Tag Archives: Peugeot

Lost Luck Of The Irish – Wyedean Forest Rally

Following last weeks blog on the 40th Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally today’s blog features the remaining prize winners on the event who did not get a mention.

Peugeot 106, Matthew Davis, Ryan Taylor, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Rex Paddock Memorial Trophy for the best prepared car entered by a Forest of Dean Motor Club member went to the 1400 C class #251 Peugeot 106 that Matthew Davis and Ryan Taylor drove to a 91st place overall finish.

Subaru Impreza, Nigel Drew, Pauline Nash, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Lionel Ward Trophy for best finish by a Forest of Dean Motor Club Crew was awarded to Nigel Drew and Pauline Nash who drove their #29 Subaru Impreza to a 22nd place finish overall.

Nissan Micra, Nigel Jenkins, Kirsty Walby, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Nigel Jenkins and Kirsty Walby driving the RF1.4 #239 Nissan Micra won the Finishing Touches Hair and Beauty Cup for finishing 98th overall and last of the Forest of Dean Motor Club entered crews.

Peugeot 106 Rallye 2, Rachel Patterson, Tom Wood, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Bob Brain Trophy for highest placed lady driver was won by Rachel Patterson who along with co driver Tom Wood brought their 1400C class #246 Peugeot 106 Rallye 2 home in 105th place overall.

Subaru Impreza WRC, David Weston, Kirsty Riddick, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

Kirsty Riddick who navigated David Weston’s #2 Subaru Impreza WRC to a second place finish overall won the Lilian Turley Trophy for best placed lady co-driver.

Ford Focus WRC 05, Damian Cole, Jack Moreton, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

Jack Moreton navigated Damian Cole’s #6 Ford Focus WRC 05 to a 6th place finish and earned himself the Michael ‘Beef’ Park Trophy for highest placed under 22 co-driver.

Mitsubishi EVO X, Gunnar Karl Johannesson, George Gwynn, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally

The Forest of Green District Youth Cup for the highest placed under 22 driver was won by Gunnar Karl Johannesson who with George Gwynn finished 29th overall in their class N4 #51 Mitsubishi Evo X.

Land Rover Freelander M Sport, Spence Price, Chris Hands, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally

There was only one off road vehicle in the event namely the #105 Land Rover Freelander M Sport driven by Spence Price and Chris Hands to a 96th place finish overall and the B G Landrovers Ross on Wye Trophy for highest place off road 4×4.

Citroën C2 VTR, Dan Moss, Sam Allen, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

The Gwynne Speed Rally Championship honours for best Citroën C2 finishers went to the #110 Citroën C2 VTR crew of Dan Moss and Sam Allen who finished 94th overall.

Lancia Stratos, Steve Perez, Paul Spooner, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Forest Rally,

I’ll add a couple Psychoontyres awards of my own first for best sounding car to make it past the last corner on the opening Blaze Bailey Stage was the Ferrari Dino V6 powered #44 Lancia Stratos crewed by Steve Perez and Paul Spooner, which unfortunately retired with suspension problems after finishing stage 2.

Volkswagen Lupo Sport, Danny O'Reilly, Karen Phelps, Mailscot, Wyedean Forest Rally,

Finally the Psychoontyres best sense of Humour award goes to the #264 Volkswagen Lupo Sport crew of Danny O’Reilly and Karen Phelps who posted their retirement as “Lost luck of the Irish after SS6”.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lost Luck Of the Irish” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 1969 NASCAR contender. Don’t forget to come back now !

Bird’s Wyedean Win – Wyedean Forest Rally

1 Reply

On Saturday I popped over to the Forest of Dean to see the 40th Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally for which 175 entries had been received.

The Wyedean started and finished at Chepstow Race Course and was run over 8 stages making a total of 43.42 stage miles that were linked by 98.37 road miles.

MG ZR, Gemmell, Beebe, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

This was the first Rally I had been to since the 1985 Lombard Race Rally, during the course of the day I visited two stages the 3.26 mile Blaze Bailey on the eastern edge of the Forest of Dean near Soudley and 6.02 mile Mailscot near Staunton on the western edge.

Above co driver Matt Beebe directs enthusiastic spectators in their efforts to get driver Richard Gemmell and his MG ZR out of a mud trap that saved the car from a couple of hundred foot drop into an abyss on the last corner of the Blaze Bailey stage, the #243 crew recovered to eventually record a 100th place finish from the 120 crew’s who made it back to Chepstow.

Mini Cooper S, Lewis, Fife, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Unfortunately I was not party to any radio communications during the event which made it impossible to follow what was going on in terms of positions and stage times so today’s blog will be limited to photographs of the winners of the 5 classes which split into a total of 16 sub classes each with a winner along with an overall winner.

The historic class was divided into four, winners of the H1a Class were Peter Lewis and Paul Fife in the 1963 #255 Mini Cooper S, seen above in the Mailcot Stage.

Datsun 240Z, Easson, Reynolds, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally

Back in 1971 and 1973 Datsun 240 Z’s driven by Edgar Hermann and Shekhar Mehta respectively won the gruelling East African Safari Rally proving the model was no flimsy boulevard cruiser.

It was therefore perhaps no great surprise that Jeremy Easson and Mike Reynolds won class H2b on Saturday with their #53 240Z built in 1974.

Mazda RX7, Scannell, Stevens, Blaze Bailey, Whedean Rally,

Nowhere near as noisy as it’s circuit racing siblings was the 1979 #48 Mazda RX7 crewed by class H3b winners Jake Scannell and Adrian Stevens which like the #53 Datsun is seen on the Blaze Bailey stage above.

Ford Escort RS1800, Elliot, Price, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

The Ford Escort in MkI and MkII guises was a rallying staple through out the 1970s, winning the 1970 World Cup Rally in MkI form and the 1979 World Rally Championship in MkII form.

The #24 Escort RS1800 Replica above crewed by Nick Elliot and Dave Price won the H4 category and as we shall see was one of three MKII shelled Escorts to win awards on Saturday, the #24 started life as a far more mundane 2 door Ford Escort Popular.

Nissan Micra, Quinn, Carmen, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Three classes were run for the Rally First starter series for novice crews running production cars with a few basic competition safety features.

The RF 1.0 class for cars running motors of no more than 1 litre / 61.5 cui was won by the 2001 #260 Nissan Micra S crewed by Nick Quinn and Neill Carmen seen above on the Mailscot Stage.

Volkswagen Polo, Handford, Davies, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

Morgan Handford and Richard Davies took top honors in RF1.4 despite taking the longest route around the final corner of the opening Blaze Bailey stage in their 1999 #236 Volkswagen Polo 1.4 16V.

Volswagen Polo GTi, Smith, Houldsworth, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Top starter class RF1.6 honours were taken by Mick Smith and Calvin Houldsworth driving their 2001 #220 Volkswagen Polo GTi seem above on the Mailscot Stage.

MG ZR, Riddick, Riddick, Mailscot Wyedean Rally,

The BTRDA kick Start 1400 series is run in two classes for slightly more sophisticated cars than the Rally First vehicles, but with tightly controlled stock restricted specifications on motors and suspensions.

Winners of Class 1400 C were the Scotish pair Keith and Mairi Riddick in their 2001 #227 MG ZX.

Vauxhall Corsa, Bennett, McNeil, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

The slightly more liberal 1400 S class was won by #201 Vauxhall Corsa crewed by David Bennett and Alistair McNeil seen above on the Blaze Bailey stage following a much better line through the final corner than the #236 RF1.4 class winning VW Polo.

Ford Fiesta ST, Cook, Jones, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Group N is an internationally recognised production based category that allows only safety modifications and a free choice of electronic control unit (ECU) for the motor, the success of the category can be judged by the fact it has remained largely unchanged since it’s inception in 1982.

Winners of the Group N3 class for vehicles with motors up to 2 litres / 122 cui on Saturday were Geno Cook and Ryan Jones who drove the #66 Ford Fiesta ST seen above in the closing gloom towards the end of the final Mailscot Stage.

Mitsubishi EVO IX, Thompson, Murphy, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy won the over 2 litre / 122 cui Group N4 class driving the #10 Mitsubishi Evo IX seen on the Blaze Bailey Stage above.

Peugeot 205 GTi, Lloyd, Roberts, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

The top five classes, B10, B11, B12, B13 and B14 cater for a range of specialised vehicles which must retain FIA crash tested type body shells, which precludes the use of space / tube frame specials.

Winners of the up to 1600 cc / 97.6 cui B10 class were Thomas Lloyd and Sherrin Roberts in their formerly Grey 1987 #60 Peugeot 205 Gti running with non period LED fog lights.

Ford Escort Mk II, Elsmore, Harrold, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Graham Elsmore and Stuart Harrold won the first three Wyedean Rallies from 1975 to 1977, the pair were also British Group One, similar to Group N, champions in 1977 and competed for works Ford, Triumph and Vauxhall teams in to the 1980’s.

They were loaned the #32 Ford Escort Mk2, seen hanging it’s tail out on the Mailscot stage above, by event sponsor Rob Weir, Graham and Stuart repaid Rob’s kindness with an up 2 litre / 122 cui class B11 victory.

Ford Escort Mk II, Phelps, Manuel, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

Over 2 litre / 122 cui B12 class honours were won by the #61 Ford Escort Mk2 crewed by Tim Phelps and Elwyn Manuel, their car is powered by a 2.4 litre / 146 cui motor who’s origin I was not able to determine during the course of the event.

Mitsubishi EVO IX, Elsmore, Edwards, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

Graham Elsmore’s son Nik is a proper chip off the old block, he was 1999 BRTDA Gold Star champion and shared the #21 Mitsubishi Evo IX above with Matt Edwards to finish 5th overall and win the B13 class for vehicles over 2 litres / 122 cui with four wheel drive.

Ford Fiesta ST, Payne and Williamson, Mailscot, Wyedean Rally,

The events Press officer Andrew Haill kindly explained that despite finishing behind 2 other B14 competitors James Payne and Carl Williamson driving the #3 Ford Fiesta ST above on the Mailscot stage were awarded the top honours in class B14 because the top three overall finishers are excluded from class awards.

Ford Focus WRC 07, Bird, Davies, Blaze Bailey, Wyedean Rally,

Clear overall winner of the 40th Weir Engineering Wyedean Forest Rally with five stage wins and 3 second fastest times was 2005 ANCRO National champion Cumbrian Paul Bird and his Welsh co driver Aled Davies driving his 2007 #1 Ford Focus WRC.

Paul, the head of Paul Bird Motorsports who run PBM Moto GP and British Superbike teams, has finished 2nd twice on this rally before was thrilled to win the event at the third time of asking.

Paul finished last season with two straight rally victories, which has now become three and he will be looking to make it four on the Malcom Wilson Stages Rally on March the 7th.

If you have never seen a forest rally in person I can heartily recommend it, your fellow spectators are unfailingly friendly, kids seem to love the sport, one six year old on Saturday managed to detain his Dad on the stages for many hours beyond the original two Dad had planned for the visit and most National Forests in the UK can be visited for free, though there maybe charges for car parking, as for example the reasonable £6 being charged for Forestry parking on the Mailscot Stage.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bird’s Wyedean Win” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at King Richards ’67 Plymouth Belvedere. Don’t forget to come back now !

RIP JP B – Peugeot 309 Gti Turbo Cup

Leave a Reply

Born on April 26th 1937 Jean Pierre Beltoise was part of a cohort of French drivers that emerged in the 1960’s that included Johnny Servous Gavin, Gerrard Larrousse, Henri Pescarolo and brother in law Francois Cevert.

JP B’s started racing motor cycles winning 11 national titles in three years, he raced Motor Morini, Kreider and Bultaco machines in a handful of world championship events from 1962 to 1964 finishing a best 3rd on a 50 cc Kreider in the 1964 French Grand Prix.

In 1963 Jean Pierre started racing Djet sports cars for René Bonnet. After Bonnet sold out to Matra he raced a succession of Formula 3 and Formula 2 Matra open wheelers with sufficient success that led to his Grand Prix debut in the 1966 German Grand Prix with a Formula 2 Matra in which he finished 8th overall and first in the Formula 2 class.

In 1968 JP B was contracted to drive for the French Matra Sports team but did not race a proper Formula One Spec car until the Spanish Grand Prix when he was drafted in to drive Jackie Stewart’s Cosworth powered Matra MS10 for Ken Tyrrell’s Matra International team.

At Monaco he raced the Matra V12 powered Matra MS 11 for the first time but retired with broken suspension, at the Dutch GP he finished a season high second behind Stewart.

Matra Sport withdrew form F1 at the end of 1968 to focus their efforts on getting Ken Tyrrells Matra International Team Matra MS80 cars for Jackie Stewart, JP-B was drafted in as Jackie’s team mate and again finished a season high second this time in France.

Ken Tyrrell and Matra parted way’s after winning the 1969 World Championships and Matra got it’s V12 programme back on track with JP B and Henri Pescarolo in the drivers seats JP B scored two season high thirds to Henri’s one. The following season JP B remained on the Matra team with Chris Amon but the results were disappointing.

For 1972 JP B signed to drive for BRM for which an over ambitious programme was being funded by Marlboro. At the 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Jean Pierre won his only Grand Prix generally reckoned to have been one of the more difficult races thanks to the atrocious conditions.

Note the scuff mark the BRM’s nose in the linked photo this came about after contact with Ronnie Peterson’s March which was baulking his while being lapped.

This race would be the last formula one championship win for a BRM and at the end of the season Jean Pierre won the non championship John Player victory race at Brands Hatch driving a BRM P180 which would be the last win for the BRM team.

Jean Pierre continued driving for BRM in 1973 during which he finished a season high 4th in Canada with the by now ancient BRM P160 and in 1974 during which he scored a great second place finish on the debut of the P201 in South Africa.

Out of a Formula One drive for 1975 Jean Pierre was in the running for a drive with the new Ligier team for 1976 and tested the Matra V12 powered JS5 before it was decided to hand the car over to 1975 Formula 2 champion Jacques Laffite.

Alongside his open wheel racing Jean Pierre continued racing sports cars winning races in 5 litre, 3 litre and 2 litre classes though most, seven, were wins with the 3 litre / 183 cui Matra’s which included the 1970 Tour de France sharing driving with Patrick Depailler and with FIA President Jean Todt doing the navigating.

After winning the sports car World Championship twice in 1973 and 1974 Matra withdrew from racing a Jean Pierre continued racing Ligier and Rondeau built sports cars at Le Mans, but he never improved on his career best 1969 4th place finish with Piers Courage in the endurance classic.

JP B won two French Saloon car championships driving BMW’s in 1976 and 1977 before proving his versatility, despite restricted arm movement that was the result of a sports car accident in the 1960’s, by winning the 1979 French Rallycross Championship driving an Alpine A310.

Peugeot Gti Turbo, JP Beltoise, Le Mans,

Into the 1980’s JP B continued racing Peugeot 505 Turbo’s, a V6 Talbot Tagora and in 1988 he was racing in the Peugeot 309 Gti Turbo Cup series, above Jean Pierre is seen driving the #88 309 to victory in the support race to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Jean Pierre passed away on the 5th of January aged 77.

Condolences to his family and friends RIP JP B.

Thanks for joining me on this “RIP JP B” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting Autosport International. Don’t forget to come back now !

2 Lathes and 3 Employees -Delage Type – R

Leave a Reply

Louis Delage founded the company bearing his name in 1905 by giving up his 600 Fr monthly income and borrowing 35,000 Fr, his company had two lathes and three employees on if whom was a former Chief Designer at Peugeot.

Delage began manufacturing bodies for Helbé before building cars to it’s own design powered by a one cylinder de Dion motor.

Delage Type R, David Barker, VSCC Loton Park,

By 1910 Delage had experienced competition success and steady growth such that it had moved into it’s third premises to keep abreast of the required production capacity.

The move coincided with the launch of the Type R powered, I believe by a Delage built side valve 4 cylinder motor that produced 15 hp.

Delage Type R, David Barker, VSCC Loton Park,

The Type-R had a top speed of 40 mph with a full body equipped to deal with adverse weather.

Production of the Type R lasted until 1913 by which time the factory was manufacturing 1,000 4 and 6 cylinder vehicles a year built by 350 employees.

The Type R seen with Dave Barker at wheel at a VSCC Loton Park meeting was built in 1910.

Thanks for joining me on this “2 Lathes and 3 Employees” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Détails Français – Classic Motor Show NEC Birmingham

Leave a Reply

Among the 1,700 cars on display at the recent Classic Motor Show at the NEC Birmingham was a wonderful selection of storied French vehicles a hand full details from which are featured below.

Bugatti T37, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Above the brass tail light above graces the back of the 1926 Bugatti Type 37 driven by Phillipe Auber to victory in the 1927 Picarde Grand Prix.

Peugeot 202 Commerciale, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

This 1940 Peugeot 202 Commerciale was used by a French off license, alcohol retailer, from 1947 to 1991 when it was sold to the present owners family.

Alpine A220, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

In 1968 Alpine and Gordini founders Jean Rédélé and Amédée Gordini concocted a 3 litre / 183 cui V8 with four overhead cams by using two 1500 cc 4 cylinder Renault derived blocks as used in the Alpine A110 and A210 competition cars. The V8 was fitted to the new A220 prototype racing cars of which the one seen here was the second built and the only one later modified and registered for road use with a short tale.

Citroen DS Decopotable, Classic Motor Show NEC,

Last week I looked at a Henri Chapron bodied Delahaye, above is the rear indicator on one of his later, Citroen DS Decopotable’s built in 1969.

Simca Rallye 2 Coupé SRT 77, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Any US Mopar fan will recognise SRT as standing for Street and Racing Technology, not so many may know that these initials were used by Chrysler Frances Simca brand in the 1970’s for the Simca Racing Team founded in 1972 for entry level competition alongside the successful Chrysler France backed Matra Simca Le Mans programme. In 1977 a Coupe SRT 77 non street legal competition kit was offered for their rear engined Simca Rallye 2 which boasted the power to 110 hp and top speed to over 100 mph.

Citroen Dyane Special, Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham

Finally above is the interior of a converted Citroen Dyane Special, known as the HJS complete with what appears to be a highly polished aluminium towing hook.

Thanks for joining me on this “Détails Français” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l Psycho On Tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be making a final visit to this years Classic Motor Show. Don’t forget to come back now !

Continental Thirties Foursome – San Marino Motor Classic

Leave a Reply

Today’s “Continental Thirties Foursome” features a brace of Bugatti’s a Lago and a Peugeot, seen at last months San Marino Motor Classic, representing a high water mark of style and elegance from the European continental coach building industry between 1935 and 1937.

Bugatti Type 57 SC Electron Torpedo Competition, San Marino Motor Classic

The original Bugatti Type 57 Electron Torpedo Competition #57222 was shown alongside the original and similarly Electron bodied Bugatti Type 57 Aerolithe coupé at the Paris Salon 1935. Unlike the coupé the original Electron Torpedo body was never seen in public again.

Bugatti Type 57T Aravis, San Marino Motor Classic

The chassis for today’s featured car was built in 1934 with a ‘Galbiar’ 4 door saloon / sedan body, but in 1937 it was sent back to Bugatti for repairs which included upgrading the hydraulic brakes, engine mounts, differential and fitting a completely new exquisite Aravis 2 seat drop top body by Belgian Paul Nee who was allegedly chosen by Jean Bugatti as a personal favour to none other than the King of Belgium.

Lago T150 C SS, San Marino Motor Classic

Perhaps the apogee of the tear drop form were the three 1937 Lago 150C SS models with coachwork by Figoni & Falaschi whose ‘Goutte d’Eau’ bodies featured not only faired in rear wheels, but faired in front’s as well, which one might expect to interfere with the steering. The first owner of what I believe is chassis #90107 was the Princess Stella de Khapurthala who allegedly had the colour of the paintwork changed many times to match her numerous outfits.

Peugeot Darl'mat, San Marino Motor Classic

Finally, for today at least, above is a 1937 Peugeot 302DS Darl’Mat Cabriolet, Emile Darl’mat was a Parisian Peugeot dealer with his own coachworks whose cars included several Peugeot based Le Mans racers.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton and Paul McNabb once again for sharing their photographs from the San Marino Motor Classic.

Thanks for joining me on this “Continental Thirties Foursome” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be paying a visit to Castle Combe. Don’t forget to come back now !

Pulling The Plug – Peugeot 908 HYbrid4

Leave a Reply

In 2007 Peugeot started a A V12 Turbo Diesel Prototype Sports Car programme that produced victory at Le Mans over the hitherto dominant Audi Team in 2009.