Spring Stages - SCCONOakington Airfield – 13th April 2003Report by Peter Wood, Photographs by Simon Clarke (www.sc-photography.co.uk) The Thame entry for this one was 7 cars, details as follows:
A full entry of 90 cars as this was the opening round of the Peugeot Challenge.
The entry list was pretty tough for the 1600’s, with 59 entries! Still, loads of points up for grabs! On the other hand Class A offered only four in class for Nick Vine. The day was sunny and warm, and none of the predicted rain to trouble the drivers. The organising club had arranged for a sweet old lady to man the entry into the Service area, but looks can deceive and you were barred if your team had already entered with their allotted 2 vehicles. I watched one crew take their rally car off the low-loader and drive on their road car before they were allowed entry! The Club in their wisdom had decided to run using the red flag system (as in Snetterton) to force all competing cars to slow to 30mph on seeing them. On SS1 a 205 rolled, and they quickly displayed the flags. Not only did this mean that Stage 1 was lost, but also a lot of time in that the rest of the field then did a 10mph pass over the stage. In total this lost 1 ½ hours before the first proper stage could get going.
SS8 was also chaotic, as the TR7V8 caught fire at the start, so that only car 1 and 5 were shown the red flag, and everyone else proceeded at full chat! The organisers then allowed cars 1 to 5 a re-run (I’m sure that’s not allowed!) and the results were also very poor, with many protests during the day, and even better the provisionals were posted, then amended to exclude a top 3 entry, then amended back! Individual stories of the day were: Andy Corner/James Greenwood: Very pleased with the seeding, but a lot of 205’s to convince! Needn’t have worried as the car ran like a dream all day. Position after each stage were: 9, 8, 6, 6, 8, 7 and finished 6th overall and won the huge class. Kevin Pead: Not a good day. The car had finished a pleasing 15th overall at Avon Park a couple of weeks earlier. Set 16th fastest on SS2, but car wouldn’t pull above 5,100 rpm, so losing loads on the back straights. Tried taking off the water injection, but the clutch cable failed (again!) on SS3 and game over. Now going to change to hydraulic clutch to cure problem once and for all!
Mick Gregory/Neal Cuss: Car is back to usual beautiful condition after wheel loss at TMC Enstone practice day! Mick had invested in a close ratio ‘box from Dave Nutt and spent money on the rear suspension. These modifications really paid off and Neal said it had transformed the car. Had a incident on SS7 over the large bump which Neal described as “a two-wheel moment – I thought we were going to nose-dive!”. Position after each stage was: 14, 13, 9, 8, 8, 7, and 4. So won the class and finished an excellent 4th overall and won the class on only the second outing – well done!
Nick Vine/Dave Galbraith: Small class but going for it from the start, taking time off Dave Johnson in the Proton (14s on SS2, 7s on SS3, 4s on SS4). SS3 and hit a chicane straw bail that stopped the car dead and cost 20s. Disaster on SS6 as Nick clipped a lorry tyre on the apex of a corner and toppled over onto the drivers’ side. The car was quickly righted and returned to the service area, where all set about fixing the rear springs (fell out), drive shaft, cracked screen, bent wing, broken header tank etc. All fixed to the Scrutineers satisfaction, and out again on the very next stage. Caught and passed the Proton, and finished 2nd in class – an eventful day!
Simon Clark/Henry Whitfield: No problems early on, and the car ran cleanly. By SS5 the car was running very hot, and Simon clattered a few tyres in front of the Service area crowd. He blamed his rubbish £18 rear tyres! SS6 and 2 big spins, caused by very late braking, and went through the buildings at 45 degrees most of the time.Simon was 46th overall after 5 stages and finished 41st overall and 27th in class.
Michael Green/Steve Bostock: First event for car and Michael – he first drove it 5 days before the rally. Intention was to get some mileage on the car and start to understand its handling and capabilities for a full assault on the Peugeot Challenge. By SS4 they had climbed to 42nd overall and compared to Simon’s Alfa 1500 had matched on SS2, taken 2s on SS3, and a further 6s on SS4. Disaster on SS5 when a rear wheel detached and learned a valuable lesson in keeping a jack and wheel brace in the car in future! Car was returned to the Service area unharmed and they were able to rejoin the event for the last pair of stages. Finished the event successfully.
Rob S*/Liz Kirby: Rob’s first drive (has co-driven twice at Oakington), but first time out for Liz. Some dramas before the start, with his car failing Log-booking for incorrectly fitted diagonal to the cage; this requires a quick visit to MSA. Then more excitement when he receives confirmation of entry and appears on the unseeded entry list on the web, but omitted from the Finals. This was sorted with a start number of 91! Very neat and tidy out on the stages (he has already learned this lesson) and was placed 35th after SS2 and then 37, 37, 35, 34, 32 and finished a very creditable 30th overall and 18th in class. Well done guys, at one point we were leading all three classes entered!
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