NHMC Cadwell Stages Rally 2021

MSN Circuit Rally Championship Round Two

Cadwell Park 21 November 2021

Winter's coming, hold on it’s arrived! And with a vengeance, arriving at Cadwell Park for round two of the MSN Circuit Rally Championship, it was a bright and sunny Sunday but bitterly cold not helped by a brisk wind.

The cold hadn’t put the rally fans off.

There was a big crowd out for the final event of the season at the Lincolnshire track. This caught us out a little as there was quite a queue to get in, resulting in us arriving at the end of the Park straight just as the first stage started.

With us was Georgie, a young car fan who was taking her first steps into automotive photography. My side kick was showing her round the camera she was going to be using for the day a Nikon D7200 with a 24 - 85mm lens when I heard the shriek of tyres losing traction.

A quick warning shout and they had spotted Nick and Sally Whale in the Silverstone Auctions Ford Fiesta Evo heading straight towards them! 

Slamming into the tyre wall and spraying cold mud and water in a large plume I was already regretting looking for my big coat in the back of the van instead of getting my camera out first.

Georgie got the shot just before the impact and just after, not a bad way to start off, not so for Nick and Sally, hopefully they can get up and running for the next round.

We had picked Park as a starting point for the day as the first two stages were the only times the cars would be running the wrong way round Park. With the sun just right we captured some nice shots but nothing as dramatic as Nick and Sally Whale's off.

As the wind chill factor was ridiculous at Park (it’s the highest point at Cadwell) we decided to take cover in the trees at Hall Bends. It turned out to be a wise choice as the light was amazing.

Usually the trees block out a lot of the sun's rays, but as it was so low it was lighting up the track a treat.

Getting the right location and angle for this shot took a few attempts. I could see the light was good but the cars were taking a few different lines through the bends so I positioned myself to get the best shot for the majority of the cars taking the stage. 

We spent the rest of the day between Halls and the Mountain. The North Humberside Motor Club who were organising round two of the MSN Circuit Rally Championships had laid out a great course, not only for the rally teams, but also for the spectators.

Using the access and paddock slip roads with large bails of straw all over the place allowed us to safely get close to the action and give the teams a challenging course to navigate.

Over all there were eight stages run throughout the day, running the wrong way, right way and every other way you can think of round the track. Top tip grab a programme (which has all the stage maps) on the way in so you can work out where to be for the best action shots.



No point being down Hall Bends if that part of the track is not being used for two stages. In the end we only took in seven stages. 

Back at Park for the final stage there had been a few delays as cars were recovered so the event was running late. Chatting to the team as the sun went down and Cadwell was pitched into darkness and the freezing sleet started to come down we decided to call it a day, missing out on stage eight.

So enough of our photography shenanigans, lets take a look at the rallying for our two adopted teams this year - Car 29 the RACE Performance Ford Puma crewed by Ryan Connolly and Chris Allan, and in part two of this report car 66, the Raise Nissan Micra with Adam and Ray Ripper on board. 

First up the Pooma. Ryan writes:

"OK - we’re getting back into the swing of things now… 

Significantly less midnight oil had to be burnt this time to make Round 2 of the MSN Rally Championship as we went back home to the glorious Cadwell Park last weekend for the North Humberside Motor Club Cadwell Stages. Taking full advantage of the Saturday Morning Track sessions, we got the Pooma dialled up and ready to rock on Sunday. 

Sunday morning arrived and the Lincolnshire Wolds looked very appealing and we got right to it, a little tentatively to begin with if truth be told, but enough to lead Class D2 from Stage one to the finish…

However - we were “officially” running in Class C on the event and P6 had to suffice, along with P21 Overall. We did have stage times as high as P3 in Class and P9 overall but we just weren’t willing to take the risks when a deluge whilst queuing for SS7 and sat on slicks saw us shut the attack mode off and bring her home, as awesome as the Michelins may be.

Development continues and we may or may not end up with an entry for the Dukeries Rally next weekend given we are on the reserve list, but shall advise you all ASAP! 

Thank you as always to the RACE Team on event and all of our partners". 

Thanks to Georgie and RPW Photography for helping out on this report. David Harbey is taking on part two which you can find by following the link.

The team will be at Round Three, The Dukeries Rally from Donington Park on the 5th December 2021 to see how our adopted teams get on.