Less than a year since he took his first Rally victory at the Blyton Park venue, Chris Ingram continued a hugely successful 2011 campaign in the Kick Energy Pirelli Junior 1000 Rally Championship by taking his third successive victory at the recent Jack Neal Memorial Rally.
The event, which was Round 5 of the Championship, was the first to be run at the venue which, since the series’ last visit to the venue in November, was the first to be run on the brand new layout following heavy investment by the Park’s owners.
Indeed, following his victory in the Junior event in 2010, Chris and co-driver Michael Gilbey began the event first on the road and, following a dominating run of eight fastest times, took victory for the third event in a row – this time by 21 seconds from Aaron McClure. Despite a hard fought victory on the Championship’s previous events, the victory came without drama for the sixteen year old, as he became one of only two drivers in the Champinships’ history to take a trio of victories in succession.
Behind him, Aaron McClure was involved in a day long battle with Arron Newby – the gap between the youngsters being no more than five seconds throughout the twelve stage event. After stage 9, the duo were just one second apart in sixteen year old McClure’s favour with the gap remaining at that level over the next pair of stages thanks to both Micra pilots posting identical times. Going into the final stage, the pair vowed to push hard and push hard they did with McClure and co-driver Martyn Taylor snatching one second from their rival to take second position by just two seconds, with Newby and co-driver Julian Wilkinson coming home third – a fantastic battle by the two Cumbrian drivers, outlining the fearsome competition throughout the Kick Energy Pirelli Junior 1000 Rally Championship.
In contrast, Dan Thompson enjoyed a trouble free rally in his distinctive Toyota Yaris to come home fourth, ahead of a hard charging Josh Davey. Josh, whose Peugeot 107 cut out with a mysterious problem on the very first stage dropping him to the tail of the field, set three fastest stage times on his way back into the top five by the end of the event.
The event also saw four newcomers make their Rallying debut; Jordan Gullick, Daniel Jones, Jack Foster and Matthew Williamson, all piloting Micra’s, entering the event following the completion of the Formula 1000 Clubs stepping stones to competition – these being 3 Production Car Autotests (PCA’s), a BARS Test and a Formula 1000 Club Test.
Over the course of the event, the newcomers saw marked improvements on their times, the new Blyton Park Circuit proving to be an excellent venue to learn their craft as they begin their careers in the most exciting forms of Motorsport available.
Championship leader Matthew Thompson’s day began well, placing second to the C1 of event winner Ingram over the first three stages before a puncture caused a stage max time, dropping the youngster to the tail of the field.
The next round of the Kick Energy Pirelli Junior 1000 Rally Championship, the only Rally Championship in the UK that caters for drivers between the ages of 14 and 16, is the Midsummer Stages held at the gruelling Caerwent Military Complex. The action is set to be close once again and can Chris Ingram and Michael Gilbey become the first crew in the Championships history to make it four wins from four starts?
To find out, and also to find further information on the Championship please visit our website at www.formula1000.co.uk or on our Facebook page ‘Kick Energy Pirelli Junior 1000 Rally Championship.