Oakington Stages 2006

Oakington Airfield, Cambridge, 5th February 2006

Report by James Walters

	Car 1 Dick Mauger / Steve McNulty Escort Cosworth WRC
	Car 9 Andy Corner / James Greenwood Peugeot 205 GTi
	Car 19 Richard Upton / Paul Bareham Sierra Cosworth
	Car 30 Duncan Gamage / James Walters Vauxhall Nova

The event started with lots of promise for the club. We were fielding a strong entry of four cars. Gone are the glory days when Thame fielded eight or nine cars per round of the Oakington Challenge. However, quality made up for quantity, and Middlesex had put in a great effort in encouraging a 60 car entry. One of the best turn-outs in recent years by far.

In pride of place was car 1, with Dick Mauger and Steve Mc Naulty starting Dicks first rally of 2006, in the white and violet WRC Escort, and with the exception of Rockingham last year his first event for over a year.

Andy Corner and James Greenwood were seeded as car 9, in the 205 with Richard Upton and Paul Bareham at car 19, in the Sierra, and bringing up the rear Duncan Gamage and James Walters in the trusty Nova, entering their first rally since the Bomb Along in September 2004, at Car 30.

The competition was looking stiff, with four Escort Cosworths, and four Subaru Imprezas in the top 20, along with a selection of very fast Mk II Escorts, including those of John Reddington and Richard Edwards.

The day dawned crisp and bright, although SS1 Was badly affected by fog, which came from no-where, and disappeared just as quick on SS2.

The first stage brought disaster for Andy & James, with the 205’s engine letting go in a big way within just a few corners of the start. The car was recovered to reveal a big hole in the bottom end, and some seriously broken valve shrapnel poking out of the throttle body trumpets. Andy Greenland from Middlesex presented the club with the remains of one of the con rods, as a trophy. Better luck next time boys.

Looking at each of the other cars in order: -

Dick & Steve started very steadily, with Kathy advising us that Dick does not like driving in the fog. As a result they dropped to 6th. However, they recovered through out the day, rising to third OA by SS4, after setting equal fastest time on SS2 and SS3, a place they maintained until the end. However Dick was definitely getting faster and faster throughout the day, evidenced by some chicane rubbing signs on the car, and he set fastest time on the last stage, pulling the gap to 2nd down to just 12 seconds, and just 13 secs from victory.

Richard & Paul started the day strongly, coming fresh from class victory, and fourth overall, just the day before at Goodwood. The car was sporting fresh wing mirrors, which Richard described as his "feelers", and he set out in the fog setting 4th fastest stage times. He set equal 4th time on SS2, but slipped to 5th on SS3 and 4, when he started coming under pressure from the Fossey’s escort. SS5 saw Richard spinning, and loosing around 15 secs, and dropping to 6th. However, a fight back on SS7 brought them back to 5th. James & Duncan witnessed their commitment, as they overtook us on the fast last up to the gated hairpin. There was some serious driving going on, and the speed through the complex was awesome. We came together again on the last stage running into the runway chicanes together, when the feelers again came into their own. The result was 1st in class 4 and 6th overall. Well driven!

Duncan & James were both feeling rusty after our enforced sabbatical. However, we both fell quickly into the groove, and actually benefited strongly from the fog on SS1, setting 12th OA, and overtaking two cars. We were trying the new Yokohama A048s for the first time, and found that they performed pretty well. We held 13th on SS2 with more overtaking, including a very smart 1600cc Toyota Coralla, but fell back to 22nd by SS4, while still holding 1st in class. All was going really well, with us fighting back up the board to 17th OA by SS7, and nearly seven minutes ahead of the next in class. Then on the last stage on the first lap of the outfield we came into a hairpin, and the car refused to select 2nd gear. The gearbox started making some nasty noises. We had stripped second gear, so game over. While the car was still moving we took the decision of taking a stage maximum, dropping us 8 minutes, and down to 38th place, but still took home 3rd in class.

So ended a day of mixed fortunes. However, it was still one of the most fun days I have had for ages. John Reddington, in the Rothmans coloured Escort, snatched victory by just one second at the end, from Richard Edwards Yellow MkII. Congratulations must go to the organisers at Middlesex, for putting on a really smooth operation, which ran perfectly to time, and of course we should thank all the marshals.

Finally I would like to thank all of our service crews, particularly Nathan, Staci and Kathy Mauger. To Dan and the rest of the Corner clan, especially in view of their sad disappointment, and also to the other Thame members there on the day, including Kevin Pead, and our newest club member Gary Johnson.