Fylde coast students revved up for race with their own rally car

A high-performance rally car developed by students at Blackpool and The Fylde College is to make its debut this weekend.
Blackpool and The Fylde College students have developed a rally car which will be racing on Lancashire roads this weekendBlackpool and The Fylde College students have developed a rally car which will be racing on Lancashire roads this weekend
Blackpool and The Fylde College students have developed a rally car which will be racing on Lancashire roads this weekend

The 1.6 litre BMW mini will be one of more than 130 cars to converge on Garstang on Friday evening for the start of the Legends Fire North West Stages rally, one of the toughest in the country.

The car has been prepared by students in the automotive section of the Advanced Technology Centre on B&FC’s Bispham campus.

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Along with mechanical improvements and tuning to achieve optimum performance, the car has been repainted and a number of safety modifications have been made.

Robert Oldale, automotive centre manager, said: “For those on our motorsport courses this has been the centrepiece of their studies, giving them real hands-on experience of what lies behind preparing a car for competitive racing.

"Students in other parts of our automotive centre have also gained valuable experience by working on the project in areas like body repair, painting and finishing to a professional standard.”

He said a team of students will be on hand during the race to keep the car in top condition. It will be driven by experienced professional rally driver Rob Jones, with partner Tom Murphy.

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For the first time the Legend Fires North West Stages rally has been able to take advantage of recent changes in legislation that allows local authorities to close roads to enable car rallies to take place safely.

As a result several stages will be on roads in the Beacon Fell area of Lancashire that will be closed to the public but with special arrangements being made for enthusiasts to access places from which to view the event.

The rally gets underway in the centre of Garstang on Friday evening when all the cars will parade through the town with full commentary being provided about each car and its drivers.

Race schedule: 8.30am: Myerscough College 8.58am: Nicky Nook Stage (Scorton Showground) 10.03am: Staynall Stage (Back Lane, Stalmine) 10.57am: Main service (Myerscough College) 12.18pm: Nicky Nook Stage (Scorton Showground) 1.23pm: Staynall Stage (Back Lane, Stalmine) 2.17: Main service (Myerscough College) 3.38pm: Nicky Nook Stage (Scorton Showground) 4.43pm: Staynall Stage (Back Lane, Stalmine) 5.45pm: Ceremonial finish (Myerscough College) 9pm: Awards presentation (Guy’s Thatched Hamlet)

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