BERWICK CLASSIC
HISTORIC RALLY 2008

Full Results Here!

The York pairing of John Ruddock and John Heppell in an Escort Mexico ran out clear winners on the Berwick Classic on 3rd / 4th May after two days of special tests and regularities. Second, 68 seconds in arrears were former winners Linda and Stuart Cariss in an Escort RS2000 with the Ponteland father and son crew of David and Daniel Lewis third in another RS2000.

In the modern category local crew William Jackson / Jamie Andrew took their Opel Manta GTE to a clear 74 second win over the Clio of Durham crew Tony Chrisp and Mark Thornton.

The Berwick & District Motor Club organised event was supporting three local charities: Chemo Berwick, Barndale Special School and Mindroom and a total of
£ 1,800 was raised over the course of the weekend.

Starting from The Barn at Beal crews headed to the first of two tests at Shoreswood Farm where pre event favourites Archie and Richard Simmonds sadly retired their MG Midget when their gearbox blew up. The competition was very tight right from the start with two crews tieing with a time of 89 seconds on the first test but test two started to see Heppell and Ruddock ease away from the rest of the field.

A short section took crews to the start of the first regularity on the yellows round Felkington and Duddo where the competition was incredibly tight with John Park / Roland Bainbridge (Frogeye Sprite) and Ian Mitchell / Andy Fish (Guilia GT) only dropping two seconds.

An excellent test at Laverock Law followed where Noel Cochrane / Andy Magee (MG Midget), Andy Beaumont / Ian Gibbins (RS2000) and Michael Deans / Guy Flannigan (Colt) all tied on 68. From here it was on to a 24 mile regularity section over Wark Common with four intermediate controls ready to catch out the unwary but Danny Robinson / Ian Tullie (RS2000) dropped only 5 seconds with a host of crews biting at their heals.

Five further special tests followed in quick succession in the Hetton area. First to hit problems was the Cooper S of Dougie Humphrey and Nathan Bower who nudged the fence near the finish but Stuart and Linda Cariss went one better and went straight through it dropping a minute in the process. Michael Deans and Guy Flannigan also retired after bending the Colt's rear suspension when they clouted a wall at the end of the Holburn Grange test. Results at East Ord Village Hall showed Ruddock / Heppell to have a clear 18 second lead from Beaumont / Gibbins with Simon Parson / Trevor Cattermole (Austin Healey Sprite) and David & Daniel Lewis tieing for third spot.

Sunday morning saw crews restarting from the Quayside in Berwick upon Tweed
and a six mile run out took crews to the first test of the day at Sunwick Farm where a liberal coating of manure made life exciting. Noel Cochrane / Michael Magee were fastest here in their Midget from Ruddock/Heppell and Jackson/Andrew. Heavy rain greeted the first crews at the Col du Langton test near Duns where the flying Opel Kadett of John and Lynn Haygarth took a second from the Cariss's. Crews then headed off to the coast and a series of tests in East Lothian starting with a very grassy field at Tower Farm where Danny Robinson / Ian Tullie managed to walk away from the rest of the field in their very standard RS. Back on firmer ground at Kinnegar Quarry whilst the top crews traded seconds the Peugeot of Jeff and Graham Malthouse retired when the gearbox exploded firing cogs in all directions. They were joined shortly afterwards by the Colt of Craig Curry / Austin Fairbairn with a broken tie rod and the MR2 of Walter and Becky Curry with a damaged radiator.

David Loveys / Roger Ugalde got the old Allard well wound up at Torness and Winterfield embarrassing some of the more modern cars and closing to within two seconds of the class leaders RS2000 at the latter test. Both Allards in the event had been driven from the south of England and David's round trip from Wiltshire was over 1,000 miles.

Results at the lunch halt at Stenton showed the top three to be Ruddock / Heppell on 17.55, Beaumont / Gibbins on18.25 and Lewis / Lewis on 18.53. In the Classics Robinson /Tullie were on18.39 and in the Open Class Cochrane / Magee were also on 18.25.

The sting in the tail were nine tests in quick succession on Sunday afternoon with a mixture of farm steadings, an airfield and private estate roads. Whilst Ruddock / Heppell maintained their lead clutch problems saw Beaumont / Gibbins fall down the leaderboard. Meanwhile further down the field the Singer Chamois of Colin and Tom Wilkinson was still going strong after 24 hours with no clutch, setting some excellent times in the process. At Sydserf, the longest test in the event, only a handful of crews cracked the three minute barrier with Ian Dixon / Neil Thomson setting fastest time in their RS2000 on 2.53 a second ahead of Ross and Ali Butterworth in their Lotus Sunbeam.

At the Whitekirk finish the finally tally showed John Ruddock and John Heppell to be clear winners by a margin of one minute and eight seconds in their Escort Mexico. They also lead the English Team to top honours for the Union of the Crowns Trophy along with fellow York crews Stuart & Linda Cariss and John & Lynn Haygarth. The highest placed local crew were Chirnside's Willie and William Thompson in a Hillman Avenger in tenth place. However in the modern category Shoreswood's William Jackson accompanied by Jamie Andrew took a well deserved win in their elderly Opel Manta GT/E against some far more modern machinery.

Overall Driver Navigator Car Class Totals
1 John Ruddock John Heppell Escort Mexico H6 0:30:31
2 Stuart Cariss Linda Cariss Escort RS 2000 H6 0:31:49
3 Darkie Lewis Daniel Lewis Escort RS 2000 H6 0:31:59
4 Andy Smith Sam Wainwright Escort RS2000 H6 0:32:41
5 Andy Beaumont Ian Gibbins Escort RS 2000 H6 0:32:48
6 Ian Curwen Bob Hargreaves Mini Cooper S H3 0:32:48
7 Gary Rigg Claire Rigg Mini H3 0:32:58
8 Adrian Stewart Tom Hynd Mini Cooper S H3 0:32:59
9 David Marsden Mike Garstang Cortina GT H2/4 0:33:15
10 Willie Thompson William Thompson Avenger H6 0:33:19

Here are some photos taken by Keith Brown of various BDMC members and the O/A winners. If there are specific cars you are interested in e-mail: Keith Brown

O/A Winners
John Ruddick/John Hepple

More pictures HERE!

A dapper looking
concourse judge.

For details of next years event
Contact:Stuart Bankier,
"The Granary",
Grindonrigg,
Duddo,
Berwick-upon-Tweed,
TD15 2PT.

01289 382025 (H)

mailto:stuart@sbankier.wanadoo.co.uk