The 64th Dukeries Rally which took place in changing weather conditions at Donington Park on Sunday 17th March was a great success. It attracted 94 crews and provided 54 stage miles in 6 stages.
Rally Winners Michael Igoe & Will Atkins
The event was won (again) by Michael Igoe and Will Atkins (Citroen C3 Rally2) which means they have now won the last three stage rallies at Donington Park. This was also their 5th victory on Circuit Rally Championship events this season and meant they became the 2023/24 Circuit Rally Champions. Runners up on the event and the highest placed Dukeries crew were the outgoing Circuit Rally Champions John Griffiths and Emma Morrison (Fiesta R5) with Dan Bird and Nigel Barber 3rd in another Fiesta R5.
2nd Overall-John Griffiths & Emma Morrison
The full results for the event can be found at: https://www.rallies.info/res.php?e=572
The event report from Peter Scherer in the News section of the event website at www.dukeries-rally.co.uk/igoe-takes-the-spoils-and-the-title/
There were many Dukeries members competing on the event (making up least 25% of the entry) which was also a qualifying round of 7 stage rally championships plus of course the Dukeries own rally championship. The latest 2024 Dukeries Rally Championship points are published in the Championships section of this website.
There are lots of photos of club members in action on the Dukeries Rally and they can be found in the Photo Gallery section of this website. Thanks to Malcolm Almond for the action phots and to Andrew Bisping for the images from the Awards Presentation.
Yes, it was the 64th running of the Dukeries Rally which started back in 1960 when it was won by John Davis & Colin Adkin in an Austin A40. We were also able to recognise two slightly more recent anniversaries at the event awards presentation.
Awards – Allison Stafford (MSV)
It is now 10 years since we began running stage rallies at Donington Park and this ongoing arrangement has been a huge boost to the club, especially coming at the same time as we had to call time on our many many years of stage rallying in the Nottinghamshire forests. We are very appreciative of the assistance of the staff and excellent facilities at Donington Park and we look forward to many more events at the venue. Photo is Club President David Baugh presenting a memento to Allison Stafford the Deputy Manager at Donington Park.
Awards – Bob Draper CoC
The second ‘anniversary’ that we recognised was the 30 years that Bob Draper has been Clerk of the Course of the Dukeries Rally. He took over this role in 1994 and has continued it without a break since then. We think that being Clerk of the Course and principal organiser of such a Stage Rally for thirty consecutive years is probably a unique achievement in UK rallying. Thanks to Bob from everyone at Dukeries Motor Club and all the event Officials and Marshals plus the thousands of competitors who have competed on this event over the last 30 years!
Now onto the preparations for the Rex Premier Anniversay Stages and the YSTRA Targa Rally takng place over the weekend of the 15th / 16th June.