News

Our young member Harry Walshaw had great year in 2024, read about it here......

Coming off the back of a busy 2024 I am well rested and really looking forward to getting going this year in 2025.

Looking back at 2024 I can confidently say that the year was a success for me with many great highlights, lessons and experiences learnt. I am now looking forward to carrying the lessons and experiences of the year forward into the rest of my career.

At the beginning of last year, I was lucky enough to be selected to join the Motorsport UK Academy, from which I have now graduated, but with the academy I have been able to attend WRC tests with the Ford Factory Team, M-Sport, going out to Rally Finland, where I was on weather crew duties with M-Sport.

I also continued my partnership with Jake Briggs in his lovely MKII Escort on various tarmac rallies. Sadly, as you will see below, I am not able to continue that for 2025, but I shall miss that partnership.

It's fair to say that after the Finland trip, things started to get very serious very quickly. This started with a test alongside 2023 Scottish Rally Champion David Henderson, followed by winning the last ever running of our local event at Melbourne, with a two times National British Rally Champion no less and all the way to partnering up with my two drivers for this year!

I can now confirm that I will be contesting the British Rally Championship with Alexandre Vassallo in a Ford Fiesta Rally 2 as well as a part series of the Protyre British Asphalt Championship with BAT-Sport Performance driver Ryan Burns in another Ford Fiesta Rally 2, things however don't stop there! I have another couple of exciting opportunities working in the background but I am not in a position to publicly comment on that yet.

So thanks to all the members who continue to support me with all my work. Please keep reading my news as and when we progress through the year.

The AGM for De lacy Motor Club Ltd and De Lacy Social Club was held last evening, 15th January, at the Rallyhouse at Brotherton. The meeting was well attended by over 30 members of the Club, who were updated as to the state of the respective elements of the Club and their performance during the last twelve months.

There was a lengthy discussion regearing a number of new and updated club rules, both social and limited company, which were agreed and voted upon. These new rules will be sent to all members once they have been complied in full . They will also be available on this website.

This year there was unprecedented interest from members volunteering for the Management Committee. As a result of the current committee not being up to the required strength as set in the Club Constitution, we are pleased to announce that after their nominations, the following people are now members of the said committee;

Allan Norton - re appointed / Paul Williamson - re appointed / Mark Sherburn - formerly co-opted now becomes a full member / Ken Quinn - new member / Simon Boddy - new member / Colin Heppenstall - new member / Simon Bentley - new member / David Walmsley - new member.

After a short meeting of the new committee the formal roles of officials was decided . These roles can be found on the Home Page of this website. We welcome them to the committee and look forward to their work going forwards.

In conclusion, the general outlook for 2025 and beyond appears to be quite upbeat with De Lacy once again establishing its place in the local motorsport scene.

Winners all....as the motorsport calendar and season slows down for the Christmas period, a host of winners have recently been announced in the various disciplines....hare a but a few for 2024.

Formula 1 Drivers Championship - for the fourth consecutive year the title has been taken by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull after the Grand Prix race in Las Vegas, with two races to spare. he was given a good run for his money this year by Lando Norris in the McLaren.
Formula 1 Constructors Championship - was taken by the McLaren Team for the first time in 26 years, when Lando Norris crossed the finishing line of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of their nearest rivals, Ferrari, on Sunday 8th December 2024
Formula 2 Drivers Championship - Gabriel Bortoleto took the title after finishing 2nd in the final race of the season. He will be driving for the Sauber F1 team in 2025
World Rally Champion - Thierry Neuville has finally taken the title after so many years of being there or thereabouts. He took the title winning Rally Japan in his Hyundai
World Rally Constructors Championship - goes to Team Toyota after a last-gasp manufacturers’ series win on the Wolf Power Stage of the final round, last month’s FORUM8 Rally Japan. This following a thrilling head to head with Hyundai for the spoils.
World Rallycross Drivers Championship - Johan Kristofferson won the 2024 Drivers Championship once again to take a fifth consecutive and his seventh world title, with his team, Kristofferson Motorsport the reigning constructors champions too.
British Rally Champion - for 2024 is Chris Ingram and co-driver Alex Kihurani who clinched the Probite British Rally Championship (BRC) title with a stunning victory at a thrilling season-ending Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally back in October.
Scottish Rally Champion - Following the Grampian Forest Rally in August, Euan Thorburn was declared champion having won three out of the five events thus far. Keir Beaton was declared Co-Driver champion following the Snowman Rally in October.
British Historic Rally Champion - Seb Perez claimed the 2024 FUCHS UK British Historic Rally Championship title as the season reached a thrilling climax at the Rally Anglo Caledonian held on the weekend of 23/24 November.
National Autotest Champion for 2024 - is Alastair Moffatt driving his Mini Special 1400

Rally Anglo Caledonian.
A new event and a new chapter for the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club

This all new rally will be running over the weekend of 22nd - 24th November and takes in some old favourite stage names from the World famous Roger Albert Clark Rally, which as we all know is run every alternate odd year. Based at both H&H Auction Mart at Carlisle and H&H at Lockerbie, the rally will consist of three rallies as is expected of the Clerk of the Course, Colin Heppenstall. Saturday and Sunday is the main event and is the final round of the BHRC . Saturday is also the "Anglo" supporting event which takes in a number for those Saturday stages. The main event continues into Sunday with the "Caledonian" support event taking in a number of the Sunday stages across the border in Scotland.

The BHRC will be settled on this Rally with the likely winner being Seb Perez in his beautiful Porsche 911.

Full details of the event can be found by clicking on this link.

You will be able to follow the event LIVE across all the Rally social media platforms and also follow the "Special Stage " coverage

Taurus Navigation Rally 2025 - Plans are underway for the 2025 version of this event, which will be under the leadership of Ken Quinn (Clerk of the Course) this time. The route is all but sorted with final negotiations taking place with a start and finish venue. The team aim to make a formal announcement after final sign off by the Club Management Committee this week. It is expected to follow a familiar format with pre plot a given. The route will head out in a new direction we are told.
The date for your diary is Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th April. This date has been agreed with other local motor clubs in a "triway" agreement, and will give the team greater flexibility with hours of darkness.

THE ROGER ALBERT CLARK RALLY BOOK:- Available to order NOW!

The full story of the first 20 years of Britain’s toughest special stage rally - available January 2024 to include the 2023 rally.

SPECIAL PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER – SAVE £10

Normal price: £35 plus £5 postage and packing

Order before 31.12.23 and pay only £30 including postage and packing

Copies will be dispatched in mid-January 2024

• The definitive story of this epic rally
• Hard-back, full colour book with over 300 pages
• Every rally reported in detail, including the 2023 event
• 500 photographs covering many competitors
• Full results for each event with complete entry lists

This is the story of Britain's most challenging special stage rally for a generation. The initial idea was to run a ‘proper rally’ and that has certainly been achieved through the dedication and determination of Colin Heppenstall, his family and a fantastic team of volunteers.

Across 20 years, the Roger Albert Clark Rally has run 15 times. It is an event that has no rival as it recreates a golden era of rallying in the UK when Roger Clark was at his peak, and the original RAC Rally was a multi-day test for every competitor.

Since it first ran in 2004, the Roger Albert Clark Rally has grown in stature and following and now has huge competitor interest, big crowds and a vast online following. It is a rally like no other in terms of atmosphere, challenge and sense of achievement for those who get to the finish.

This book, with over 500 photographs, many of which have never been seen before, tells the story of each rally and looks at some of the people involved; both competitors and organisers. It details how the organisers coped with heavy snow in 2010 and Storm Arwen in 2021.

The 2023 event will be the biggest and toughest yet, covering 350 special stage miles in the forests of England, Scotland, and Wales.

For anyone who has been involved in this rally, this book will bring back fabulous memories and will serve as the definitive record of the rally’s first 20 years.

How to order:

• On-line: http://www.tfmpublishing.com/roger-albert-clark-rally-the...

• Or, call 07778 547918 and have your credit card ready

• Or, send a cheque to:
TFM Publishing Ltd, Castle Hill Barns, Harley, Shrewsbury, SY5 6LX
Don’t forget to include your name and address details.

DVLA Tax renewal changes! Beware you don't fall foul of the changes;

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has brought into force a change in the way it reminds people when their car tax is due for renewal, with the rules in force from the start of August 2023. Drivers can now opt for digital tax reminders instead of waiting for a paper slip to be sent in the post.

Drivers will be able to set up vehicle tax reminders by email and text message. Road users can also choose to stop getting tax reminders sent through the post if they wish. Motorists can also view their driving licence information on the service, including how many penalty points are on their record.

Set up your account here

StreetCar arrives at DeLacy: -De Lacy Motor Club are proud to announce that after hard work by our Motorsport committee, we have been accepted into the MSUK StreetCar initiative. This means that we will now be marketing ourselves as a StreetCar recognised club on all our correspondence. This initiative has been designed to encourage more people into Motorsport, who might not have the resources to participate other than with their own cars.
We will be promoting this through the local press as well as by our various social media feeds. We hope to attract more new members.