CA1 Sport has won its home round of the MSA British Rally Championship, the Pirelli Carlisle Rally (April 30-1 May) and has extended its lead in the Teams’ category. A stunning first BRC victory also gives Fredrik Åhlin the lead in the Drivers’ standings, as he scored maximum points by playing his BRC Joker to perfection.
To make victory even more special, CA1 Sport was running four cars on a BRC event for the first time – all sporting sponsorship from Pirelli, Fuchs Lubricants and Speedline Corse.
This was the first time that Åhlin had seen Kielder forest, but he was immediately challenging for victory on the extremely fast, narrow and unforgiving gravel roads. Co-driven by Morten Abrahamsen, the 24-year old Swedish driver took the lead on SS3, after arch rival Elfyn Evans lost 48 seconds with a puncture. Åhlin took no more risks after that, controlling the pace from the front to win by 27.6 seconds in his LeoVegas.com-backed Ford Fiesta R5. The winning margin was all the more impressive, as the fastest crews over three (SS1, 4 and 6) out of the seven stages were all given the same time, as they beat the Bogey time (as MSA regulations state that crews cannot exceed an average speed of over 70mph on a forest stage). If all the actual stage times had counted towards the final result, Åhlin would still have won.
Team-mate David Bogie was lying second entering the final day of competition, and naturally the 28-year old Dumfries driver was aiming to push hard on the opening early morning stage to attempt to reduce the 7.3 second deficit. He was braking from 120mph when a front wheel caught the inside of a fast corner and spun his Oakbank Services-backed ŠKODA Fabia R5 off the road. Despite the car only suffering a broken front bumper, it was impossible for Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae to get the car back on the road again, and they were forced to retire near the end of SS5 (Shepherdshield).
Tom Preston was aiming for a top 15 finish in his first attempt at the Pirelli Carlisle Rally – and achieved just that with a strong run to 13th in his stand-out purple and white coloured Hippo Motor Group-backed ŠKODA Fabia R5. Co-driven by Jack Morton, the 35-year old driver from Earby in Lancashire grew in confidence as the event progressed, showing great pace on only his second event in the new car. Preston will return to Kielder forest on 11 June, when he contests the Carlisle Stages (a round of the BTRDA rally series) as a test ahead of the next round of the BRC.
Alex Laffey was delighted to finish his first gravel rally for five years – and his first in a four-wheel drive car – after a confidence-boosting run in his smart u-student.com-backed Ford Fiesta R5. Together with Andrew Roughead, the 26-year old Carnoustie-born driver calculated he would have broken the Bogey time on SS6, had he not had to select reverse gear to recover from a minor indiscretion. After a good run, Laffey was rewarded with a 17th place finish.
Åhlin said: “I am very happy to record my first win in the British Rally Championship and to take the lead in the series – and I am also happy that our winning margin was quite big, considering we beat the Bogey time on three stages. We had a really good pace from the start, but our tactics changed when Elfyn [Evans] lost time with a puncture on day one. I was not pushing one hundred per cent any more after that, I didn’t take any risks and did a very controlled drive. It looks like it might be a big fight for the title between myself and Elfyn, and whilst there is a very long way to go in the series, we are really happy with our pace on the opening three rounds – and to win here in Carlisle for the CA1 Sport team and Pirelli is really fantastic.”
Laffey said: “This is my first gravel rally finish for five years and my first in a four-wheel drive car, so I am very happy. It was a tough event, but we had a lot of fun. We were going particularly well through the penultimate stage, Blackaburn, but then we had a little overshoot and had to reverse, and then on the final stage we got caught in the heavy rain about halfway through. But we’re delighted to have reached the finish and our experience of rallying on gravel is growing.”
Preston said: “We had no real issues and really enjoyed the event. We were a little worried before the start, as Max Vatanen was starting behind us, but we never saw him, which shows we had quite a good pace. On day two we moved up a gear on the fast and flowing stuff and were able to increase our pace as we grew in confidence. Torrential rain halfway through the last stage made the roads extremely slippery, but by then we were well into our stride and got the car home safely.”
Bogie said: “We started the second day in second position, just seven seconds behind Fredrik [Åhlin], so we were having a big push on the opening stage. I just out-braked myself on a fast downhill section, a front wheel caught the inside of a corner and spun us around and off the road. Only the front bumper was damaged but we couldn’t get back on. It was the first mistake I’d made all weekend, but we were trying to win and it worked against us this time. I was very pleased with the car, CA1 Sport and the Pirelli tyres and my home Scottish Rally is up next, so there are many positives to take away.”
Martin Wilkinson, Head of CA1 Sport, said: “CA1 Sport has enjoyed a great deal of success on the World stage, but it’s a brilliant feeling to win your home round of the British Rally Championship. I’ve grown up with this rally, going way back to when it was called the Tour of Cumbria. I never won it as a driver, so I’m absolutely delighted to win it now as a team manager. All four drivers drove magnificently well. It’s brilliant that Fredrik won, especially as he was playing his British Rally Championship Joker, and whilst it was a shame what happened to David, we were one and two at the time and he was pushing for the win – so as a team, that is a very nice position to be in. Both Tom and Alex drove exceptionally well on an event they don’t know, and brought their cars home without a mark on them. I’m also delighted for Pirelli, as they too wanted to win their home event, and they supplied us with the perfect tyres for the conditions.”
Round 4 of the MSA British Rally Championship is the RSAC Scottish Rally (25 June).
Pirelli Carlisle Rally - Top 10 finishers overall
1. Fredrik Åhlin/Morten Abrahamsen (Ford Fiesta R5)…. 1hr 05mins 15.6secs
2. Matthew Wilson/Stuart Loudon (Ford Fiesta R5)….+27.6
3. Elfyn Evans /Craig Parry (Ford Fiesta R5)….+30.4
4. Tom Cave/James Morgan (Ford Fiesta R5)….+53.4
5. Martin McCormack/David Moynihan (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+1:23.4
6. Jonathan Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroën DS3 R5)….+1:54.6
7. Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (ŠKODA Fabia R5)….+3:17.0
8. Neil Simpson/Elliott Edmondson (ŠKODA Fabia R5)….+3:20.7
9. Jamie Anderson/Ross Whittock (Ford Fiesta R5)….+3:32.6
10. Max Vatanen/Jacques-Julien Renucci (Ford Fiesta R5)….+3:47.2
BRC Drivers’ points (after round 3 of 7)
1. Åhlin 65; 2. Evans 60; 3. Moffett 30; 4. Cave 26; 5. Greer 23; 6. Bogie 18; 7 Wilson 15; 8. Henry 9; 9. Anderson; 10. McCormack, Thorburn 6.
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