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109. Severn Valley Rally – Alan Hughes – 16th O/a 4th Class
108. Plains Rally – Gary Scott – Corsa – 57th O/a 12th Class - 129
107. Hamsterley Rally – Alan Hughes – Escort Mk2 – 22nd O/a 4th
Class - 70
106. Lee Holland Junior Rally – Dom Scott – Micra – 3rd O/a - 13
105. Somerset Stages – Gary Scott – Corsa – 47th O/a 6th Class - 153
104. Pirelli Rally – Alan Hughes – Mk2 Escort – 53rd – Caught minute mans dust on stage 1 and then ran off the road trying to get him to see us. Entered super rally. 2nd & 3rd fastest there on but to no avail.
103. Howford Hydraulics Rally – Neil Marshall – Pug 205 – Good pace from the start. Quickly destroyed all 4 tyres, put remoulds on the rear for one stage and car became undriveable. Back to new rubber for remainder of the day. 29th O/a – 9th Class
102. Bulldog International – Alan Hughes – Mk2 Escort – Wrong tyre choice on first stage. Big attack on rest of stages with new tyres to take 2nd registered crew. Overshoot on last stage cost us the win. 28th O/a – 4th Class
101. Border Counties – Alan Hughes – Mk2 Escort – Vast improvement on previous weekend. Won our class by 5 minutes. 38th O/a 1st Class
100. Riponian – Alan Hughes – Mk2 Escort- Steady start to get used to new team and over 12months since Alan has been in the forest. Improving all day. 41st O/a 9th Class
13/3/09
Three weeks of Rear Wheel Drive action.
Over the next 3 weekends Mike Scrimgour will be partnering new driver Alan Hughs in his Historic Mk2 Escort. The first event, the Riponian Rally will be used as a shakedown along with the Border Counties Rally before heading to Wales for the opening round of the British Historic Rally Championship.
With Mikes local knowledge in the Yorkshire forests the pair are hoping that there first event together will be a successful one.
9/3/09
Plenty of points in the bag after double header weekend.
Saturday saw Mike Scrimgour partnering gary Scott in the Vauxhall Corsa on the Malcolm Wilson Rally, round 2 of the BTRDA 1400 Championship before a dash down the country to Wigan to compete with Dom Scott in the opening round of the Junior F1000 Championship at Roskirk, Wigan.
Saturday got away to a good start with top 8 times on the opening 3 stages. A 6 mile run through Greystoke stopped the car in its tracks as it left the road and became stuck in a ditch. Luckily spectators workede there magic and within 3 minutes the crew were on there way again. This meant it was a race to the finish to get as many championship points as possible. Unfortunately for other contenders in the championship, the stages proved too much meaning we were able to gain more points leaving us in a very good position after the first two rounds.
Saturday night saw a long drive down the motorway to Wigan ready for the first round of the new Junior F1000 championship.
The plan was to go out there and see how we faired against the competition. Conditions were horrendous with rain and sleet most of the day. The micra which was in gravel set up was struggling with understeer but a result of 5th overall, only 4 seconds off 3rd shows Dom has the speed and ability to do very well on the next few rounds.
22/2/09
16th O/a ends rewarding day for Peugeot pair.
16th overall is where Neil Marshall and Mike Scrimgour finished the Bill Cammack memorial rally in the trusty 205. The stages were extremely slippy to start with but Neil drove to the conditions resulting in some promising stage times. A spin was the only mishap all day and the pair were very pleased with the result.
The car is now to be rebuilt with a stronger engine ready to continue the rest of the season.
8/2/09
Snow and ice cant slow the new Corsa
The opening round of the 2009 Millers oils 1400 BTRDA Championship got off to a snowy start for Gary Scott & Mike Scrimgour in the new Vauxhall Corsa on the Wyedean Rally. Stage 1 appeared to get off to a steady start but the sight of 5 cars crossing the finish line in convey showed we hadnt had a bad stage at all. The day continued with the pair slip sliding there way through the stages to come home to a shock result of 5th 1400 and 3rd registered crew. This was thwe best possible way to start the new season and hope that round 2, the Malcolm Wilson rally will prove to be even better.
17/1/09
Wind and Rain make for an exciting day at Croft
The second event at Croft circuit in soo many weeks was the Jack Frost Stages. Once again sitting alongside Neil Marshall in the Pug 205 they were hoping to better there result on the Xmas Stages. Conditions were once again extremely tricky due to the wet weather but Neil drove to the conditions to make sure we got through each stage without too much drama. The last stage of the day was in the pitch black and driving rain. This made things even harder but after less than half a lap the stage was stopped due to an accident. Despite the conditions being against them they bettered there previous result to finish 53rd O/a and 15th Class.
30/12/08
Final rally of the year for Scrimgour
The Xmas Stages at Corft would be Mikes final rally of the year co driving for Neil Marshall in his Pug 205. This would be the first real rally for Neil after his maiden rally only lasted 2 stages. Tricky conditions meant that the day wasnt going to be easy. A spin on the first corner showed just how tricky but the day got better with the end result of 58th and O/a 17th class.
3/12/08
Famous corner stops Gavin & Mike in there Tracks
The Grizedale Stages was thye setting for Gavin & Mikes final forest outing of the year. They seemed to be very quick out of the blocks and full of confidence going into stage 2. Unfortunately a famous corner caught the pair out resulting in the landing in a 5ft ditch on the outside of a corner which is where they stayed. They were allowed to run on the last two stages but sadly werent classed as finishers.
24/11/08
Pig swill causes problems for Pug
The Neil Howard Memorial Rally would see Mike sitting alongside Kevin McEwan in his immaculately turned out Peugeot 205 Gti. The first stage got off to a good start until the pair came across an accident blocking the road. Luckily no one was injured and the pair were soon on there way. Unluckily, on lap 2, the pair encountered a flood of pig swill caused by the accident which was sucked into the engine causing a severe misfire. The misfire continued for the next 3 stages getting better each stage. The afternoon brought much better luck and the pair made it back up the board to 38th overall and 6th in class.
5/11/08
Busy weekend of highs and lows for Scrimgour
The first of two rallies in two days started in Wales for the Cambrian Rally on Saturday. Mike was co driving for Gary Scott on the final round of the BTRDA championship where he was hopeful of taking 2nd in class in the championship. The ice covered stages made things extremely tricky and when the car ran wide on a left hand bend it would soon spell the end for the little Nova. A gear selector jammed in the gearbox leaving the crew with no gears and no drive. This wasnt the way they had planned on ending the year but hopefully the Sunday would bring more luck.
Sundays event was with Gavin Collyer in the Evo III once again. Things got off to a cautious, steady start but as the day went on the pair got progressively faster. Entering the last run through the Langdale stage the pair were faced with thick fog. This didnt slow the pair too much resulting in 25th O/a and 13th in class.
30/10/08
Premier Rally proves too much for Evo shafts.
The weekends Premier rally held in Nottinghams forests got off to a good start depite hitting a chicane on stage 2 dropping around 20 seconds. Everything was going well until the penultimate stage when road conditions weren't so good. The crew were lying in the top 15 and hoping to break into the top 10 when a driveshaft let go on a hairpin right. The car was nursed to the end of the stage but loss of drive on the short road section eneded the rally with only 5 miles left to go. Mike will be out again with Gav next sunday after making the trip back from Wales and the Cambrian Rally on saturday.
20/10/08
1600 Avenger goes giant killing on Otterburn
A last minute phonecall saw me sit alonside David Conley in his Avenger last sunday. Seeded at car 54 we expected to catch a couple of slower cars ahead of us but never expected what would happen. The first four stages were reasonably short but saw us catching a couple of cars in each stage.
Lying 10th overall after 4 stages and with 8 remaining it seemed a top 10 was on the cards. Stage 5 however was a 16.70 mile stage and would see us overtake no less than 5 cars. Things continued to go our way and more cars were caught and passed as the day went on. A close call on stge 9 when the car ran wide onto grass at high speed reeled us back in for a couple of seconds but we were soon back on the pace to the finish of the rally. The final result was 8th overall and 3rd in class beating much bigger and more powerful machinery.
The hectic schedule continues as i compete on 4 rallies in 3 weekends with the 2nd rally being the Premier rally this sunday with Gavin Collyer in his Evo III. Hopefully we can make it into the top 10 for the 2nd weekend running.
14/10/09
Last minute phonecall means a return to Otterburn.
This coming weekend sees me co-driving for David Conley in his immaculate Hillman Avenger. His regular co driver is unable to make the event so i will be standing in for the weekend. The event is run over 2 days with the recce of the stages being on the saturday and the main event on the sunday.
Last time on otterburn i finished 13th overall so i am confident of another good result.
5/10/09
Early bath at Manby for Matthews/Scrimgour
Saturday saw me partnering Neil Matthews on his first ever rally. We were seeded at car 70 (last on the road) so the only way was up. After finding the most understandable form of navigation for Neil it was off into the first stage. Things got off to a very good start but after about 3 miles of the stage we lost 4th gear. Back in service we found the gearbox casing had cracked.
Not given up at the first hurdle, we pushed on through the second and third stage. Sadly on the way to stage 4 the gearbox seized solid calling it the end. At the time of retirement we were 43rd overall and climbing the board after every stage.
The next rally for Neil will be the Xmas Stages at Croft in December.
Mike's next rally will be the Premier rally in Nottingham at the end of October.
28/9/09
An eventful Trackrod results in 13th O/a.
This weekend saw me sitting alongside Gavin Collyer in his Evo III on the clubmens rally of the Trackrod International.
Housedale got us off to a good start before entering Gale Rigg. I warned im about Milners bend before the stage but i dont think he was listening greatly. We approached Milners way too fast but were extremely lucky to get away with only putting half the car down the bank and managing to drive out ourselves. A few miles later we weren't as lucky. We got sucked into a swampy hole on the inside of a corner spinning the car and again dropping a bit more time.
Cropton was awesome as always then at service a very nice new lamp pod was fitted to the front of the car.
Langdale would see the end of the lamp pod however as we slid into the trees on a 90L BUMP 90R. Managed to get out fairly quickly but this broke the mountings on the lamp pod. It finally let go a few miles later so thankfully we didnt need them in Staindale
The day resulted in us finishing 13th overal and 10th in class. An excellent result and even with our minor offs we only suffered very minimal damage to the Evo.
Next weekend i will be partnering Neil Marshall in his 1900 Peugeot 205. We will be competing on the Harold Palin at Manby.
22/9/08
Plains rally comes to a sudden end.
The penultimate round of the BTRDA 1400 in Wales ended in an early bath for Gary and Mike. The first 2 stages of the day were going very well with the pair leading the 1400 championship competitors. On stage 3 however a tightening left hand bend caught them out as they slid wide under braking, the car then slid off the road before coming to rest on its side in the trees. Both car and crew were undamaged and now look to finishing the championship on the final round of the Cambrian rally, once again in Wales.
31/8/08
Maximum points for Gary & Mike
Yesterdays Woodpecker rally saw Gary Scott and Mike Scrimgour take maximum points in the BTRDA 1400 class. It wasn't the easiest of runs the pair have had though.
The first few stages saw them getting into their stride before a big push on the two Radnor stages, stages 4 & 5. However, just after the finish line of stage 5 a little too much speed saw the pair run off the road into the very dense undergrowth. Luckily they had alreday crossed the line so the 10 minutes taken to recover the car by spectators did not affect the stage time. The penultimate stage saw them set a top 4 time before losing the exhaust on the last stage meaning excess noise in the car made it difficult to hear Mike calling the notes.
At the end of an eventful day they were 1st 1400 BTRDA crew, 50th O/a and 6th 1400.
Mikes next event will be the Plains rally in 3 weeks time, once again partnering Gary.
12/8/08
Things got off to a good start last weekend when Dom was setting competitive stage times on the opening 3 stages. However a few seconds were lost when we had to slow for a competitors car which had caught fire but once given the ok we were back on the ball. Stage 4 however was to be a different story. With only 2.5 seconds seperating the top 3 Brits we decided to really push hard on the afternoon loop of stages. Sadly though, half way through the first of the afternoon stages the gearbox expired in a big way meaning we had no drive at all leaving us stranded in the stage.
It was a dissapointing end to the rally but the experience gained on the stages and competitive times will help us in further rallys.
2/8/08
Latvia trip means more experience for Scott and Scrimgour
This coming weekend sees myself and Dom Scott travel to eastern Latvia as the next round of the Latvian rallysprint championship. Following the success of the first trip we are both on a high and hoping for a good result. We will once again be out there with Juniorrallying.co.uk and joined by a couple of other English crews. The trip is purely for the valuable experience Dom will gain ready for when he turns 17 and can compete fully in the UK so any result is a good result.
28/7/08
Steering problems hinder progress at Sweet Lamb
Sunday 27th July saw me competing at Sweet Lamb in Wales alongside Gavin Collyer in his Evo III. Things got off to a good start but half way through stage 1 the steering pump started leaking causing power steering problems. These problemsw would continue into stage 2. At service after stage stage 2 the problem was ressurected and we would continue our staedy progress to finsh 26th overall.
25/7/08
First competitive trip to Sweet Lamb
This coming sunday sees me take part in my first competitive trip to Sweet Lamb in Wales. Although i have done testing there before i have not actually competed there. I will once again be sitting with Gavin Collyer in his Mitsubishi Evo III. Seeded at car 33 a clean run should see us improve on our seeding and pick up some valuable motor club championship points.
24/7/08
Hale bale slows progress at Manby.
Last weekends event didnt get off to the best of starts when a misfire on the engine appeared almost as soon as we left the start line of stage one. Not one to give up easily, John and myself suffered the misfire for stage 2 before having it repaired in service. Stages 3 through to 6 got quicker and we moved further up the leader board battling against torrential rain as we went.
Sadly though on stage 7, a hale bale was to get in the way and snap a track control arm aswell as damaging the immaculate bodywork of the Escort. We had to cruise for the rest of the stage dropping nearly 2 minutes.
Another quick service and the car was repaired ready for the final stage of the day. Another flying run saw us move up the leader board to finish 40th overall. Id just like to say a big thank you to John for letting me celebrate my birthday in style.
17/7/08
Birthday Boy plans day in Mk2 Escort.
This coming saturday sees me partnering John Stevens in his Mk2 Escort for the first time. John has been rallying for a number of years and we will be using his recently built Mk2 Escort. Saturday the 19th is also my 24th birthday so i plan on spending the day going as fast and as sideways as possible.
7/7/08
Quinton sees maiden 1400 win.
Saturday saw Neil Weaver and myself take the overall 1400s win on the Quinton stages rally. Winning by 1 minute 12 seconds would appear to be an easy win but a snapped driveshaft and more gearbox problems would put doubts on our day. However, we battled through the problems to take the win at the end of the 7 stage event.
30/6/08
Sundays Mid Wales stages rally was as good as a non starter as about 3 miles into stage 1 we started suffering gearbox problems. We managed to make it through 2 stages btu the problem had become to great to continue.
Next weekend will see me partnering Neil Weaver again in Gary Scott's Vauxhall nova on the Quinton stages rally. We will be aiming for the overall 1400s win in what will be a very competitive day.
27/6/08
Rally number 3 in June.
Sunday 29th June sees me competeting on the 3rd rally of the month on the Mid Wales Stages. It is just a shakedown for the newly fitted gearbox and also part of the development of the car ready for Gary's son Dom to use on his next trip to Latvia. Due to a late entry being submitted we are unaware of our start number but will be aiming for a good result in the competitive class 1.
15/6/08
Dukeries ends prematurely.
Saturdays rally ended prematurely for Neil Weaver and myself. The opening stage saw us 2 seconds quicker than any of the other 1400 competitors in just 1.2 miles. Stage 2 was another short stage and stage 3 and 4 were longer stages at over 5 miles each. Everything was going to plan and Neil was attacking hard, resulting in 2 small overshoots whilst struggling to slow the car under braking, when on stage 4 the car smashed through a hole which resulted in smashing the oil cooler.
We finished the stage but sadly on the road section had to pull over and see the extent of the damage. With no way of fixing the problem it was day over for us.
Leading the 1400s by 1 second after stage 4 showed how competitive the day would have been.
The next event will be the Mid Wales Stages alongside Gary in the Nova.
7/6/08
Dukeries Rally preview.
Next weekend sees me partnering 2006 BTRDA 1400 Champion Neil Weaver for the first time. Althought Neil is new to me, the car will not be. We are competing in the Vauxhall Nova owned by Gary Scott to whom i am doing the BTRDA 1400 championship alongside.
Seeded at car 204 we aim to improve on our seeding and take home some silverware. Neil is yet to drive the car competitively but this is not something that phases him. With a mixture of fast and technical stages, the Newark based event will be a challenge for us both.
4/6/08
Rally Tukums review
http://www.racecar.com/story.asp?NewsID=22368
3/6/08
Last weekend saw me co driving for Dom Scott, the youngest ever Brit to compete on an event, on the Tukums Rally in Latvia. As part of the junior rally squad Dom was one of 3 British drivers under the age of 17 on the event.
The event started with the recce where we had to make our own pacenotes from scratch with only the aid of a road book. After the recce it was off to scrutineer before the car was placed in pre event parc ferme.
Due to Dom's age and lack of a driving licence i was to drive over the start ramp and drive all road sections. We headed for the first stage and both Dom and myself were pretty nervous but there was no time for nerves.
We caught our minute man on the first stage and then progressed from there. Overnight we were lying 71st overall and looking forward to sundays stages.
Sundays stages went well with Dom getting even quicker as the day progressed. Sadly, the final stage saw us struggling with the gearbox and total loss of 4th gear. However, we battled on to come home in 53rd overall and 9th in class. A fantastic result for us both and the junior rallying team.
A press release about the junior rally squad in Latvia.
23/5/08
Next weekend will see me sitting alongside a new driver in an exciting new partnership. I will be co-driving for 14 year old Dom Scott on his first ever competitive event in Latvia. Dom is a member of the Junior Rally squad which has only 4 drivers, all under the age of 17 competing in the Latvain Rallysprint challenges and Latvian National Championship.
Dom is the son of Gary Scott who i have partnered for 4 years now. We will be using the same 1400cc Nova that Gary and myself use on British BTRDA rounds.
The first event for Dom and myself is the Tukums rally. It will be an extremely big learning curve for the both of us and we are both very excited at the opportunity. Our initial goal is just to finish the 2 day event and improve on our results the more events we do together. I will have to drive the road sections for Dom as he is not old enough to hold a driving license.
Information on the Junior Rally squad can be found at www.juniorrallying.co.uk
6/5/08
Last weekend saw me take my first trip overseas to compete on the Monteberg Rallysprint. I was sitting alongside james Potter for the first time in his Mk2 Escort. We were both doing it for the experience and for fun.
The 2 practice runs on the morning showed promising times in comparison to a lot more modern and faster machinery.
The 4 competitive runs, each one quicker than the last gave us plenty of sideways action to please the crowds and a stage time of 5minutes 10 seconds which was good enough to seal 14th overall and 2nd in class.
I would like to thank James for the opportunity and hopefully will get the chance to sit alongside him again in the future.
27/4/08
Saturdays Somerset Stages proved to be a dissapointing trip for Gary and myself. After a steady start on the opening 3 stages we changed onto tarmac rubber for the 2 runs of porlock toll road. With both stages providing competitive times we decided to really go for it on the afternoon. Sadly, whilst lying 7th we developed a misfire which resulted in our retirement on stage 9.
This coming weekend sees me travel to Belgium for the Monteberg Rallysprint. I will be sitting alongside James Potter in his MkII Escort. Im looking forward to the experience of rallying in a foreign country with a new driver again.
23/4/08
This weekend sees the fourth round of the BTRDA 1400 Championship take us to Somerset for the Betta Somerset Stages. Gary and myself are hoping for a little more luck than we had last year which saw us drop over a minute when we rolled on the Porlock toll road stage. Seeded at car 214 we are hoping for a definate improvement on seeding and some good points for the championship.
20/4/08
Saturday 19th April saw Mark Mitchell and myself make the 4 hour journey up to Ingliston for round 2 of the Scottish Tarmac Rally Championship. After a dissapointing couple of rallys we were hoping for a trouble free run and a chance to get some points on the board. The only problem we appeared to have was a weak battery so a quick push start out of service and we were on our way. Stage 1 saw us have a steady run and on stage 2 we went for it and took 23 seconds out of our 1st time.
We were improving again on stage 3 setting a competitive time and decided to try a different tyre on stage on 4. The change of tyre cost us around 15 seconds as we were having major understeering problems so stage 5 saw new rubber on the Astra and off we went. We posted another quick time on stage 5 before our quickest stage time of the day came on stage 6.
With only 2 stages to go we were lying 42nd overall and everyone was on a high. Stage 7 however saw us getting caught up amongst slower cars in the field that seemed rather unwilling to let us passed. We past the first of the 2 cars but in all of the frustration we accelerated out of a hairpin snapping a driveshaft. We were still able to drive so a quick phone call to service meant that the new shaft was ready and waiting when we completed the stage.
The shaft was changed in super fast time by Josh and Rocky and we headed out on the final stage to make up for the minute lost with a broken shaft.
About a mile into the stage we spun on a tight 90right stalling the car. The weak battery came back to haunt us and the car wouldnt start. A quick push off by the marshalls and we were on our way. We dropped another 30 seconds in all of it but were just extremely pleased we had made it to the end.
Our final result was 54th O/a and 15th in class. Hopefully this means a change of luck for myself and hopefully this will continue on this weekends Somerset Stages with Gary in the Nova.
I would like to give a massive thanks to Josh and Rocky for keeping the car on the road and the super fast driveshaft change.
14/4/08
After a weekend spectating on the border counties and a weekend spent testing, im back in the hot seat for round 2 of the STRC at Ingliston, Edinburgh. Once again ill be sat with Mark Mitchell in the newly painted yellow 2.0ltr Vauxhall Astra. Although our last run out didnt go quite to plan we are hoping for a good run here to get some points on the board for the Scottish Championship. Mark and I are in good spirits and looking forward to the technical stages ahead of us. As always we are out to beat our seeding which is 62 so feel this is more than achievable.
30/3/08
Unfortunately, i was unable to compete on yesterdays North Humberside rally due to circumstances beyond my control. I will be back out in 3 weeks time with Mark Mitchell in the Astra at Ingliston, Edinburgh for the 2nd round of the Scottish Tarmac Rally Championship.
24/3/08
This weekend i will be competing on the third round of the BTRDA 1400s alongside Gary Scott in the Nova. Hopefully all of the problems from the Malcolm Wilson have been ironed out and we can gain a good result and plenty of championship points on what is my home event.
22/3/08
Saturday saw Mark and myself take the 5 hour trip to Crail for the opening round of the Scottish Tarmac Rally Championship. Sadly it was to be a day to forget. The stages looked fast and flowing and we were all fired up and hoping for a good result.
Unfortunately our rally was to last only 4 corners. We took off from the start line and soon realised that the back of the car felt twitchy. On the 4th corner, a very fast left hander, the back end of the car broke away and spun us into a ploughed field. For whatever reason the car refused to start and we were too far into the field to push it out to try bump starting the car. Recovery was not available until after stage 2 so sadly that was game over.
He went out on the 3rd and 4th stage to gain more time in the car and try different tyres out. All i can say is im hoping for better luck next weekend.
18/3/08
This weekend will see Mark Mitchell and myself making the trip to Crail for the DCC Stages in the Astra. Its the first time we have been out since i dislocated my knee cap whilst lying mid field on the Jack Frost stages. In a field of 100 cars we are seeded at car 47. Any improvement on our seeding would be a great result.
10/3/08
Sunday saw me partnering fellow Whitby Motor Club member Gavin Collyer in his Evo III on the Robin Hood Stages. The day started in the worst way possible. We walked out into the hotwel car park to see that the chase car had been broken into and all of the tools stolen from it. This left us minus a chase car for the event until a new window was fitted.
We decided things could only get better and that a good result was needed to lift everyones spirits. We entered the first stage in the evo with its newly fitted rear suspension. The back end looked to be sitting rather high but hoped it wasnt going to be a problem. 3 corners in we discovered it was a problem as we spun on a fast right hand bend. However, as the day continued the rear suspension settled in and the car became faster and a lot more stable.
At first service we were over the moon to see we were lying 20th overall on the results. A check of the car showed a bent bottom arm which was quickly replaced by the service crew. Back out onto the next loop of stages and things really started to flow. We returned to service to see we were now in 15th overall. Neither of us could believe how well we were doing and decided to try our best to maintain the position on the final loop.
As daylight was fast running out we found ourselves entering the final two stages with only headlights to guide the way. We made it through the final stages problem free and at a fair old pace. At the finish we realised that a flying Kevin Proctor had been working his way up the table after earlier problems and passed us dropping us to 16th overall.
This was still a fantastic result for Gavin and myself on only his 3rd ever rally. Our thanks go out to the service crew for keeping the car sweet all day.
My next outing is in 2 weeks at Crail in Scotland with Mark Mitchell in the Astra. This will be our first time in the Astra since the jack frost stages back in january. Championship points will be the aim of the day and a good result would be great.
4/3/08
Saturdays Malcolm Wilson rally ended prematurely at the end of stage 5 due to mechanical difficulties. The day started off with no power steering on the 1400 Nova but wasnt expected to cause too many problems. However, once in the stages the lack of power steering was showing just how difficult it was to control the car. The car felt like it had a mind of its own and just wanted to drive us straight into every ditch and tree it could see.
We battled on in a hope for a handful of championship points until entering stage 5. The first of the two Grizedale stages created a sticking throttle on the car which was making it even more dangerous to control. We then started losing gears due to the over revving engine and by the end of the stage decided an early bath was the only option.
It was a shame not to finish but in those circumstances you have to think about your safety first.
My next outing is on this weekends Robin Hood Stages Rally based near Nottingham. I will be co-driving for Gavin Collyer in his Mitsubishi Evo III seeded at car 42. Gavin has only competed on 2 other events with the car and is still learning so an enjoyable days rallying and a good run to the finish is what we expect to achieve.
25/2/08
This coming friday i will be travelling to Cockermouth for the 2nd round of the BTRDA 1400s on the Malcolm Wilson Rally with Gary Scott. It will be my first event since dislocating my knee cap in January on the Jack Frost Stages. We will be using the yellow Nova again running at the front of the field as on always on the BTRDA rounds.
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