Fast female Molly Taylor made it a second win in a row on the Carlisle-based Pirelli International Rally at the weekend.

Australian Molly and Cumbrian co-driver Jemma Bellingham battled stages in the notorious ‘Killer Kielder’ and Kershope Forests in their Monster Sport Europe and Motorsport Insurance Services backed Suzuki Swift Sport.

The girls left the start at Carlisle Racecourse on Friday evening, for two stages in Kershope Forest. Running later down the field, meant that they would be completing the stages just as it was getting dark.

They didn’t quite get off to the start they’d hoped for, the rough nature of the stages caused them to drop some time. They continued through SS2, determined to get through the tricky stages and back into service. At the end of Leg 1, the girls were lying third in the Swift Sport Cup, twenty seconds behind leader, Luke Pinder.

Leg 2 began early on Saturday morning with four stages in the Kielder Forest Complex. SS5, the girls managed to claw back some time from fellow Suzuki competitor, Richard Sykes, getting into second place. SS6 the girls took the lead of the Swift Sport Cup after Luke Pinder crashed out of the rally.

In service Molly commented “We were all pushing really hard and I was trying not to take too many risks as I knew we still had lots of stage miles still to go. It was a real shame to see Luke off the road, but I had to keep focused. With the fast tricky stages I had to keep concentrating on the notes and keeping the car neat to avoid the huge ditches!”

Their lead was short lived when Richard Sykes took 2.9 seconds back from them. The girls were then affected by the hold-up when Guy Wilks’ car caught fire. They assumed the rally was over and had settled for 2nd place in the Swift Sport Cup, when the organisers announced they would still run the two final stages of the day in Kershope, so the title was still to be fought.

Determined to have a good battle with Richard Sykes for the win, the girls set out on SS11 with the plan to push as hard as they could without taking any major risks, however they were given the lead by default as Sykes suffered mechanical problems mid-way through the stage.

“We were genuinely disappointed to see Richard stopped in stage as I was looking forward to comparing our times with him at the finish.” Said Molly
“The rally has been a real rollercoaster for us this weekend. We struggled with the rough stages on Friday night, and then we had the battle with Luke and Richard for the win. It’s a huge relief to have finished and to win again. We’ve taken maximum championship points for the first two rounds, which will help us massively for the rest of the season.”

Molly and Jemma won the Swift Sport Cup by 1m 16s from Manx-man David Harrison.

The girls will take to the forest again next weekend on the Betta Somerset Stages in a rallyschool.co.uk backed Nissan Micra. The drive was kindly offered to them by John Goff after they won the first round of the Swift Sport Cup in Wales.

Jemma, who turned 26 on Saturday, celebrated her birthday by competing in the Malcolm Wilson Rally based in Cockermouth. Co-driving for Windermere-based Gary Tomlinson in a Team Kankku Subaru Impreza, the pair tackled stages in Greystoke, Grizedale and Whinlatter Forests.

“The stages on this rally are some of the best and also some of the trickiest in the country. From the fast stages in Whinlatter to the rough and technical stages in Grizedale. But we kept it together and got to the finish of the rally without any car troubles.” said Jemma.

Jemma navigated Gary Tomlinson to 15th overall on the rally and 3rd in class B13.

From the forest stages to tarmac, Jemma moved south to Wigan on Sunday, to compete in the Roskirk Stages at Three Sisters Circuit, navigating for 16 year old Ashley Slights from York.

The rally was the first round of the Junior F1000 Rally Championship, a brand new championship for 14-16 year olds to rally cars with an engine capacity of 1litre, before they turn 17. The move by the Motorsports Association (MSA), allows competitors aged 14 to 16 to compete in ‘grassroots’ rallying.

The pair rallied a Slights Rallysport-backed Toyota Yaris, which 16 year old motorsport-student, Ashley, built in his fathers workshop.

Ashley dominated the rally from the beginning, setting the fastest time on the first stage, which he kept up throughout eleven of the twelve stages.

The pair went on to win the rally by 10 seconds from fellow junior, Cameron Davies.

Speaking after the event, Jemma said “It really couldn’t have gone any better for us. It was the first time all of the Juniors had driven competitively and they were setting times comparable to some of the veteran competitors. The Junior F1000 championship is an excellent way for young people to get into rallying and these young drivers proved they have all the talent needed to go all the way. Ashley drove brilliantly all day. He was left-foot braking and taking lines through corners that you’d expect of a rally driver with much more experience. To win the rally was a brilliant confidence boost for him and it just topped off an excellent weekend of rallying.”

Ashley has made history as the youngest person ever to win a stage rally in the UK.

Jemma will co-drive for Ashley Slights on the next round of the championship, the Lee Holland Memorial Stages in Anglesey in April.

Jemma is also contesting the full British Rally Championship in a Suzuki Swift with up and coming Australian driver Molly Taylor. The Bulldog Rally is the first round which takes place on 28th March in Mid-Wales.

Trackrod Rally

 The day’s first stage was downgraded after an accident, and after a cautionary start on SS2, Molly was sixth in her class. On SS3, a puncture one mile into the 13 mile stage meant that Molly, and co-driver Jemma Bellingham, had to stop and change the tyre. They then got stuck behind another car, losing seven minutes.

 From there on, though, it all went from strength to strength. Molly was third fastest on the next few stages, with the gap to second closing all the time. Incredibly, she was only 1.6 seconds behind second place after one 15 mile stage!

On the final three stages, Molly recorded second fastest times, finishing the event on a high note.

Obviously Molly’s overall result was affected by the puncture but she is very happy with her stage times.

Molly reported that she had a great time and the team were fantastic. “It was an incredible experience driving a new car, and a left hand drive one at that, with a new co-driver and on new roads. It’s unfortunate we had a puncture, but I think our stage times after that really showed what we are capable of,” she added