Mid-Derbyshire Motor Club competing on Rally of Derbyshire

The rally which was organised by Matlock Motor Club attracted a total of thirty-nine entries. It started and finished at the Great British Car Journey in Ambergate and comprised approximately one hundred miles around the lanes of Derbyshire.

Club member Tom Murphy was navigating for Clint Eade from Beverley MC in his BMW Compact. They were determined to improve on last year’s event when they retired after two miles with broken suspension. They set a steady pace throughout the night coping with first heavy rain and then fog but still managed to set a fastest time over one section.

They finished the rally believing they were sixth but were then promoted to fifth after another competitor was found to have missed a code board (failing to prove the correct route had been taken). This result meant Tom had had a very successful eight days as he had finished second in class on the Riponian Stages Rally the previous weekend. On that occasion he was navigating for Matt Bown from Matlock MC.

Club member Richard Oxley entered his Proton Satria with Phil Savage from Kirby Lonsdale MC navigating for him. The pair set consistently fast times including fastest overall on one section. They finished 6th in class and 6th overall.

Richard Henman entered his Peugeot 106 with Ashley Young in the navigator’s seat. They were seeded at number 20 but were running consistently faster than higher seeds but eventually had to retire with damaged steering two thirds of the way through the event.

Dennis Cooke entered his Citroen Saxo with Phil Prosser as the navigator. They finished 16th in their class and 23rd overall.

Jake Simms entered his Proton Compact with Jack Slatcher navigating on his first event of this type. Both driver and navigator are aged 20 and they consistently set faster times than many higher seeds, including 3rd fastest on one section. They finished 3rd in class and 20th overall.

Club member James Wilkinson entered his Ford Puma with Dan Tribe from Dukeries MC in the navigator’s seat. Although James has been rallying for less than 12 months, they also set faster times than their seeding would have suggested but they had to retire shortly after half-way through the rally.