Abingdon Stages 2003Abingdon Airfield – 8th June 2003Report by James Walters. Thame Motorsport Club had a record entry on this rally:-
TMC was fielding its largest entry ever, with no less than ten entries, out of the 110 running, with the top entries including Lamberts Darrian T9, followed by a pair of Metro 6R4’s and Guy Wigley’s Escort Maxi. The classes showed 13 in “A”, 32 in ”B”, a huge 38 entries in “C”, 17 “D” and 11 “E” 4WD turbo monsters. TMC’s entry also included the clubs first ever all girl pairing of Shelly Nutt and Lynette Applegate. Vision Motorsport were fielding no less than five cars wearing its livery, for what David Nutt described as his home event. The day dawned with a wet track following heavy overnight rain. However, the sun was shining and strong winds were drying the track out rapidly. However showers threatened throughout the day and came down with a vengeance at the end of stage 4 and 5. This resulted in stage 6 being cancelled following several cars vanishing into the scenery. There was also the rather unfortunate accident in the pits where one of the Vision team had to be taken to hospital for stitches after a tent poll fell and cut her head. We wish her a speedy recovery. Looking at the clubs runners in detail: Car 7 Escort Cosworth of Dick Mauger and Andrew Street. The car was running well on the first stage, and came back with plenty to show that the crew were trying. Paint marks showed that chicane rubbing had been going on, which gave Helen plenty to do in washing down the car, and trying to polish out the scratches. 7th overall after stage one, slipped to 11th overall after 3. Some tweeking to the fuel pumps occurred at service for stage 2 and switch was made from intermediates to slicks. Dick said he got it a bit sideways into the building complex on stage 4, which he said was worrying! But all collected by staying on the power, and it was back to wets for stage 7, before taking a gamble with slicks, all be it with lowered pressures, and a softened rear anti roll bar setting, for the final stage, on a still damp track. Andrew was looking a bit worried when I left! Paul Embling certainly had his work cut out servicing. The car recovered and finished 7th overall and 2nd in class, just 4 seconds behind 6th. Car 16 Escort Cosworth of Martin Snell and Helen Bailey. Hoping for no repeats of last year, when Martin spun backwards into a very big post. Helen was standing in at short notice for Richard Crossland. The car was running well until problems with the gearbox occurred on stage five. The mechanics did an amazing job in changing it for a spare, and thanks to the stopping of stage 6 following the heavy crashing of a 205 GTI during the heavy downpour, they were able to return to the event without loosing any time. Overall, a very consistent run to 10th place, and third in class. Car 18 Escort Cosworth of David Nutt and Simon Mauger. Drama on the Thursday before when the Turbo blew in final testing. However, they managed to find a replacement. There was still a minor turbo problem on the 1st stage, which was resolved at first service. However, the car was still 5th overall at the end of stage one. I spoke to a pale looking Simon at the end of stage one, and he promised he would never be rude to a co-driver again. However, he appeared to be very quick in getting the hang of being in the wrong side of the car. Car went like a dream on SS2, setting 2nd fastest, only beaten by one of the Metros. Set third fastest on SS3. Then drive to the front wheels started to go on stage four. The service crew made up a new drive shaft. However, things didn’t improve, with Dave commenting that the car was snatching drive, resulting in some heavy oversteer incidents, including some good doughnuts in front of the crowds in the building complex. Still after the end of stage four the car was still holding 3rd overall. However, with just two-wheel drive the car slipped to 5th overall at the end, just 2 secs away from 4th. They still managed to win their class (E). This must be another club record, winning all three awards in a class at a single venue! Car 24 BMW 320/M3 of Justin Middleton and Neal Cuss. A successful last minute entry. Neal was originally down to co-drive with Geoff Clifton, but Geoff had already pre-committed elsewhere, so this paring got together as a reserve. The day went smoothly, with Neal commenting that the car was fantastic rear wheel drive fun. From a spectator’s viewpoint it seemed a bit softly sprung, but it was very entertaining to watch, with lots of sideways moments, Justin is definitely a very talented driver! The car was lying 23rd overall at the end of stage 4, and managed to improve this to 18th overall, and 2nd in class by the end. Car 29 Sierra Cosworth of Mick Gregory and Steven Fayers. After the cars winning track record on its last three events at Oakington, Mick was struck by misfortune on the first stage. He said that the car hit a bump in the track and the ignition died. Finally recovered to the pits after end of 2nd stage, but fault could not be traced, and the car just refused to restart. Crew very unhappy, but hope to be out again soon. Car 48 Sierra Cosworth of Richard Upton and Stuart Parkins. Fresh from their successful first outing at the last Oakington where they picked up 2nd in class they were well up for the much tougher opposition here at Abingdon. However, the team were suffering from poor brakes throughout the first five stages. However, the car was running well otherwise. The crew had a massive spin on stage 4 resulting in the total flat spotting of one of their new Dunlop’s bought just that morning. However, they changed the rear pads and bled the rear breaks, which combined with the lower air temperature resulted in a good run on stage 7. The crew were standing at 24th overall at the end of stage 4, and pulled it up to 21st overall and third in class D. Car 60 Vauxhall Astra Mk1 of Julz Coulter and Jason Hutson. Also hit by stage one problems, when car failed to turn in resulting in the car hitting a large concrete block that stove in the front of the car, and damaged the radiator. Managed to get the car back to the pits, and pulled the front of the car back together. They went out again for the 2nd stage and put in a much more respectable time. However, the car was badly overheating, and despite finding a new radiator from car 83, (I cant believe there are still two Mk1 Astra’s left –Ed) they found that the head was damaged. To quote Julz’s words the engine had developed a “water feature” when they had tried to run it again. Julz says he was looking for an excuse to increase the engine to 2 litre. It would appear that he now has it. Lets hope its back together soon. Car 73 Vauxhall Nova GTE of Rob Slingerland and Liz Kirby. The trusty Nova was out again despite some last minute problems with snapped exhaust manifold studs, and dramas on the journey over to the event with a shredded trailer tyre. The team started well 31st overall after the end of the 2nd stage. On stage one they had overtaken one car, and had caught up the car in front by the end of the stage. They were 40 secs quicker on stage 2. Then they started to relax a bit, and slipped down to 37th before recovering to 34th after stage four. Picked up the pace again for the last few, enjoying the new Yokohama rubber especially in the rain. However, they were baulked by a 205 on the final stage. Yet another creditable drive at the end of the day 29th overall, and 5th in class B. (To read Rob's own report click here) Car 82 the Vauxhall Astra GTE of Henry Whitfield and Steve Greenfield. Good steady drive, but lost time on stage 2 with a spin at the ammo dump. No harm done, and the car seemed to have a lot less mechanics crawling over it than the two Cosworths! Henry coped with dodgy brakes all through the event and did well to finish 26th overall, and 9th in Class C (out of 38 entries). Car 102 the 106 GTI of Shelley Nutt and Lynette Applegate. This was Shelly’s first drive in the 106, and the first collaboration in what we hope will become a famous pairing. The girls took it steady on stage 1, but improved by 54 secs on stage 2. The car seemed to be running faultlessly throughout the day. Shelley had peddled her way to 62nd overall by the end of stage 4. Both were saying throughout the day how much fun they were having. Stage 5 was described as having involved a few moments after they were caught in the downpour while the car was fitted with slicks. Still the car came back unscarred, and finished 50th overall and 13th in a class of 29 entries. Overall another fantastic day for the club, with the drivers and navigators being supported by those unsung hero’s the service crews. I also spotted several TMC members spectating, including Nick Vine and Kevin Pead. The club won no less than 33% of the available awards, with five trophies out of the 15 available. Great turnout, well done. Home | News / Info | Calendar | Event Reports | Photo Gallery | Rally Teams | Contacts | Links - Updated Sunday, 24 February, 2008 |
