Fire ends Shelley Rogerson’s Woodpecker hat-trick hopes
September 4, 2008
Rally co-driver Shelley Rogerson suffered a dramatic exit on last Saturday’s Woodpecker Stages rally when the Peugeot Cosworth she was competing in with Andrew Burton had a fire.
Problems obtaining parts meant that work to get the car ready for the event following an accident on its previous rally continued right up until the start on Saturday morning. However, Burton and Rogerson made it to the start line in Ludlow and all the parts seemed to be working as they set fastest time on the opening Bringewood stage by 5 seconds from Shaun Gardener in his Mitsubishi.
“We were pleased to make the start of the event, it was all very last minute with a new radiator being fitted on Friday night and various other bits being finished on Saturday morning,” said Shelley.
“It was a relief to get to the first stage and we were delighted to set fastest time. The stage was quite unusual with bits of tarmac road between the normal gravel tracks but Andrew drove well and we had no problems.”
Another fastest time followed on the second stage, High Vinnells, before a 4th fastest time on stage 3 saw Burton and Rogerson arriving back at the service area in Ludlow in first place overall with Gardener second and Steve Perez, who was co-driven by Burton’s son Josh, in third.
Disaster was to strike on the fourth stage of the event which took place in Radnor forest. Burton and Rogerson started the stage but as they approached the second junction large flames appeared from the passenger side of the car. The crew immediately stopped and Shelley was dragged from the car through the driver’s door, the flames preventing exiting on the other side. The fire was quickly extinguished but their rally was over.
“It was a very scary moment when the flames appeared, especially as they were on my side! I’ve never experienced a fire in the car before and it’s an experience I don’t want to repeat, ” commented Shelley.
“It’s very disappointing, we were having a good battle with Shaun and Steve and it would’ve been good to continue the battle to the finish and possibly get my third victory on the event. After our accident on the Swansea Bay rally and this I hope we have better luck soon! I’d like to thank Co-ordSport, Legend Fires, AMG TV, Nicky Grist, Alan Cookson from GillettsSpar.com and Songasport for their support.”
It is not certain what the next event for the Peugeot duo will be but the car should be ready for the Plains Rally on September 20th should they decide to put an entry in.
Three great heats for Shelley Wakeling
June 2, 2008
The Minis provided the best racing of the day as ever with a 16 car line up for Round three of the Minicross Drivers Associations Rallycross event on Bank holiday Monday held at Blyton Rallycross circuit.
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Somerset victory hopes dashed for Shelley
April 28, 2008
Bentham’s Shelley Rogerson, 22, suffered her first rally retirement since September 2006 when a broken crankshaft denied a chance of taking victory on last Saturday’s Somerset Stages rally.
Shelley was partnering Andrew Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth and their rally got off to a brilliant start when they set the fastest time on the opening three mile Broadwood stage. Two more forest stages followed with Burton and Rogerson once again setting the fastest time, taking a lead of eight seconds over second placed Damian Cole at the first service halt of the event.
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Becky Kirvan Makes Mint Debut in New Polo
April 11, 2008
Witham-based rally driver Becky Kirvan successfully debuted her new VW Polo rally car last weekend on the Lookout Stages, taking 40th place on the Trackrod Motor Club organised event.
The rally was held at Melbourne airfield near York and consisted of 8 stages using the old runways and perimeter roads of the venue.
Shelley Rogerson set for Border Counties battle
April 2, 2008
Bentham’s Shelley Rogerson will head north next weekend when she contests round 2 of the MSA Gravel Rally championship, the Jedburgh-based Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally.
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Fearless All-Girl Rally Teams Compete Against Men
April 2, 2008
KANCANA Nanda Kumar of the all-female GSR Pennzoil Racing Team, has no fears competing in the Felda-AAM Malaysian Rally this weekend.
“Rallying is thrilling. It gives me a rush. Of course I am concerned about damaging the car but I have no fear when driving the stages inside the plantations,” said Kancana.
Kancana, a newscaster with Bernama TV, drove in her very first rally in the final round of last year’s Malaysian Rally in Perlis and the experience has prepared her well for the muddy conditions she anticipates in Bahau, Negri Sembilan this weekend.
“Perlis is one of the toughest courses as it was very muddy and slippery which gives me a good idea on how to handle the car in Bahau,” she said.
Kancana and her new co-driver Dzainurhayati Mohd Daud hope to compete and finish all six rounds in their Proton Satria this year with limited mistakes and car damage.
More than 20 cars, including teams from Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand, will compete in seven categories.
Racing against the Mullahs Part 2
March 12, 2008
By Maik Grossekathöfer
Part 2: ‘They Should Stick to Washing Machines’
The car racing stadium in Tehran is in Asadi Park, next to the football stadium. The steel tubing of the stands is rusted, the wooden benches are greasy and the roof leaks. Eight long-distance races are held here every year, with nine categories per race, always on Fridays. Prize money is awarded in the first three categories, with the winner taking home up to €2,700 ($3,900). Anywhere from 15 to 22 drivers compete in each race, and the races consist of 10 rounds around the track.
Two small cars are tearing down the track in an informal race. The smell of burnt rubber is in the air. A couple of bearded men in windbreakers stand on the sidelines, chain-smoking. One of them, who is also a racecar driver but prefers to remain anonymous, says: “If Laleh and Zohreh so desperately want to operate a machine, then they should stick to washing machines.” Then he spits onto the asphalt.
During a rally through Iran’s eastern Lut Desert, Vatankhah was leading in the first stage when someone smashed the windshield of her Toyota at night. The next morning, a wooden club lay on the driver’s seat like a threat.
Seddigh placed third in her first race. Not unexpectedly, none of her competitors congratulated her. When she waved to her female fans, who had climbed up on the fences, screaming, the management ordered her to behave properly. She had to wear a black coat over her overalls during the awards ceremony.
A year later, when she won the championship in her engine class (smaller than 1,600 cc), there was no mention of her victory in the media. Even today, the television networks suspend live coverage whenever she receives a trophy. The newspapers print her name the next day, but without any photos.
During the penultimate race of the 2006 season, the stadium announcer called out Seddigh’s name, ordering her to appear at the starting line, but guards refused to allow her through the gate, citing orders from above. She was later told that the head of the racing association had decided that she would never be allowed to race again.
He was afraid of the new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative extremist. “They wanted to prevent me from capturing the championship again,” says Seddigh.
She sits in the hotel lobby in a yellow armchair, laughing between sentences, fluttering her painted eyelashes. Her espresso has been cold for a while.
Then she tells the story of how she and her father went to see an ayatollah in Tehran. They asked him for a fatwa, and the cleric complied and issued a religious ruling stating that there are no religious reasons to prevent women from competing in races against men. The only condition was that the Islamic dress code had to be adhered to.
The drivers wear a fireproof suit, gloves, a hood and a helmet. When the race begins, not even their eyes are visible behind their visors. They couldn’t possibly be covered up any further. This explains why women were allowed to race.
Nevertheless, the religious fanatics routinely pull them out of circulation. At times, they must feel like the characters in a puppet theater, controlled by invisible strings.
Seddigh is currently barred from racing because she supposedly broke the rules in her last race. “But I didn’t do anything wrong,” she insists.
The office of the national racing association is hidden away on the second floor of a squat building with dark corridors. The vice president, a somewhat heavy-set man with a lot of gel in his hair, sits bent over his desk. Hossein Shahriahi claims Seddigh was driving an unregistered car.
How do you know this? the journalist asks.
“Everyone has his little spies.”
He serves up an improbable story about a broken engine seal, car numbers that were moved, mechanics who repainted the car and a hidden camera that recorded the whole thing.
Can he show us the pictures, we ask?
“No.”
Why not?
“Must there be a reason for everything?”
Did you discuss the case with Laleh Seddigh?
“No.”
Why not?
“I don’t like your questions.”
He informs us that the interview is over, and that his time is, regrettably, precious. The next day the paramilitary Basij, the group that was on the front lines of the revolution, celebrates its anniversary. Thousands of young men and women march through the streets, staring rigidly ahead, carrying assault rifles and dressed in camouflage uniforms or the chador.
Vatankhah bought gasoline on the black market that morning. Iranians are only permitted to buy three liters a day legally — not enough for her Corolla. Then she drove the car to a shop for an oil change.
She has competed in 37 rallies so far, and has stood on the podium 27 times. She has been a professional racecar driver for 15 months. She has a corporate sponsor that pays her €5,000 a year. It paid for the Toyota, and it pays the costs of spare parts, repairs and travel to races. If she needs more money she asks her father, who owns a marble and granite business. “He helps me, so that I can live the way I think I should live. He doesn’t want me to have to hide myself.”
She dreams of racing in other countries like Seddigh, who has raced in the Formula 3 in Italy, at the Autodroma Nazionale in Monza, and has been to California for trials. To race abroad, Vatankhah would have to take a special examination in Dubai, at a cost of $1,000. But the Iranian racing association turned down her application — and sent 11 men to the Persian Gulf instead.
Now she is trying to make her own arrangements to go to Dubai. She has obtained a visa and has asked the examination committee in Dubai whether it will allow her to attend the driving school without the racing association’s sponsorship. She is still waiting for a response.
She goes to a party that evening, wearing brown, skin-tight trousers, black leather boots and a black top. Of the 40 or so guests, more than half are women. None of them is wearing a headscarf.
There is dancing and necking. A text message makes the rounds: “Why does Ahmadinejad wear his hair parted on the side? So that he can separate the male lice from the female lice.”
Vatankhah chain-smokes Winstons and eats potato salad with pine nuts. She drinks shots of vodka from bottles smuggled into the country. There are five bottles of Smirnoff — at $30 a bottle on the black market. Isn’t she worried about the police?
“That’s not a problem. If they show up we’ll buy our way out of it. Each of us pays $80 to make the problem go away.”
She takes a taxi home at 2 a.m. She’s tipsy. The next morning, she plans to go to the gym after breakfast, to get in shape for her next rally, a 350-kilometer (218-mile) race from Tehran to Sari. But first she checks her emails.
She’s received an answer from Dubai. The officials write that she is welcome to come and that there is nothing to prevent her from taking the examination. They add that they are looking forward to meeting her.
It’s only a partial victory — but an important one.
Racing against the Mullahs
March 12, 2008
By Maik Grossekathöfer
Women are second-class citizens in Iran, barred from singing or dancing in public, unable to travel without a permit. Car racing is another no-no for Iranian females, but that hasn’t stopped two women from finding emancipation behind the wheel.
Zohreh Vatankhah steps into the elevator on the fifth floor, takes it down to the ground floor, turns right and walks through a heavy steel door into the garage where her 2006 Toyota Corolla is parked. But this isn’t your ordinary Toyota. It’s a dented affair in pink, complete with a roll bar and bucket seats. She snaps on the seat belt, turns the ignition key and the engine roars to life, causing the hood to tremble like the membrane on a bass speaker. Not exactly the kind of car that would pass inspection for driving on the roads in most Western countries.
Then she puts the pedal to the metal and her pink car shoots out of the garage, tires screeching. The janitor sweeping the courtyard stares after her, his mouth agape. Vatankhah inserts Christina Aguilera’s latest album into the cassette player and drums her fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. She drives toward the bazaar in downtown Tehran, crosses a bridge and passes graffiti instructing passersby to “Destroy Israel” and a poster of a burning American flag.
Five minutes later Vatankhah is stuck in a traffic jam — nothing short of torture for a person who loves driving as much as she does. Speed is her profession. Vatankhah is a professional racecar driver. In Iran, of all places — where the profession is not only dominated by men, but also practically owned by them.
Mirdamad Boulevard is normally a three-lane street, but by two in the afternoon it becomes a parking lot with cars jammed in six abreast. Nothing is moving in Tehran today, including the elevated roads, tunnels, downtown highways and beltways. It’s total gridlock, and Vatankhah is desperate to get out of the city so she can train in the mountains. She’s 29 and wears Gucci sunglasses and Max Mara perfume. Her hair is coffee-brown with blonde streaks and she wears a bold lipstick. She expects no less from life than to be able to navigate her way through it at a breakneck pace.
t’s dusk by the time she’s driving her Toyota through a puddle on a track in the Elbur Mountains. Today she is practicing negotiating tight curves at high speeds. Her co-pilot is standing on a hill, her hands buried in the pockets of her red-and-white overalls. She squints, observing her friend’s maneuvers with a critical eye. The Corolla pulls to the left, Vatankhah yanks the car to the right, hurling gravel into the air, and then she slams on the brakes and rolls down the window.”How was I?”
“The radius is still too wide.”
She nods, glances in the side-view mirror and reapplies her lipstick.
Iran is a country in which women have been considered second-class citizens since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. In a court of law, a woman’s testimony is worth only half as much as that of a man, and sons inherit twice as much as daughters. Women are not permitted to sing or dance in public, or even ride a bicycle. They cannot travel without a man’s permission. A man can forbid his wife from working, and if he catches her with another man, he can kill her without fear of punishment. Wearing a headscarf is mandatory, while the chador, or full-body veil, is preferred.
Vatankhah is the embodiment of sin for Iran’s religious fundamentalists and radical mullahs, but for the country’s urban youth she is a vision. She reflects the kind of country the children of Iran’s upper and middle classes want to be living in: modern and self-confident, embracing life and cosmopolitan.
In Iran, a country where women and men sit in separate sections on buses, trains and subways, how has a woman like Vatankhah managed to pull off this feat — competing against men in rallies? “Ask Laleh,” she says.
Securing an appointment with Laleh Seddigh is no easy feat. She doesn’t respond to e-mails, sometimes doesn’t answer her phone for days and doesn’t return calls.
Nevertheless, she does appear promptly, as agreed, at 11 a.m. at the Hotel Esteklal, which she has suggested as a place to meet. Seddigh, 30, is an icon of feminism and without a doubt the country’s most controversial female athlete. When she walks into the lobby, conversations stop for a moment. She is surprisingly short. Her skin looks artificially stretched, her nose almost too perfectly straight and her cheekbones unusually high. Other than the hands, the face is the only part of the body that women are not required to
keep covered, and having cosmetic surgery is a form of silent protest. She wears a leopard skin-patterned silk scarf draped loosely over the back of her head, a blue turtleneck sweater under a brown coat and a Rolex watch. She extends her hand in greeting, a taboo in a country where women are only permitted to shake hands with men who are members of their family. But Seddigh isn’t interested in taboos. She has a strong handshake.
She is a pioneer in Iran, the first female athlete to have competed against a man in the 25 years since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the theocracy. It was in 2004, during a long-distance race in Tehran. “I broke a taboo. I’m proud of it. Why should Iranian women be weak? I don’t know,” she says in fluent English. “Our Prophet Mohammed never claimed that women should be locked up at home and doomed to watch the children while the man enjoys himself outside. On the contrary: He wanted men to encourage their wives and daughters to develop their personalities to the fullest. To be a successful country, we need strong women.”
A wrong sentence can mean prison or a whipping in Iran, and yet Seddigh is not afraid to speak her mind. She is clearly fond of pushing the envelope.
She is the oldest of four children. Her father, who studied in Switzerland, owns four companies that produce furnaces and engine parts. Seddigh drives a black Mercedes S 350 with leather seats and lives in Tehran’s Niawaran district, where the air is better and the price of real estate astronomical.
She learned to drive at 13, secretly took her father’s Buick for a spin at 14 and totaled her first car at 17, when she drove into a tree and broke her left leg in four places. Her father calls her “Laleh Agha,” or “Mr. Laleh.”
Four years ago she applied for a racing license with Mafiri, the Iranian racing association. Mohammed Khatami, a moderate intellectual, was Iran’s president at the time. Internet cafés sprang up in the cities, the reformers in the government tolerated Western pop music and women were still wearing brightly colored headscarves.
Seddigh says: “I explained to the board of Mafiri that separating the sexes was not in keeping with the president’s ideas, and that it was high time for a change. I told them that they would go down in history if they allowed me to race with the men. Officials are vain people.”
Three months later, Zohreh Vatankhah applied for a license to race in rallies.
Seddigh and Vatankhah have a lot in common. They even look like sisters. Both are from affluent families and they made the pilgrimage to Mecca together. Both are still single in a country where girls can be married off at 13. They are strong women, but without being hard-edged. Vatankhah studied electrical engineering, while Sadigh holds a doctorate in industrial engineering and teaches at the university two days a week. More than 60 percent of the students at Iranian universities are women, but the unemployment rate among women is even higher.
Shelley seeks Rallye Sunseeker success
February 20, 2008
Bentham’s Shelley Rogerson will contest her second rally of 2008 when she heads to Bournemouth on Friday (22nd February) to compete on the Rallye Sunseeker. The rally is the opening round of the MSA Gravel Rally championship.Shelley, 22, will be partnering Kington’s Andrew Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth. After taking victory on the Wyedean Forest Rally recently the pairing are hoping for another good result on the Sunseeker although with several top crews in World Rally Cars also contesting the event the competition will be tough.”It’s going to be hard to repeat our Wyedean victory, we know from last year how close the competition can be in the Gravel Rally championship,” said Shelley.
“We’ll do our best to be on the pace though and hopefully get a good haul of points to kick-off the championship. I’d like to thank my sponsors Co-ordSport, Legend Fires, AMG TV, Nicky Grist and Songasport and my friends Gary, Tim and Jason for their support.”
The rally starts on Friday night with a short stage in Bournemouth town centre. The bulk of the competitive mileage is on Saturday with 70 miles of gravel tracks in Wareham and Ringwood forests and the grounds of Somerley Park.
[Source]
Wyedean delight for Shelley
February 12, 2008
“Bentham’s Shelley Rogerson opened her 2008 rallying season last Saturday (9th February) taking a brilliant victory with Andrew Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth.Over 150 cars started the Chepstow-based event which took place mainly in the Forest of Dean. Burton and Rogerson were immediately on the pace, setting the quickest time on the opening 5.6 mile Chepstow Park stage with Nik Elsmore and Daniel Barry in second and third places respectively.
The second stage of the rally, Serridge, saw the Peugeot Cosworth lose some time with a small excursion off the road. Despite the off Burton and Rogerson still set second fastest time on the stage.
“The opening stage was very muddy and slippery but Andrew drove well and we were pleased to set the fastest time,” said Shelley. “We were lucky on the second stage, we overshot a corner and went off the track. Fortunately we were able to reverse back onto the road with no damage to the car.”
The twisty Sallowvallets stage was next, Burton and Rogerson stopping the clock with a time 3 seconds slower than Elsmore, who now led the event from the Peugeot Cosworth crew with the World Rally Cars of Hugh Hunter and Will Nicholls in third and fourth.
A short stage at Chepstow racecourse saw Burton and Rogerson regain the lead by a second as the crews headed to the main service halt of the event.
Following service there were three more stages in the Forest of Dean, the first of which, Speech House resulted in the Peugeot Cosworth crew extending their lead, beating the Mitsubishi of Elsmore by 21 seconds. Two more fastest times followed, Burton and Rogerson arriving at the rally finish with a lead of 41 seconds.
“With Nik only one second behind us we really pushed in Speech House and, although we had some problems with the brakes near the end of the stage, we managed to pull out a good lead,” Shelley said. “We kept the pace up on the last two stages and extended our lead further. I’m delighted with the result, it’s a brilliant way to start my season. I’d like to thank Co-ordSport, Nicky Grist, Legend Fires, AMG TV, Songasport and friends Gary, Tim and Jason for their support and Andrew for asking me to co-drive for him.”
Burton and Rogerson’s next event will be the Bournemouth-based Rallye Sunseeker at the end of the month.”
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