2nd Place for Jake at Croft

It was an impressive drive that achieved 2nd place for Retford's Jake Taylor in round 6 of the MSA British Rallycross Championship at Croft Circuit. The October rain held off for the event although it was incredibly slippery from the previous day's downpour.

Taylor was straight on the pace during heat 1, however in heat 2 an incident at the first corner ended up with the car rendered out of action and being lifted off of the circuit. It was feared that all was over, but the team at Peter Gwynne Motorsport did not give up and rapidly set upon the challenge to repair the Swift , which they achieved in plenty of time to get Taylor back out for the next heat.
Heat 3 saw a great start by Taylor moving straight from 3rd on the start grid to 2nd by the first corner. The racing was incredibly close with Taylor staying with the current and more experienced championship leader Charlie Bean all the way round the famous Croft Rallycross circuit.

Taylor lined up for 3rd position start in the Final, and with only fractions of seconds separating the top three drivers all day it was always destined to be a close race.

Charlie was on pole and took an early lead, battling with Taylor close behind all of the way as the pair extended the lead over the other cars. Surprisingly on the last lap Bean and Taylor had a coming together, with both cars coming to a stop only a short distance from the finish, allowing third place driver Drew Bellerby through to take victory on the last half lap, Jake recovered to take second in what was a very poorly looking Peter Gwynne Motorsport Swift.

It was a fantastic final round and a very fitting one after all of the entertainment the Juniors have provided so far this year.

Jake said 'I'm so pleased to get 2nd! It was incredibly close racing all day and I'm sure it will be just as close in the final round at Blyton Park where I would like to welcome all of my supporters to come and check out the action"

"None of this year would have been possible without the fantastic backing from Peter Gwynne Motorsport who hire, run and look after the Swift and my sponsors CreateInn and Power Maxed who have supported me through the 2014 season, I owe them all a huge thank you".
The final round of the Swift Rallycross Championship series will be at local track Blyton Park near Gainsborough on 30th November.

PGM 'Power Maxed' Team Swifts out in British Rallycross

The Peter Gwynne Motorsport Hire Swifts were fully 'Power Maxed' up and out in force for the penultimate round of the Swift Rallycross Championship at Croft Circuit, Yorkshire. 

 Harry Vaulkhard

Former World Touring Car Championship driver Harry Vaulkhard made his rallycross debut at the event and set seventh fastest time in his first heat in this ultra-competitive class. Vaulkhard was again seventh in heat three to line up on pole position for the B final. After a closely contested race, Vaulkhard finished third, just missing out on a promotion to the A final, which was won by new 2014 Swift Rallycross Champion Tristan Ovenden.

 

Adam Weaver

In a second PGM Motorsport run Swift Sport, Vaulkhard’s Touring Car colleague and BTCC Power Maxed Racing Team Boss, Adam Weaver, also experienced Rallycross for the first time.  Gaining confidence throughout the day, Weaver clearly enjoyed the challenging and slippery conditions of Croft Circuit.

PGM Junior Swift driver Jake Taylor had a challenging day with an incident in heat two saw Taylor's return to the paddock assisted by a tow truck.  With the crew standing by, the front corner was soon rebuilt ready for a comeback in heat three where a finish was critical to record a second time and secure a place in the final. 

Jake Taylor

Taylor chased Charlie Bean hard in the opening laps of the Junior final, pressuring Bean into a mistake on the last lap. While Bean went sideways onto the loose section, Taylor could do nothing to avoid contact. Drew Bellerby snuck through to take the win.  As Taylor got his Swift moving again to make it to the line to claim second and gaining more vital points to keep his championship title chase alive.

Junior Bellerby then progressed to a PGM Motorsport senior Swift for the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix on Sunday and proved she has the talent to run with the adult racers in the future. She chased multiple British Rallycross Champion Pat Doran in the third heat who was also driving a Swift. Ovenden was again top Swift running in the amalgamated field, and only just missed out on a place in the A final by one position

FORMER BTCC DRIVER VAULKHARD MAKES SWIFT RALLYCROSS DEBUT.

Former British Touring Car Championship driver Harry Vaulkhard joins the Peter Gwynne Motorsport Team for his Rallycross debut in the British Rallycross Championship, Round Six at Croft Circuit this Saturday.

 

During his BTCC career, Vaulkhard proved he was not out there to make up the numbers, qualifying P2 in his Chevrolet Lacetti alongside another Rallycross favourite Andrew Jordan.  Taking on the top works drivers and whilst narrowly denied a podium at Donington, Vaulkhard was the talk of the post-race round up from Steve Rider and Tim Harvey with his impressive performance.

The Newcastle Hotshot moved to The World Touring Car Championship where he claimed a victory at Monza in the Independents Trophy.

Harry Vaulkard:  “I’m really looking forward to my first foray into rallycross.  It’s a totally new discipline for me from touring car and saloon racing and I’m under no illusions as to how tough it will be, but I raced Schoolboy Motocross for a lot of years at a high level so I’m not afraid of 'getting my hands dirty' as it were. I’ve watched Rally X loads in the past at Croft and have a few friends in the paddock too so I’m looking forward to a great fun weekend of racing” 

“I’m proud to be carrying the Power Maxed logos on my car this weekend too. It will be good to race doorhandle to doorhandle with Adam Weaver too”  

Power Maxed Racing Boss Adam Weaver also joins Vaulkhard to make up the Power Maxed, Peter Gwynne Motorsport Team for the weekend.

Peter Gwynne:  It’s great to have Harry joining us at Croft.  From watching footage of his performance in the BTCC, he is certainly comfortable with sliding a car, I am sure it won’t be long before we will be seeing that swift sideways.  Harry and Adam are both out there for the first time for a bit of fun, so looking forward to seeing how they enjoy their first taste of Rallycross.

Check out Harry in action in the BTCC
  

BTCC POWER MAXED RACING BOSS WEAVER TO RACE SUZUKI SWIFT

The man behind new BTCC entrant Power Maxed Racing is to take up the sport himself, at the wheel of a Suzuki Swift in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship. 

 

 

Adam Weaver, MD of Power Maxed, will make his track debut at Croft this coming weekend on Saturday 18^th October for Round 6 of the British Rallycross Championship.

 

Adam, 34, has long wanted to have a go at some Rallycross. After supporting Chris Mullen and finding out more about the championship in doing so he decided to have a go himself after the BTCC season had ended and booked in for the final two rounds of the championship.

 

“I have always had a soft spot for Rallycross as it combines my interest in off-road racing and circuit racing as I started out in Autograss at 16 and have done plenty of track days and a bit of circuit racing more recently in the VW Cup, the Suzuki Swifts seem like an ideal place to take my first steps.”

 

Adam’s car will be be provided and prepared by Peter Gwynne Motorsport and is entered under the name of Power Maxed Racing, as was Chris Stockton’s BTCC Chevrolet Cruze this season. The Swift will carry the branding of Power Maxed and associated products Steel Seal and J-B Weld as will the car of his friend and experienced circuit racer Harry Vaulkhard who also joins him in a Peter Gwynne Motorsport prepared Swift for his first taste of Rallycross action.

 

Peter Gwynne said : “Adam has been a great supporter of motorsport and its competitors through the years and has helped several drivers with their careers – it’s great to see him going out to compete himself, he tells me his aim is to have some fun and I am sure that he will enjoy the competition and entertainment the Swifts provide.”

Dodsworth's Racing Debut at Cadwell Park

For Mark Dodsworth 2014 is all about gaining Motorsport experience and having sampled the British Rallycross Championship contesting Lydden Hill, Knockhill and Pembrey, Dodsworth next aim was to try circuit racing.

 Joining the BRSCC Eurosaloons at Cadwell Park the teenager from Portsmouth certainly had his work cut out on this challenging circuit.  With torrential rain through most of the day, Dodsworth managed to make it through the day whilst a number of drivers packed up and went home.

Whilst not the ideal situation for a first experience at circuit racing Dodsworth gained great experience in driving in wet conditions.

Fifth for Fruru in Rallycross Challenge Europe

After claiming 3rd in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship in 2013 in a PGM Hire Swift, Belgian driver Kris Fruru discussed his dream to go to European events stepping up to S1600.

Working a plan together to turn the dream into a reality the Left Hand Drive Swift began development to turn S1600 starting with being wide tracked.   The focus for the year was to be able to take on the Rallycross Challenge Europe and compete in as many rounds as possible within an affordable budget.

Adventuring across Europe visiting countries including Lithuania, Hungary and Czech Republic  Fruru completed every round of the championship and they were the only team to compete an finish every round.

Initially aiming for a Top 10 finish in the first year, working with Peter Gwynne, Fruru soon smashed that target achieving 5th overall in the Championship.

Taylor Takes Third at Pembrey

For Peter Gwynne Motorsport Junior Driver Jake Taylor, the trip to Pembrey Circuit for Round 4 of the British Rallycross Championship was filled with excited anticipation having made his Rallycross debut here back in 2013.

With the Junior Swifts opening the event, in search of the fastest line through the freshly graded gravel section, clipping a tyre stack sent the Retford Racer into a spin. Hot on his heels fellow competitor Charlie Bean entered Taylor’s tornado of dust only to meet in the middle resulting in heavy front end damage to both cars.

Somewhat deflated with his return to paddock being assisted by a recovery vehicle and a Marshall speculating it may be the end of his days racing Taylor relayed the incident to the team and they set about the rebuild.

Taylor patiently observed the team at work as fellow competitors and crews from the Swift Camp came to check the welfare of him and the car.  The severity of the damage came to light making Taylor’s hopes to return to track fade as the first heat was missed. Changing from his overalls, the sixteen year old resided to the fact he would be a spectator for the rest of the day. 

The crew conscious a non-point scoring round would hamper his title chase battled on to get the car straight and prior to heat 2 all four wheels were on providing the chance to get back out and score some vital points.

Overalls back on and a smile restored, Taylor realised the game had now changed.  With two heats remaining and the awareness of the Swift having taken a severe shunt, completing the last two heats were paramount to be eligible to contest the final.

Showing a mature attitude Taylor lined up on the grid with the clear objective of completing the remaining heats rather than chasing the win to make the final which is where it would all count.  Further issues that arose due to the earlier impact were overcome and his place in the final was secured.

Keeping a level head Taylor kept it smooth in the final to bring home a comfortable third place and silverware not thought possible several hours earlier.

Jake Taylor:  Pembrey was eventful to say the least, full of ups and downs.  Thought it was early retirement when I collided with some tyres.  The mechanics did an excellent job bringing it back to life, which was truly staggering, although without my racing head on I had to trickle the damaged swift back home and I still landed a podium 3rd place finish.  I am definitely going to be checking the level of grip out there next time before I go for it!  Pembrey will be a day to remember!

Sarah Watson, Peter Gwynne Motorsport:  Jake is just so keen. Although this is only his fourth rallycross event, with the great increase on pace he showed at Knockhill and having driven the track before, he was anxious to get out there and get a result.  It was such a shame the gravel just caught him out at the start of the day.   For a young driver, Jake’s level of maturity impressed us all today, reflecting on what happened and learning from it.  His feedback to the mechanics on how the car handled when returning to the paddock meant they were able to diagnose further issues and overcome them to ensure the car finished the day, getting him valuable points to keep him in the running for the championship. 

A great job by all the team, and a big thanks to all the other Swift drivers and crews that came to offer help get Jake back out there.