Valentines Day

After the winters re-build we were right on the last minute to start the season. I worked with John Hardman till 11.30 on Thursday night and then an early start on Friday 13th (yeah right?) and the car was almost there. We left for Chepstow on time and arrived 3 ½ hours later and joined the queue for scrutineering. It was great to see all the old faces plus some new ones!! Anyway safely through noise and on for the check over and although we had a little work to do before we were through, so it was off to our friends to stay the night and up early to finish the car before the off.

SS1 Peircefield 1.

We started at a fair pace we were fastest 1400 by 3 seconds on SS1 and the car felt so surefooted and crisp my perception of the first stage….wow!

SS2 Chepstow Park.

This was our first forest stage and took us a little time to get used to the car braking too early for the bends and in the wrong gear too often. This was due to the new diff ratio and the fact that the new 5 linking was making the car much more surefooted through the bends. Although we hit a bank, even so we had a good run and safely through.

SS3 Trelleck cmn

We started to get to grips with the car on this one and although we had lost the lead very quickly to Evans we were in front of Wozencroft so second was brilliant, but could we keep it that way? No dramas clean run through other than a half spin that only cost us a couple of seconds.

SS4 Serridge

This was the first stage I felt good on, the car behaved superbly on the tight bends and I was feeling more confident with the improved handling and enjoyed this stage. Still second 1 second off the lead, but catching Evans.

SS5 Swallowvallets

This was further than we had ever been on this event, finish this stage and into service we would be half way there. We had our first drama here, the heated front screen packed in but only on my side! Typical! So it was wipe the screen to clear the steam! Trouble was it was me who was causing it with my heavy breathing but nothing I could do about it. The stage went ok but we made it safely through to service.

SERVICE

New tyres check oils tighten nuts and bolts. Basically a full check over to make sure nothing was loose as it was after all a new car and needed to be checked over. With no problems and some new tyres we were off for another go at the racecourse.

SS6 Piercefield 2.

We were not as good this time around and dropped 2 seconds to our morning time and further behind Mr Evans. So, off back to the woods.

SS7 Yorkley.

With James Wozencroft pushing 13 seconds behind and Evans seconds ahead, a spin would change everything (for any of us) so I had to be so careful not to blow it but also to try and keep the pressure on Ian. About 2 miles into this stage a water bottle somehow became dislodged and ended up under the pedals, braking into a bend with a bottle wedged under your brake pedal is very scary, especially when it stops you from stopping. Well when it happened a 3rd time I flipped my belts off grabbed the bottle and gave it to Dave grabbed the best I could of my belt and clipped it back on, and off we went again, I guess that cost us 5 or 6 seconds. But it was worse for James. On the road section after SS7 James stopped with a broken diff so we were now nearly 2 minutes up on the next crew so with 2 stages to go we were going to push Ian to the limit.

SS8 Speech House.

This was the longest stage of the rally, over 10 miles. I thought this was the best stage of the event, with thousands of spectators lining the stage, we were flying. Although we lost 3rd gear syncro half way through we enjoyed this stage more than all the others, gaining in confidence and chucking the car in it was a great feeling and I felt in control but still dropped 5 to Ian. Fantastic!

SS9 Mailscot

One stage to go and 5 seconds further adrift of Evans and 1min 46 seconds in hand over 3rd. We decided to consolidate and settle for 2nd and cruise through SS9 and go for the finish. So with 3rd gear iffy we cruised and finished our first Wyedean in 2nd place, which was more than we had hoped for. So all in all; The First Install, Rallyschool.co.uk, Silverstone rally team did ok!

Final Position;

39th overall 2nd 1400 and 2nd B9

Thanks to you all for all your help in making this happen, especially John Hardman for work above and beyond the call of duty.

Also

Ian Clayton

Bob Tate

Mark Davies

And Rick Hague last but not least!!!

2nd Rally, (Malcolm Wilson Rally)

6th March

We left Warrington on Friday lunch time, optimistic that we could have another ding-dong with Ian Evans, plus Neil Weaver was back and James Wozencroft would also be a major threat, then there was the unknown factor! How fast was Martin Shaw's Escort? It was certainly quick last year and by all accounts is an improvement this year! Dave Benson's 205 is another unknown quantity, plus more Protons. Nathan's Crewe and Davies, all in all the only thing certain was that the 1400's would provide great competition and entertainment! Unbelievably we failed scrutineering due to a missing throttle return spring, so off to service to fix it and then to the hotel for a snooze before dinner! (All very civilised?) Saturday proved to be a totally different day to last years event as the day dawned cold but bright sunshine, the promised snow was nowhere to be seen!!(Great!!)

SS1 Hobcarton 1.

As we arrived at the start line there was a commotion, people running around and rescue vehicles all over the place, it turned out that Wozencroft had gone off on the 2nd bend and although not injured, the car was a mess, He was out! We started the stage carefully and gingerly round the first couple of bends until we got used to the slippery surface and then went for it! I missed a gear about half way through going from 2nd to 1st when it should have been 3rd giving it a massive over rev and the engine never quite felt the same after that! I first thought it was the gearbox ratio's but wasn't sure other than that I felt we did ok and it was off to Comb.

29th Overall 2nd 1400.

SS2 Comb 1.

This was the first of 2 stages with some double caution fresh air drops which needed to be treated with respect, which we did!! It was a little more surefooted in Comb and we pushed where we could, keeping away from those drops, unfortunately Neil Weaver didn't, we were slowed by marshall's and speccy's trying to push Neil off a tree stump consequently he dropped 4 minutes and out of contention. We tiptoed safely through and on to the next!27th overall 2nd 1400.

SS3 Wythop

We had to make a decision after this stage, what to do with the gearbox. I felt the ratio's in the lower gears were not helping us in the slow corners, we had a clean run through this stage but Evans was disappearing into the distance, the decision was change the box! So back to the sheep centre and into service!27th Overall 2nd 1400.

SERVICE

We prepared everyone and everything and changed the box. The service time was 20mins which is more than enough time but we had a problem and it took 30 mins costing us 10 mins road time although it is penalty free we would be running down the field.

SS4 Grizedale south

The gearbox change was a complete disaster and we now had the correct ratio's but selector problems. It was like stirring a pudding, the gears were hard to find especially 4th, also it meant that running down the field with the slower cars going into the longest stage of the rally we were likely to catch someone. When we arrived at the arrival control there was a great queue of cars on the start line we were relieved that there had been a delay and we took our place behind Weaver and hoped for a free run. The stage was fab I enjoyed it immensely although the gearbox was causing me real problems it was really vague and after a couple of wrong selections I was nervous about blowing my beloved Hardman engine, so I was much more deliberate putting it into the right gear!! A good run through and we were straight into the next!24th overall 2nd 1400

SS5 Grizedale North

No time to think about this one and good job too, we were 21st quickest through here and I thought we had slowed down to preserve the car so well happy we set off back to service to get rid of this damm gearbox 21st overall 2nd 1400

SERVICE

SS6 Hobcarton

With another gearbox fitted in 11 minutes (Well done boys!) we had to do the first 3 stages again. With Evans now 90 odd seconds ahead we decided that with the car running rough and gearbox problems we would back off more and cruise for a finish preserving our 2nd place so safely through and off to the next.

Stage 7 Comb and 8 Wythop

These two were tackled with ease and just like a Sunday driver going to the garden centre!!! So nothing went wrong and we crossed the finish line in a very creditable

25th Overall and 2nd 1400.

Final Position;

25th overall 2nd 1400 and 2nd B9

Thanks to everyone for all your hard work.

Also

Ian Clayton

Bob Tate

Steve Hague (The Webmaster)

And Rick Hague

3rd Rally, (North Humberside Forest Rally)

27th March

SS1 Olivers Mount

We had been chatting with Ian Evans in the hotel on Friday evening about the first stage and agreed that it would be a good test to see whose car was the quickest, nice to put ourselves under pressure right from the word go eh??? As we were approaching the start line I could hear a grinding noise from the back and thought we had a problem! There was nothing I could do about it now, and so the flag dropped the car felt great, loads of power right there in every gear and we were soon on the rev limiter! 9500 revs in 5th over 100 mph (Just!) I knew Rick was at the hairpin with the video so I tried not to get it wrong! Safely though and up the hill everything was going really well until Dave called the last hairpin before we went through the start again, “slippy” OK! I know, I said to myself so I overcooked it and spun to a halt right on the bend! (Idiot!) blown it again! So I tried really hard to get the rest of the stage right and fortunately there were no more incidents and we where safely through! Our time? 4.05 exactly the same as Ian and better still tying for the lead in the 1400 that’ll do!

SS2 Langdale

We thought we should be in front and were cursing my spin on the 1st stage so knew we couldn’t hang around we started the stage well but couldn’t believe the chicanes they were really tight and we almost had to three point turn round some as there was no room to flick the car in! I guess it was inevitable that we would clout one, and we did! And stalled! So off again then just as we thought we had sorted em out! We hit another one this time much harder and stalled again only this time had to reverse off the straw to get back on the road. The longest stage of the event had sorted us we waited to hear Ian’s time! He was quicker by 27 seconds, I guess we lost maybe 15 with the 2 off’s but he would still surely make a mistake that may even things up later in the day42nd overall 2nd 1400.

SS3 Staindale

The plan had now changed, we would push as fast and as safe as possible and wait to see what happened, Ian was again quickest through here and we had a good run with no drama’s although the tyres were getting a little worn and we were happy to go into main service for new rubber and a bacon butty38th Overall 2nd 1400.

SS4 Dalby

The plan was still the same for the 2nd half of the event and more so the emphasis on safe in this notorious stage. The plan was shot to shreds early on as we hit yet another chicane! The car didn’t turn in and we went straight into the bank crunching the front end and costing us another 10 seconds especially when we spun on the next bend! Then came the words from Mr Read “tidy it up Malc” of course he was right I was over driving the car! So steady down a little and we made it through to the end! Sometimes we drivers take all the credit for our performance but without Dave sitting next to me I am sure I wouldn’t have finished half the events we have, he see’s things I don’t and tells me what to do as well as where to go!!!40th overall 2nd 1400

SS5 Gale Rigg

We started this stage with the thought that we needed to keep the pressure on Ian and with only 2 stages to go mustn’t make any more mistakes. We started well and I was enjoying myself, then we saw marshals on the stage slowing us down! What happened? As we rounded the next bend I saw the Suzuki about 30 feet down and 30 feet off the road and it was a mess! It’s Ian I shouted to Dave are you sure? Dave’s reply made all my mistakes seem like little ones now Ian was out and we had the lead, also we had lost our place in the notes and we spent the next thirty seconds diving blind whilst we sorted ourselves out. It was bizarre as we now had to totally change the plan from pushing the man in front of us, to watching our back but first we had to finish this stage! We did and it must have put a spring in our step as we where quickest 2 wheel drive on this stage phew!35th overall 1st 1400

SS6 Cropton

We stopped to have management service and catch our breath and discuss tactics before the last stage. We had a 23 second lead over Neil Weaver and could only lose the rally now, so decided to take it steady and get to the finish. There were no real moments although we got close to spinning a couple of times and there was a ditch that we drifted into but got away with it and over the flying finish Dave and I had worked hard for this and all we had to do was drive back to Hull and we had done it!

Final Position; 35th Overall 1st 1400 & 1st B9

Awards

35th Overall.No Award

4th in 2 wheel drive.-No Award

1st 1400.- BTRDA Goblet

1st class B.-Decanter & 2 Glasses

1st Silkolene Bonus Scheme.-£20.00 Voucher

All in All a pretty good day was had by all, special thanks to :

John Hardman for Building and maintaining the car in the first place.

The Team on the Day

Ian Clayton

Bob Tate

Steve Hague (The Webmaster)

Marc Hague

And Rick Hague

See you all in Somerset

Malc and Dave

4th Rally, (Somerset Stages Rally)

27th April

The rally started earlier than usual for us as it was our longest trip of the championship and with 5 to 6 hours ahead of us we left at 10am on Friday morning. Safely through scrutineering, we went back to the hotel and made arrangements to meet up with some of the other 1400 boys and girls. The social side of rallying has always been one of the best things about the sport but the weekend in Somerset was one of the most entertaining I have witnessed since coming back into the sport in 1999! But that’s a story for another day!! Saturday had to be the hottest day of the year so far a beautiful start to the event we set off for the first stage.

SS1 Corydon 1

We had to start with all guns blazing on this one if we stood any chance of beating the Suzuki of Ian Evans. I felt we were out of the blocks well and were on the pace and although we drove safe we did have some close moments, but no incidents. We asked the finish marshal the time of car 201 and “bugger” he took 8 seconds out of us! I must give the ultimate salute to Ian, to start the rally at the pace he did was awesome after the crash on the Humberside. We at least thought he would be a little tentative on the first stage, but no, he was “on it” right from the off!31st overall and 2nd 1400

SS2 Porlock 1

So with the tyres changed over to slicks we were off up the tarmac for the first of two stages up the notorious Porlock hill toll road. We started gingerly and made a few mistakes, not major one’s but enough just to hit the confidence to push to the limit, we started to brake to early and back off the throttle too much and when we reached the end I knew the time was not good we were only 3rd 1400 and with all the power we should have been on the pace of the Suzuki.31st overall 2nd 1400

SS3 Porlock 2

We had the chance to make amends by doing the same stage again and we went some way towards that by improving our time by 6 seconds giving the big boys a nudge by finishing 23rd fastest and through the speed trap we clocked 85 mph fastest 1400 by 2 seconds would we now settle down and drive our own rally and not try to beat Mr Evans! No Chance!!!27th Overall 2nd 1400

SS4 Knowle 1

The return to the loose should have been good for us although we were warned to go steady in here with slippery off camber bends and the chance of falling off the road a probability, we went fairly gently but quickly where we could but we were over cautious and we dropped time to Ian, James and Neil! Another mistake but you have to listen to people to keep you on the road but we just went a little to gentle! We had chance to speed up in there on the next run through a little later to show we could do it better!27th Overall and 2nd 1400

SS5 Chargot 1

This was another stage where for some reason we did not set the place on fire, I can’t put my finger on why, but sometimes a stage suits the front wheel drive’s more than rears, again we were down to 4th 1400 on the stage time so I had to start pulling that time back from somewhere, but it was not to be on this stage so lets move on!26th Overall 2nd 1400

SS6 Croydon 2

The 2nd run at Croydon was shorter by about 3 miles than the first stage with some subtle changes just to keep us on our toes so we set off determined to try and grab some of that time back from Wozy, we were only a spin away from loosing 2nd and Ian was only a spin away from us grabbing the lead so it was all to play for! We had no drama’s and put up a good performance with only a couple of small mistakes, we lost 5 to Evans, but was faster than Wozy by 1 second Phew! But at least we had arrested our slide.27th Overall 2nd 1400

SS7 Timberscombe

I guess that this has to go down as our best stage of the day, we went very well on this stage but it could have been different if Dave Wozencroft hadn’t flagged us down just before the end, the last bend was very muddy and slippery it in fact claimed Ian and Neil, both spun off losing a few precious seconds! We were quickest 1400 and15th overall time on that stage beating every other 2 wheel drive car on the event. Nice one!24th Overall 2nd 1400.

SS8 Whitswood

By now we had done 5 stages on these tyres and they where shot at, especially the rears, the car was even more tail happy than usual so we just had to negotiate this 1 miler and then back to service for some lunch and some new rubber!! This we did and with a quick blast round and we were on our way back to Minehead!25th Overall 2nd 1400

SS9 Knowle 2

Fit and refreshed with new tyres and a good sort out in the service area we had to tackle the slippy stage again. This time we were much more positive and set 2nd fastest 1400 to Evans taking 4 out of James but Ian took 3 out of us, but we had to keep plugging away as we all knew what happened on the North Humberside!25th Overall 2nd 1400

SS10 Chargot 2

The second run through this short stage was pretty much the same as the first, we took 2 out of James and Neil beat us by 5, we decided now that we were not going to catch Ian and consolidation was the order of the day!!23rd Overall 2nd 1400

SS11 Croydon 3

This stage was held up whilst they cleared the debris from the last run and made it safe for us to go. The mileage was reduced to around 5 miles. Whilst we were waiting I chatted with my old mate from The Network Q days George Mullins who was running a Micra, he warned me about a culvert at post 9,”running it this way” he said be very careful not to hit the hole as many cars had rolled as it is quick. So I told Dave of this post and we marked the notes accordingly. We set off at a fair old pace as I was feeling that I was getting to know this first part of the stage, then Dave called a right which was blind until we came round it and there was a chicane which I almost demolished, managed to get away with it and pushed on, as we approached post 9 the warning was far from my thoughts even when Dave called it, it didn’t register and I decided that it would be quicker to cut the corner then BANG! We hit the culvert (big hole!) the car took off and landed heavily at 66mph on the ns front wheel pushing us into the direction of the trees! The next 100 metres was just fantasy from lock to lock 4 times and swapping ends until miraculously we regained the road and carried on. When we reached the end of that stage both Dave and I where relieved to say the least and we only dropped 7 seconds to James Wow!25th Overall 2nd 1400

SS12 Whitswood 2

This was a repeat of stage 8 and only a mile long we decided to just get to the end as best as we could, the car had sustained quite a lot of damage and I was not sure how it would hold together so we crept to the end and then the short distance back to Minehead to collect out deserved 2nd Place in the battle for the Silkolene 1400 crown!

Final Classification 25th Overall 2nd 1400

Thanks to all who made it possible and to all who came out on Saturday night we had a great time in Minehead!

Rallyschool.co.uk

John Hardman

First Install

Ian Clayton

Bob Tate

Steve Hague (The Webmaster)

And Rick Hague

See you all on the Red Dragon

Malc and Dave

5th Rally, (Red Dragon Rally)