Dukeries Rally 2003Sherwood Forest – 21st June 2003
Applegate Gardens backed rally team 'MacArthur Motorsport' made their 4WD forest debut at the weekend on the ‘Dukeries Rally’, round 6 of the BTRDA Rally Championship. Having only purchased their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 a matter of weeks ago, the team had no opportunity for testing before the 45 mile forest event based in Mansfield.
The crew of Patrick MacArthur and Linette Applegate had decided to treat the event as a testing exercise – with a steady start a priority to asses the braking zones and handling characteristics of the new car in comparison to their old 1300cc Peugeot 106. "The differences between the old 106 and the Evo were a bit of a shock to begin with, the biggest problem is judging the braking distance correctly. I won’t complain about the extra power though!" reported the driver. By stage three the crew were beginning to get a feel for the car, but the car in front had struck a tree mid-stage bringing it down across the track, losing the team vital seconds as they following the ailing Subaru Impreza for the remainder of the stage in their dust. Catching cars and their dust was to continue throughout the day. By the seventh stage some minor water-injection problems were cured, the crew had managed to pass most of the slower cars in front, and finally a clear stage time was posted. Stopping the clocks 3rd in class N4, and 9th Overall. The crew was now able to claw back some of the time lost in the morning whilst adjusting to 4WD. Stages 8 and 9 unfortunately involved catching yet more cars mid-stage and the dust saw the team lose more valuable time due to their seeding, with the crew arriving at the finish control of stage 9 at the same time as the car starting a minute ahead. "With a final result of 16th Overall and 3rd in class N4 the whole team are very positive about the crews potential for some good results in the future" commented Linette Applegate, adding "We also know how much time we lost during the day – and to be placing on the edge of the top 10 on our first experience of 4WD is somewhat encouraging to say the least." The team will now take stock of their first ‘test session’ before deciding on the next event, so to find out where it will be keep in touch by visiting their website at www.macarthur-motorsport.co.uk Home | News / Info | Calendar | Event Reports | Photo Gallery | Rally Teams | Contacts | Links - Updated Sunday, 24 February, 2008 |
