Weekend rally news from overseas – August 14

The 2016 Ulster Rally, the penultimate location for the MSA British Rally Championship, starts on Friday afternoon (August 19) and runs till Saturday evening.  

It will be based at a new location, Londonderry, with new stages in the northwest of the province.   This will be the second of three all-asphalt events in the revamped BRC calendar.  

Around 140 entries have been received within the various classes.  The final round will be heId in the Isle of Man.  

Guest driver entered in the national category event is 11 times motorcycle Tourist Trophy winner, Michael Dunlop, in an old Escort.

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Following the decision not to run the Circuit of Ireland next year as a major event, the quest for a replacement all-asphalt round in the 2017 series has led the British Rally Championship promoters to nominate the Ypres Rally in Belgium as a replacement.  

After a disappointing top level entry from regular ERC competitors in the 2016 Ypres Rally, it is not known if the event will be included in the 2017 ERC calendar.

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Angelo Garzoglio. (Photo: Martin Holmes)Forty years ago, a brave co-driver died.  Angelo Garzoglio died on August 18 in hospital as a result of burns suffered when he bravely and successfully rescued his driver, Mauro Pregliasco, who was trapped inside his Lancia Stratos 25 days earlier.  

They had crashed on the first stage of the Rally di Piacenza, the driver losing control of his car which, unknown to the driver, had been refuelled incorrectly.  

The car ended up down a hillside, but Garzoglio was unhurt when he realised Pregliasco was trapped unconscious inside the car, which was on fire.   He returned to the car and saved his driver’s life, but died in a specialist unit in Turin.  

Pregliasco also suffered burns and only regained consciousness in hospital.  

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There is slow news from China concerning reports of severe storm damage to roads planned for use on the forthcoming world championship rally (September 9-11).   

Earlier, alarming reports from Chinese media suggested damage by the storms had created a local financial crisis which threatened the event.
 
- Martin Holmes 

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