Mini Tempest Stages 2005Longcross - Sunday 3rd April 2005Report by Peter Wood, Photographs by Lee
This is the 19th year of the Mini Tempest rally, and may be the last year at Longcross. Ownership is passing from QinetiQ to the new owners in November, so the future usage of this excellent test venue is unclear. The entry list showed 77, split as follows: A – 6, B – 22, C – 34, D – 9, E – 6. The top of the entry had a few interesting cars, lead away by last year’s winner in a Corsa 2ltr RWD, then Kevin King’s awesome 6R4, with Darrian T9, MG Metro (Volvo T), Evo 6, Impreza WRX, Cleo 3ltr and some interesting historics: Audi Quattro, Nissan 240RS, TR7V8. Thame had five entries for this one:
There should be an interesting battle between Paul, Lee, and Andy as they finished Rockingham at 9/10/11th overall. We had heavy rain on the week up to the event, and Sunday started overcast and then warm sunshine by the time we started at 10:00.
Paul and Steve Now 14th O/all and 7th in class. SS5 started at 14:00, 62 runners left, passed two cars on stage and set time 2s quicker than Andy. SS6 and a further 6s quicker, now 13th overall and 8th. SS7 and up to 11th overall and looking for a safe finish. Not to be – spun at the top of the ¼ ramp and hit NSR wheel hard on the curbing, bending the axle (about 25 degree toe-in!). Game over! Thanks to service crew and Richard Upton, Ian Hucklebridge for their support – we’ll be back!
Andy and Richard SS2 14s quicker, and SS3 only 5s slower than Paul D. Matched times on SS4 but felt underpowered up the big hills! SS6 and finally is quicker that Paul, and climbed up the leader board to 15th overall and 9th in class. Benefited from Paul’s misfortune on SS8 and finished 13th overall and 7th in Class. Happy to load car on trailer undamaged as out next week at Sculthorpe.
Lee and Simon Rob and Liz SS2 and 10s quicker, very airborne over the jump – should be a good photo! SS3 no dramas and 31st and 7th. SS4 and shaved 3s off to climb to 29/6. SS5 and Liz feeling a little poorly, but car running faultlessly. Dropped tyre pressure as they were building so much heat (and therefore increasing pressure during the stage by over 7psi). SS7 held up by Sunbeam V8 with front wheels not in parallel! Finished a steady fun day at 22nd overall and 6th in class.
Julz and Jason
SS5 stopped on stage with brakes on fire, changed in Service. Overtook car in mid-air at top of ramp!! SS6 and hit chicane – lost ¼ bumper, W shape in front valance, co-driver wing bent out (why did we know which side he would hit!). Soon fixed and out again. SS7 and can’t go any faster, Julz came back into Service with a big sweat on. Jason said car is absolutely flat out everywhere! They restart engine prior to going out for the final Stage to find a fluffy misfire. Julz plugs in laptop, but not enough time to locate before SS8. SS8 and ½ ways round they are parked up with dead electrics. They drop 3 1/2 minutes, but find the ignition lead has broken inside the end cap so soon fixed. This drops them down from an expected finish of 18th and 4th in class to 30th overall and 10th in class. Bad luck boys – you gave it everything! At least the car is ready to go again. A good event from Sutton & Cheam. It featured the first pair of stages with two splits of three and four uses, which looked frightening, but only 3 crews out of 75 got it wrong. They also produced the road books with both Maps and Tulip instruction, which was interesting. Let’s hope this great venue isn’t lost to Rallying in November!! Download a short movie clip of Julz & Jason in action (409k:10sec). |
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