March 1st, 2024
The East Riding Stages Rally has now offset a total of well over 100t CO2e since its inception in 2022.
From the start, the organising team at Beverley & District Motor Club have taken the view that it is crucial to reduce and mitigate the carbon emissions generated by the rally.
The 2022 event was the first in the UK to offer competitors the opportunity to offset their emissions from their fuel usage, and the offset of 51 tonnes of CO2e for the second running of the rally in 2023 formed part of the event's continuing environmental roadmap .
The 2024 rally was another successful event for the club, with the crews flagged away from a packed Beverley town centre for the ceremonial start by Bangers & Cash stars Paul and Charlie Mathewson from Mathewsons Motorsport.
Rally Winners Mark Kelly / Will Atkins. Pic Rally Media UK
Mark Kelly and Will Atkins came out on top of the 130+ crews on the East Riding Stages Rally, as their Skoda Fabia R5 topped the times on six of the 10 stages. “I just drove to the notes, no real risks, but I was almost caught out a couple of times,” said Kelly, after securing his five second victory.
Kelly had started the final stage with exactly 10 secs advantage, which the second place pairing of James Williams /Ross Whittock managed to halve on the last run. “I had a few slides here and there, but nothing serious,” Williams added. Callum Black / Jack Morton completed the podium, the crews returning to Beverley Staurday market for the champagne and awards presentations.
Class E Winners, and 4th overall Kevin Davies/ Owain Davies. Pic Rally Media UK
In the Classes, Mark and Andrew Constantine’s Vauxhall Corsa was never headed on the way to a dominant Class A victory. From an almost 17 secs lead on stage one, they were well over four minutes clear of second placed Nicky Cowperthwaite /Helen Hall’s Corsa at the finish. “I can’t back off, I just have the one pace, which is as quick as I can,” said Mark. Richard/Pat Egger’s Vauxhall Nova had managed to hold off Mark Simpson/Julian Floyd’s Nissan Micra for most of the day in the battle for third, but finally succumbed on the last stage and had to settle for fourth.
Class A Winners Mark and Andrew Constantine. Pic Rally Media UK
In Class B, it was the Peugeot 106 Maxi of Ben/Andrew Wilkinson that led all day. “We had hoped for a top three in the Class but to win it was a bonus, we never had a problem all day,” said Ben. Their lead was over 30 seconds by stage three and with second placed Tim Johnson/Adam Burkill retiring their Honda Civic after three stages, the final winning margin was closer to two minutes, with Adam Hanner /Wayne Wood’s Ford Puma seeing off Alex Kirk-Willey/Sasha Herriot’s Corsa for second place during the afternoon stages.
Class B Winners Ben and Andrew Wilkinson. Pic Rally Media UK
Jake Briggs/Harry Walshaw’s Escort headed Nathan Evans/Rys Edwards’ Renault Clio and Stuart Newby/Ashley Young’s Escort in Class C, all three holding station throughout the day. “We had a few excursions into fields in the morning, but we were surprised to do so well,” said Briggs, after taking victory by 47.3 secs.
Class C Winners Jake Briggs / Harry Walshaw. Pic Rally Media UK
Class D started in dramatic fashion, when multiple Scottish and former British Champion David Bogie/John Rowan’s Escort took out a wall on the opening stage. They continued through stage two, but their retirement left the way clear for fellow Scot’s Gordon Morrison/Ian Parker’s Escort to dominate the rest of the day. “We touched a bale on stage six, but otherwise it was a great day,” said Morrison. In the end, it was an all Escort top three, with Dane Walker/Phil Sandham and Martin Hodgson/Tony Jones completing the Class podium.
Class D Winners Gordon Morrison/Ian Parker. Pic Rally Media UK
In the Historic Class, Gareth James/Steffan Evans led all day, as their Escort took the spoils by over a minute from Martin Rossiter/Dan Petrie. Phil Rogers/Jordan Jones made it another all Escort top three.
Class H Winners Gareth James/Steffan Evans. Pic Rally Media UK
The organising team were thrilled to see so many spectators enjoying the new Westwood Super Special Stage. "I spoke to many of the leading crews after the Super Special. They all had identical reactions - a big grin, followed by the comment that it was great to see so many spectators cheering them on." commented FanZone Director, Cat Lund.
In partnership with Carbon Positive Motorsport for the third year, the rally has offset emissions created by competition cars and from the organiser's vehicles. The event will also offset emissions from spectator travel, once the final numbers are calculated.
Steve Smith, co-founder of Carbon Positive Motorsport added, "We are extremely proud to support Beverley & District Motor Club with our 200% positive level of offsetting. We offset 100% of the total CO2 immediately through carbon reduction units and then offset an equivalent amount in the future, using projects in development via pending issuance units.
"The PIU offsets come from high quality, verified and registered tree planting and rewilding schemes, that actually take place here in the UK, meaning that we can put more back into the environment than we take out."
Event Director Richard Vincent added, "The East Riding Stages is proud to be leading the way towards making motorsport more sustainable together with Carbon Positive Motorsport. We are delighted that our competitors and spectators continue to support our event's belief that everyone should be embracing carbon offsetting. As a committee, we believe that we need to take a proactive approach to cement our sport's future for many years to come."
Next year's East Riding Stages Rally is scheduled for the weekend of 23rd February.
It doesn't cost a lot to make a massive difference to the sport. Find out more at carbonpositivemotorsport.com or offset your entire season.
Results for the 2024 East Riding Stages Rally:
Position No. Class Crew Total Time Diff
1. 5 E Mark Kelly/ Will Atkins 44:35.4
2. 3 E James Williams/ Ross Whittock 44:40.4 +5
3. 2 E Callum Black/ Jack Morton 45:02.6 +27.2
4. 13 E Kevin Davies/ Owain Davies 45:11.7 +36.3
5. 6 E Neil Roskell/ Dai Roberts 45:30.4 +55
6. 8 E James Ford/ Neil Shanks 45:30.9 +55.5
7. 9 E Robert Swann / Darren Garrod 45:38.3 +1:02.9
8. 7 E Elliot Payne/ Patrick Walsh 45:45.8 +1:10.4
9. 18 E Hugh Brunton/ Drew Sturrock 45:53.1 +1:17.7
10. 10 E Matthew Hirst/ Declan Dear 45:57.6 +1:22.2