Abingdon CAR-Nival Stages 2007

Abingdon Airfield, 10th June 2007

Report by Peter Wood

So here we are again at our favourite local venue, and as usual the entry of 100 cars for the rally had filled quickly.

The classes showed as follows: 13 in Class A; 16 in Class B; a massive 40 in Class C; 12 in Class D; and 19 4WD.

The field was strong, with three Impreza’s of Steve Fleck, Steve Furzeland and Peter Lloyd, the 6R4 of Roger Binyon, a pair of Darrian T90’s, Guy Wigley and sometime TMC member Dave West both in 306 Maxi, the Octavia WRC, and Hayden Morgan in the rapid Nova. In the interesting historic class there is a Stratos replica (my favourite!), HSR Chevette, 911 Porsche and Nissan 240RS.

Thame Motorsport Club again had an impressive 9 entries (and no Corner or Gamage to be found):

7 Simon Mauger / Chris Butch Escort mk11 Vauxhall C
16 Richard Upton/ Paul Bareham Ford Sierra Cosworth D
21 Paul Diamond/ Steve Cox Escort mk11 Vauxhall C
26 Neal Cuss/ Tonya Heap Subaru Impreza E
27 Andy McGowan/ Mike Winfield Subaru Legacy RS E
30 Dick Mauger/ Steve McNulty Escort Cosworth WRC E
65 Gary Johnson/ Zenya Heap Seat Ibiza R D
75 Nick Mauger/ Daniel Cammack Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 A
78 Rob S*/ Liz Kirby Vauxhall Nova 1.6 B
Jez Warrant Vauxhall Corsa 2.0 C

Unfortunately both the Legacy RS and Corsa 2.0 were not finished in time, so 8 Thame crews made the start line.

SS1 was good viewing in front of service when car 50 (205) lifted a right rear at the hairpin, and promptly lost the stub axle, wheel etc in a shower of sparks and started a small fire, luckily soon put out and came to rest clear of the track. SS1 also saw a late runner mount the air raid shelter and block the stage, which was quickly re-routed.

7 Simon and Chris. Chris’s first outing with Simon and looked a little nervous before the off. Simon had won Millbrook a couple of weeks before, and a new sequential box had been fitted between events. Reported brake fade problems at the end of the long straights (in 6^th gear!), but they pumped up. Were lying 8^th overall after 2 stages. Had a pretty trouble free day and finished an excellent 4^th overall, 1^st in class, 1^st 2WD.

16 Richard and Paul. On a roll after 5^th overall, 1^st in class at Millbrook. No problems on SS1 and 2, and 14^th overall, only 1s off Paul Diamond. Problems really start on SS5 where they drop 2 min 20s to Paul, and every stage after they are 2 minutes down – sounds like Turbo, or most of the gearbox? They finish 25^th and 3^rd in class.

21 Paul and Steve. The car looks great as usual, and for once they have an almost trouble free day. They are 13^th after 2 stages, and in a battle with Hayden Morgan’s very quick Nova 1.6 (car 12). They pull out 11seconds on Stage 10 to beat him for 6^th overall and 2^nd in class by 8 seconds!

26 Neal and Tonya. Tonya’s first outing in a Stage Rally. The Subaru looked a picture as ever. They were 28^th after SS2. There were no major incidents except for experiencing some rubbish brake pads and some mad waving and beeping at marshals on the last stage. Losing a few seconds didn’t matter; they were pleased to finish 19^th O/all and 5^th in class.

30 Dick and Steve. Dick has been out recently in his pristine RS1800 tackling new challenges in the woods, so the Escort WRC hasn’t seen much action recently. Problems from the start with a faulty power steering pump, which was stripped between SS1 and 2. After SS2 in buts again and decided to retire.

65 Gary and Zenya. Trouble on SS1 when they experience a whole lot of wheel wobble. When they stop the wheel has 1 nut left! They scavenge around but take maximums on SS1 + 2 to be 84 and last! Things can only get better and they climb up to finish 54^th and 6^th in class.

75 Nick and Daniel. After SS1 they are 54^th, and much changing of springs and wheels to cure the under steer. All to no avail as they put a rod through the block and game over.

78 Rob and Liz. Rob a little nervous as has just repaired the front end damage after Longcross, which was the first event after the front end damage at Loco last year. They were a good 35^th after SS2, although they felt they were given a duff time, but the officials promised to correct. The day went well (although Dave Keen said there was some frontal damage!) and they finished a strong 27^th o/all and 4^th in class. Rob says that if he had got the correct time on SS1 he would have been 24^th O/all and 3^rd in class.

Another great event at Abingdon – we had 2 in the top 6, and 1^st/2^nd/3^rd in class.