2010 Rally Season
19 September 2010: Sykes aims to end season on a high
Stourbridge rally driver Richard Sykes is hoping for a troublefree run on next weekend’s International Rally Yorkshire after a disappointing rally season which has been the worst he has ever encountered with several potential good results spoiled by problems.
The rally is the final round of the Citroën Racing Trophy which Sykes has been contesting in his Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed Citroën C2 R2 Max.
Sykes’ last event in the C2 was the Rally Isle of Man which was held on closed public roads over two days in July. Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor showed good pace on the notoriously tricky tarmac stages and they were lying in third place in the Citroën Racing Trophy part way through day two when their event came to a premature end.
On the 19th out of 21 stages it was absolutely pouring with rain and it was very difficult to maintain traction. Sykes and Australian driver Molly Taylor were only two seconds apart battling for third place and pushing as hard as they dare in the atrocious conditions. A fast section of open road where speeds of over 100mph were gained tightened quickly into an unseen corner and Sykes aquaplaned off the road and went through a large hedge at 90 mph and ended up 50 metres into a field. The crew did get the car out of the field but it took 23 minutes and they were out of time at the next time control.
"It was disheartening to have to retire again, we had been going well and I was pleased to be third in the Trophy," said Sykes.
"Day one of the event was fine, the stages were very enjoyable and we pushed hard to stay on the pace. It was great to see all the spectators out, especially in Castletown where the stage went right through the town centre."
"Day two started well also although the fog and rain in some stages made the conditions very hazardous. We maintained our position though and it looked as though we were on for a podium finish until the Ballanank stage when we went off the road and into retirement."
After missing the championship round in Ulster Sykes has decided to return for the last round which sees the crews tackle some of the classic rally stages in the forests of North Yorkshire, starting with a tough 16 miles in Langdale forest on Friday night.
"I’m hoping that the International Rally Yorkshire will be a good event for us after all the disappointments we’ve had this year. The Friday night stage will be a big challenge, especially if we get the wind and rain that often appears in Yorkshire when there’s a rally on."
"We’ve got a packed day of stages on Saturday too including the famous Dalby stage. I’m going to be flat out from the start and giving it my all to try and get a good result."
29 June: Sykes on the pace on Jim Clark International Rally
Stourbridge rally driver Richard Sykes was well on the pace on the recent Jim Clark International Rally until engine problems ultimately forced him out of the event.
The rally, round three of the Citröen Racing Trophy, took place on closed public roads in Berwickshire and the mix of fast flowing roads and tight and tricky lanes provided a stern challenge for all the competitors.
The event got underway on Friday evening with a short spectator-packed stage around the streets of Duns. Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor made a good start in their Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed Citröen C2 R2 Max, setting third quickest time in the Trophy.
The long 15 miles of the Abbey stage followed, a notoriously difficult stage which has seen many a crew crash out. Sykes blitzed the opposition setting the fastest time of the Citröen crews. Another quick time on the following Polwarth stage saw Sykes complete the opening loop of stages in first place in the Citröen Racing Trophy.
"I was extremely happy to be leading the Citröens, it was my first time driving the C2 on tarmac," said Sykes.
"All our rivals have competed on asphalt before so, although I’d pushed as hard as I could from the start, I was quite surprised to be at the head of the field."
A repeat loop of the opening three stages followed. Sykes maintained his lead on the second run through Duns but a large time loss on Abbey dropped him to third.
"We were over a minute slower on the second run through Abbey which was disappointing. The stage was run in darkness and I could not see well enough to push as hard as I did on the first run. The spotlights were a little too high and I was also getting dazzled by the gear shiftlight on the dashboard. I had to short shift to avoid the lights which meant we weren’t going as fast as we could."
"We cured the shiftlight problem by taping over it at the end of the stage but the damage had been done and the lost time meant we were only fourth fastest Citröen in the stage."
Day one ended with a second run through Polwarth and Sykes maintained his third place going in to the overnight halt.
The second day kicked off with the 11 miles of the Wedderburn stage. Determined to try and make time up on his rivals Sykes charged through the stage but an off after a series of crests saw more time lost.
"We were flying down a straight over a series of crests and troughs, the car was flat in fifth gear doing around 115mph. There was a corner at the end of the straight and as we braked the wheels locked up on some shiny tarmac and we ended up in a field. We lost around 15 seconds getting back on the road."
Despite the off Sykes was still in third in the Citröen Racing Trophy going into stage 8, Edrom, but it was here that his rally came to an unfortunate end.
"Part way through the stage the engine felt as though it was running on two or three cylinders and it was well down on power. We limped to the end of the stage and managed to get back to service although the engine was overheating. The service guys changed everything they could but it was in vain. We subsequently found that the head gasket had gone."
"It’s gutting to retire again but it’s brilliant that we showed we had the pace to beat our rivals early on. We just need a good troublefree event now and I’m confident we could get a top result."
Sykes will next be in action on round 4 of the Citröen Racing Trophy, the Rally Isle of Man, which takes place on July 9/10. This event uses the notoriously treacherous closed public roads of the island with crews usually having to battle very changeable weather conditions too.
25 May: Sykes aims for change of fortune on Jim Clark International Rally
Rally driver Richard Sykes, from Stourbridge, is hoping for a change of fortune on next weekend’s Jim Clark International Rally after crashing out while leading the previous Citröen Racing Trophy round in Cumbria.
Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor will contest the event in their Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed Citröen C2 R2 Max. In a change from the previous two rounds, which were held on gravel forest tracks, the Jim Clark event will take place entirely on closed public roads in the Duns area of Berwickshire with competition taking place over 134 miles of stages.
"I was extremely pleased with our pace on the previous round, we were leading the Citröen Racing Trophy after three stages, seven seconds up on the second-placed crew," said Sykes.
"On the fourth stage, the opening of the second day, I wanted to take time of my nearest rival over the first two stages to increase the lead and win the physiological battle. All was on course as I gave it 100% and came out of the blocks at absolute maximum, but a tricky fast right hander saw me just go slightly wide and get onto the looser gravel which dragged me off the road at 90 mph into the scenery. Although I was disappointed with the retirement, I was very happy to have been leading the event overnight and this will give us a great boost going into the next event."
"My aim for the Jim Clark is to build on the pace we showed on the last round and hopefully get a good finish with a decent haul of championship points. I haven’t driven the car yet as the repair has taken all the time available between the events, but massive thanks to M I S Insurance and Jam Motorsport for their efforts in getting the car back to pristine condition."
"We will have to use the shakedown as our first tarmac test and the first loop of stages will be a massive learning curve but we’ll have to go hard as we dare as it is sure to be close at the top of the leaderboard."
"My competitors have all got many tarmac miles under their belt, especially the Irish lads who have been competing in the Irish Citröen championship, but as ever I shall give it my utmost to compete. With the Jim Clark being the first of three tarmac rounds in the championship I’m sure we will get quicker and quicker with every mile."
The rally kicks off from Duns at 7pm on Friday night with the crews finishing the first leg in Kelso around midnight. The second day starts from Kelso racecourse with the successful crews enjoying the podium finish back in Duns.
19 April: Sykes raring to go for Pirelli International rally
Stourbridge rally driver Richards Sykes is aiming to put a disappointing opening to his Citröen Racing Trophy campaign behind him next weekend when he contests round two of the championship, the Pirelli International rally.
Sykes suffered engine problems in his Citröen C2 R2 Max on the previous championship round in Wales and he is keen to kick-start his season with a good result on the Pirelli.
"We’re presently in last place in the championship standings so it’s vital that we get a good finish on the Pirelli," said Sykes.
"It’s my favourite event and this year marks the tenth anniversary of me first competing on it."
With their debut event cut short Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor contested last weekend’s Red Kite Stages rally to get some more experience of the Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed C2.
"We need to be quick right from the start on the Pirelli so we did the Red Kite to increase our experience of the car on gravel and try out a few different settings."
"We had a good event, we set fifth fastest time on one stage and ended up 11th overall. We would’ve been sixth or seventh but we had a problem with dust in the car after we opened what we thought was a vent on the heater but it was actually a fresh air vent direct from outside. We had to stop a couple of times and lost around 90 seconds."
"I was pleased with the day though, I learnt more about the car and the set up and we are really on the button to have a good go on the Pirelli."
The Pirelli International rally is based in Carlisle and includes 12 competitive stages totalling 100 miles in the famous rallying forests of Kershope and Kielder.
29 March 2010: Sykes suffers agonising retirement on C2 R2 debut
Stourbridge rally driver Richard Sykes suffered a disappointing debut event in his Citröen C2 R2 Max last Saturday when engine problems forced him into retirement.
Sykes and co-driver Simon Taylor were contesting the Bulldog International Rally of North Wales, the opening round of both the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship and the Citröen Racing Trophy.
The rally got off to a tough start with two stages in the Llanurig area totalling 33 miles. Sykes successfully completed both stages in his Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed car, taking third place in the Citröen Racing Trophy behind two ultra quick Irish crews.
"We didn’t push too much early on, it was our first time driving the new car competitively and it took a few miles to learn the feel of the car," said Sykes.
"I was reasonably pleased to be third in the Citröen Racing Trophy, especially as I was beating my rivals from the Suzuki Swift championship last year and one of the regular C2 competitors."
After a service halt in Welshpool the crews returned to Llanurig for a repeat of the opening two stages. Sykes and Taylor had a excellent second run gaining more confidence in the new car and maintaining third in the Citröens.
The event then moved to the forests around Corris for the remainder of the eight competitive stages. They remained third Citröen in the Big Ray stage but Sykes and Taylor’s rally came to a premature end on the next stage in Dyfi forest.
"The engine threw its oil out in the stage which meant instant retirement for us. I’m not sure exactly what caused it, the digital dash in the car had stopped working so we weren’t able to monitor oil pressure and temperature."
"It’s massively disappointing not to finish the event, I had hoped that the new car would be reliable after the problems we had last year with the Swift but sadly it was not to be."
"I am happy that we were pretty much on the pace in the Citröen Racing Trophy though, we were in third place when we retired which I think is pretty good considering it was our first event in the car and it gives us a base to work on."
"I am just over a second a mile off the lead so we will work hard for the next event, it is clear I need to step up the game to compete with the new Irish lads. Hopefully we can have a reliable car on the next round and get a decent finish."
Sykes and Taylor will next be in action on the Pirelli rally at the end of April, round two of both the British Rally Championship and Citröen Racing Trophy.
26 March 2010: Sykes set for C2 debut on Bulldog International Rally
Rally driver Richard Sykes will get his 2010 rally season underway this weekend when he contests the Bulldog International Rally in North Wales with co-driver Simon Taylor.
Sykes, will debut his new Dulux Trade Paints, G I Sykes and Boroughbridge Marina backed Citröen C2 R2 Max on the event which is the opening round of both the British Rally Championship (BRC) and the Citröen Racing Trophy. Sykes will contest both championships in his Jam Motorsport prepared car.
The championship will see the competing crews contest six high profile international status events on both gravel forest tracks and tarmac roads, starting off in North Wales and then taking in rounds in Cumbria, Berwickshire, the Isle of Man, Ulster and Yorkshire.
"We used two cars last year, a Suzuki Swift and Peugeot 106, on both BRC and BTRDA championship events but we’ve decided to concentrate on the Citröen Racing Trophy this year," said Sykes.
"The Trophy will be contested by crews in identical cars so I expect competition will be very close. Citröen are offering a good prize fund so there’s an extra incentive to push hard."
"We're testing the car for the first time a couple of days before the rally and I’m confident that we’ll be quickly on the pace."
"Hopefully we can get a good haul of points to get our season off to a strong start."
The Bulldog Rally will be contested over 100 miles of stages and will use some of the classic Welsh rally stages such as Dyfi and Gartheiniog, more information on the event can be found at www.bulldog-rally.co.uk.
2010 Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship season kick-off imminent
With Dulux Trade in place as the British Rally Championship’s new title sponsor for an initial two year term, the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship approaches the first round this weekend, Bulldog International Rally North Wales, ready for an epic battle on the stages.
Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship Classes
The Rally 1, 2, 3 and 4 class structure continues for a fourth successive year. Rally 1 will contain the Swift Sport Cup and other production cars up to 1600cc while Rally 2 encompasses R2 cars in the Citroen and Fiesta series. Rally 3 includes turbo diesels and the Fiesta ST model as well as other production category two litre cars.
The Rally 4 class is where the four wheel drive machinery resides; Subaru and Mitsubishi being the mainstay. But there is still the option for Super 2000 screamers to compete for R4 and overall honours within the BRC, M-Sport’s Fiesta S2000 likely to feature this year at the hands of Craig Breen.
Bulldog International Rally of North Wales
After a baptism of fire as the BRC’s new opening round in 2009, Bulldog International Rally North Wales came up trumps, offering an excellent single day format in some of the country’s most iconic stages. The 2010 format means a new base for the International and Challenge events at the brand new multi million pound Welshpool Livestock Market.
The 100 stage mile event is packed into one day, starting at 7am on Saturday 27th March and finishing back at the Livestock Market podium at 6.30pm. Using some of the classic Welsh forestry stages like Sweet Lamb, Hafren, Dyfi and Gartheiniog, it will be a real test of crews' abilities.
For Bulldog International Rally North Wales programme and ticket information visit www.bulldog-rally.co.uk.
