Berwick Classic

Fifty crews gathered at The Barn at Beal in North Northumberland on 1st May for the start of Berwick & DMC’s Berwick Classic. Ralph and Paul Miller lead the field away from the start in their Triumph TR2 at 16.00 hrs and ahead of them lay Leg 1 which comprised two thirty mile regularities and five special tests before heading into Berwick at 19.30 hrs. The first test at Easington Grange saw Archie and Richard Simmonds in their MG Midget tying with the Mk 2 RS2000 of Andy Smith and Ali Proctor on 48 with the immaculate Clan Crusader of Andy Aird and Paul Hughes a second in arrears. Moving away from the coast and into the hills test two at Hazelrigg saw the RS2000 of Andy Beaumont and Andrew Fish quickest by a second from the Simmonds with Smith and Proctor a further two seconds in arrears. Test three was in the Horton farm complex and this time the Simmonds tied with Smith/Proctor and Beaumont/Fish were a second slower.

Most crews had just about managed to complete the plotting by the start of the first regularity section only a mile from the finish of test three. This regularity took crews through Chatton and into the foothills of the Cheviots before finishing just yards from the start of the next test at Middleton. The organisers had originally planned to run along several whites in this section but the damage caused by the heavy snow and rain in January and February has rendered some roads unusable for the foreseeable future. The section had two intermediate controls and Sue and Tom Hynd only dropped 3 seconds in their Fiat 127 with David and Daniel Lewis on 4 in their RS2000 and the Simmonds on 6.

Test 4 at Middleton was another farm steading test with the same three crews battling for FTD. This time it was the Simmonds on 61 followed by Beaumont/Fish and Smith/Proctor. Sadly and errant trip meter was to take Beaumont/Fish out of the frame as they took heavy penalties at all of the regularity controls. Coldgate, the second regularity, started almost as soon as the crews left test 4 and took crews 30 miles across country to the final test of the day at Shoreswood. The simple tracing which defined the route seemed to catch a few navigators out and several crews dropped some big slugs of time and the intermediate timing points. Dan Robinson / Sam Wainwright (RS2000) tied on 6 seconds with Smith / Proctor with the Simmonds and the Hynds a second in arrears. Will Jackson / Jamie Andrew took a total of 11 in their Manta GT/E and Irish crews Noel Cochrane and Oly McCollum were a further three seconds down.

Shoreswood, the final test of the day, was an old favourite with a new twist as Will Jackson had laid another 400 yards of farm track to extend the test. Quickest were the Simmonds from the Lewis’s RS2000 and Smith / Proctor. The leg finished at East Ord Village Hall where Hywel Thomas quickly produced the results showing the Simmonds to have a slender lead .

Sunday morning saw crews heading back to East Ord for an 09.30 restart where they were joined by a further dozen crews who were only competing on the Sunday. A short run took crews back to Shoreswood where the test from the previous day was reversed and several crews beat the target for the test by a couple of seconds. At test 7 at Sunwick crews had a large audience of interested cows who watched the Simmonds take another fastest time on 42 from Beaumont/Fish and Cochrane/McCollum on 43. Clinging to their coat tails were the standard Fiesta of Bobby Lowrie and Neil Brigham and the MX5 of Barry Siddle and Colin Richardson. From Sunwick crews moved north back towards the coast with the next test at Tower Farm where crews had to tackle concrete, gravel and a long grass section round the perimeter of a golf course. Here Siddle/Richardson set FTD with the Simmonds Midget, the Avenger of Kevin Clark / Tom Leeming and the Porsche 911 of David Agnew / Alan Jackson all a second down.

The visitor’s car park at Torness Nuclear Power station was the venue for test 9 where the Midget of Cochrane/McCollum took a second off the leading RS2000s although the Simmonds Midget was back in control on tests 10 and 11. The final test of the morning was at South Belton with a very tight route round farm steading including a trip through a barn. Here circuit racer Andrew Doney directed by Caroline Fearon was quickest in his racing MGBGT from the very nimble MR2 of Craig and Matthew Curry with the Simmonds demoted to third.

A short run took crews to lunch at Athelstaneford where the ladies of B& DMC had laid on an excellent picnic lunch with an abundance of tray bakes. Fired up by large helpings of chocolate crews headed off for the first in a series of tests at farm steadings and the final regularity. Test 13, Samuelston, saw the Lewis’s RS2000 on top with Smith/Proctor and Cochrane/McCollum in hot pursuit whilst at test 14, Elvingston, Beaumont/Fish took a second off Cochrane/McCollum with the RS2000 of Martin and Christopher Ibbotson in third. The much longer Sydserf test followed where the bigger engined cars could really get wound up so not surprisingly the order was Smith/Proctor, Robinson/Wainwright and Beaumont/Fish. Another very short road section took crews to Balgone Barns where the top three from the previous test changed order slightly with Beaumont/Fish quickest. Several of the top crews cleaned the next test at Scoughall before heading into the final regularity run in the forest at Lochouses with one manned passage control and an intermediate timing point. This was a section of road that no event had ever used before and was originally constructed for a forest rally school. Here Robinson/Wainwright dropped two seconds
from Gavin Thomson/Adam Turnbull (TR4) with David & Roger Loveys (Allard K1 Sport) and Andrew Randall/Richard Means (Peugeot) a further two seconds in arrears.

At the final test, Crauchie, most crews were trying very hard and Smith/Proctor came out a second ahead Beaumont/Fish who in turn were a second up on the Simmonds, Robinson/Wainwright and the Porsche of Agnew/Jackson. Trailing them were the Lewis’s RS2000 and the immaculate Mk1 Lotus Cortina of Gordon and Ollie Wright.

Whitekirk Golf and Country Club provided a fitting finish venue for the event with the restaurant overlooking two of the test venues. As competitors and marshals tucked into an excellent meal the results team quickly produced the results to show that after ten years of trying Archie and Richard Simmonds had won in what must be the most successful MG Midget rally car in the country. David Marsden and Mike Garstang finished worthy second in their Ford Cortina GT and relative newcomers Andrew and Jake Burns finished a strong third in their newly built Mexico.

The Berwick Classic is in many ways unique event. Over the years it has moved from what was essentially a multi venue autotest to a tough two day rally with some testing regularities for the navigators and a good range of tests for the driver. Where else can you go and see Skoda Estelles mixing it with Allard K1 Sports and just the occasional RS2000 ? The event could not be successful though if it was not for the support from competitors and particularly the marshals many of whom are always out now on both days of the event officiating whatever the weather but always cheerful and ready for the next challenge that we organisers throw at them