Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championships - Round 6

Donington Stages

20 March 2022

We are getting close to crowning the MSN Circuit Rally Champion and class winners for the 2021 - 22 season. The penultimate round was held at Donington Park last weekend, where if the results had gone the right way, the championship would have been decided.

However, the Gods of the internal combustion engine had other ideas. In the E2 class Championship contenders Neil Roskell and Andrew Roughead in their Ford Fiesta R5 came to a graceful halt just before the Esses on stage four with steam exiting the engine bay, bringing their day to a premature end. 

Roskell and Roughead were leading the championship after some consistently good results this season but now that lead has been reduced somewhat.

Previous championship winners Barry Morris and Tom Hutchings in the great looking Darrian had a good weekend, claiming second place overall to take the championship down to the wire.

The final meeting in a few weeks' time on the rolling hills of Cadwell Park should be a cracker with everything to for the contenders play for. The meeting on the 3rd April will now determine the 2021 - 22 champions. 

To add spice to the final event there could be a few teams competing that could throw a few spanners in the works. The last two meetings have been won by David Henderson and Sion Cunnliff, the only two they have entered.

They placed their cards firmly on the table at Donington in stage one, taking a four second lead in their Ford Fiesta R5. They went on to post the fastest times in all of the stages to take the round win.

Another one to watch, if he competes, is Frank Bird driving the Ford Fiesta Rally2. He has won three out of three that he has entered.

Frank has committed to other rallying and circuit Championships but does compete in the MSN rounds when he can. So, add these two to the mix and it will be an interesting meeting.

Now let’s take a look at some of the other competitors from the view point of the spectator photographer. The standout car for me was the Metro 6R4 of Mark Jasper and Don Whyatt which ended up fifth fastest on the day.

It’s not the prettiest car on track but it does have presence and the kudos, being a group B rally car and running at a time when rallying was just bonkers. 

Taking a further step back in time, the Mk2 Escorts were, and always will be, great rally cars to photograph. With just about every part including full brand new shells available we will see these cars out doing what they do for the foreseeable future.

Josh Payton and Jamie Vaughan were in the top Escort, achieving seventh place on the day.

In a few weeks we will be off to Cadwell to watch the final round to see who will be crowned champion. You can read all of our old reports of the MSN and other national and international rallying events over on our dedicated rallying page.