I can’t remember the last time we had if off...The Adrian Barker Memorial Stages, Desborough Airfield, Wilbarston – Sunday 23rd October 2005Report by James Greenwood Now that I have grabbed your attention, read on. Wilbarston is a venue we have competed on before with mixed results. However it was going to be one of those days where nothing went the way it should.
I could sense Andy having other things on his mind, and with the cars previous misfire and performance problems, we might be in for a rough ride. The course was one of pure power but also very slippy. The 4wd boys would have a definite advantage, with driver skill not really being called into question. One chicane was overly tight, the rest were very open and fast. We found ourselves running 3rd behind Erik and Ade (Metro 6R4) and local crews Escort Cosworth. Stage 1 offered no grip and plenty of mud being drawn onto the course, but settled us nicely into 3rd overall and 1st in class. Stage 2 saw the same lack of grip and we found some back markers. To pass or not to pass, that was the question. We both said yes. With only two corners to go this was the wrong decision as we hit another rock. This shredded the front tyre and smashed both the front and rear wheels on the driver’s side. Service hinted that this was the only damage sustained. Two new wheels and a new set of fronts saw us back out and storming around the course, still sliding, but maintaining our 3rd spot. We were dropping about 15 seconds per stage to Ade and Erik – 14 seconds of which seemed to be wheel spin off the line. Stage 4 showed some wayward handling, snatching under braking and that pungent rubbery odour. Service showed a slight rubbing on the front wheel arch. Back out again and on different tyres something was amiss as the car was now "crabbing". The car felt pig-like after SS5. We still held 3rd. We had seven minutes for service and found the front sub frame to be cracked on the near side allowing the front wheel to move backwards under braking and therefore locking and rubbing. We elected to continue – after all it was a short stage (3 minutes 55) and we could weld it up during lunchtime service. How wrong could we be, with Andy slowing using the handbrake we slithered around the first half, but at a very straight forward 90 right the car locked up, snapped sideways and we became passengers in a graceful 360. The next medium right left us with no steering at all and we travelled straight on off the course and out of the rally. DNF was all we took away. Sorry to Nathan and Dan who again were excellent in service. Sat around having our cups of tea we felt that the sub frame must have cracked after our off at Oakington round 4 and became aggravated with Jersey. Discussing when it was last checked and taken apart, Andy uttered those immortal words, “I can’t remember the last time we…..”
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