News Archive: 2006 Rally, etc- ...

April 13

There is a 6 page full colour article on the rally with lots of great photographs in the May edition of:

CLASSICS MONTHLY

(Look for the 2 XK Jags on the cover)

Available at all good newsagents now.

If you didn't get an entry this year and want to get a feel for next year's rally then this is a great place to start! It has been written by Eric Richardson, driver of one of the Historic cars (Volvo 142).

Thank you Eric.

March 21

Ian Mills - Motorsport News correspondent - has published a report on the rally here.

March 17

There is a full page Rally report in today's Mid-Devon Advertiser - the South Devon weekly paper - with plenty of colour pics. I am hoping to have a pdf. file sent to me shortly for uploading here.

March 16

Congratulations to local couple Kevin and Claire Sherlock - who have never attempted an Endurance Rally before - they finished a fantastic 7th o/a and 1st in Class in their Toyota Starlet (pictured below) built and on the rally Start line for less than £1,000.00!! Claire, who works for AudiSouthWest said "It was absolutely fantastic!"

Tonight they are basking in the local media spotlight! (Herald Express). Read the artice here.

March 15

THANK YOU -The organising team would like to publicly thank everyone involved with the rally for all their help, without which, the event would not have run as smoothly as it did.

We have had time to reflect a little on the Motor Club's first attempt at organising an Endurance Rally now that the Results have been mailed to all competitors, and the verdict here is that we think we did a good job. As always feedback is always welcomed, drop us an email if you like and tell us what you thought of it - as a competitor, marshal, spectator, etc.

The Town Centre start looked great from the TV and pics I have seen - I didn't get in on the day as I was posted at the Racecourse. Some of the shops joined the spirit of the rally and the winner of the "Best Decorated Shop Window" was PL & LE Bill Opticians; Mr Bill Jnr. seen receiving a meal for two voucher at the Tower Restaurant. The Town Crier was kept busy with the start flag too! The third pic. is of the Mayor - Cllr. Ken Lewis, Phil Harris - SHMC, Mr Andy Russell - AudiSouthWest.com, Barbara-Anne Curran - Town Centre Manager and the Town Crier.

And what of the future? Well, the great news is that AudiSouthWest.com have committed their support to the rally so look out for details of the 2007 event! Get involved with organising - it's great fun. Email us now.

March 10/12

The rally got off to a flying start in the Town Centre and featured on the front page of Friday morning's Mid-Devon Advertiser and our regional ITV evening news. The rally headed out to Dartmoor then into the South Hams before the overnight halt in Plymouth where Turner/Dance held the lead.

On Saturday the cars revisited Dartmoor and then headed to Holsworthy and North Devon before crossing into Cornwall for a well earned lunch. The afternoon saw the rally cars compete over Ministry of Defence property (Tarmac) and then back into the woods for the final tests before returning to the Novotel in Plymouth. Herald Express report here.

Running bang on time right up to the Finish of the rally the rain stayed away and all competitors looked delighted to be taking part in the event! At the Finish late on Saturday night after 400 or so miles it was Jamie Turner and Graham Dance in a Rover 214 who won the rally by just over 5 mins from Owen Turner / Matt Fowle in a Metro GTi. See Results page for more details.

(From left to right)

Graham Dance (Navigator), Andy Russell (MD Audi SouthWest.com, Roger Gillard (Rally Director), Phil Harris (Clerk of Course), Andy Ballantyne (SHMC All round good guy!), Andrew Bulpin (Entry Sec.), Jamie Turner (Driver)

March 9

Less than 24 hours to go before the off - good luck to all competitors from the organising team. Radio Devon listeners will have heard my dulcid tones promoting the event live on air around 3.10pm this afternoon for 5 minutes. It seems the whole of the South West is right behind the rally! And.... in the Herald Express tonight.

March 7

Just 3 days to go and we have been busy promoting the event in Newton Abbot with the Mid Devon Advertiser weekly paper - some of the local entries came along to the photo shoot this afternoon - thanks everyone!

March 3

With just 7 days to go, everyone in South Devon/South Hams should know about the rally if they read the Mid Devon Advertiser series of weekly papers! There is a double page feature on the rally. See it here in "pdf format" (It's a big file so be patient!)..

February 27

Less than 2 weeks to go now and "the rally is coming to town"! Thanks to the Town Centre Partnership, there are colour posters up in various parts of Newton Abbot town centre promoting the rally. The cars will start arriving by the Clock Tower from around 10am for the mid-day start.

If you are a rally fan you will remember the Audi Quattro - the technological masterpiece that really turned rallying at all levels on it's head 25 years ago. Try and catch the "Audi Channel" (no. 884) on SKY TV - it has some mind blowing footage on some of the rally programmes. Alternatively you can get a taster of "Quattro moments" online at the Audi website.

Mid-February

Teignbridge Council is right behind us with the Rally which is being heralded as a leading event in the South Devon tourism calendar - Article here.

February 2006

We held a very successful "Press Day" in early February where journalists from the local press, including Herald Express -read Article - and Mid Devon Advertiser papers, together with a reporter from Westcountry TV (our regional ITV station) got first hand experience of Endurance Rally cars and the "state-of-the-art" AudiSouthWest.com Audi A3 usually seen on the National Tarmac championship in the hands of Tarmac experts David Kynaston and Andy Russell.

On hand for the demonstration runs were a Peugoet 205, Peugeot 106 XS and Vauxhall Nova SR. Needless to say media interest is very high in our Endurance Rally - all present could see and understand why we all want to go rallying at this "grass roots" level - TO HAVE FUN. So make sure you have your hair combed for the Town Centre start on March 10th - you may make the news at 6pm!

And finally.... one beaming passenger was overheard to say following a lively run in the Audi A3: "It's certainly faster than the Ford Anglia I used to co-drive in!" - Now that really is an understatement!!

A great big thank you to all who attended and in particular, Andy Russell and David Kynaston for bringing their magnificent A3 along.

January 2006

As we lead up to the event media interest in the rally is rising - the event was discussed at length on BBC Radio Devon and again it was featured in the Herald Express on 26th January. Read all about it here.

December 2005

The Rally has already made front page news in the Mid Devon Advertiser on 2nd December and again in the local evening paper - the Herald Express on 5th December. Read all about it here.

|Back to current News|