Chris Wheeler & Shaun Layland competed on the Manx National Rally last week in there Citroen DS3 R3T. The Manx Rally is an iconic event known for it's technical roads & history. Over recent year's the Chris Wheeler Rallying team have not had the best of luck on the Isle Of Man, but this time they went to the island with anything but not finishing in mind.

The last time Chris finished this rally was back In 2012 In a Ford Fiesta MS1. The event held two day's of competition which included four stages in dusk, four in night & eight on the second leg of the rally all in daylight. The stages totalled 100 miles of competitive driving. Chris & Shaun spent two day's of recceing the stages in order to prepare their pacenotes before the event got underway competitively.

Friday morning the Manx Rally held a shakedown stage where crews could get a feel for the stages & the cars before the rally started that evening, this stage Chris went over twice in the DS3, everything felt great & the mood was happy in the team. Leg 1 started with a loop of four stages, Chris & Shaun completed the first loop but was unhappy about the cars handling as they seemed to be fighting with the car to keep it on the road. The CWR team made some adjustments before the second loop of four stages & sent Chris & Shaun on their way hoping the car would improve. The times had improved over the second loop but there was still frustration inside the car, the team had a lot of adjustments to make before leg two would get underway.

Leg two would be the longest day of the event, so all fingers were crossed that it would be a better day. The first two stages of the day Chris was a lot happier with the car, setting some good stage times. The following stages Chris climbed up the leaderboard & was sitting in a much better place. The smiles were finally back inside the car & with the odd moment or two it looked like the CWR team would finish this event & put all the previous years to bed.

The second to last stage was cancelled due to an accident of a previous car on the road leaving one more stage to run which was just over thirteen miles. Chris & Shaun set off, knocking the miles down towards the finish, half way through the stage coming into a hairpin right Chris has a small " moment " managing to do a Scandinavian flick into the hairpin & managing to pull It off in front of the crowd of spectators, a sigh of relief was taken but the crew pushed on & crossed the flying finish. Chris said this was a very tough event but one he enjoyed & to finish the rally with a third in class just tops the weekend off perfectly, bringing an award home. Chris will be returning to the stages again in Northern Ireland on the 20th July for the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally. Until then follow them on social media by searching Chris Wheeler Rallying

This year the Chris Wheeler Rallying team will be attending Rally day at Castle Combe Race Circuit on the 22nd September. This is europe's ultimate rally car show. The event will be host to the worlds best rally cars from historic right up to the modern day era. Also some of the worlds best drivers will be in attendance.

For ourselves, we will be out on track throughout the day, also we will be featuring on the Feature rally stage including the mixed surface rally stage. If you can attend feel free to come and visit the CWR team, our car will be on display all day and we are more than happy to show you round. 

We also are doing a fund raiser on this day, we have three pairs of Sunday day passes to this year's World Rally GB held in Wales. for just £5 you will be entered into our prize draw for your chance to win. Winners will be announced on the 23rd September on the website and all our social media pages.

We hope to see you at RallyDay! 

Sadly with a retirement on the Rally Van Wervik due to suspension damage after hitting a rock on the first stage, we have decided to pull out of the 2018 MSA Asphalt Rally Championship.

Stage 1 in Belgium saw Chris & Shaun come round a fast blind corner to find a rock placed in the racing line. They managed to avoid the rock with the front of the car but the off side rear wheel hit the rock and broke the suspension putting them out of the event.

having had so many issues with the car, we need to take time out of a championship to sort the problems out before we go back into big events.

Wheeler & Layland will be back in action at Rally Van Wervik

After a disappointing end to Chris Wheeler & Shaun Layland’s Manx National Rally, the crew now put the event behind them & look down the road towards Rally Van Wervik in Belgium.

The Devon team ended their rally after Stage four back in service on the Manx National due to a mechanical issue with the car, they had spent the first loop of stages struggling in the rain & fog which also wasn’t helped by a windscreen misting up making visibility next to nothing.

Once the crew started stage four as soon as they got to the first corner disaster struck & a mechanical problem hit, making the car almost impossible to keep control of.

It was an early exit for the team but with Round three just around the corner all eyes now head to Belgium, & now hopefully the tables will turn in Wheeler’s favour.

Belgium will be Chris & Shaun’s first ever event abroad, the aim for this event will not only be to gain experience but will also be to start getting points in the bag & to move up in the standings.
The DS3 is currently being repaired & will soon be ready for its next outing.

Chris has said “ It was a shame to retire on the Isle Of Man, with the conditions looking good for the Saturday’s Stages I know we would have pulled our way up the leaderboard & I would of been confident to push on.

I was happy with our shakedown runs before the event & Shaun was doing a great job to get me through the fog & keeping me under control.
Next event I’m sure we can start making progress together & get a finish under our belt, this is just the start for us & this car “

Brean Stages Rally 2018 Wheeler & Layland take to the Stages for the first time.

Chris & new co-driver Shaun Layland started 2018 at the Brean Stages Rally. They would be using this event as a shakedown for the DS3 & at the same time this event would be used as time to bond with each other in the car & working as a team.

The Rally was 52 miles in total which took place over two days at Brean Leisure Park. This is a single venue event but would be perfect to test the car on. The first day would see the rain fall all day, making the Stages very slippery & not the easiest way to start off back in the DS3.

Chris & Shaun got off to a flying start on the first stage setting 18th fastest time & straight away was sitting top 3 in their class. The car came back with no issues & was working well. The following stages Chris & Shaun pushed on & was sitting in the top 20 Overall all day, the team was working well & Chris & Shaun seemed to be getting on well in & out of the car. Everything was looking good on this first day back.

After day 1 Chris & Shaun was 21st Overall & 3rd in Class, the surface on the Stages was very slippery & the grip levels had been poor all day. We was all hoping for a dryer day 2 to see how the car would be in better conditions & to try different set ups with the car to see how it would handle.

Day 2, we woke up to dryer conditions but the tarmac was still wet, we set up the car’s suspension for the day & choose different tyres to try out for the next six stages. All we had to do was get through another 27 miles to complete the event. We set off on the days first stage, but this lead to our first drama of the day with the Auxiliary belt coming off. Chris managed to get the car back to service & the mechanics got a new belt on so we was ready for the next stage.

A couple of stages later & another problem had occurred, this time the had a split turbo pipe, the crew did their best to fix the issue which they did just in time before they had to set off once again for Stage 9. As they pulled off the start line the pipe came off meaning they had a massive lack of power for the whole stage, but lucky enough we had a plan.

In service the crew managed to find a brand new turbo pipe which they put on & the issue seemed to be fixed, but only time would now tell. Chris & Shaun set off for Stage 11, the second to last stage of the event. This time the turbo pipe worked & the boys  managed to set a fantastic stage time, this boosted the teams confidence & left us with one stage to go to finish the Rally.

Stage 12, 4.8 miles to go, this stage would be our best stage of the whole Rally as we set 13th fastest time & finished the event 20th Overall & 3rd in Class. The DS3 ran faultlessly for the last two stages & we came away having learned a lot from the car, from set up, to tyres & also fuel loads we got all the information we needed to go forward this season. Chris & Shaun picked up their first award together & got off to a great start.

For more information on events, progress & images throughout our 2018 season please also check out “ Chris Wheeler Rallying “ on Facebook.

Challenger Stages Rally - The final fight of 2017.

The Challenger Stages Rally would be the final showdown of 2017, after a strong return to Rallying, all we had to do on this event would be to finish to secure that podium spot they have been fighting to keep hold of all year.

The Ford Fiesta MS1 has performed well all year & has been on the limit since the word go at Round 1.

Six stages stood between the podium finish, it was a nail biting event from start to finish. All fingers we’re crossed for a good string result. The morning of the event would be a cold one, temperatures down to just + 2 degrees. With the surface of the Stages being cold the correct tyre compounds would be vital to get off to a good start.

Stage 1, the lights counted us down & once the green light came on it was flat out from the very start. We got off to the perfect start & got into the rhythm of the event straight away. As this event was just a six stage Rally we had to be on it from the word go, we needed to get enough points together to keep us on the podium, our main rivals we’re in much faster category cars so we knew they’d be scoring huge points if they made it to the end of the day.

As the day moved on we was in a very good place, pushing close to the top 3 in our class & doing well on the overall leaderboard, we just had to hold it all together, not make any mistakes & hope the car would hold on for a few more stages. The Stages we’re fast, flowing & also had a few tricky technical sections. The speeds on this events are almost always 60mph throughout seven to nine miles at a time, our concentration could not afford to slip at any point.

On Stage 6 we went faster than ever before in our Fiesta, managing to finish the event 25th Overall & 4th in Class! We managed to get a total of 27 points which put us 3rd Overall in the Driver’s standings & 2nd Overall in the Co-Driver’s standings. We have all had a exciting season of Rallying & it has been a great adventure. I personally cannot thank the team for helping me make a return to the sport after what happened in 2016. We came back with a bang!

Now we start our testing program over the winter months before we get back to the big events which for us start in March! More information & news to follow at chriswheelerrallying.com or our Facebook page “ Chris Wheeler Rallying “