Hillbilly Stages 2006

Oakington, 7th May 2006

Report by Richard Upton

Well we are here, after a lot of work in the weeks before, car had to be pulled on the jig, [Many thanks to Ian Hucklebridge at Spraytech] lots of repairs, some new bits, some old bits! Painted it myself! The week before I was out in the garage before going to work and after work till late, is it all worth it!! [Thanks to my wife Claire, you do put up with it all!] We had to shorten the prop by 20 mm to get it to fit properly!! Its raining all the way to Oakington, Paul is back in the co-drivers seat so normal play is resumed.

I had taken the only wets I had, a good set of Pirellis, so we fitted them on but I was sure the 4wd boys had it won! But I do like the wet! 15 minutes till SS1, and the oil pressure gauge pipe splits and starts gushing oil everywhere!! It’s a panic but I fix it with 2 minutes to go.

SS1, On the start line I decided to go for max attack, if the car did not handle after the rebuild I would soon find out! Its slippy, lots of standing water, but car feels good, tyres are great, good grip! Caught and passed car 9, finished all ok. Some one came over and said that we where leading! I thought he was having my leg up but we were, unbelievable, I had never led before!

SS2, Good run again, caught and passed car 8, met a few other cars but no problems with them, had a misfire at the top of the rev range, will have to check that out.

SS3, Fitted a new set of plugs, misfire sorted! Different stage now but still going ok, Driving as hard as I can, it’s still raining but the grip is there, having some "loose" moments around the buildings but must keep pushing on!

SS4, I managed to turn the ignition switch off going around the buildings, don’t know how, I quickly saw it and we were off again, no real time lost! Its lunch time now and we are still leading! I keep thinking that I am gonna wake up any minute as I must be dreaming! No pressure, ho ho! Swapped the tyres front to rear and we are ready to go! Keep getting people coming over and asking where I am getting the grip, errrr don’t know, I am only driving! Errr ask the navigator!

SS5, Had lots of rain over lunch break, lots of big puddles and standing water, very slippy! Good run, Paul said it felt slow, did not catch or meet any cars, He says we go better when I see another car!

SS6, Oh my god I am still in front, the 4wd boys can not get near the old Sierra, what a buzz!! All ok

SS7, Can not mess about now, got to keep my head together and push on, it’s getting close to the end so no mistakes! Caught and passed car 17, Mitsubishi Evo 6 (!), that’s good for the ego, you can keep 4wd thanks!

SS8, Got to go steady now and not throw it away, had a slight problem at a hairpin, it bogged down bad and I lost a few seconds getting it launched again, caught the Evo again, got passed no probs, finished ok, we are home and dry! We won by 1 minute 50 secs in the end, won 7 out of 8 stages, I have dreamt of winning before but not in the wet against 4WD cars, what a buzz! What a day, will never forget it!

Hope I have not bored you all with my tale, it’s like a fairy tale to me, until I look at my mantle piece and see that trophy!!

PS, The nice Mr Fossey was out with us, I hope I did not get in his way today,

Ed’s comments: Richard/Paul were fastest on SS1-7, 2nd quickest on SS8 (by 2s) They beat Steve Tillbrook by 2 minutes 40 seconds – and he finished 5th overall! Fantastic job guys - well done. You now lead the Oakington challenge overall!

Cheers all,

Richard Upton / Paul Bareham