November 7, 2008

Rally ace Stuart Jones has unveiled plans to contest the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2009 – and has announced an innovative way to pay for the program.

“Rally sponsorship is becoming increasingly tough to secure funds but we have come up with a great solution with existing family sponsor Lico where everyone is a winner,’’ said the 23 year old from Welshpool.

As part of the Sparco group of companies, Lico has become a leading name in the world of motorsport accessories and wheels with the Jones family business SJR Motorsport the key UK distributor.

And the sponsorship deal will see Stuart on a massive sales drive for the products – as 10% of all sales generated through SJR Motorsport will go towards the rally budget. “I’m aiming to become one of the country’s top salesmen but I’ve a great range of products to sell,’’ he said.

Stuart hopes that rally fans around the country and beyond will be quick to switch to the Lico brand for high quality goods – and the added bonus of helping a British driver achieve success on the world stage.

“The plan is to raise enough budget to contest selected rounds of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge with the aim of contesting the full championship in 2010’’ said Stuart.

Stuart has already sampled rallying at the highest levels with a year in the PWRC and this year he has contested rallies in the British Rally Championship and Rally Bohemia.

“In addition to the sales drive we have ambitious marketing plans to ensure that Lico becomes the brand of choice for motorsport – whether that is racing, rallying or karting,’’ said Stuart.

Lico was formed back in 1992 and become part of the Sparco empire in 2004. It is a market leader in safety equipment and this year SJR Motorsport has become the key distributor for the rally market and accessories and sole distributor for the winning race and rally wheels Lico by Arcasting.

“The reaction to the products so far has been tremendous,’’ said Stuart’s father Mick Jones who runs SJR. “We know the products are good and the work starts now to generate the funds we need for Stuart to succeed,’’ he said.

October 2008

Tyre giant Hankook is renewing its links with leading rally driver Stuart Jones to contest the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge – the IRC - in Switzerland this month.

The Hankook MG Super 2000 will be out in action on the Rallye International du Valais – with the team eagerly looking forward to the challenge ahead.

The three day event gets underway from the rally’s base in Martigny on Thursday October 23 with the crews tackling more than 260km of competitive stage miles.

“We worked with Stuart and the team from SJR in the British Rally Championship and we are delighted to be renewing our partnership for such an exciting event,’’ said Hankook motorsport manager Mike Patterson.

“We have been developing tyres specifically for the S2000 cars and Valais will provide the perfect opportunity to test these in some tricky conditions and against some of the best rally competition around.’’

Mike said the temperatures ranging from -5 degrees and wet, slippy roads in the mornings through to high teens and sunshine in the afternoon will give the tyres a thorough testing and SJR is set to be taking a wide selection of tyres to cater for the diverse conditions expected.

“This is the most important rally of the season for us,’’ said Stuart who will once again be co-driven by George Gwynn. “We plan to contest the whole IRC next year and this will give us a really good insight into the championship, and how the new Hankook tyres perform.’’

Stuart said the nature of the event with twisty roads and lots of hairpins will suit the MG and his driving style perfectly. “The MG has a great chassis which we hope to really demonstrate in Switzerland, I really enjoy the precise driving needed on such an event and we know from experience that the Hankook tyres are great performers so we are looking to have a successful team out on the Valais.’’

Work is currently underway at SJR to fully prepare the Lico/Hankook MG for action in Switzerland.

August 2008

Welsh rallying ace Stuart Jones is eagerly looking forward to returning to Ireland for this weekends Todds Leap Ulster Rally as the Lico Wheels backed driver has shown good form on his last visit to the event in 2006.

Back in 2006 Stuart, in his first year in the British Rally Championship, took a splendid podium position on the Ulster Rally, and was never far off the pace of the eventual winners. Fast forward 12 months and Stuart put in a very strong drive on last years inaugural WRC Rally Ireland before being hampered by gearbox problems.

Stuart, who is co-driven by Manchester based Andy Bull, returns to Armagh with the exciting new Lico Wheels supported MG Super 2000 Sport and, judging by their early season pace, the nimble MSD run screamer should be in contention from the word go.

I've always enjoyed the Irish tarmac. I'm not sure why it suits my driving style and am really hoping we have a good run this weekend as we need to get our championship back on track.

A tight budget for 2008 has precluded any major testing opportunities but despite this Stuart and Andy are confident of a good run this weekend. The good thing is that the team have a fair bit of tarmac experience as Roy White has been competing in the Irish Championship all year in the sister car and so we at least have a good base set up to start with. The pair finished the Jim Clark Rally in May second amongst the British Rally Championship runners and are still very much in contention for the overall title.

Stuart and Andy are backed by Lico Wheels, makers of high quality competition wheels, and are also assisted by PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products, all of which form a vital part of the team.

The Todds Leap Ulster Rally is based in Armagh and the 2 day event features over 160 stage miles on some of the most diverse tarmac roads in Ireland , presenting a true test of man and machine.

23 year old stuart Jones and co-driver Andy Bull experienced a rally to forget when the pair journeyed over to the Isle of Man last weekend for round 3 of the 2008 British Rally Championship.

Welshpool based Stuart and Birmingham resident Andy are contesting the full 2008 championship at the wheel of the Lico wheels backed MG Super 2000 Sport and following a fine second place finish on the previous round the pair were hoping for a competitive outing on the small island.

Strong runs on the two opening stages showed that Jones would be in for a real shout this weekend and was lying third amongst the BRC challengers entering the third stage. However a broken hub during the second run through Castletown forced the crew to retire from the leg.

Stuart returned to action under super rally on Saturday, hoping to gain some valuable experience and also pick up some championship points but once again lady luck deserted the youngster. A freak incident saw a stone flick up into the engine bay and get wedged between a belt and the pulley, resulting in the belt being shredded and forcing the MG to limp out of the stage and into retirement, this time for good.

I’m gutted. This is my fourth visit to the island and I never seem to have any luck here. The car was set up perfectly for these roads and the wet weather would have suited me so well. This is a blow to my championship but I am determined to bounce back in Ulster.

Stuart and Andy are backed by Lico Wheels, PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products.

The next round of the British Rally Championship is the Todd’s Leap Ulster Rally which takes place from 22 to 23 August 2008

July 2008

Welshpool based Stuart Jones is all set for this weekends International Rally Isle of Man, an event which should suit his works MG Super 2000 Sport and help the 23 year old consolidate his strong early season form.

Stuart, who is co driven by Birmingham resident Andy Bull in the Lico Wheels backed MG, staged a spirited last stage fight on the Jim Clark Rally back in May and reaped the rewards as he snatched second overall amongst the British Championship runners. This strong result, as well as his seventh overall finish on the Pirelli International Rally, has elevated the 2003 Peugeot Super Cup champion into second overall in the British Championship, just 1 solitary point off the lead.

Since then the team has been working tirelessly on developing the car and recently travelled to the Czech Republic to contest the Rally Bohemia. Whilst the opening leg did not suit the MG, favouring the turbo charged Group N cars, once the rally headed into day 2, and terrain more suited to the Super 2000 cars, Stuart was on fine form. A string of top 5 times, despite his rivals running on more competitive BF Goodrich tyres, showed the true potential of both driver and car.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. I enjoy the Manx stages and the rally should suit the little MG well. We have a good base setting on the suspension but will have to fine tune it over the first few stages. The biggest challenge will be the weather, but I love changeable conditions so fingers crossed we have a good run.

This weekend will represent Stuarts fifth visit to the Isle of Man and thus the talented youngster has an idea of what to expect. As such you can expect the screaming Super 2000 Sport to be one of the highlights of the weekend.

As well as Lico Wheels, makers of high quality competition wheels, Stuart and Andy are also assisted by PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products.

July 2008

Welsh rallying ace Stuart Jones has declared his recent foray into the Czech Republic, where he contested the Rally Bohemia at the wheel of his Lico Wheels MG Super 2000 Sport, a success.

Stuart and co-driver Andy Bull were invited over to contest the rally, based in Mlada Boleslav, 40 miles north east of Prague, by the organisers. And with the two day tarmac based event proving the ideal opportunity to test ahead of the third round of the British Rally Championship, the team jumped at the chance.

Following the recce earlier in the week 23 year old Stuart was aware that the base settings on the MG would need adjusting to suit the characteristics of the stages and opted for a cautious start as he dialled the car into the conditions. Facing stiff competition from some of Europe’s top drivers Stuart and Andy were pleased with their progress throughout the opening leg, despite the high speed nature of the roads not really suiting the normally aspirated MG.

Day 2 dawned with plenty of promise for the MSD run car. A string of top 5 fastest stage times showed the true potential of the nimble little MG but when the power steering failed at the start of a loop of stages Stuart took the sensible decision of retiring the car rather than risk damaging any components ahead of the Isle of Man International Rally.

Rally Bohemia has been a wonderful experience. Everyone has been so helpful and friendly and the roads are fantastic. Friday’s stages didn’t really suit the car as they were primarily high speed tests but once we’d dialled in the settings we were very happy with the times. The power steering was a minor issue and we could have carried on, but with the Isle of Man only two weeks away we didn’t want to risk anything. We achieved what we came here to do, and that was to test the car against some of the best cars and drivers in Europe, and we are happy with the results.

Stuart and Andy are backed by Lico Wheels, PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products and currently lie second overall in the British Rally Championship.

July 2008

Welshpool based rallying ace Stuart Jones has accepted an invite to contest the sixth round of the Central European Rally Championship, the Rally Bohemia, in his Lico Wheels backed MG Super 2000 Sport.

23 year old Stuart and his Birmingham based co-driver Andy Bull will travel across to the home of Skoda, Mlada Boleslav, 40 miles north east of Prague to contest the 600 km long two day tarmac rally and are both understandably excited about the opportunity. We received an invite from the organisers to compete on the rally, and to be honest it was an offer we couldn’t refuse. Not only does this rally give us the opportunity to spend more time in the car, but it’s also a great way of showcasing the MG Super 2000 Sport to a whole new audience.

The route is characteristically made up of fast sections of smooth tarmac, putting a high demand on accurate pace notes. Stuart has always had a great confidence in his notes and as such should go well this weekend. And with the rally being a round of the FIA Central European Rally Championship the MSD run project should be able to challenge for overall honours as the young Welshman goes head to head with some of the top drivers in mainland Europe.

The Rally Bohemia begins with a super special stage in Boleslav on Friday 4th July. From there the cars move out to the ‘proper’ stages for two days of high speed action before returning for a ceremonial finish on Saturday evening.

Stuart and Andy are backed by Lico Wheels, PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products and currently lie second overall in the British Rally Championship.

Stuart will be calling on prior experience of the stages, having contested the rally four times in the past, but is also well aware that the set up of the Lico Wheels backed MG will be extremely crucial this weekend. Although MSD, the team behind the project, currently run a privateer car in Ireland for Roy White, the characteristics of the roads are completely different. As such the opening loop of stages will be more of a high speed test than a true representation of the cars pace.

23 year old Stuart, who hails from Welshpool, has plenty of tarmac experience to call upon. The 2003 Peugeot Super Cup Champion has numerous class wins, fastest stage times and even overall rallies wins on the black stuff to his credit, and with the experienced Andy Bull calling the notes this partnership is certainly a potent one.

I am really looking forward to the Jim Clark Rally. It suits my driving style, and the MG should go really well this weekend. We won’t have the opportunity to test ahead of the rally but I am still confident that, once we’ve sorted the settings out, we’ll be on the pace. And if it rains, all the better!

Stuart and Andy, who are backed by PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products, enjoyed a strong run on the British Rally Championship debut of the MG Super 2000 Sport, the recent Pirelli International Rally. Based in Carlisle this 2 day long event in the Kielder forests saw the young pairing set a string of top times to end the rally sixth overall.

The Lico Wheels MG Super 2000 Sport rally team are contesting the full Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship in 2008, with a selection of European events also on the cards, providing the budget can be sourced. The car, based on an MG ZR shell, but with a race tuned 2 litre engine and 4 wheel drive transmission, is one of the new breed of rally cars which were recently earmarked by the FIA as being the base for the next generation of World Rally Cars.

April 2008

23 year old Welshpool rallying ace Stuart Jones was more than happy with sixth overall and third in class on last weekends Carlisle based Pirelli International Rally, his British Rally Championship debut of the new Lico backed MG Super 2000.

Stuart and his co-driver Andy Bull were making a welcome return to the premier division of British Rallying after a year away contesting the Production World Rally Championship and although he had only ever tackled the Pirelli Rally once before, in 2006, Stuart was confident of a good run.

Friday night featured 4 slippery stages in the Kershope forests north of Carlisle and with the rally being identical to last year’s event, one which Stuart had missed, the young rally driver knew that he had an immediate disadvantage. Although he had contested the Red Dragon Rally as a warm up two weeks ago, Stuart had not been in active competition since Wales Rally GB at the end of November last year. A cautious start to the rally saw young Jones only 13th fastest through the opening stage. But with confidence building he upped his pace and showing a remarkable level of consistency was seventh fastest on each of the next three stages to end the opening leg in seventh position.

Overnight changes to the car helped balance the handling and Stuart was able to comfortably increase his pace. After a run of top 6 times all morning more changes at the mid morning halt brought another improvement in form. Fourth fastest overall on Stage 10 was immediately followed by third fastest on the very next stage. By now the MSD run MG Super 2000, which is backed by PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products, was up to sixth position, but with three stages still to go a mature headed Stuart had his eye on a finish, rather than heroics. Maintaining a constant rhythm through the final loop of stages Stuart and Andy successfully fulfilled their main aim, a solid finish well inside the points on the opening round with the new car.

Although sixth position is a really good result for a car so early in its development the positive thing is that I feel there is so much more to come. I’m still adapting my driving style to suit the MG and at each service we are making small changes which are moving us forward. I must give a big mention to Matt Beebe who helped us out when we broke our recce car on Friday morning. Without his help we would have really had problems!

MSD and Stuart will now begin developing the tarmac set up ahead of the first tarmac rally of the year, the Kelso based Jim Clark International Rally, which starts on May 23rd.

For more on Lico Products please visit www.licowheels.com
For more on the MG Super 2000 please visit www.msd-world.com

Two years after making his British Rally Championship debut, 23 year old Welshpool resident Stuart Jones returns for another attempt at the title. Stuart will contest the series as a works driver with one of the most dynamic cars to compete in the British Isles in quite some time, the revolutionary MG Super 2000 Sport.

Stuart, who was the 2004 Peugeot Super Cup Champion and winner of numerous rounds of the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge, will be partnered by experienced co-driver Andy Bull for the full campaign. This could also include a selection of events in Europe later in the season, as the young Welshman takes on the very important role as a works driver in the MSD run project.

After impressing team principal David Whitehead on the Wales Rally GB in 2007, Stuart was offered a dream seat as the works driver for 2008. This role also includes being involved in the testing and development of the new car. Feedback from Stuart will be used to provide setup data on the customer cars in the U.K, Ireland and Europe.

David Whitehead: MSD and MG are delighted to have teamed up with Stuart Jones. We see Stuart as one of the UK’s emerging rally talents, so it is entirely appropriate that he is one of the first to seriously campaign the MG S2000 in the fast emerging Super 2000 category. We fully expect Stuart to take the challenge to the leading Group N competitors and wish him the best of luck

The team also welcomes a brand new sponsor in the form of Lico Wheels (www.licowheels.com). Produced in Italy, Lico are a leading supplier of competition wheels throughout Europe, which are manufactured to an extremely high standard. With SJR Motorsport becoming the official distributor of Lico Wheels in the U.K. their common aim is to become the Number One competition wheel supplier in Europe. Lico, who are South American based, join Stuart’s own personal sponsors PIAA, Rallytech, Teng Tools, Motorsport Insurance Service and Dacha Oak Products in supporting the talented Welshman in his bid to make it to the top of the sport.

With minimal testing having been carried out on the still new car Stuart is under no illusions about the challenges ahead. The car has come along a lot since Wales Rally GB but nothing beats competitive mileage against your rivals. Whilst we can already see gains in performance we won’t really have an idea of our pace until we arrive at the Pirelli Rally and go head to head, but I am really confident that we can take the fight to the top drivers in the Championship. We recently used the Red Dragon Rally as a test and were very pleased with how the day went. A big thanks to MSD who have put a lot of time and effort into developing the car since Wales Rally GB. I am confident that we will be on the pace from the beginning.

A recent test on the Red Dragon Rally in South Wales bodes well for the team, after Stuart and Andy experienced a trouble free day and were pleased to be on the pace of the front runners. They will now re prepare the car ahead of the season opener, the Pirelli International Rally, which takes place in Carlisle from 18th to 19th April.

For more on Lico Products please visit www.licowheels.com

For more on the MG Super 2000 please visit www.msd-world.com