Matt
Beebe and Richard Devenport had a flying start to their rallying
careers with a win in the season opener of the MG Rally Scholarship
Championship. They also managed to clinch overall class victory
in N1 for cars up to 1400cc. Matt had this to say after the rally:
"To
win the first round is a fantastic result for Richard and myself
and gives us a good platform on which to build upon over the season,
it has been very close all day so to come out on top after such
a battle makes it feel even better. "
"The
aim was to build up gradually and by the end of the season be somewhere
near the pacesetters in Group N1, so to win the class outright is
much better start than we could have dreamed of.
"The
first stage of the day, Oliver's Mount was on tarmac, a surface
I am familiar with, but being on gravel tyres made the 90 mph approach
to the first corner of the rally, a hairpin bend, more interesting
to say the least! We set a cracking time to lead the scholarship
going in to service where the guys and girls from North Warwickshire
and Hinckley college checked the cars over before the action moved
out into the legendary Yorkshire Forests.
"We
made a few small mistakes in the first few kilometres of Special
Stage 2 before we settled into our rhythm and got used to the car
and each other, but as the stage went on we got a good feeling with
the car and tyres and were happy by the end of the stage, we knew
we had set a good time as we caught up with the car in front which
had set off 1 minute before us.
"Stage
three was really exciting with some big jumps and real high speed
sections we drove well but landed very heavily after one of the
jumps at around 75 MPH so we were a bit cautious after this after
making such a good start we did not want to throw it all away. Then
it was off to service again where the cars and crews could be re-fuelled
ready for the afternoon's action.
"The
engineer from Silverstone tyres gave some advice, then it was up
to the team from the college to change the tyres, check the car
over and clean all the mud from the all important sponsors. It was
great to see all six MGs were still running trouble free, although
Nicola had lost time stuck in some mud on stage two on a very tight
chicane.
"The
last three stages were all very high speed with some fast flowing
bends and very long straights where the ZR got chance to strech
its legs as we hit a top speed of 94 mph, according to the on board
computer, we had good confidence in the car and pace notes by now,
so when Richard told me the corners were flat out I kept the throttle
pedal on the floor and let the MGs fantastic handling do the rest.
"We
set fastest time on all three stages despite encountering two sheep
and a pheasant in the road and passed quite a few cars that had
not been quite so lucky. We arrived at Pickering Show ground for
the final service with a comfortable lead and after a quick clean,
a car that still looked like new, apart from a few scratches. All
that was left was the long drive back to Hull and the finish!
"The
MG ZR certainly turned heads as we drove back through some small
Yorkshire villages. When we arrived at the finish we were greeted
by the other five scholarship crews who had also made it back in
one piece and found out the incredible news that we had won the
class outright. What a way to end the first event.
"It
has only been made possible with the help and support of the sponsors
and everyone else, a big thank you goes out to all involved. We
must now focus on the next event, the Pirelli International event
in Gateshead at the end of April, where we must continue the great
start we have made."
