By Tim Whittington
The Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship was the star of the Autosport International show at the National Exhibition Centre. The championship’s exhibit won an award for the best national motor sport stand in the show and was a favourite with visitors who were able to get up close to Steve Hill’s new Mitsubishi Lancer E10 which was given its public debut at the show.
• British Rallycross Championship event winner Steve Hill gave his new Mitsubishi Lancer E10 its public debut at Autosport International. Built by Hill’s own team (Steve Hill Motorsport) the new car is the first E10 in Rallycross and replaces the E9 version that Hill has raced for the last two years.
"It’s a totally different car from the E9, lower, wider, lighter, better all over,” said Hill. "The suspension geometry is all new and we’ve worked with Macktrak on the six-speed sequential gearbox that we want to prove in this car before offering it for other Lancers."
Hill plans to test and develop the car in the Rallycross Winterseries at Lydden. With two top three BRC placings in the last two years, Hill’s priority is a full British championship campaign but he is also keen to try his hand in the European championship too. "The car complies with the ERC rules and I want to go and try a few events in Europe, but I won’t do that until I’m completely happy that the car is fast and reliable," he said.
• The new Suzuki Swift one-make class that will support this year’s MSA British Rallycross Championship is set to have at least six cars on the grid for the first event of the year.
Former SuperModified champions Gordon Rogers and Dave Bellerby are among the first to commit to the new class which is based on ‘performance equalised’ 1.6-litre Suzuki Swifts. Rally driver Richard Elliott is also set to switch codes with one of the new cars and Steve Hill Motorsport is also committed to building a Swift and running it alongside the eponymous team boss’s Mitsubishi Lancer E10 Supercar.
Championship manager Sarah Watson said that interest in the category was strong during last week’s Autosport International, "We’ve had a lot of interest in the Suzuki Swift championship here and after the couple of events we did with the car at the end of last year. We’re talking to lots of drivers at the moment and I’m quite confident that we’ll have six cars for round one at Easter," she said.
• David Binks will drive a Doran Motorsport Ford Fiesta ST ERC in this year’s MSA British Rallycross Championship.
The Newcastle-based driver had his best year to date in 2009, placing fifth in the BRC with his Mitsubishi Lancer E9. Acknowledging that he was unlikely to improve on the result in what is basically a very fancy Group N car, Binks said the Fiesta option was ‘too good to miss’.
"The Lancer is a great car and has been very good for me in the last couple of years but it won’t go any quicker and when Pat [Doran] offered me the chance to use one of his cars this year it was not a very difficult decision to make,” said Binks who will place the car, used by Liam Doran to finish second in last year’s BRC, with the MSR team that ran his Lancer. “MSR will do all the basic prep work and run the car on events but they’ll work closely with Autopoint on the more specialised areas,” said Binks.
Graham Rodemark’s, Herstmonceux-based Autopoint outfit will continue to field Pat Doran’s similar Fiesta in BRC events.
• Gareth Wood, who gave his Subaru Impreza Supercar a great third place finish in its debut at last year’s Rallycross Superprix is upgrading the car in readiness for a full season on the MSA British Rallycross Championship trail. The Geordie will team-up with David Binks for the eight-round series and hopes that mechanical and electronic improvements will give the Impreza around 450bhp.
• After using his father’s Citroën Xsara ERC in a couple of events last year, George Tracey Jnr. is set to make a full time return to the tracks this year when he is to drive the car in the MSA British Rallycross Championship.
• Ulster-based Kyle Orr was shopping around at Autosport International and is keen to return to Rallycross this year. Currently rebuilding his ex-Marcin Wicik Polish championship winning Ford Focus Supercar, Orr is also to try is hand at circuit racing. “I’ve been offered a drive in a Radical in the local championship at Kirkistown but I really want to get back into Rallycross too. My Focus is good but probably not good enough to win British championship events so I’m looking around to see what’s available,” said Orr.
• Joe MacHale (brother of Irish rally legend Austin) has bought an RX150 and plans a full season of British Rallycross Championship events in the buggy.
• Jess Gwynne will now dovetail a part season of RX150 Rallycross events with her full racing season in Legends. Gwynne (17) is the granddaughter of rallyschool guru Bill and the first member of the dynasty to try circuit racing; father Ian and uncle Peter both having stuck to rallies.
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