Driver Malcolm Hague

Roskirk Stages

Only a short drive from home and we needed all the miles we could get. Noise was on the East Lanc`s road at the Shell garage, all ok there and off to the circuit and scrutineering good preparation by Chris Marshall and Victoria Garage meant that we sailed through and next the start. On the start line Rick was beside himself and the only advice I could give him was to enjoy it and if he lost his place to tell me and then catch up as and when he could. So off the start line round a couple of 30’s then a merge as a Peugeot 205 spun off in front of us, SILENCE from the co driver seat then an Astra blew up in front of us on a 90 left, throwing a cloud of smoke right across the track and still silence from the left side of the car so it was round the hairpin and up the back straight to the split and it was here I needed some help! Rick! which way at the split? Rick!! Err Left no Right! OK Right then? Yes Right so as I went right he shouts No Left! Left! Left! So it was through the bollards and back on track! After that Rick shook himself up and never gave me a bad call for the rest of the event which was a remarkable feat bearing in mind how keyed up he was. After 6 of the 12 we were lying about 25th O/A and 4th in class. We were now about 9 seconds off a pot but as we cruised through the finish there was a horrible noise from the gearbox as the stages were about to run the other direction we had more time 60 min’s but would it be enough to fix it. The problem was that the flywheel was hanging off so the gearbox had to come out, swop the flywheel and gearbox back in. I was told to go away and stop fussing so I did and we got going with 1 minute to spare great work from the team especially Ian Clayton who worked his socks off, so the rest of the event went without incident except for my moment of stupidity, well one of them!! On the start line we waited 5,4,3,2,1, Go! Rev the nuts of it, oops it helps if you put it in gear Dad! Thanks Son!!! Final result: 20th overall 4th in class. Acceptable for my 1st event proper for 16 years. The car did not miss a beat really and apart from the fact that we didn’t have a rev limiter and needed to look at the flywheel again we were really ready for the next event.

The Plains

We needed a proper team effort again as this was a forest event and I was back where I wanted to be, in the forest! We drove to Newtown and met at the trailer park again through noise and then scrutineering all ok, we signed on and went back to the Hotel This time Dave Read was in the left seat with Ian Clayton, Gordon Pirie, Dave Cutler, and Rick Hague doing Service and Management. Stage 1 was not running due to technical reasons (Greedy Landowners) so there was a longer run out to the first stage, then there was an accident and the stage was stopped so we had a long delay, just as well coz as we pulled into the forest the temp gauge was rising and as we pulled up at the back of the queue there was a jet coming through the grill, as I opened the bonnet the top hose had blown so I radio’d for service luckily they were only ½ a mile away so screwdriver hose and water arrived and I changed it. All that remained was what we came for to “Rally on the gravel”!! 7 miles later we cruised through the finish in neutral. This was due to a big hole in the block and after only 1 stage. I was Gutted! Back to the drawing board. Having just paid for an engine that lasted 30 stage miles I didn’t quite know what to do, after much deliberation I decided to buy a second hand engine from Protec in Preston this was the most cost effective way to do it plus I was starting to wonder if we were doing the right thing! Should we just sell it and call it quits. Well the entry was in for the SMC Stages and I had promised Rick another go and I quite fancied Ty Croes so what the Hell? Go for it!

S.M.C. Stages Anglesey (2 days)

We arrived on Friday night and passed noise and scrutineering again with no problems and so to bed. Saturday dawned and with Rick again in the co driver’s seat and Ian Clayton Dave Cutler Craig Young along with Alex and the kids we had plenty of service personnel to keep us going. With a start number of 26 and seeded 3rd in class we felt we needed a good run on the first few stages to get the confidence going. Well apart from a few starting Problems the first few stages went OK I should say that it was very hot with temperatures set to get even higher. We finished the first day in the top 20 and 3rd in class. So we started day 2 with the thought that we should try and catch 2nd in class and we took a few chances. On stage 16 it all went wrong. We took a 90 right too tight but there was a dislodged tyre on the inside of the junction and we caught it flicking us over sideways and back on to the wheels. I was sure we had done terminal damage so sat waiting for help and the first person on the scene was Gordon Pirie! as he looked through the open hole where the screen should have been “Will it go?” he said “haven’t tried, is it not knackered?” said I. “Doesn’t look that bad!” he said so I tried and it started and so I tested it on the first couple of bends and it seemed to handle OK right let’s go again. The service crew had to stop sunbathing and put some work in plus we had to ask permission to continue from the scrutineers as the screen had gone, so we had to remove the rear screen and wear safety goggles and we could continue. This was great as the air flow kept us cool. The engine didn’t seem very powerful although we were on the rev limiter we needed more power to catch the sunbeams that were in front of our class, so the rest was a case of consolidation and go for a finish although Motoring News suggested that we were going faster after the roll (must have been the air con) so We finished and although we had some work to do Pride and confidence restored. Finish 15th overall 3rd in class (no Pot! not enough in the class) Acceptable considering!! We fell out with our Body shop sponser next but not before he codged it up (The shell) he had it for six weeks and his comments for not doing it properly were what’s the point, it will be wrecked again after the next event! Well that was never going to happen was it??? Not to anyone who knows me!! So I need a new bodywork sponser The only thing other than that we did to the car was to put a Burton Head on with bigger valves to improve performance. Next was another round of the Warrington championship.

The Pennine Stages at Ty-Croes 2 Days

We don’t need to go through the preliminary’s coz we failed noise, woops! New exhaust required, luckily we had one on board the barge! We were ready to go on Saturday at 09.45 with slicks on and our start time was 10.10 and it started raining mmmm will it last or not give it another 5 minutes! Still raining so we changed to wet’s good decision we did well but not sure of the opposition 2nd stage saw it going off so we decided to gamble that as there was a dry line appearing we would go onto slicks in the hope that the rain wouldn’t get any worse and as we changed the wheels one of the nuts on the n/s front stripped and we couldn’t get the wet off, so we did the stage with 3 slicks and one wet! Not funny!!!!The car was diving all over the place but mostly we had grip! After 2 stages we were lying 11th O/A 2nd in class which was quite remarkable really as the top 30 or so were all bigger than us, in fact the only car in our class in front of us was a Peugeot 106 16valve with about 50 odd BHP more than we had so stage3 was better as the circuit was drying out and everyone was on slicks I thought the bigger stuff would start to catch us but we were now 9th O/A but still 2nd in class and the car was going better. I felt that stage 4 was our quickest yet but as we pulled away from the stop line something clicked in the gearbox and we had no drive!!! So, into service and change the box. Would we have enough time? We had a spare Rocket box which Paul had sold me as a brand new box so it was all down to time. They dropped the jacks with 2 minutes to spare and I selected reverse. The clutch wouldn’t clear and after much checking and bashing it was decided that the box was knackered and so we retired! A bitter pill to swallow as we were flying and up to 7th O/A 2nd in class and taking time out of the 106. But it was not our day! so on to the next one. There was the small matter of the gearbox’s. Well the Tran x had a bent selector fork and the pin had dropped out so hence no drive , and the Rocket had no problems but was built very badly and so would not work! I suppose the moral is don’t take someone else’s word Check It Yourself!!! Next was a gravel event to run as a shake down to the big finale!!

The Sweet Lamb Stages

This was a Sunday event with scrutineering on Saturday so we booked into a Hotel in Llanidloes (A right dump) Read’y chose it!!!!! And went for a few drinks we had a good night really and went off to bed perhaps a little more keyed up than normal!Well! Have you seen those fresh air drops at sweet lamb? Seeded at 24 we were again 3rd 1600 so I was happy with that. The first stage was in the wet and true to form I had a mad moment and right in front of all the specky’s and our service crew, I stalled it on a hairpin and to top it all they caught it on film. The stages ran in groups of 4 then a service with the 3rd stage in the forest I revelled in the forest and indeed posted 13th fastest time so I was happy with that after 4 the only job was to check the oil and check the times! We were 35th and 5th in class but I put that down to my stall on the first stage Will try harder!!! With only the radiator coming loose at the next service we were having a great run all down to Mr Clayton and the Victoria Garage preparation department!!!!!Now 20th O/A and still 5th in class we pushed on for the last 4 but just as we felt it was sorted I stalled it on the last stage on another hairpin!! This time it wouldn’t re-start and we lost another 30 seconds bugger! That’s the pot gone, I thought but at least we finished. We ended the event 16th O/A and 3rd in class so won my first pot of the year Well chuffed!! Just to fill you in! the reason that I kept stalling on the hairpin’s was due to the fact that the handbrake was a fly off and of course when I should have been pushing the plunger in I was letting it out and so they have now screwed it in so I can’t do it again!!!! The car was still feeling good and we were optimistic about the next event

Cambrian Rally

When we set out from Warrington on Friday afternoon I could never have foretold what was to happen over the next 24 hours other than to say it was a roller coaster ride only read in fiction!!!!! We arrived in Llandudno and proceeded to Noise, all OK there, so on to Scrutineering, everything was going well until he (The scrutineer) asked me to just pull the extinguisher cut off, so I pulled and pulled and pulled ooops! It didn’t work, so we were sent to a corner and told to fix it. After half an hour of pulling and thrutching we decided to replace the whole thing and so after a scare we got the sticker on the cage and were off to the pub!!! Saturday morning dawned, its not so bad running at 107 coz you can have a lie in! Not me though, nerves got the better of me, so Rick (Hague), Ian (Clayton) and I went for a walk down the prom to calm down. On the run out to the first stage the first problem arose, the steering was becoming more and more Vague, so, into a lay by and a benelli clamp Round the steering rack would sort it till service (We never had time to touch it after that) but all seemed fine. Penmachno Stage 1 was ok no problems and though it was slippery and rough we felt we had a good first stage although it was like having 4 punctures at the same time and those drops?!****. It was 16years ago on the 84’ Gwynedd when I was last in a North Wales forest competing so it took me a little while to get into the swing of things so to speak!! Stage 2 This was very rough and we lost the rear brakes about 2 miles in (9 mile stage) so the rest was very hairy (Shades of 16 years ago) but we made it to the end with no real incidents but lost quite a bit of time. We had fractured a copper brake pipe on the axle so had to sort a garage to make a new one thanks to Rick for running half a mile to the garage, twice! to sort. Position 54th O/A 4th in class (Must try Harder)

Clocaenog

Stage 3 We had a bit of Intel on this stage and thanks to John & Kev we negotiated it with no trouble although I Have to say guys that the left right kink just before the flying finish is definitely NOT flat!!!! Stages 4 & 5 All I could think of now was getting to My favourite stage so this one was a bit of a blur, not that I was going that quick but I was so conscious that stage 5 was my challenge of a lifetime, most of you know how many times I have been into that stage over the years running stages on various rally’s so I felt we could post a good time. Out of 4 and into a short service, good job too, one of the rear wheels had taken a right good battering and needed changing plus the starter was sticking that sorted and a good look round then onto cloggy main (Stage 5). When we were on the start line I remember thinking, I don’t remember this and then as we set off, thinking oh yes, then oh no that’s not right, then we overshot a 90 right and that was it, all the confidence had gone, so I thought I’d better listen to Dave for a bit. In fairness about 40% of the stage had not been used before. They had used bit’s I knew, but I wasn’t confident on the direction. But safely through although we had a deflating tyre which made the latter part of the stage a little too tail happy but that’s the way I drive anyway so what the hell!! We changed the wheel at service and off back to Penmachno. Position 42nd O/A 3rd in Class (Now Push on)

Penmachno (Stages reversed and different route)