PORSCHE CHALLANGE-1st Round

[MRS]

Francois Delecour marked his guest appearance in the Tuthill Porsche Challenge with victory as the one-make series for identical historic-specification Porsche 911s got underway on the Bulldog Historic Rally in Wales yesterday (Saturday).
Co-driven by fellow Frenchman James Bocognano, Delecour headed home John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh and Andrew Barnes/Guy Simmons after seven demanding gravel stages, which had been made more slippery due to overnight rain.
Delecour, a winner of four world championship rallies in the past, had never driven an historic-specification Porsche in competition before but relished the experience as he returned to the forest stages in north Wales for the first time in almost 10 years.
“The conditions were difficult, we had to use the pace notes from the organisers and my co-driver has very little experience, but I really enjoyed the experience of coming back to Wales and driving in the Tuthill Porsche Challenge,” said the 48-year-old rallying legend. “It was hard to find the confidence with the pace notes, especially over the crests when I didn’t really know what was to come. But the Porsche didn’t feel like an old car. It was superb, you could really push it and slide it and it was great fun to drive.”
Both Lloyd and Barnes are adapting to historic rallying this season and Lloyd commented on the differences between the modern World Rally Cars he has been used to of late and the impeccably prepared Tuthill Porsche 911.
“The car was fantastic with plenty of power,” said Lloyd. “The early stages were slippery and it was hard work without an automatic gearbox and adapting to rear-wheel drive.”
Andrew Haddon’s Tuthill Porsche Challenge debut ended when he picked up a second puncture and was forced to retire in the early stages.
At the finish of the event in Welshpool, Tuthill Porsche director and series founder Richard Tuthill said: “It was encouraging to see just how close Francois was to the times of the overall leaders, especially as he wasn’t happy not being able to use his own pace notes due to the regulations. It was disappointing that Andrew didn’t get to the finish though, as he had tyre problems in testing too. But overall it has been a satisfying start to the series and preparations are already underway for the next round, the Pirelli Historic Rally later this month.”
About the Tuthill Porsche Challenge
Tuthill Porsche, the United Kingdom’s foremost preparation firm of historic Porsche rally cars, is running the one-make series on five rounds of the Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic Rally Championship, which is managed by the Historic Rally Car Register.
For a fee of £42,250.00 (plus VAT if applicable) competitors will have the use of a Challenge-specification 3.0-litre Tuthill Porsche on all five events, with all costs fully covered. These include maintenance, consumables, accommodation, entry fees and insurance.
Tuthill Porsche Challenge organisers have put an exciting prize structure in place with the inaugural champion receiving a fully-paid entry into an FIA European Historic Rally Championship round, using one of Tuthill Porsche’s full-specification 3.0-litre Porsche 911s.
The second-placed crew will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the East African Safari Classic as a guest of the team, while the third-placed driver and co-driver will enjoy a two-day course at Tuthill Porsche’s ice-driving school in Norway.
More details on the 2011 Tuthill Porsche Challenge are available by contacting Richard Tuthill on +44 (0) 1295 750514, email richard@francistuthill.co.uk or by visiting www.francistuthill.co.uk.