The first round of the 2016 Maxxis MSA English Rally Championship, the Malcolm Wilson Rally, took place in the Lake District on Saturday. The event was based at M-Sport premises and there were 50 Maxxis MSA English Rally Championship crews amongst the 107 cars that started the event. 

In the hotly contested E5 Class Gavin Edwards / Caron Tomlinson (Escort Mk2) took an early lead and it was not until the challenging Grizedale stages that Boyd Kershaw / Bryan Hull managed to gain the upper hand, finally winning the class by 17 secs.  It was even closer in Class E2 where Jordan and Paul Hone (Proton Satria) won by just 3 seconds from Matthew Jackson / Claire Williams (Micra).  James Hutchins/ James Hood (Vauxhall Nova) took maximum points in Class E3, also by 3 seconds, from Tim and Kit Leigh (Fiesta R200), whilst Dominic Hodge / Stefan Arndt (Micra) were first in Class E1 for standard cars up to 1400cc.

However, the closest battle came in Class E4 where there were 7 identical Fiesta ST’s in competition which was eventually won by Cameron Davies / Lee Taylor.     

The MSA English Championship class winners on the Malcom Wilson Rally were: – 

Class E1               Dominic Hodge / Stefan Arndt                     Nissan Micra                      56m 20s

Class E2               Jordan Hone / Paul Hone                              Proton Satria                     53m 52s              

Class E3               James Hutchings / James Hood                   Vauxhall Nova                   54m 11s

Class E4               Cameron Davies / Lee Taylor                       Ford Fiesta ST                    51m 52s              

Class E5               Boyd Kershaw / Bryan Hull                           Ford Escort Mk2                50m 22s

As this is a class based championship the championship points table after Round 1 shows the customary tie for the overall positions, but this will certainly change as the season progresses. The early leaders of the Maxxis MSA English Rally Championship are: –

1=           Boyd Kershaw                   Shurlock Row                   25

1=           Cameron Davies               Llandovery                         25

1=           Jordan Hone                      Londonderry                      25

1=           James Hutchings               Telford                                25

5=           Dominic Hodge                 Bampton                            23          

The second round of the MSA English Rally Championship is the Somerset Stages on Saturday 16^th April.

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The 2016 Maxxis MSA English Rally Championship is contested over 7 special stage rallies with best 5 scores to count.  It is open to all two-wheel drive cars up to 2 litres and is an ideal rally championship for crews on a limited budget. The Championship scoring is ‘class based’ so that competitors from any of the 5 classes have an opportunity of becoming the MSA English Rally Champion.  More information at www.englishrally.co.uk    

2016 Maxxis MSA English Rally Championship                    Calendar of Events

March 12^th                         Malcolm Wilson Rally                     Lake District

April 16^th                           Somerset Stages                              West Somerset

June 11^th                             Carlisle Stages                                  Kielder Forest West

August 7^th                           Tyneside Stages                               Otterburn, Northumberland

September 5^th                    Woodpecker                                     Shropshire

October 1^st                         Trackrod Forest Stages                  North Yorkshire

November 6^th                    Malton Forest Rally                         North Yorkshire