2007 Matador Tyres MSA British Off Road Championship (BORC) Baden Hall

The 2007 Matador Tyres MSA British Off-Road Championship fires into life at Baden Hall, a new Staffordshire venue, near Eccleshall, on April 14th-15th. The five-round series is organised by Marches 4x4 Motorsport Management - the founding organisers of Britain's exciting, new Baja GB - and has again attracted a bumper national entry.

The exciting new venue is a former artillery range and replaces the original Driffield location for the opening round of the MSA's premier off-road series. A single stage will be repeated 15 times during the course of the weekend, while competitors must adhere to a control tyre regulation and run on Matador All-Terrain tyres.

This year's Matador Tyres MSA British Off-Road Championship consists of five rounds in England, Scotland and Wales, with each event running over two days. Single venues are used and feature a blend of fast gravel tracks, fields, forests and the wild exposed Welsh landscape. Further events will take place near Ellesmere in Shropshire, Castle O'er forest in Scotland and Radnor forest in mid-Wales, plus a final round at a yet-to-be-announced venue.

Last year's BORC champion Colin Gould, from Hyde in Cheshire, looks set to defend his title at the wheel of a Mattseratti and he is likely to face fierce competition once again from Simon Bown's Land Rover Special. Bown finished second in last year's championship, ahead of Alec Lofthouse's Proto LD4.

Other names likely to feature in the overall rankings are Pershore's Tom Rimell and last year's Class H winner Ryan Cooke. Carl Duffield returns to defend his Class E title, while Huddersfield's Richard Kershaw lines up at Baden Hall as the defending Class F champion. Paul Garner, Jeremy Fearn, Alan Wilkinson, Anthony Fern, Kevin Groos and Gordon Monaghan boost the top section of the entry list.

Cumbria will be represented by Peter King and Victoria Chaloner in a Mattseratti and Tym Chadbourne and James Coxon at the wheel of a Bowler Tomcat. Clayton-le-Moors driver Ian Bartram teams up with Chris Bartram to wheel out a Warrior Storm, while Simon Donaldson and Tracy Russell make the trip from Northern Ireland in a Land Rover 90 with support from the Belfast Land Rover Centre.

Harborne's Richard Green and co-driver Stuart Pearson have entered a Bowler Tomcat in a bid to pick up early points in the championship, although experienced rival Dan Lofthouse is no stranger to off-road competition. Newark is represented by Dave Harlow's Land Rover, while Martin Dean, Mike Moran, Toby Jefferson, Richard Corking, Alan Kirkland, Graham Porter, Keith Lewis, Robin Duxbury, David Willerton, Andrew Wilson and John Cockburn bolster the impressive first entry list of the season.

Leading starters in the Trophy Rally or National 'B' event include Steven Smith and co-driver John Griffiths in their JRF BMW Indy MkII, Tim Hayday and Simon Henderson in a Land Rover Discovery and David Nutter and Stewart Johnstone in a Tomcat.

Event officials have confirmed that usual catering, camping and toilet facilities will be available at the new venue, which is located opposite the entrance to the Brookside Business Park (map ref: SJ 8471 3219), near Mill Meece and Eccleshall, in Staffordshire.

The weekend's timetable of events begins on Saturday, April 14th with documentation between 07.30 and 09.30hrs and this is followed by a driver's briefing. Safari action begins at the venue from 10.00hrs, with a second leg of competition planned for Sunday, April 15th. In addition, to running a National 'A' Safari event, organisers have also scheduled the National 'B' status Safari event, which will run behind the main competition. :

M6 Junction 15 and take the A519 towards Eccleshall. About 1.5miles after Slindon, turn left towards Drake Hall, Raleigh Hall and Swynnerton.

M6 Junction 14 and take the A5013 to Eccleshall. In Eccleshall turn right at the first mini roundabout and cross the second roundabout towards Newcastle on the A519. As you leave Eccleshall, turn right towards Drake Hall, Raleigh and Swynnerton.

www.marches4x4.com
www.BritishOffRoadChampionship.co.uk
 

- Neil Perkins, also photo -