News archive 2004

17 December - Big John.

We are deeply shocked and saddened to have to report the death of our great friend 'Big John' Edwards this morning. Our thoughts are with his family and many, many friends. More words would not adequately reflect our feelings at the moment.

21 October 2004 - Big John's Legends debut...

BurnettMotorsport.com engineer, Big John Edwards made his Legends debut in the Scottish winter raceday at Knockhill last Sunday. He acheived some good times and finished all three races. Also competing was Bob McEwan in the Beatsons XR2. Pictures can be viewed in the gallery.

19 October 2004 - John Marshall Mulls it over...

The Philips tour of Mull, a three day rally with night time stages, and the 35th annual running of the event. John was seeded 56 and lost eight minutes with two punctures. He was 60th before the last service but ably assisted by co-driver Fergus John finished 30th after pulling out all the stops and driving faultlessly. John was really happy with his car and the weather was great over all three days John also wanted to drive the car home and get as much road mileage as he could under nighttime conditions.

05 October 2004 - Ali and Chris take silverware at Rockingham...

Ali Topley and Chris Robinson (right) both collected silverware after some good performances in the Legends Cars Winter Weekend at Rockingham. Over 20,000 fans watched the action as Ali Topley had his first meeting as a 'pro' rather than a rookie. He did not disappoint and took third overall behind former Scottish Championship front runners Dave Newsham and Chris Greive. Chris Robinson was taking part in only his second Legends meeting (having debuted at Brands Hatch back in August) and was runner up in the Rookie Trophy for the weekend.

27 September 2004 -Cathie gets in touch...

Thanks to Cathie Leverton who has been back in touch with us...

We are busy down here in the South West. Porlock Hill Clime went really well. I managed to survive the tidal wave of MSA paper work. I have been race controller at a few of the Wiscome Hill climes as well this year. Brilliant, you get to stay inside in the dry. Having said that they were really hot weekends so we roasted. The wiscombe picture is me in the race control caravan with my little baby parked outside. You haven't seen my little car have you? He looks a bit different now because the garage were I bought him (Richardsons) has shut down, so the only lettering left on the doors say THE ULTIMATE MG (don't laugh) Everyone laughs at me for being such a petrol head in a car looking like that but I love my car. I even asked for the proper XPower PIAA windscreen wipers for my birthday. No one got them for me but it was worth a try. My first attempt at Hill climbing went quite well (the Prescott picture) I took part in the Prescott Hill Clime Driver School. Now I would like to get my licence and start competing but budgets won't allow at the moment. We are making a start on organising the 2005 Somerset Stages Rally already, first committee meeting tonight and I have been roped into being the Entry Secretary. Sounds like MPH04 plans are well under way, we have been asked to work there again and we have also just been invited to help out at next years Rally of Kent in March. I was also asked if I would help the Chief Marshall at the Regency Rally at Brean in February..

26 September 2004 - Topley second...

Belated news from the final round of the Legends Cars Championship. Ali Topley took the battle to Dave Moore and forced the championship to be decided in the last race. Ali beat his rival but Dave bagged enough points to take the title. Congratulations to Dave on his win and to Ali on some fantastic drives that netted him second place in the closest Rookie Trophy battle for years.

30 August 2004 - Title still up for grabs...

The Legends Cars Rookie Trophy is still up for grabs after a thrilling weekend's action at Rockingham over the weekend. Ali Topley recorded three top ten finishes over the six races but sadly finished Sunday's final in the gravel trap after an off. Ali's determination was in evidence in Sunday's opener has he struggled around the circuit with a puncture but at least managed to gain points for finishing the race. Ali is 160 points behind Dave Moore in the Championship which is over 75 points less than the average he has scored in each round so far.

Dan Heron did what most of the other 25 failed to do all weekend and that was to secure finishes in all six races. His best was 12th place and his worst 18th showing some real consistency. Simeon Maurer had a disappointing day on Saturday but netted all three race finishes on Sunday recording a best of 15th. Ann-Marie Oates was also at Rockingham and is looking forward to racing with the team next season. Anne-Marie did some testing prior to the racing.

15 August 2004 - Knockhill round up...

Ali Topley has again narrowed the gap at the top of the rookie championship over Dave Moore. Dan Heron bagged a superb second place in Saturday's final. Further update later in the week.

10 August 2004 - Brands Hatch Legends round up...

Ali Topley has narrowed the gap at the top of the rookie championship to just 45 points as Dave Moore retired from the final at Brands on Sunday. Ali can be pleased with his performance in the championship so far as he has contested one lass round than Dave and there is no adjustment allowed in the points for 'dropped rounds'. Ali's first visit to Brands Hatch netted him four top ten finishes from the six races. Dan Heron also made it into the top ten - the Newcastle based driver showing that a relatuve lack of experience in motor racing need not hamper progress at a challenging circuit like Brands.

The team was delighted to welcome Legends rookie Chris Robinson (right) who acheived four good finishes on his debut in the formula. Chris's best result was 16th in the final on Sunday. This was from the back of a 25 car grid so well done Chris!

10 August 2004 - John Marshall is flying...

We're grateful to motor racing photographer Angela Luke for sending us this superb image of John in action at Ingliston at the weekend. He finished third overall. Burnett are proud to be part of John's ground crew.

27 July 2004 - Best for Simeon...

Simeon Maurer earned his best ever Legends finish with a seventh place in the second heat at Pembrey last weekend. He was unlucky in a couple of the other heats but is certainly beginning to get to grips with the class. Ali Topley has lost the lead of the Rookie Trophy to his arch rival Dave Moore although they both had misfortunes during the weekend. Ali's main problem was an engine failure on Sunday. Dan Heron also had three non finishes but was on the pace of the top ten runners in the other three races.

07 July 2004 - Silverware for Topley and Heron...

Ali Topley and Dan Heron both came away from the National Championship races at Anglesey with some hard earned silverware. Ali won the prestigious 'John Nicol Trophy' whilst Dan took Sunday's Entertainer of the day award. Ali's best work came on Saturday when he took a fourth place in race two. At the end of the day he was also fourth overall - probably the best ever performance by a Legends Rookie. Dan caught the eye on Sunday's first two races where he netted two top ten finishes (out of a field of 26) - a superb feat in the two reversed grid races on a circuit that offers few places to pass.

In the Scottish Championship races Simeon Maurer was disappointed with his results but in truth there were some good drives, particularly in Sunday's final where he held second place for a large amount of time. In a full field of cars there is little doubt that he would have been a contender for a podium position.

30 June 2004 - JM's Ready again...

Following John's 'off' (see story below) the car is as good as new once again. More importantly John soon got his confidence back and finished another rally last weekend in 17th place. Well done JM! Check out the Gallery for more pics.

This coming weekend sees John tackling the Jim Clark Memorial Rally whilst the Burnett Legends Team of Simeon Maurer, Ali Topley and Dan Heron will be racing at Anglesey in the Scottish and National Championships.

28 June 2004 - JM's 'off'...

John Marshall has been busy rallying again but had this nasty moment which proves just how fast fe's going as well as reminding us all that the sport has its perils. Thankfully John and co-driver were OK and are looking forward to getting back on the stages again soon

23 June 2004 -Cathie gets in touch...

Thanks to Cathie Leverton who has been in touch. Cathie is one of our fantastic brigade of Marshals and was working at last years MPH show at Earls Court.

Cathie tells us she has been busy marshalling at some good events - the Regency Rally (almost got blown away), Rally of Kent (we drowned in the mud) and Rally Sunseaker (we froze in the snow). Working on our very own Somerset Stages rally we had hot sunshine which meant we all got very dusty I was one of the rally officials operating a speed gun checking out the top speeds on two of the tarmac stages. Next weekend is going to be my debut as an event Secretary (MSA paperwork Aaarghhh!) as I am helping run the Porlock Hill climb (at www.porlockmotorsport.com you can see both Somerset stages and the hill climb). A bit more sedate, but good fun all the same. Cathie is pictured with the JJ and Robin Drysdale cars at the MPH Show.

17 June 2004 - Rookie antics cost Simeon at Croft...

Simeon again joined the SMRC grid for its' Croft meeting but was one of a number of victims of some questionable driving standards. A selection of photos show in sequence what happened. Both Saturday's and Sunday's finals were red flagged. Sunday's race was abandoned - the first such occurance in 9 seasons of Legends racing in the UK.

Simeon Croft 01

Simeon Croft 02

Simeon Croft 03

Simeon Croft 04

24 May 2004 - Update from Burnett Motorsport...

John Marshall has been busy Rallying in Wales and Scotland and took third place in a recent event at Aberdeen. Ross Marshall has also made his Rally debut and was pleased to make the finish. Burnett Motorsport also looked after the Peugeot of Dave Hunter. More pics in the Gallery.

In the Legends Cars, Simeon Maurer was back in harness with the team at Knockhill.

10 May 2004 - Topley is top rookie, Heron is 10th...

Ali Topley was the top scoring rookie driver in the Legends third National Championship round at Cadwell Park this weekend. Ali was 15th and 16th in the two heats but put in a blistering performance in the final to take fifth place. He ran second in the early stages but got caught out at the hairpin and dropped back down the order. Later in the race with confidence building and knowledge of the circuit increasing he fought back into fifth position to come home as the leading newcomer. This finish represents the highest finish by a newcomer this season and moves him into second place in the Rookie Trophy despite only contesting two of the three rounds so far.

Dan Heron was also in action and bagged an impressive top ten finish in the opening race. Like Ali this was Dan's first visit to the challenging Lincolnshire circuit and he scored where other drivers failed by bringing the car home in all three races. Dan, also in his first full season of National Championship racing, took 10th overall in the day's standings.

28 April 2004 - Gallery update...

The Gallery now includes the latest covering the Granite City Rally plus Legends Cars at Mallory Park. In addition there are some exclusive pictures of John 'Jon' Higgins' Days of Thunder car taking shape.

27 April 2004 - Mallory Park News...

Thanks to Ali Topley for his insight into his National Championship debut... "I shocked myself on the performance yesterday. I would have been happy to be 6th or 5th rookie in my first meeting but to come 2nd on the day and go 3rd in the points with one less round, think that's a good days work (part from a little off at the end of the first corner at about top speed in 5th in the first heat which certainly grabbed my attention!!!) The track is awesome to race on, lots of bump drafting and slipstreaming, its probably as close to NASCAR as I'll get in Legends, part from Rockingham that is. "

As you can see Ali performed extremely well on his National Championship debut even to the point of overtaking Winter Championship sensation Owen Jenkins to go third in the Rookie Trophy standings. Simeon Maurer and Dan Heron were also in action at Mallory. Simeon had a best result of 13th in the final which is impressive given his limited time in Legends so far. Dan's best result was 11th, again encouraging considering there were 28 cars racing, many of whom have more experience of both Legends and the Mallory Park circuit.

14 April 2004 - News update...

Burnett Motorsport have been out and about over the last few weeks - the racing and rallying seasons are well underway and we've also been showing our cars elsewhere.

The opening round of the Scottish Legends Cars Championship saw Dan Heron take an excellent 10th place. Dan has progressed from newcomer to a top ten competitor in under a year. Ali Topley had an enouraging debut as well taking 124th, 14th and 16th places in his races - all from the back of the grid. Ali, Simeon, Dan, Ann-Marie and the rest of the Burnett Team are looking forward to joining the National Championship trail at Mallory Park on 24th May.

John Marshall's rally season is ongoing and we're pleased to bring some more pix and news from his latest outing which was in Elgin. John finshed first in class and third overall.

06 April 2004 -Knockhill Legends Test Day...

Legends testing has been going well with our drivers getting to grips with the cars prior to the start of the season on Easter Sunday at Knockhill. We are delighted to welcome Simeon Maurer, Steve Reynolds and Dan Heron back with us along with newcomers Ali Topley and Ann-Marie Oates. The first pictures of our 2004 drivers can be found on the Gallery page.

02 March 2004 - Images from Knockhill...

Images from the Palmerston Trade Furniture Stages at Knockhill can now be viewed in our gallery. The event was run with support from Beatsons Building Supplies and run by the Dunfermline Car Club on 28th February. John Marshall finished 4th overall which shows he is just as good at going around Knockhill the 'wrong' way as he is the 'right' way. In all seriousness though John Is really getting to grips with the Impreza now.

16 February 2004 - First rally of the season...

John Marshall and Fergus Gray contested their first event of the season in the new Impreza. We'll have a brif report on line soon.

09 February 2004 - Ali Topley joins Burnett for Legends Campaign...

Karting ace Alastair (Ali) Topley has joined Burnett Motorsport for the 2004 season.

Ali is seventeen years of age comes from Edwinstowe. He started racing in 2001 (Junior Max) winning all his novice races and picking up five trophies. In 2002 he moved into the prestigious 'Champions of the Future' series and took 12th place in his first final. By the end the the season Ali was 19th out of nearly 50 competitors and had won his first final (at Whilton Mill).

Last season saw Ali graduate into Senior Max where he had an impressive debut season. He finished 33rd out of 95 drivers and picked up several race wins along the way.

"My aims for this season are to win the Rookie Trophy, finish all of my races and hopefully race in the world championships at the end of the year," says Ali.

06 February 2004 - Burnett Calendar revealed...

Burnett Motorsport are pleased to announce a full calendar supporting drivers in Rallying, the Corgi Legends Cars National Championship, the SMRC Scottish Legends Cars Championship, SMRC XR2 Championship and ASCAR.

We are also proud to preview the livery of John Marshall's new Rally Car (click to enlarge).

19 January 2004 - Higgins & Wantling collect awards...

An emotional John Higgins was presented with the Corgi Legends 2003 Championship winner's trophy in Oxford on Saturday night. John was joined in the winners circle by Burnett Motorsport team mate James Wantling who received the award for the most prolific racer. The Welsh youngster contested the full UK National championship, three Scottish Championhip rounds and the World Championships in the USA where he finished in 8th place.

The provisional calendar for the 2004 season has now been published. Each of the 14 rounds will be featured in a new TV series on Sky Sports.