ and teams’ titles in 2016.
The Swede claimed his fourth Race
of Champions victory last month. Ekstrom
last raced in World RX in the Latvian
Ekstrom racing round of the 2021 series, driving for the
Munnich Motorsport team, having made a
back in 2021 Swede has a new role within RX surprise full-season comeback in 2020 and
finished second in the standings to Johan
Kristoffersson.
“It will be a bit different now I’m not
racing in the championship, but it’s
great to be back – even more so with
such an exciting challenge ahead of me,”
said Ekstrom. “I’ve been in and around
rallycross ever since I was a kid, watching
my father compete in the European
Championship in the 1980s and ’90s.
It’s a discipline I love, one that has brought
me a lot of success and one that I am
convinced has a very bright future.”
Clarifying details about his role,
Ekstrom continued: “I will represent
Rallycross Promoter in all sporting
matters relating to the World
championship, from the format to
commercial and sponsorship affairs and,
in broader terms, the overall product. I’m
keen to bring the benefit of my experience
to really strengthen the series at this
important stage in its history. That means
I’ll be working closely with the drivers,
teams, circuits, partners and the FIA, as
well obviously as Arne [Dirks] and the
rest of the Rallycross Promoter team.”

LINNEMANN SET TO CONTINUE IN EURO RX

Danish rallycross
contender Ulrik
Linnemann has shelved
plans to stop driving
at the highest level of
the European Rallycross
Championship and will
compete in at least
three rounds of the
2023 campaign.
Driving within his
family-run team last
year, Linnemann
returned after a four-
year hiatus last season
and finished on the
podium with his Ford
Fiesta in the opening
round, in Hungary.
He also finished on the
podium in Portugal
later in the year.
“I enjoyed being back
in Euro RX1 last season
and the plan is to be on
the grid in Hungary,
Sweden and Germany for
sure,” said 34-year-old
Linnemann. “I want
to be sure that I can be
competitive at the top
level, so I will need a
bigger budget to drive the
full championship again.”
Linnemann’s Fiesta
has received upgrades
to its two-litre turbo
engine ahead of the 2023
campaign. He also plans
to contest the opening
rounds of the RallyX
Nordic campaign at Linnemann will
his home Nysum Circuit
in Denmark. tackle Euro events

PASTRANA STOPS RALLYING TO FOCUS ONLY ON NITRO RX
Multiple American rally
champion Travis Pastrana
has stepped down from
the 2023 American Rally
Association Championship
campaign with Subaru
Motorsports USA to focus
on his commitments with
Nitro Rallycross, and to
spend more time with
his family.
Nitro Rallycross is
Pastrana’s brainchild
and he also competes in
the series. He raced in the
most recent two events
using a tribute livery to
Ken Block, his long-time
friend and rival with whom
he competed directly
against in ARA last year.
Block passed away in an
accident last month.
Pastrana announced
that he would not contest
the 2023 ARA season in
the lead up to the SnoDrift
rally last weekend.
“I’ve been on the road a
lot racing both two and
Pastrana steps back
four wheels professionally
for over 25 years,” he said.
“A bad injury to kick off
2022 followed by the
passing of two close friends
has me taking a step back
to re-evaluate priorities.
I love racing with all of my
heart, but I’m spread too
thin at the moment to be the
driver, the rider, the father
and the husband I want to
be. I will be focusing on
Nitro Rallycross but taking
a step back from rally and
American racer will now concentrate on RX
offshore powerboat racing.
“While it is likely that
I will come to a race or two
over the year in both of these
series, I felt that committing
to the full championships
again was not in my family’s
best interest.”
Pastrana reiterated that
he isn’t the start of him
retiring from motorsport.
“This is not me throwing
in the towel or retiring,”
he added. “This year is
starting out busier than
DE RIDDER BECOMES ICE RACING CHAMPION
Former full-time World QEV Zeroid machines, the while he only once
Rallycross Championship same cars as used in World dropped points in
competitor and FIA RX2e RX’s RX2e series, 2021 qualifying when Ferre beat
champion Guillaume champion De Ridder beat him to the top-qualifier
De Ridder secured his 2022 RX2e contender position at the third round.
fourth win from four Raul Ferre and reigning Other big-name drivers
in the GSERIES-E champion Viktor Vranckx to compete in the series
championship at the to claim the winter crown. included Extreme E
ice-covered Circuit Using different iterations runners Christine GZ,
Andorra in the principality of the same venue, Belgian Catie Munnings and
to secure the title. driver De Ridder took Laia Sanz, while RX2e
In the single- maximum final points podium-finisher Nils
specification contest for at each of the four rounds, Andersson also took part.
ever, but it is time to
refocus. I have always
believed that rallycross
has a future in the USA but
it will take more time and
effort on my end to get it
where it needs to go. This
year I am finally building
my dream track from
scratch at MidAmerica
Outdoors, where Nitro
Rallycross will stand
alongside other wild events
being built and run by some
of my heroes and legends.” De Ridder was the top dog in all four rounds of the GSERIES-E contest
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HISTORICS
DOWN THE PUB
REMEMBERING
BOB RUTHERFORD
Navigator Scholarship
Bob Rutherford: inspiration
It is a new Scholarship
HERO-ERA has launched the
Bob Rutherford Historic Rally
Scholarship for Young Navigators.
It is an opportunity to receive full
training from experts and attend
Motorsport UK Academy courses
and the winner will compete in
four rallies alongside an expert
driver. It is open to aspiring
navigators aged 14 to 24 years.
It remembers the late
Bob Rutherford
The scholarship was set up by
Guy Woodcock and Bob’s rally
organiser son Will Rutherford,
in the memory of the late Bob
Rutherford. Bob lost his life
in 2021 in an accident during
an event recce and is fondly
remembered by many people.
He always helped
newcomers
Bob enjoyed a great career
in rallying and was a fount of
knowledge who always had
time to help those wanting to
learn. With a limited number
of younger people starting
regularity rallying, it was decided
to embrace his enthusiasm,
energy and passion for helping
youngsters into the sport by
developing a scheme in his name.
There is a big prize
The scholarship aims to support
and hone the skills of a young
navigator and, across a year,
teach them everything they
need to know. The winner of the
annual scholarship will have the
opportunity to attend all HERO-
ERA training seminars as well
as having an entry, car and
experienced driver provided for
four HERO-ERA rallies. Entries
open on March 1 and the winner
will be announced in September
after a selection day at Bicester
Heritage. No experience or
knowledge is necessary.
His son’s view
Will Rutherford said: “Dad
was an avid rally man who was
passionate about welcoming
new people into the sport, which
is evident by the fact that both
his sons have enjoyed competing
and organising rallies from a very
young age. He was always keen
to put something back into
the sport that he loved and
this scholarship epitomises that.”
Guy Woodcock’s view
Guy Woodcock, HERO-ERA
competition director, said: “It
makes me immensely proud to
be part of this ground-breaking
scholarship in the name and
memory of Bob Rutherford.”
ENTRY LEVEL AT 180 CARS FOR
ROGER ALBERT CLARK RALLY
Regular runners to get priority for five-day historic marathon in November
By Paul Lawrence
Competitors who have
supported previous editions
of the Roger Albert Clark
Rally will take precedence
if the entry for the 2023
event is over-subscribed.
Entries for the November
23-27 rally will open at
1800hrs on March 1 but
a new entry process is being
implemented to avoid the rush
to secure an entry. Competitors
will have until March 19 to
complete the online entry
and pay a deposit of £1000.
The maximum entry is 180
plus 15 reserves. Within the
180, 25 entries will be allocated
to first-time competitors, 15
entries will be at the organisers’
discretion and 20 entries
will be reserved for foreign-
based competitors.
Should there be more than
FORMULA LIBRE RACES FOR SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL
The Historic Sports Car
Club will take three grids,
featuring over 150 cars,
to the Silverstone Festival
on August 25-27.
As well as giving its
members the chance to race
at this headline event, the
HSCC is inviting racers from
other series across the UK
and Europe to race at the
biggest historic motor racing
festival of the season.
The new races will be the
Silverstone Formula Libre
Trophy for any pre-1990
Rallyday fans will get a new July date
PETER COLLINS TO BE COMMEMORATED
A permanent memorial to British
Grand Prix driver Peter Collins
is planned for the Nurburgring
where he died in 1958.
Enthusiast Mark Andrews
has set up a GoFundMe
campaign to raise money
for a life-size bronze bust of
Collins to be cast and put on a
pedestal at the German circuit.
Collins could have been
Britain’s first World champion
120 applicants for the remaining
120 entries, priority will be
given to drivers who have
previously started the event the
most times. Only two drivers
have started all 14 editions
but many have done the event
multiple times and loyal
supporters will be recognised.
single-seater and the Road
Sports Trophy for pre-
1980 production sports
and saloons. The HSCC
Thundersports category will
also return to the event.
Andy Dee-Crowne of the
HSCC said: “I hope that
many of our racing members
will take the chance to be part
of the 2023 Festival. I also
hope that drivers from across
historic and classic racing
who normally compete in
other series will come and
join us for a one-off event.”
THE ORIGINAL STIG TO HEADLINE COMBE RALLYDAY
Stig Blomqvist will be
one of the major stars
in attendance at Castle
Combe’s Rallyday
on Saturday, July 1.
Following visitor reaction
to the 2022 event, Castle
Combe has promised a
bigger and better rallyday
in 1956 but surrendered his
car to Juan Manuel Fangio
in the final race of the season
at Monza. Sadly, he died two
years later without winning
the title.
Andrews said: “Peter
Collins remains one of the
few leading drivers of the era
without a permanent memorial,
which is why I am heading
this campaign.”
A second instalment of £1500
will be due by July 1. The entry
fee is £4900 but any entries
paid in full by April 30 will be
discounted to £4500.
All accepted entries at March
31 will go into a draw and one
crew will receive a credit of
£1000 towards the balance of
The Thundersports grid will be packed at Silverstone
than ever before, on a
new date in early July.
As well as Blomqvist,
who first came to UK
prominence by winning
the 1971 RAC Rally in a
Saab 96, Louise Aitken-
Walker will also be on
hand. The Scot was the first
Plans are being drawn up for Collins tribute
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 13
Photos: Paul Lawrence
The R.A.C. field
will be packed
the entry. All entries received
and paid in full by May 1 will
be entered into a draw and
the winner will get a refund
of 50% of their fee.
The event regulations are
due to be published on Saturday,
February 18 and entries will
open 11 days later.
ever Ladies World Rally
champion in 1990.
“This is the first of many
announcements,” said a
circuit spokesperson. “We
have a raft of improvements,
including new stars and
new cars to increase the
excitement of Rallyday.”
IN BRIEF
SDC backing
SDC will be the title sponsor for
the Historic Sports Car Club’s Classic
Formula Ford 1600 championship
this season, with support that will
enable each competitor to benefit
from a significant rebate on every
race entry. The new support for the
championship for pre ’82 Formula
Ford 1600s will give contenders a £75
rebate for each of the six double-
header race weekends contested.
Kieft for sale
The unique 1953 Kieft Grand Prix car,
which never raced in period, is now
being offered for sale. The ambitious
British project finally made its race
debut in 2002 and has been raced
regularly over the last 20 years,
notably by Nigel Batchelor. The
striking car is powered by a raucous
Coventry Climax V8 engine and has
run with the HGPCA and at Goodwood.
Three-Hour builds
In the first week of entries being
open for the 18th edition of the
Autosport 3-Hour race the first 12
grid places, out of 38, were taken for
the Pre ’66 GT race at Snetterton
on April 23. Early entries are mostly
under two-litre cars covering MGBs,
Lotus Elans, TVR Granturas and
Porsche 911s with half of the entries
being father-and-son pairings.
Return of the Mac
Stuart McLaren will return to the
British Rally Championship this
season in his historic-specification
Opel Kadette GTE. McLaren contested
the BRC National Cup in 2021 and
enjoyed the recce and longer events
offered by the championship. He will
now run his ex-Opel Sweden car in
rounds of the BRC, which will include
his first time on the Ulster Rally in
Northern Ireland.
Scotsman fills
Only six of the 100 available entries on
this year’s Flying Scotsman vintage
rally remain available. Running from
April 14-16, the UK’s leading rally for
vintage cars will run for three days
across Scotland and the north of
England before finishing at the
Gleneagles Hotel near Perth. This
will be the 13th edition of the HERO-
ERA event which draws competitors
from across Europe.
Jordan graduates
Double Classic FF1600 champion
Jordan Harrison will step up to slicks
and wings this season to contest
the Historic FF2000 Championship.
Harrison has been the Classic FF1600
pacesetter with a Lola T540E but
has now bought a T580 from the
same era for his graduation. The
FF2000 car was last raced by Philip
Walker. The HFF2000 season opens
at Snetterton on April 22-23.
F1 on track
A demonstration of Formula 1 cars
from 1966 right through to the
modern day will be a feature of
this year’s Silverstone Festival on
August 25-27. Organised by Masters
Historic Racing, the demonstration
sessions will run for 15 minutes each
day for a wide range of cars, which
will then be on display in a dedicated
area of the international paddock.
Cars with a history at Silverstone
will be given priority.
14 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk
FEATURE
THE ORIGINAL
DUTCH MASTER
Matt James put the posers to the ever-popular
racer, one of Formula Ford 1600 finest exponents
I
f you looked up the word
tenacity in the dictionary,
do not be surprised to see
a picture of Dutch racer
Michael Vergers there.
The now 53-year-old is
still winning races in the
GT2 European Series some
three decades after bursting
onto the racing scene and into
the UK consciousness with
some swashbuckling in British
Formula Ford.
Vergers, who grew up in Spain,
knew the writing was on the wall for
his single-seater career in the mid-
1990s. A season in the Formula Opel
Euroseries and a foray to the States in
Barber Saab failed to spark the interest –
or the funding – that he needed to push
his way to the top.
Instead, he forged a sportscar racing
path and went on to tackle Le Mans
on four occasions as part of a six-year
stint in the Le Mans series.
Through his extensive coaching
abilities, Vergers formed a successful
partnership with Danish businessman
Juan Barazi and that led him to his long-
distance glory (including the 2006 LMS
LMP2 crown) as well as outings at
Goodwood, which were all punctuated
by a stint of road rallying…yes, really…
Vergers spent 10 years working in
Saudi Arabia with the emerging talent
in the region and he has now relocated
to Spain, which is where we caught up
with him. We’re grateful for his time.
Question: What prompted you to go
karting in the first place? Were you
encouraged by your family?
James Hilton
Via email
Michael Vergers: “It all came from
my dad. As a 17-year-old, he headed up
the Stirling Moss Fan Club in Holland,
so he was very into his motor racing
Vergers: true
although he was never able to afford to
take part himself. He had all these press
FF1600 legend clippings and cuttings sent over and he
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would collate them all. He ran the club
with Hans Hugenholtz Jr, who was
the son of Hans Hugenholtz who had
originally designed the Zandvoort track
among others. My dad and Hans even
got media passes to go to the Dutch GPs.
“Eventually, we ended up moving
to Spain when I was about three-and-a-
half years old and we ended up living
next door to James Hunt. We were
on a small hilltop and there were just
two houses – his and ours – and one
shared driveway, so of course we got to
know him very well. He was obviously
gallivanting around the world and being
his playboy self all the time. But I used
to go to his house as a young teenager
and even in those days he had a video
recorder, and I used to watch all of the
grands prix. He had a subscription
to Motoring News, Autosport and
the Italian magazine Autosprint, and
I would be able to bury myself in them,
sat there in his house surrounded by
all of James’s trophies. James, who
would always rock up in his white
Porsche 911 Turbo, would often come
to our house and he was always trying
to chat up my mum…”
MN: So your dad was very encouraging
when you decided you wanted to
go karting?
MV: “In the south of Spain in those
days, there was only one permanent
karting track right by the airport in
Malaga which was only about 600
metres long. We used to go there on
weekends, and he would put me on a
hire kart. Eventually, we bought a
really cheap go kart for me and then,
after a while, he himself bought a kart
and he too started racing. The racing in
the south of Spain in those days was all
done on street tracks. When I was racing
against him on the small permanent
track, I ended up going faster than him
and he stopped to focus on my activities.
“We entered the south of Spain
kart championships on all these street
tracks, and it was mega. Every time
you would go to a sleepy town or
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village where nothing else really
happened to race our karts, we were all
treated like celebrities. It was fabulous.”
MN: Were you successful?
MV: “I was. I won my first ever kart
race in an American Navy base in
Rota. I won the southern Spanish
championship twice: once as a junior
and once as a senior.”
MN: So you had success in Spain, but
you began your car racing career in the
Dutch and Benelux FF1600 series…
MV: “The natural progression after
karting was to go single-seater racing
and so, in 1987, I enrolled at the Jim
Russell Racing Drivers’ School at
Snetterton. It was a known thing
that if you performed in England,
or if you could at least hack it there,
then you could go on to make the right
impression. I remember meeting
[future BTCC racer] Simon Harrison
there that day too.
“I did OK and, at around that time, my
parents moved back to Holland. I joined
a race team called Cirrus Motorsport,
“We lived
right next
door to
James
Hunt”
Michael Vergers
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 15
Photos: Motorsport Images, Jakob Ebrey, Gary Hawkins
Vergers leads Coulthard
at the Festival in 1989
which was run by Ken Stanford. We
did a deal whereby he would run my
Formula Ford car and I would work
for his Opel Lotus team in the
Euroseries. We actually leased the
car from Henny Vollenberg. I did OK
in the championship but I didn’t win it.
I think I got on the podium on a couple
of occasions.”
MN: You first really got noticed at
the Formula Ford Festival in 1989 at
Brands Hatch, when you diced with
David Coulthard all the way through
your heats, quarters, semis and then
on into the final…
MV: “I wouldn’t say we were friends,
but in the paddock of course you know
people. We would say hello, but that
was about it. But I certainly remember
that Festival very fondly.”
MN: Did you feel that was a
breakthrough for you?
MV: “Not really. I had won a race at
Castle Combe earlier in the season and
I think that was more important. That
brought me to the attention of people
like Van Diemen and that was a crucial
stepping-stone and then, of course, the
performances at the Festival helped
me towards getting the Duckhams
Van Diemen drive for 1990.”
MN sets the scene: Vergers mopped up
in British Formula Ford in 1990 in the
factory Van Diemen and beat Reynard’s
Gareth Rees to the crown. Formula
Ford was a category that the Dutchman
returned to time and again, and indeed
he has taken part in several Walter
Hayes Trophies since the turn of the
decade. It is a category that he simply
can’t leave alone…
Question: Should Formula Ford
1600 be the compulsory first step Despite taking the national crown, Vergers missed out at the Formula Ford Festival in a damp 1990 event
continued on page 16
16 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328

FEATURE

Vergers was still trying to win the Festival in

1999, here in an Andy Welch Racing Tatuus

on the racing ladder for young drivers?
Alan Bowles
Via Facebook
Question: Should more drivers
use Formula Ford 1600 as a
learning formula?
Scott Woodwiss
Via Facebook
MV: “I definitely think it should be
the first step on any driver’s ladder.
I think the problem with modern junior
single-seater championships, with the
slicks and wings, you lose the racecraft
education. What I think is also not
taught in the modern era, is respect
amongst each other. With those
Formula Ford cars, because the speed
is not so great, the racing is much much
closer, you have to have a respect
for your fellow competitors.
“If you watch junior single-seater
racing nowadays, especially with
the younger drivers, it is always so
aggressive. Sometimes it goes over
the top, and you couldn’t have got
away with that in Formula Ford.
“You have to learn to respect each
other because not only if you drive too
aggressively do you slow each other
down, you would just end up crashing
all the time.”
Question: What are your stand-
out memories of the Formula
Ford Festival?
Ian Temple
Via Facebook
MN: And the Walter Hayes Trophy
too, because you have done that on
numerous occasions too…
MV: “There are so many! It is hard
to pick out one thing. Even down to
things like the Formula Ford Festival
in 1996, when I finished third after
picking up a 10-second penalty in the
semi-final. In the end, I finished 10.5s
behind Mark Webber, who was the
winner that season. But there are so
many other good memories, but it is
such a great event. The Walter Hayes
Trophy is special too and I just love
Formula Ford racing.”
Question: The single-seater dream
faded out for you in 1996. Did you
have to reappraise your career?
Carlos Dominguez
Via email
MN: You had done Spanish F3 in 1993
and even had a go in Barber Saab in
America the following season. What
opportunities did you have to progress?
MV: “The Spanish F3 was a mixed
season, and then I had virtually stopped
racing because I had no money, but in
1994 I went and did one race in Barber
Saab in the USA. I literally had no
cash and I had to lie to get myself
into this drive in America. I said I had
budget and I signed up to do a race at
Miami at Bicentennial Park. I ended
up getting caught up in someone else’s
accident in the race [which was won
by Juan Pablo Montoya]. Then I owed
Barber Saab a bunch of money which
I didn’t have, because I was hoping to
get the prize money. I did pay them
back, but it was years later…”
MN: And I remember Motorsport
News joining you for a couple of
Formula Asia outings in Madras in India
1996. Was that the last throw of the dice
in terms of single-seaters for you?
MV: “After 1994, I went back to Spain.
I was at a low and I realised that my
parents had put in all this effort and
money into my career and I had not
got where I wanted. I realised I just
couldn’t give it up and I went back to
the UK and got a job as an instructor.
I remember talking to my friend Rob
Barff, and he told me about this Formula
Ford team owner Andy Welch, who
was testing and his drivers weren’t
getting anywhere. Barff suggested
I got in touch, so I did.
“I went to a session at Donington as
a coach. At the end of the day, Andy
put me in the car and I went quicker
than the two drivers he had signed up.
At that point, Andy and I did a deal
for £500 for the whole of the 1995
season. Somehow, we begged,
borrowed and stole our way through
that entire campaign and ended up
third in the points.
“In 1996, I went to Asia because
David Sonenscher [category prime
mover] asked me to go out there as
they were trying to add some credibility
to the Formula Asia championship [a
one-make series for two-litre slicks-
and-wings cars]. We had a very good
time there, didn’t we Matt? And I was
one of the lucky ones who never got ill.
“But if you look at my CV from 1996,
I was jumping from one thing to the
next, just trying to pick up drives
where I could. I even tried ProSport
3000 sportscars, I raced a Harrier in
British GT, I raced a Renault Spider:
just anything…”
MN sets the scene: Vergers moved
into the British GT championship
full time in 1997 in a Harrier LR9,
run by Gene Gibson. The car was fast
and Vergers was often battling at the
front. Gibson was convicted of drug
smuggling in 1999 and sentenced to
25 years after being caught with a
cocaine haul worth £5 million.
Question: You were very quick in
British GT in a Harrier and you
teamed up with Gene Gibson: did
you know he was a drug smuggler?
Phil Joyce
Via email
MV: “I certainly didn’t know and I
wouldn’t have taken the drive if I had
done. Obviously, in motor racing there
are a lot of drug dealers and there is a
lot of drug money knocking around,
no question. But at the same time,
there is also so much money in that

“FF1600
racing
taught
drivers
about
respect”
Michael Vergers Poor reliability thwarted Vergers’ early outings in the ARCA series A link-up with Radical brought more race success for Vergers
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Vergers (l) was part of the
maiden ASCAR series in ’01
GT paddock as a whole that is it
sometimes difficult to know who
is dodgy and who isn’t dodgy.
“Gene was certainly throwing
his money about but, of course, you
almost blindsided to a degree by the
opportunity that you are getting and
the drive you are getting.”
MN: Did you enjoy driving that Harrier.
Did you think that sportscars could be
an avenue for you?
MV: “I very much enjoyed it and yes,
I thought it could lead to something in
the future. The only part I didn’t enjoy
was that the car wasn’t very reliable
and that made the season very
frustrating. My co-driver Chris Ward
and I won a race at Silverstone but
then we got excluded for a rideheight
infringement or something.”
Question: You were linked to a British
Touring Car Championship drive with
WSR in the late 1990s. How close were
you to joining the tin-top grid?
Leo Barclay
Via email
MV: “I did some test driving work
for Ford and WSR and I did two driver
Sharing the Kruse Courage with Juan Barazi and Phil Bennett in ’05
shootouts for them to land a race deal
but it never panned out.
“In 1995, I won the Motoring
News Ace of the Race award for my
performances through the season in
FF1600. The prize for that was either a
Formula 3 test drive or a test drive in
the Ford Mondeo BTCC car. I was told
I was going to get a run in the F3 car, but
I said ‘listen, there is no way I could
get the £300,000 budget for F3 in 1996.
Could I drive the touring car instead?’
“I knew that if the BTCC test went
well, there would be a chance of
doing a shootout and there could be
an opportunity for me. I ended up going
to Brands Hatch and I was quickest
but there were too many politics in
the background and eventually
Steve Robertson got the race seat.”
MN: So how hard did you push to
get a race deal?
MV: “I did end up standing in for Paul
Radisich at one of the official tests at
Brands Hatch. Again, I went to another
shootout at the end of that season, but
this time it was in the pouring rain at
Croft. I questioned the team if it was
even sensible to go out, because the
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 17
place was flooded. But even at that
point, I think they had already done a
deal for Craig Baird to drive in 1998.
“I was gutted, it would have been
a great opportunity to get onto the
tin-top pay scale, which was quite
handsome back then.”
MN sets the scene: Vergers was
one of the main players in the nascent
Rockingham-based ASCAR series in
2001, and it opened up a chance for him
to go and test his mettle against the
Good Ole Boys in the United States.
Question: You were one of a very
few Europeans to seriously explore
a future in the USA in the [second-
tier] NASCAR Busch series and in
ARCA. Was this driven by your
ASCAR connections?
Peter Talbot
Via email
MV: “I had done the maiden ASCAR
series, which was a bit of a joke – it was
more of a show than a race series – but I
enjoyed myself. But it led to me getting
a sponsor for the first time in my life
and I had the funding to go to America.
“I did 12 races in total: four in the
Busch series and eight in ARCA. It went
well and I was fast but the only problem
was that we had a lot of unreliability.”
Question: What is the secret to driving
quickly on an oval?
Iain Elsey
Via email
MN: I guess that your ASCAR work
would have helped in that regard…
MV: “I think with Europeans, it seems
from the outside that racing on an oval
would be pretty simple. But it is far
from that because on a standard race
track, you are only in the corners
for a very short period of time. On an Vergers was ASCAR
oval, you are going through each corner
for a much longer period of time. There champion in 2005
continued on page 18
18 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk
FEATURE
Friends reunited: Vergers leads old foe
Bernard Dolan at the Walter Hayes in ’06
is a lot of feel coming through the car
in those corners. I think where the
European drivers struggle to a degree
is on the setting up of the cars. That
is certainly where it becomes a black
art for sure.”
MN: Did the Americans welcome you
with open arms? There is always the
impression that the NASCAR world
can be a bit of a closed shop…
MV: “They were very receptive and if
it wasn’t for 9/11, I would probably
have got a full-time drive out there. That
terror attack obviously had a big impact
and things went awry for me.”
MN sets the scene: After racing for
Radical for a number of seasons,
Vergers undertook some very special
projects for the Peterborough-based
The Zytek, which Vergers raced for four seasons, is his favourite sports racer. Here he is in Brazil 2009 concern. One of his tasks included
lapping the Nurburgring Nordschleife
in 6m48s in 2009, which was, at the
time, a production car benchmark…
Question: You had a long relationship
with Radical and set some lap records
at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in
its products. How scary was that?
George Hobbs
Via email
MV: “The Nordschleife is an awesome
race track and it is certainly my
favourite. Setting that lap record wasn’t
scary because, as a driver, you are
always driving within your limits but
there is always the fear of the unknown.
The scary thing about the Nordschleife,
particularly if you are attempting a lap
record, is that when you set off, the
team is obviously based at the startline
and you are out of their view for seven
minutes. But three minutes in you could
crash and you would be stranded there
and no-one would know for quite a
long time...that is the dangerous side,
but you just don’t think about that.”
Question: Did Michael enjoy his
outings on the Preston Road Rallies in
Greeting the next generation: Vergers congratulates 2008 Walter Hayes winner Conor Daly (right) the past, and will he be back out again
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on the toughest road rally around?
Matt Endean
Via Twitter
MV: “I would definitely do that again.
I did the first one in 2006 in a BMW 320.
What an event that is. For anybody who
wants to do a road rally, that is definitely
the one to tackle. It is a Mecca for road
rallying. It is fast, it is super challenging,
it is freezing cold because it is in
November and it is such fun.
“I would love to go back with my
mates [and fellow racers, who also
took part in the event]. Phil Bennett
and Robin Liddell. We always talk
about it endlessly…”
MN: Was it right that you three were
housemates and you egged each
other on to do it?
MV: “That’s correct and [racer] Ed
Pead, who also did that first event
with us, is still taking part in those
rallies alongside his father.”
MN: Have you ever thought about
doing any other rallies, or was it just
the Preston?
MV: “I did actually go and do some
other events and I did one in deepest
Wales, which I won, but I can’t
remember where it was. But now I am
living in Spain, we don’t have those
types of events, which is a shame.”
MN: Did you build your own car?
MV: “I did. I started with the 320, and
I ended up with a Honda CRX. I had
also rallied a BMW 325.”
Question: You raced at Le Mans on
four occasions (2006 through to 2009).
Was this a difficult track for you?
Damien Doherty
Via email
MV: “No, not really, it isn’t difficult.
It can be quite a challenging in the
changing conditions for sure, and when
it is wet, and you also have to watch out
for the tramlines on some of the public
parts of the circuit. I think now it has
been completely resurfaced but it was
certainly tough when I did it. And now,
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He came, he saw, he conquered:
Vergers in Jag at Goodwood
or course, the Porsche Curves don’t
even have that massive retaining wall
on the outside, which was pretty
fearsome when I was there.”
MN: So, apart from the Nordschleife,
which would you say was your
favourite circuit then?
MV: “It has always been about Cadwell
Park for me, and it’s funny because they
call it the Nurburging of the North…”
Question: Which was the best
sportscar you have driven and why?
Luke Belshaw
Via email
MV: “For me, my favourite was the
Zytek that I raced for the Barazi Epsilon
team in 2007 through to 2009. It is
certainly the best car I have ever driven.
It was just so neutral and so forgiving.
It inspired confidence in the driver and
it really didn’t have any bad points to it.
It was super nice and that is why it
lasted so long.”
MN: If you could pick two other
team-mates for a long-distance race,
who would they be and how?
MV: “I would have to choose my mates,
Phil Bennett and Robin Liddell.
“We just all get on very well and
I think we have all got past that point
of thinking that we have to prove
ourselves on every lap, so it would
be a good combination. We would
have a laugh.”
“The Zytek
was just
such a nice
car to race”
Michael Vergers
Question: You have been a driving
standards advisor in British GT
alongside your racing. Did you feel
like a poacher-turned-gamekeeper?
Is it a job you enjoyed?
Ian Newton
Via email
MV: “I wouldn’t say it is the best job
because, essentially, you are there
to punish the drivers who have done
something wrong or you are siding
with one driver against another.
“But, what I did notice, over the
years that I have done it, was that
fewer drivers have argued. I seem to
get more respect.
“It is a valuable job and someone has
to do it. From a competitors’ point of
view, they very much appreciate that
there is a driver there. Sometimes
I have been up to race control and had
an argument with an official or a race
director, and you know full well that
they haven’t raced themselves. You
are arguing with someone who doesn’t
know what they are doing, so I think
the drivers appreciate that.”
MN sets the scene: Vergers, through
his relationship with wealthy enthusiast
Juan Barazi, has been able to take
part in some showpiece races in
the Dane’s exotic car collection
and it has included two victories
at the West Sussex extravaganza.
In his role as GT standards guru
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 19
Question: You had success at
Goodwood with some big wins.
Would you go back again?
Jo Simpson
Via email
MV: “I put Juan’s Jaguar E-type on pole
twice, I broke the lap record twice and
I won the race twice [in 2006 and 2007].
Then they didn’t invite the car back
anymore…I have been back there in a
Ferrari 166 and I have also driven a
Lotus there too. As an event, it is
fantastic. Nothing that comes close.”
Question; What advice would you give
to a teenager Michael Vergers if you
were starting out again?
Russell Scobbie
Via email
MV: “Ooo, that is a good question!
I would tell myself to work harder.
You need to push hard to forge every
opportunity you get in motor racing.”
Question: How was your time working
in the Middle East?
Jason Inglis
Via email
MV: “It was getting to the point where
it was harder and harder to pick up
drives and earning out of race driving
was getting more and more difficult and
then I had an opportunity to go and do
some coaching in Saudi Arabia.
“I ended up working in the local race
track out there for about 10 years. I did
everything from race direction to team
management to coaching. I would say
that 80% of all Saudi racing drivers now
have been coached by me. Four of my
drivers have gone on to win the Dubai
24 Hours.”
Question: Which achievement in your
career are you most proud of?
Steven Nye
Via email
MV: “I am pleased that I can win after
30 years in the sport. I am competitive
and fast, and that makes me happy.” n What might have been: a NASCAR deal was close for Vergers for ’02
20 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk
WRC REPORT: RALLY SWEDEN
TANAK GETS M-SPORT TO THE TOP
Sweden was the land of salvation for two WRC stars, writes Graham Lister
Tanak prevailed after a
tense battle in Sweden
Jump for joy: the winner is happy
A
massive country
– 172,754 miles
squared to be precise
– was dwarfed only
by what will go
down in World Rally
Championship
history as massive results for
Ott Tanak and Craig Breen.
The 70th Rally Sweden was, by no
means, must-win for either driver, but
by placing first and second respectively
after four days of intense competition
in the frozen forests of the northerly
Vasterbotten region, huge weights
have been lifted off shoulders, while
big gambles have paid off.
M-Sport invested heavily to prise
Tanak back after five years away
with its reduced two-car line-up an
indication of where its resources have
been prioritised.
Last month’s Monte Carlo season
opener offered hope with fifth place,
but little Tanak happiness. While
the Estonian was seldom happy in
Scandinavia as he toiled to get the
set-up of his Ford Puma to his absolute
RESULTS
World Rally Championship round 2/13
Event: Rally Sweden Where: Umea When: February 9-12
POS DRIVER/CO-DRIVER
1 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja
2 Craig Breen/James Fulton
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe
4 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin
6 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul
7 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm
8 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson
9 Ole Christian Veiby/Torstein Eriksen
10 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen
WRC2: Solberg/Edmondson WRC2 Challenger: Pajari/Malkonen WRC3: Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka
Junior WRC: William Creighton/Liam Regan WRC Masters: Michal Solowow/Maciej Baran Championship:
1 Tanak 41; 2 Rovanpera 38; 3 Neuville 32; 4 Evans 29; 5 Sebastien Ogier 26; 6 Breen 19; etc.
liking on the snow and ice, the
magnitude of his 18th WRC career win
is huge, not just for his team but his title
prospects with Tanak now the man at
the head of the pack by three points.
For Breen, who, like Tanak, was
exemplary on the Umea-based
event, even just his result on SS2
was big enough.
Capitalising on his lowly start position
of eighth on a stage with a decent
covering of soft snow, Breen was fastest
by 3.8 seconds and the outpouring of
emotion after the struggles of 2022 with
M-Sport was clear to see.
“I’ve missed that feeling,” an elated
Breen said at the stage stop line. “Very,
very simple, completely effortless.
Second chance – I’m a very lucky boy.”
It would get better and better then
not so good for Breen, but second
place didn’t just exceed expectations,
it smashed them out of the
proverbial water.
Back at Hyundai after a season’s
absence, albeit on a part-time basis,
Breen’s SS2 victory propelled him from
seventh after Thursday’s opening test to
CAR TIME
Ford Puma Rally1 2h25m54.5s
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +18.7s
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +20.0s
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +25.1s
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1m24.0s
Ford Puma Rally1 +5m59.0s
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +7m42.4s
Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +7m48.1s
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 +8m30.4s
Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +9m03.2s
second place. And he returned to Umea
for Friday’s midday service a mere 2.1s
down on Tanak with four stages done.
Second then became a sensational
first on the repeat of the Brattby test
where he emulated his earlier stage-
winning performance to move in front
by 7.7s. A third fastest time, on SS6,
would leave Breen and co-driver
James Fulton 10.5s in front.
But Tanak, with Martin Jarveoja
co-driving, hit back in the dark of
Botsmark, completing the 16-mile
run 4.1s faster than Breen to narrow
the Irishman’s advantage to 6.4s. And
there was more time lost to Tanak on
the day-closing Umea Sprint to the
extent Breen’s lead at the overnight
halt was down to 2.6s, not that he was
fazed by the reduced gap.
“It’s definitely been one of my
strongest days,” Breen said. “Last year
I was usually upside down or stuck
in a hedge somewhere, so it’s music
to my ears to be in the lead tonight.”
Breen was quickly into his stride on
Saturday morning, setting the third-
quickest time on the opener and going
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Thierry Neuville missed out on a chance of a ‘gifted’ second place
quickest of all on SS10, the rally’s possible on the last two stages. We
longest stage at 17.53 miles. That first were in a way unfortunate to have a
pass ended with the fastest four drivers puncture, some other way we were
covered by 1.1s, such was the ferocity still lucky because it was not too far
of the battle. from the end. And then on the last
However, the following Savar test [stage] we didn’t have any good tyre
would prove a tough one for Breen, to put on the car anymore, so we had
who had no knowledge of the stage from to go on three tyres.”
2022, unlike Tanak. The gap between But while Tanak was struggling
the top two was back to 3s heading into for grip, Breen was struggling for
Saturday’s closing four-stage loop. power due to a hybrid issue on his i20.
“I never got to do this stage last “Quite early on in the second stage of
year,” Breen said. “There were places the loop we picked up an issue with the
I was a little too cautious and hesitant, hybrid and lost it completely,” Breen
but it’s fine.”
It wasn’t quite so fine at the
completion of Saturday’s running.
A front-left delamination had cost
Breen precious time on SS13 as Tanak
closed to within 0.5s. Despite picking
up a similar tyre issue on SS14, Tanak
was ahead by 2.3s and would complete
the penultimate leg with a seemingly
unassailable lead of 8.6s.
“It was all played to the last two
stages,” Tanak said. “We were really
taking good care of the tyres and the
plan was to take as much time as Rovanpera: handling problems
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Second place was a real boost for Hyundai’s part-timer Craig Breen on his return to the Hyundai squad
Elfyn Evans got away with a trip into a snowback and a high-speed spin to make it home in fifth position
explained. “You can never really
quantify exactly how much time you
lose with it, but for sure it’s not a benefit.
We were also trying to manage the tyres
as best we could but ran into some
difficulties on that side as well. It’s
part of the game. We were trying to
do the best job we can. Unfortunately,
the lead slipped away.”
Such a blow last season would have
caused much anguish and despair. But
the 2023 Craig Breen is already proving
to be a different proposition. Although
a possible shot at his first WRC win
was lost through no fault of his own,
the 33-year-old is very much back
in the game.
His eventual second place was
intended to be third had Hyundai’s
attempt to promote Thierry Neuville –
its lead driver – to the runner-up spot
worked as planned.
To maximise the Belgian’s Sweden
score, Breen was ordered to check-in
one-minute late ahead of the Powerstage
regroup. The resulting 10-second penalty
elevated Neuville into second only for
an error-hit performance through the
closing test to reverse the positions
once again.
“I just did a set-up change and it
didn’t work out, and obviously I didn’t
feel as confident as I felt on all the
other stages and messed it up in the
Powerstage,” Neuville said. “We
missed a great opportunity there but
that’s part of the game.”
While Tanak won by 18.7s – Breen’s
penalty distorting what was otherwise
a close scrap for first place – Neuville
lost second by 1.3s, although he did
get the better of World champion
Kalle Rovanpera, who started the
final leg 3.8s in arrears in fourth.
Hamstrung by opening the road on
Friday, Rovanpera overcame handling
maladies on his works Toyota and a
Saturday afternoon spin to start day four
with a shot at the podium. But Neuville’s
tyre-saving strategy handed the Hyundai
driver the edge as Rovanpera came home
in fourth, 5.1s behind Neuville.
Elfyn Evans was never at one with his
factory Yaris and finished 1m24s off
the pace in fifth. After escaping a hefty
brush with a snowbank on Friday, the
Welshman dropped almost 20s with
a spin on SS12 but rebounded to go
second fastest on the Powerstage and
claim more important points.
Pierre-Louis Loubet limped to the
finish in electric mode only after a
failure on the final test, placing sixth
in the second M-Sport Puma, an early-
rally hybrid issue not helping his efforts
on what remains an unfamiliar surface.
Esapekka Lappi was third and on
course to set the fastest time on SS13
when a front-right delamination – one
of several that tyre supplier Pirelli
suggested was caused by teams running
their pressures too low to gain more
grip – sent him into a snowbank. He
lost more than seven minutes waiting
for spectators to dig a route back to the
road and eventually finished seventh.
Oliver Solberg scored his and
Skoda’s all-new Fabia’s first WRC2
win in eighth after a fine display
from the young Swede. Ole Christian
Veiby recovered from a power loss
on Thursday and a spin on Friday to
finish ninth. Sami Pajari was 10th
and top WRC2 Challenger.
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 21
Photos: mcklein-imagedatabase.com, Red Bull Content Pool, M-Sport, Hyundai
KATSUTA IMPRESSES
DESPITE MID-RALLY ROLL
Takamoto Katsuta’s step up to fully
fledged factory Toyota driver was
going to plan. With the stage-
four win in the bag, the Japanese
returned to Friday’s midday service
in fifth overall, 7.1 seconds adrift of
leader Ott Tanak and on a high.
However, there wasn’t the same
sense of bravado when he trudged
back around six hours later with
his Yaris in need of major repair
after he and co-driver Aaron
Johnston rolled around five miles
from the start of SS5.
Although he was able make it
through the run, he did so almost
50s slower than stage-winner Craig
Breen. Despite starting SS6, damage
to the car’s cooling system was too
severe and the 29-year-old would
retire for the day.
While on the outside it
appeared to be a case of big
opportunity lost, for team chief
Jari-Matti Latvala there was
Katsuta’s factory Toyota was left looking very second hand...
CREIGHTON’S DRAMATIC GLORY
William Creighton was cruising to
his first Junior WRC victory only for
a disastrous stage 13 to hand
Laurent Pellier the initiative.
Creighton, whose advantage was
almost 50 seconds at one point, had
to stop on the run to close his Ford
Fiesta Rally3’s bonnet after it flipped
open and smashed the windscreen.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally
Academy driver was able to finish
Saturday’s leg but faced the prospect
of reversing a near-20s deficit to
Pellier, on the first of his prize drives
for winning the Junior ERC title,
during Sunday’s three-stage affair.
However, Creighton’s greater
experience of both car and
Creighton had to stop on a stage to close the car’s bonnet
every reason to be positive.
“For me he was doing his best
performance ever and I feel very
sorry for him that he rolled,”
said Latvala. “He was very
disappointed and it was difficult
to see him disappointed. But I said
to him, like Malcolm [Wilson his
one-time team boss] used to say
to me, the most important thing
is the speed.”
Katsuta said: “I was not pushing
too much, but the feeling was there
and the times were there, so I was
very happy. I tried to keep good
speed without a crazy push [in the
afternoon], but the conditions were
very difficult with lots of loose snow
and deep ruts. In a fast corner near
the end of SS5 I couldn’t slow down
enough or turn the car because of
the ruts and we went wide and hit
the snowbank heavily, as we were
way too fast. It was my mistake, I’m
really sorry for the team.”
conditions gave him a slight
edge and he was able to cut his
French rival’s advantage, snatching
the lead on the penultimate run
and winning by a scant 0.6s as
Pellier gave his all to win.
“It’s an amazing result, my first
junior win,” said Creighton, who
was co-driven by Liam Regan.
“It was nice to be on the pace and
set fastest times, even in WRC3. It’s a
good start for the championship.”
British Junior champion Eamonn
Kelly restarted on Saturday after
rolling out on Friday but retired
as Diego Dominguez beat
Gregoire Munster to the final
podium spot.
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TO LEAD THE LINE IN 2023 By Graham Lister
The 2023 World Rally Championship has all

your door
the ingredients to be the greatest in a generation
after Ott Tanak signed for M-Sport last week.
His deal means all three factory outfits now have
proven winners in their ranks, making next season’s
title battle too close to call.
And by recruiting

n Never miss an issue

Tanak to drive its lead
Ford Puma Rally1
against the rival
Hyundai and Toyota
teams, M-Sport head
Malcolm Wilson believes

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his Cumbria firm can
return to the top of the
sport having notched
up just one win since its
last title-winning season
in 2018.
“From Ott’s feedback

4 issues, then save

[already] we are confident Tanak to take title?
we can challenge for the
championship in 2023,” Wilson said.
Motorsport News first reported rumours of
Tanak’s M-Sport comeback in October as part
of a sensational swap deal with Craig Breen.

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The Irish ace struggled to make an impact
Tanak will reprise his with the British squad but has secured a return
to Hyundai.
role with M-Sport in ’23 Full report, page 8
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COLUMNIST
MATT JAMES
It could be time for an overhaul in new Formula 1 car launches, says MN’s editor
A fanfare for
a paint job...
t seems odd in a Formula 1 World
that is so tightly controlled that new
car launches are so haphazard these
days. Do you know yet which actual
2023 grand prix machines you have
really seen? It is getting hard to
decide what is genuine and what
is not.
Some of the teams that pulled the wraps off
one of those dreaded ‘livery reveals’ over the
last 10 days have actually hit the track, while
others have flattered to deceive. Alfa Romeo
(or is it Sauber? Or Audi?) has put some mileage
on its new machine while Haas was due to have
done the same by the time this newspaper hits
the shelves. And those with an eagle eye on
social media will have spotted some grainy
footage of the 2023 Red Bull pounding
around Silverstone. The wraps came off Max
Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s new car in New
York only two weeks ago, but that wasn’t the
real racer, it was a 2022 car with the right
stickers on it.
The new machines that have been unveiled
this week – including Aston Martin, McLaren,
Ferrari and Mercedes – should bear more of a
resemblance to the actual chassis that will take
to the track for the maiden testing session of
the new campaign in Bahrain on February 23.
But even then, there is scope for reinvention
and upgrades before the cars take to the
track in the Middle East for the first running.
So, it makes you wonder what the point of
a launch actually is in the modern era.
Of course, there are palms to be greased
and sponsors to be appeased. And that is
perhaps the primary purpose of these events
“Of course, each grand prix team wants its own slice of the publicity limelight”
Testing in Bahrain will be the only true barometer of who’s really quick
these days. No longer is it about letting the
wider world – and heaven forbid rival teams –
see what is likely to be on offer in the season
ahead. It is more about pressing the flesh,
flexing the muscles and showing the men with
deep pockets what a glitzy sport grand prix
racing can be. Has there been any real insight
from the car reveals we have seen so far? The
short answer to that is a resounding no.
While I would not advocate interference
from Formula 1 boss Liberty Media – it has
far too much control already – surely there
could be some joined up thinking in the way
that the teams’ launches are managed? What
would be wrong with having a launch day
at Bahrain on the day before the first track
running? Interested media would already
be at the Sakhir track in anticipation of the
three days of on-track activity, the teams
would have nowhere to run in terms of
hoodwinking anyone with the hardware that
they have got fettled for the following day’s
action and it would seriously cut down on
Spice up your life: McLaren launch back in 1997
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 23
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool, Motorsport Images
both the hot air being issued by team
personnel and it would also stamp out the
need for the media to schlep around the
globe to stare at a new paint job. Formula 1
is keen to shout about its desire to have a
green future. Cutting down on travel will be
a key aspect of this.
The teams who are trying to pander to
their sponsors would, I suspect, dismiss
this idea out of hand. Why would they want
to share their slice of the publicity limelight
with the other (current) nine teams on the
entry list. By having a day all to themselves
(in most cases), there is more of a chance of
column inches or social media excitement
about their individual campaigns. It is all about
creating the bang for buck, as it always is.
But surely all it needs is a bit of joined up
thinking and a common-sense approach
to make the entire process much more
palatable for everyone involved.
The amusing thing about the entire process
is the platitudes that the team bosses and
drivers come out with at this time of the
season. In February, of course, no-one has yet
been beaten on track and no lap times have
been registered to unearth any flaws in any
of the designs. It is possible, going from the
comments of the team top brass, to make a
case for each team to be in the hunt for title
glory. Naturally, these will soon unravel as
each new mount ticks off the laps in Bahrain.
Forget all the bluster and smooth-talking.
The only thing that really matters is who is on
top of the pile after the three-day sessions on
Saturday next week. The stopwatch is the only
thing that will be telling the complete truth.
24 FEBRUARY 16 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328

RALLY REPORTS
Photos: Ben Lawrence

RIPONIAN RALLY: BRITISH HISTORIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP BY PAUL LAWRENCE FEBRUARY 12

Chilman picked Walster had a great

up the pieces run in a new car

CHILMAN DRAWS FIRST BLOOD IN

THRILLING BHRC OPENER IN YORKSHIRE
In a superbly competitive
opening bout of the
British Historic Rally
Championship, it was
Roger Chilman and Patrick
Walsh who came out on top
after a fiercely competitive
Riponian Stages.
Six fast-and-flowing stages
in the classic Yorkshire forests,
run in remarkably dry and mild
conditions, made this a great
rally that was warmly received
by everyone. Sadly, for the top
two historic seeds it didn’t last
long and in the case of 2022
Riponian winner Matthew
Now, the way was open for a
gaggle of others to chase victory
and the top of the historic rally
turned into an absorbing five-
way scrap as Chilman and
Patrick Walsh took on the
other Escorts of Tom Walster,
Adrian Hetherington and Simon
Webster as well as the Fiat 131
of Nick Elliot and David Price.
All five crews were bang
on the pace, and it was a fierce
pace, as gaps ebbed and flowed.
However, Chilman gradually
eked out a small but decisive
advantage to score his first
BHRC win and open his title
in only Walster’s second rally
in an Escort. He got quicker
and quicker as he served
notice of his intentions for
2023. Across six stages, the
stage time margin between
the two leaders was never more
than five seconds. “Fantastic!
Absolutely amazing,” said
Walster after his second rally
in six years. “There’s more
to come,” he added.
Hetherington and Ronan
O’Neill were right in the mix
all day and returned to Thirsk at
the end of the afternoon in third
place, only seven seconds down
RESULTS
place on the podium,” he said.
Webster and Jez Rogers had
Riponian Stages When: February 12
a strong day to run fifth in what
Webster described as a great POS DRIVER/CO-DRIVER CAR TIME
start to the championship. 1 Roger Chilman/Patrick Walsh Ford Escort Mk2 45m18s
They had a big push in the 2 Tom Walster/Chris Ridge Ford Escort Mk2 +4s
second Cropton stage and 3 Adrian Hetherington/Ronan O’Neill Ford Escort Mk2 +11s
4 Nick Elliott/Dave Price Fiat 131 +18s
were stunned to drop 12s to 5 Simon Webster/Jez Rogers Ford Escort Mk2 +28s
Hetherington. Richard Jordan 6 RichardJordan/JamesGratton-Smith Ford Escort Mk2 +41s
and James Gratton-Smith 7 Rudi Lancaster/Guy Weaver Ford Escort Mk2 +1m04s
rounded out the top six after a 8 Robert Gough/Paul Morris Ford Escort Mk2 +1m18s
consistent day which took them 9 Nick Cook/Dave Raw Ford Escort Mk1 +1m20s
clear of Rudi Lancaster and 10 Paul Thompson/Josh Davison Ford Escort Mk2 +1m34s
Guy Weaver, while Robert Class winners: Chilman/Walsh; Elliott/Price; Jordan/Gratton-Smith; Cook/Raw; Josh
Gough and Paul Morris lost Carr/Richard Wardle (Ford Escort Mk1); Ben Jemison/James Dixon (Vauxhall Chevette);
Craig Jones/Ian Taylor (Ford Escort Mk1); David Dobson/Brian Hodgson (Ford Escort
over half minute doing four Mk2); Robin Shuttleworth/Malcolm Smithson (Ford Escort Mk1); Chris Squires/Shaun
miles of Wass 1 on a puncture. Hughes (Ford Escort Mk2); Terry Cree/Richard Shores (Mini Cooper S).

Robinson it never even started
when he was declined a
competition licence by
Motorsport UK following
some health issues last year.
Hopefully, it is only a
temporary glitch.
Instead, top historic seed
was Martin McCormack,
making a welcome return to the
BHRC with Barney Mitchell
alongside in his Escort Mk2.
Sadly, their rally was over
within a couple of miles when
a distributor problem on the
opening stage left them parked
up in Gale Rigg.
MODERN EVENT
campaign in the best possible
way. With a winning margin of
just four seconds and less than
half a minute covering the top
five, the result was in doubt until
the stop line of the final stage in
Wass. Chilman said: “That’s a
good start to the season and it’s
been very competitive all day.
The conditions were nice but
there were slippy patches
that could catch you.”
Into second, just four seconds
behind Chilman came Walster
and Chris Ridge after a mighty
performance first time out in
the ex-Rob Dennis Escort Mk2
on Walster. Some brake issues
troubled Hetherington in the
morning and the time he
dropped in Gale Rigg and Wass
could have cost him an even
higher finish. “We got the
brakes sorted at service and the
stages were very, very good,”
said the Northern Irish driver.
Behind Hetherington, Elliott
was seven seconds back and
regretting a spin on the second
run through Gale Rigg. “I just
couldn’t catch it: we had a
massive slide, a stall and
had to reverse. We dropped
10 or 12 seconds and lost a
Notable among the class
results was a fine Category 2
win for Josh Carr and Richard
Wardle in their Pinto-engined
Escort Mk1, while the top class
in Category 2 went to Escort
newcomer and British Rally
Championship convert
Craig Jones and Ian Taylor.
The closest of all the classes
was D3, for the Pinto-powered
Escort Mk2s, where David
Dobson and Brian Hodgson
edged Mike Reed and John
Millington by a single second
with David and Jamie Forrest Ben Jemison and James Dixon claimed class honours
only 14s further back.

Payne makes perfect start in BRC warm-up

Rally2); 4 Stephen Petch/Michael
Behind commanding Rally Championship. split Hugh Brunton/Drew Gravel newcomer Joe Wilkinson (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 5
winner Elliot Payne, Aside from the opening Sturrock (Skoda Fabia Cunningham with Josh Charles Payne/Carl Williamson
the modern section stage in Gale Rigg, Payne’s Rally2) from Alastair Beer in their Fiesta R5 (Ford Fiesta Rally2); 6 Alan
of the Riponian was just Fiesta Rally2 was quickest Ginley/Craig Thorley lost half a minute when Carmichael/Arthur Kierans
as competitive as the on the remaining five (Fiesta Rally2) at the end red flagged on the first (Hyundai i20 R5); 7 Joe
historics as five seconds stages and typically took of the day. Both dropped stage but was top seven Cunningham/Josh Beer (Ford
Fiesta R5); 8 Michael Binnie/Claire
covered the next a second a mile from his time on the first run thereafter as he adapted
Mole (Mitsubishi Lancer E9); 9 Ian
three competitors. pursuers. “We had a through Wass, with Ginley to gravel in style. Best of Joel/Graeme Wood (Ford Escort);
A number of crews used problem on the first stage struggling at a chicane, the two-wheel drives was 10 Steve Black/James Aldridge
the North Yorkshire event when we spun it on the but a Brunton charge on a mighty performance (Ford Fiesta Rally2). Class
as an early season warm- uphill hairpin right, but the second Wass drew from Ben Cree and Robert winners: Ben Cree/Robert
up and none did it better we claimed the time back him level and he took Wiggins in their Corsa. Wiggins (Opel Corsa); Anthony
Hanson/Russell Holdsworth
than Payne and Tom in Cropton and Wass and the place on the basis of Results
(Vauxhall Chevette); Will Midgley/
Woodburn who swept then just held it,” said the better time on SS1. 1 Elliot Payne/Tom Woodburn
Chris Slater (Toyota Corolla); David
to a crushing victory on Payne as he set himself Stephen Petch and (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 41m40s; 2
Wallbank/Thomas Wallbank (Ford
Hugh Brunton/Drew Sturrock
Payne’s home event as up for what could be a Michael Wilkinson were Escort Mk2); Mick Smith/Paul
(Skoda Fabia Rally2) +46s; 3 Alastair
the perfect lead in to his very important season. five seconds back in Ginley/Craig Thorley (Ford Fiesta
Stringer (Mini Cooper S); Max
Payne left those battling in his wake on Riponian challenge for the British It took a tie-break to their Fiesta Rally2. Crowther/Phil Bramma (VW Lupo).
Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328 motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 25

RALLY REPORTS
Photos: Ben Lawrence

SNETTERTON STAGES: CIRCUIT RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP BY PETER SCHERER FEBRUARY 11

Griffiths maintained O’Donovan climbed up

his hot win streak the order to second

GRIFFITHS MAKES IT THREE WINS FROM

FOUR ROUNDS IN CIRCUIT CONTEST
With the fastest time on six of
the eight stages at Snetterton,
the Motorsport News-
supported Circuit Rally
Championship leaders John
Griffiths and Emma Morrison
were never headed on their way
to a 24-second victory.
Tyre choice was the main
concern on the greasy opening
stages. “We went the wrong way
with our choice,” said Griffiths
(Ford Fiesta R5), despite taking
an immediate three-second
lead over Michael Igoe and
Will Atkins in their newer
Fiesta Rally2.
Kiaran Hankin/James Swallow
(Peugeot 208 T16 R5) was a
further seven seconds down in
third, with Ollie O’Donovan/
Ashleigh Morris (Hyundai i20
R5), Tony Robinson/Paul
Spooner (Skoda Fabia R5) and
Sean and Colin Quigley (Fiesta
R5) completing the early top six.
Despite early grip problems,
most crews opted not to change
tyres for stage two as the track
continued to dry. Griffiths added
another second to his lead. “The
tyres seemed OK at the start but
had gone again by the end and
we virtually destroyed them,” he
said. Igoe has similar issues as
he consolidated second over
Hankin: “We stayed on the
softer tyres too, but they were
wrecked by the end.”
O’Donovan had lost some
ground on the leaders and ended
CLASSES
stage three tied with Quigley in
fourth, while Robinson slipped to
sixth, and had Darrell Taylor/
Steve McNulty (Fiesta R5)
closing in on him.
O’Donovan’s pace began
to show, however, with the
rallycross champion’s skills
well suited to the twisty paddock
section of the stages. But he was
still seven seconds off Griffiths
and the lead was up to 28 seconds.
But O’Donovan now headed the
pursuit with Igoe and Hankin
dropping to third and fourth
respectively. “I was turning
down the anti-lag as we went
on to the loose section, I got
distracted, missed my braking
point and caught a chicane,”
Igoe explained.
There was some respite for
sixth-placed Robinson too, as
Taylor had been baulked with
a car off in front of him. “We
had to stop as the stage was
blocked,” said Taylor.
Quickest on stage four,
O’Donovan managed to take
two seconds back from Griffiths,
while Igoe continued to ease clear
of Hankin in third. “I stayed on
intermediates for too long and
lost pace, but it’s my first full
season of rallying and I am still
learning,” said Igoe.
The gap at the top was
unchanged after the next
stage, with both Griffiths and
O’Donovan tied. But Igoe had
wrong slotted and failed to
complete the stage. Initially he
was given a notional time as the
stage layout was queried, which
dropped him to fourth. But his
time was then amended to a stage
maximum and that put him out of
contention for a possible podium.
Quigley was therefore the new
third-placed man, with Taylor
ousting Robinson for fifth. “My
power steering had failed and I
was delayed when I nudged a bale
at the chicane,” said Robinson.
Steve Finch/Sam Fordham
(Fiesta R5+) was up to seventh,
with Martin Hodgson/Tony Jones
(Ford Escort MK2) eighth and
first two-wheel-drive car,
enjoying a day-long duel with
Will Hill and Richard Crozier in
the impressive new Ford Fiesta
R3. James Garner and Jack
Cuttill (Darrian T90 GTR)
completed the top 10.
Although O’Donovan was
within a second or two of
Griffiths’ stage times towards the
end of the day, the gap established
over the opening stages was
decisive. “We got held up a little
on a couple of stages, but nothing
too serious,” said O’Donovan.
Going into the final pair of
stages there was a 28s gap
between the leaders. With both
tied again on the penultimate test,
the gap remained the same for the
finale. “Once we had the tyres
sorted out early on, we felt fairly
comfortable and had no real
problems,” said Griffiths.
Quigley retained third but had RESULTS
Taylor closing slightly towards
MGJ Engineering Snetterton Stages When: February 11
the end. “Apart from the routine
tyres changes, everything POS DRIVER/CO-DRIVER CAR TIME
was OK for us,” said Quigley. 1 John Griffiths/Emma Morrison Ford Fiesta R5 57m09s
Although Hankin had started 2 Ollie O’Donovan/Ashleigh Morris Hyundai i20 R5 +24s
stage six in fourth place, he had 3 Sean Quigley/Colin Quigley Ford Fiesta R5 +1m10s
4 Darrell Taylor/Steve McNulty Ford Fiesta R5 +1m29s
a brake problem and lost a place. 5 Tony Robinson/Paul Spooner Skoda Fabia R5 +1m34s
“We had a new braking system 6 Steve Finch/Sam Fordham Ford Fiesta R5+ +2m12s
for this rally, it had taken a little 7 Martin Hodgson/Tony Jones Ford Escort Mk2 +2m57s
while to get used to it. But then 8 Will Hill/Richard Crozier Ford Fiesta R3 +3m04s
I lost them completely and hit a 9 James Garner/Jack Cuttill Darrian T90 GTR +4m21s
chicane,” he explained. 10 Michael Igoe/Will Atkins Ford Fiesta R5 +4m33s
Hankin was still sixth as they Class winners: Brian Marquis/Mark Annison (Peugeot 106); Daniel Poole/Andrew
went in the final stage but it was Millington (Vauxhall Corsa); Jack Tilburn/Jody Wilson (Ford Escort Mk2); Hodgson/Jones;
Hill/Crozier.
not to last. “Then we lost the
clutch and couldn’t make it to
the finish,” he explained after
taking a stage maximum.
Robinson finally settled in
fifth, but Finch had closed the
gap considerably by the end.
Hodgson retook Hill for seventh
on the last stage to top the 2WD
contest, while Hankin’s demise
moved Garner up to ninth,
despite having earned a 10s
penalty for hitting cones. “I
thought I was getting a penalty
for hitting the chicane, but it
was reckoned I had delayed
myself enough in the incident,”
said Robinson.
Despite taking a stage
maximum earlier, Igoe set the
fastest time on the last stage
which rewarded him with his
maiden rally finish in 10th,
having edged out Alasdair
Stables/Neil Jones (Vauxhall
Chevette HSR). Will Hill had a strong run to eighth in his Ford Fiesta R3

Escort man Tilburn fights back for Class 4 spoils

Brian Marquis and Mark
Annison (Peugeot
106) dominated Class 1,
building a 10-second
margin on the opening
stage to 1m32s by
the end of the day.
It was level at the top
TIlburn fought back to win after a stage-two penalty of Class 2 for the first
two stages, between
Dale/Andrew Lawson
(MG ZR) and Daniel
Poole/Andrew
Millington (Vauxhall
Corsa). Poole then
pulled out an eight-
second gap on stage
three, and despite
splitting the exhaust
and cracking the screen
in the final stages, he
headed Lawson by
24s at the finish.
Jack Tilburn and Jody
Wilson (Ford Escort)
were the early Class 3
leaders until a penalty
was applied on stage the class by 39s.
two. Anthony Allery/ The charging Martin
Richard Bonner (Escort) Hodgson led Class 4 all
then took over the lead. day with James Garner
Tilburn fought back and claiming second and
when Allery did an extra Will Hill dominated
lap on stage seven Class 5 from Stuart
before pulling off with Cadman/Mike Withers
a misfire, Tilburn took (Mitsubishi Lancer E4).
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Advertising enquiries: 01732 445328
COLUMNIST
STEPHEN JELLEY
The four-time BTCC race winner is determined and sharp
for his latest season in a WSR BMW
Jelley is aiming for more silverware during 2023
t’s great to be back with West Surrey
Racing for the latest British Touring
Car Championship season. Last year
was fantastic and really enjoyable.
Colin Turkington and Jake Hill were
fantastic team-mates and now
we’ve got Adam Morgan as well.
We had a bit of time talking at
the Autosport Awards to get to know
each other better and it’s going to really
interesting to see how everyone gets on.
I’m giving it everything as I’ve not got
lots of years left in front of me, so I’m
treating every opportunity like my last.
I’ve got to say thanks to my sponsors who
allow me to continue as it’s not easy at the
moment for businesses. The championship
is in a strong position so there’s nowhere
else I want to be.
One of the WSR team’s biggest strengths
last year was having three drivers who could
bounce things off each other and learn from
what the others were doing, as well as the
engineers working really well together.
It all means we can get the set-up optimum
quickly. There’s not a lot of running on a
BTCC weekend, and you’ve got to be on it
for qualifying and can’t be throwing changes
at it left, right, and centre. Often on a race
weekend the track characteristics are
completely different to testing.
There wasn’t a circuit we went to I can
think of where we didn’t have a handle on
the set-up. Our car is very well balanced,
though there are some question marks
about straightline speed, especially at
Brands GP. In particular we were very quick
out of Surtees but by the time we got to
“All the WSR BMW drivers worked extremely well as a team last season”
the speed trap we were a long way down. It
shows that the BMW is a good-handling car
and that’s a great thing most of the time,
but it means that if conditions change as
your tyres age, that advantage disappears.
It’s such a close championship, as the
organisers strive, and that makes life very
difficult. The weekends are intense mentally
and physically, because you’ve got to be
absolutely on your A game every part of
the weekend, otherwise somebody else is
going to get that advantage, and it doesn’t
have to be a big advantage. The smallest
margins make a difference, so just having
your diet in order or having a nice routine
that gets you in the right headspace to be
able to make quick decisions count.
I pay a lot of attention to my fitness and
it’s something I’ve always done, because
when I started my career I had the mantra
that if Ron Dennis called up and gave me
the opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car, I
wanted to be ready for it. Then I found when
driving in various formulae that it also gives
you mental head space and thinking time.
Teamwork makes the dream work: WSR crew
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 27
Photos: Jakob Ebrey
WSR BMW is a
well-sorted car
When I fell out of the BTCC in 2009 I started
training for ironman triathlons. But then
when I drove in GT cars it was a big realisation
of ‘hang on a minute, I feel fresher, I have
more thinking time, I’m on top of my game
a little bit more here. It’s not having that
physical impact on me that it did previously.’
If it gives you a little bit more mental clarity
and you’re not feeling overburdened by
the heat or physical aspects of it, you’ve got
more in your locker, and you can get more
uncomfortable by going faster!
We’ll see what difference the changes
for 2023 make to the hybrid. It’s something
that BTCC has done very well to incorporate,
and we’ve got to remain relevant to the
to the road car industry. Something had
to be tweaked though because there were
times last year where it wasn’t quite having
the same effect as the success ballast that
preceded it.
We’ve got two meetings at Donington
Park this year and, for me, that’s a great
thing because we lost Rockingham a
few years ago and that was another
local circuit.
Getting the support there is great and
from a selfish perspective, getting my
sponsors, local sponsors, to race tracks
is just that bit easier. I like Donington and
we were pretty strong last year pace-wise.
I’ve never had a win there, and I’d love
to get a victory because it’s my home
circuit and there’s that thing where you
have the home support versus the home
pressure, and I’d love to bury that! I’m
looking forward to getting back on the
Grand Prix loop as well.
28 FEBRUARY 16TH 2023 motorsport-news.co.uk
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WHAT’S ON
YOUTUBE REVIEW
Today the legend Valentino
Rossi has yet another thing to
celebrate, as he turns 44 years
young. And the nine-time Grand
Prix motorcycle World champion
isn’t entirely the preserve of
two-wheeled motorsport.
These days he can be found in
four-wheeled GT competition.
Moreover there was a time
that Rossi racing in Formula 1,
TV GUIDE
Sky and NOW TV in recent weeks
have been showing an original
in-depth documentary on three-
time Formula 1 World champion Sir
Jackie Stewart. Using a wonderful
range of archive material, the
documentary over nearly two
hours covers Sir Jackie on and off
track during his F1 driving pomp,
including his famous crusade for
greater safety and his fight to deal with
his dyslexia. The documentary’s latest
showing is tomorrow (Friday) at 1230hrs-
1350hrs on Sky Documentaries.
While if you miss this Sunday’s NASCAR
season-opening showpiece event, the
Daytona 500, Viaplay Sports 2 has highlights of
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GET INVOLVED WITH MN
Rich Cranston finally got to see some testing and captured this Praga at Donington
David Harbey enjoyed a recent trip to Brands...
NEXT EDITION
READERS’ Q&A:
JULIAN PORTER
We put the MN
faithful’s posers
to the man
who is more
used to asking
them himself…
ALL THE LATEST NEWS, FEATURES AND OPINION FROM THE MOTORSPORT WORLD
motorsport-news.co.uk FEBRUARY 16 2023 31
THE VOICE OF BRITISH MOTORSPORT
and with Ferrari, seemed a seven tenths off Schumacher’s. make the jump to F1 or stick
genuine possibility. It certainly remains a with MotoGP, in this excerpt
In something seeming almost tantalising ‘what if?’: Rossi from an interview with Graham
unthinkable from the modern was only 26 at the time, the Bensinger at: youtube.com/
perspective, in early 2006 Rossi Ferrari was competitive for watch?v=J1WuM2Y2UL4. And
indeed drove a Ferrari at an much of that decade, and Rossi admits he “was very close”
motorsport-news.co.uk
official F1 test at the Valencia this was the age of unlimited to switching codes.
circuit, sharing the track with testing for him to prepare. You can also watch footage Motorsport News
Kelsey Media
Michael Schumacher, Fernando Rossi talks about that time, from the test at: youtube.com/
The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill,
Alonso et al. And Rossi’s best that test, and his crossroads watch?v=gS_3iAXmPiQ. Yalding, Maidstone Kent ME18 6AL
time, and in an older car, was only moment of deciding whether to Graham Keilloh Rossi was on F1 cusp
EDITORIAL
Editor: Matt James
Tel: 07884 117139
WHAT’S ON Email: Matt.James@kelsey.co.uk
Deputy Editor: Graham Keilloh
Tel: 07973 829291
RALLYING
LIVE TV
it on Tuesday at 2000hrs-2100hrs. Email: Graham.Keilloh@kelsey.co.uk
There are also chances this week SATURDAY
n Kirkistown Stages (N Ireland) Rallies-Historics Editor: Paul Lawrence
NASCAR to catch up with recent rally action. North Armagh Motor Club Tel: 07778 547918
This starts with WRC Review on BT Email: paul@tfmpublishing.com
Daytona 500 (spectators admitted)
Race: Sunday, Sport 4 that tomorrow at 1000hrs- Web: namcc.com Art Editor: Mike Stokoe
1830hrs-0000hrs, 1100hrs looks back at last weekend’s Tel: 07957 282340
Viaplay Sports 2 World Rally Championship Rally SUNDAY Email: mikestokoe@gmail.com
Sweden. Then on Monday at n Knockhill Stages
Border Ecosse Car Club Contributors
0600hrs-0700hrs it’s rally raid’s turn (spectators admitted)
Rallycross Editor: Hal Ridge
Columnist at large: David Addison
as Eurosport 2 reviews the recent Dakar Rally. Web: knockhill.com Columnist and track tester: Andrew Jordan
Sky Sports F1 as usual today is showing n Killarney Forest Rally (IRL)
highlights of 2022’s F1 races, starting at Killarney and District Motor Club ADVERTISING
1200hrs-1300hrs with the best of last year’s (spectators admitted) Director: David Lerpiniere
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Japanese Grand Prix. While at 1700hrs-1830hrs Email: david@talkmediasales.co.uk
KillarneyForestryRally
today it wraps it all up with a 2022 season
Sales Director: Russell Bedford
review programme, that it shows again today Details correct at time of press, Tel: 01732 445328
at 2100hrs-2230hrs. Sir Jackie Stewart is in focus please check before travelling Email: russell.bedford@talkmediasales.co.uk
Ad Manager: Natalie Harman
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OUT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 publishers. Note to contributors: articles submitted
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