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Get Connected Wyedean Stages 2008

We have been waiting for this event for quite a while, and were well wound up in the weeks leading up to the event. The tasks of cleaning and spanner checking the car seamed a lot more enjoyable than any of the previous events.

After a year of struggling with Silverstone tyres, we made the decision to change over to Kumho tyres for the year, and to register for the MSA English Rally Championship.

Fridays scrutineering went without a hitch, plus we also collected our awards for the 2007 BTRDA championship, which was a bonus.

Saturday morning came and we set off down to Chepstow. Steve decided that he was gong to conquer his fear of stage 1, Chepstow Park, so we took it quickly, but aired on the edge of caution and were happy with the time at the end. At the end we found that the video camera had moved, and filmed some of the stage through the side window!

Stage 2 – Serridge 1. We had a good run through here, and enjoyed the whole stage. We felt that the car was performing well with the new tyres and rear suspension modifications.

Stage 3 – Sallowvallets. The car was beginning to get hot, as the cooling fans had stopped working. We started a bit slow, but sped up as the temperature came down. We passed the car in front of us, which is always a good feeling.

Stage 4 – Piercefield Park. What can be said. A nice quick belt around the racecourse

Service meant that we could sort out the fan problem, which was traced to a burnt out relay. Nothing else was needed, apart from a swap around of the tyres and a clean.

Stage 5 – Speech House. Decided that we had to start pushing this afternoon. Had a small problem with one of the hairpins, and an intercom which kept cutting out! We set the fastest 1400 8v time on this stage.

Stage 6 – Serridge 2. Another good attack at this stage, meant that we clawed back some time into the class leader. The tarmac section was taken flat out, and the car wouldn’t go any faster! We both really enjoyed this second run through.

Stage 7- Mailscot.From the time when we found out that we would be running up from the river toward Staunton, Steve said that we would take it flat out, and by heck he did! The run down was a bit hairy, and we got the hairpin totally wrong. As soon as we turned by the river to go up, Steve started to wind the car up. Towards the top, there is a slight left / right over a crest which we took flat, and landed on the bank but luckily we bounced straight back onto the road! We crossed the finish with a cheer! Another fastest 8v stage time…..

We felt that the event had been the best we had competed on, and the scores at the end showed that we had done well. 2nd in class, 10th 1400 and 70th overall. This puts us 8th overall in the MSA English and 4th in class…
Thanks to all of our sponsors, both old and new, and hope that you enjoyed the nice sunny day in the woods watching the event. A huge thanks to Leigh, John, Matthew and new boy Mike, for getting dirty and keeping the car running. Without you there is no SM Rallying team.

Next event for us, Somerset Stages in April

Steve and Mark
smrallying.co.uk

Woodpecker Stages Rally

The SM Rallying team headed off, for our anniversary outing of the team forming, to Ludlow for the Woodpecker Rally.

The weeks up to the event, since the Quinton, have been quite hectic as we found that the gearbox had been damaged, and required a rebuild. This resulted in a massive bill, and a load of work for us. It turned out that a cir-clip inside the diff had disintegrated and damaged the diff, first and second gears plus the primary input shaft. On top of this we had to purchase a new intercom!

We turned up at the racecourse and found that after driving the car around for a week with no problems, the throttle was sticking! Half an hour of adjusting the cables and brackets resulted in a lot better pedal feel, and a car that ticked over better. Scrutineering went through with no problems, and more positive comments of the prep of the car were received from the scrutineer.

Saturday morning came, and we got set up at the racecourse for the day. Tyres were checked and a general once over before the start.

Stage 1 had already been shortened because of water damage to the stage, and the drive up showed just how bad it was! Good job they had cut that section. Our intercom problem had also returned, but a quick rewire sorted it out. We decided to take stage 1 steady, as we needed to make sure that the gearbox was OK. It proved to be in good shape, and we were happy with our time. Dusty was an understatement!

Stage 2 was the first spectator stage, and we passed a few stranded cars, and had one close moment, but felt that the hairpins suited the car.

Stage’s 3 and 4, were again good runs for us with no dramas. The tyres worked well, and felt that we were at a safe pace.

We got back to main service to find that John had been ill during the morning, but saying that he felt better after spending a few moments in the hedge!

The afternoon had nothing major to report, apart from a slightly wrong line out of one corner resulting in taking out a post and arrow, and being slowed by a crashed Escort. We felt that we were going a lot quicker in the afternoon, but the tyres were beginning to ‘go off’ towards the end of stage 7.

The tyres were dramatically loosing grip during the last 2 stages, so we aired on the edge of caution and slowed quite a bit, but felt that we were on a good pace.

At the end of the rally we finished 89th overall, 24th 1400 crew home and 3rd in our class.

This means that our plan for the year has now been well and truly smashed, and we have ended up better than any of us could have expected. We have a car that now works, and is nearly there, so only the crew to be sorted out now!

We expect that we’ll be second in class at the end of the year, but hope to better this next year.

A massive THANK YOU goes out to everyone involved in getting the car to where we are now, and hope that we can continue into the 2008 championships.

Mark And Steve

www.smrallying.co.uk

Mark, Steve and The Quinton Stages Rally

July saw the SM Rallying Saxo team head off to Llandovery, to ‘knock off’ another event from the unfinished list of 2006, the Quinton. The week up to the week involved a few calls to Silverstone Tyres and keeping an eye on the weather to find out if this was to be another wet rally, and we were informed to turn up with the car prepped for a wet event. The car flew through scrutineering on Friday, and the normal pre-event evening of beer and food took place.

Up nice and early on Saturday, showed that a heavy layer of dew was present, but no rain, so perhaps this would be a dry rally after all. The guys unloaded the car, as I took a walk to rally HQ to see if there were any changes from last night. Start 1 min earlier, and a couple of small amendments but nothing spectacular.

The run up to the main stage area showed us that the forest roads were dry, as we could see dust rising from the cars running in front of us. Were we on the right tyres?

Stage 1 started with a very twisty section, and we found that the car had a lot more grip than the last event, and decided to push from the start. We were held up in the stage, as one car was off and the car in front of us also went off trying to miss them. Good start to the rally! The time at the end was a bit disappointing, but at least we got there!

Stage 2 was where we had problems last year, but not this time. The stage is very fast at the start, and then goes down the hill into a tight bridge. The Pull up the other side really showed the car to have some pace. Past the point where we had the problem last year, and off onto the WRC stage. There are loads of rocks hid just where you wanted to be, so air on the side of caution on this section.

Stage 3 started well, but a few corners in Steve shouted that he couldn’t hear me. We had to result to me shouting and using hand gestures for the rest of the stage (No rude ones honest). We were approaching a tight uphill hairpin, when I noticed a warning triangle, and then the car. Steve kept in tight, only for the co-driver to jump out in front of us! We ended up spinning the car into the bank to miss him. More time lost! Shunted about to get it out, which lost my place in the notes, but we were OK by the next corner. The guy apologised when we saw him later.

Stage 4 was the longest of all, and I tried to fix the intercom on the road section, but no luck so we just carried on shouting. We had no real problems on this stage, but felt that we could have gone quicker if Steve could have heard me. The water handed out at the end was very well received!

Stage 5 was a rerun of 1, and was stopped just as we got there. 10 mins later we were off. Still unable to fix the intercom! No adventures on this stage. A clean, if slightly slow run through.

Stage 6 was a rerun of 3, and was going very well, until what we were waiting for happened. Steve misheard a note, and went too fast into a square right. We went into the trees, but luckily we didn’t go down the bank, and Steve kept it going and came out with just a few extra scratches. Within a few corners we were back up to speed.

Stage 7 was the same as 2, but in reverse. Big downhill sections! We nearly didn’t get that far, as we were far too quick over one of the first jumps, and put it on two wheels in a ditch, but the car pulled itself out. Caused the photographers to scatter! No damage as well. Bonus!

The end of the day saw us 68th overall, 2nd in class B8 and 18th 1400. The best results to date. We both feel that even though we are not the quickest by any means, this was the quickest the car has been driven.

Thanks to Leigh, John and Adrian for running around all day, and to everyone behind the scenes.

Mark and Steve
smrallying.co.uk

Rally car? More like a canoe!

The weekend of June 16th, saw the SM Rallying team head of the Nottingham to compete in the Dukeries Rally, based in the Sherwood Forestry Complex.

The week up to the event, saw the team keeping a close look on the weather, as the midlands were suffering from floods everywhere, so we knew that a wet rally was on the cards, but none of us knew quite how wet.

The run up was dry, but the threat of rain was there all of the time, and as we queued for scrutineering, the heavens opened. To say that we had a drop of water was an under statement! Myself and Leigh spent an hour sat in the back of the van watching the lightning storm and waiting for a break in the weather to get the car back on the trailer.
There were service vans stuck everywhere, and the sight of a Subaru rally car pulling a van and trailer out of the trailer park was quite amusing. The roads back to the digs were an adventure in itself. Flooded everywhere.

Saturday morning came, and it was dry for now. We got to the start to find that the racecourse was completely flooded, and the start had to be moved. The weather also meant that one of the stages had to be cancelled, as the stage was impassable. Luckily it was the farthest away stage, which was good, as it seams a long way out of the main rally area anyway. At least we didn’t have to bail the car out, unlike some of the crews that had left there cars at the start!

By the time that we got to stage 1, it was raining again. We were told that there were some very deep puddles in certain areas, so these were noted and off we went. To say that we had no grip was an under statement! We had a few straight on moments and just were unable to get out of the corners. We lost a lot of time on his stage, which meant that we spent the rest of the day trying to catch up.

Stage 2 went a lot better, and we felt the car had a lot more grip, as the surface was a lot more sandy than stage 1. We were both a lot happier with the car, and started to push through the next couple of stages.

Stages 3 & 4 were back to back and the hairpins within the stage are quite open, meaning the stages were quick. Lots of long straights with square corners meant that the car spent more time in 5th gear than any other event that we have done so far this year.

At the main service we found that a rear suspension bolt had come out, that the radiator cooling fans manual override switch had stopped working, but more worrying, the bracket holding the coil pack had snapped. John and Leigh worked the magic, and the car went out with all of the problems sorted, so thanks to them both.

Stage 5 had been cancelled, so off to stage 6 which was basically stages 3 and 4 put into one stage. The car ran faultlessly and we stopped the clock in a reasonable time, so we were happy. We had climbed back up to 5th in class by this point, so a good run through the last stage meant a good finish.

The final stage was a rerun of stage 2, so we went in and all was going well until a series of 3 hairpins about halfway through. We had a spin on the first, which fouled up the others, and lost us some time overall. The stage time meant that we dropped from 5th to 7th in class, but only by 4 seconds! That’s how tightly fought the class is….

The scores on the doors at the end of the day were 77th overall and 7th in class. If only stage 1 had gone better……

Thanks go out the John and Leigh for standing around in the rain for most of the day, and the wives for letting go off….. Next event: Quinton stages rally based in Llandovery.

Mark and Steve

Severnside Motorsport Rallying team
www.smrallying.co.uk

 

Its lovely here, isn’t it!

The weekend of May 18th/19th, saw us wing our way down the M4 to Swansea for the Red Dragon rally, held over some of the worlds most famous stages.

This was a first venture for the SM Rallying team to South Wales, so another step into the unknown, but not without years of visiting the area and having a reasonable knowledge of the stages.

Friday went to our normal routine of collecting the trailer from a sponsor, getting stuff ready and collecting all of the team from several corners of the county! We had a good run down, with no problems, but Leigh thought that scrutineering was at the junction after, so a quick tour of the local roundabouts ensued.
We passed straight through with no problems, but had a lot of interest in our ‘secondary’ plumbed in extinguisher system covering just the fuel tank and pumps.
Some very good comments were received.
We had a slight problem at the Travelodge, but this was spotted, and sorted within minutes, so I put my hand up – My fault. Well spotted.

Friday eve was again our normal out for food and a small beer, before hitting the sack for a good nights rest. Not quite to plan, as the Travelodge we stayed at was over run by drunken young kids running riot, so an eye was kept on the cars overnight.

Saturday morning came around to early, unload car, van taken to service and management car brought back to the start. We went with a conservative wet setup, as we weren’t feeling brave enough for a full block tread!

The first stage was wet and muddy in places, but we were still spinning the wheels on the straight, so still not convinced about the tyres. May just be us? We felt we had a good run, and the times were not that bad.

Stage 2 was again wet’ish and ended in Walters Arena.
The car climbed very strongly out of the hairpins, but Walters central part around the lake, caused a few comments from the drivers side! None repeatable on here! Service was just the normal spanner check and fluids stuff.

Stage 3 was quite fast, and we passed Karen stood on the side of the stage, after Carwyn had stuck it in the trees. We had an incident on this stage as well, when we hit a large hay bale with the passenger’s side of the front. Steve did very well to only hit the outside of the car. There was no way that we could fit the car between the bales. Not too much damage, so we carried on.

Stage 4 was very twisty and slippery, so we aired on the side of caution, but still felt like we were quick.
Service showed not a lot of damage, so a bit of tape to hold in the indicator, and off to the final loop of stages.

Stage 5 was the long 11 miler, and we decided to keep at the steady pace, rather than go for it and throw away our championship points. We had a good run through with no mistakes, and Steve was really surprised when I shouted ‘Over finish’, as he felt that we were only just over half way! The run to stage 6 was quite interesting, as we took a wrong turn, but judging by the tyre marks we weren’t the only crew to do the same!

Stage 6 was a final dash around Walters, so a good clean run was taken and off to the finish.

The scores on the doors at the end were:
71st overall and 3rd in class B8, and we are now 10th overall in the championship and 1st in class.

Thanks to all the team, Leigh, John and Matt, and to our new little helper Alistair.
Next outing is the Dukeries Rally based in Sherwood Forest. We have a score to settle with this event, so let’s hope that the good form continues.

Mark and Steve

Severnside Motorsport Rallying team
www.smrallying.co.uk

 

Anniversary trip proves lucky!

The fourth round of the BTRDA Tesco 99 Octane championship saw the SM Rallying Saxo set sail for the seaside again, to Minehead for the BETTA Somerset Stages Rally.

The weeks up to the event, have again seen work done on the Saxo with fitment of a set of Citroen Sport works front brakes plus several other small modifications. The brakes have been the sore point of the car for a while, and we were never 100% confident in them, but this has sorted the problem out. The car flew through its first MOT in the week before the event, and after a good outing to the Coleford Carnival of Transport, a feeling of excitement was felt in the team.

Friday saw us up nice and early getting the car cleaned and applying some sponsor decals on the car, while our new little helper, Alistair, sorted out wheels and tyres ready to load in the van. We loaded every thing into cars and vans and off we went down the M5 to Minehead.
There were no problems on the way down, and we off loaded the car at the digs and went through scrutineering without any problems, with comments of how nice the car looked from the scrutineer. Good start to the event!

The normal evening of beer and food took place, but left us all a bit shocked when the bill was given. £62 a round! Won’t be going back there in a hurry!.

I got down for breakfast in the morning, to be told that Martin had been taken to hospital feeling ill overnight! He hadn’t eaten with us, so perhaps Karen’s cooking skills?

We drove around to service, and setup camp for the day, then Steve and I went off to the first stage, 11 miles of Croydon. Nothing like a gentle opening to an event is their! The car performed faultlessly, and the brakes were really good, allowing a lot more control under braking. There were already some large stones getting dug out, so have to watch out later in the day.

Again, stages 2 and 3 went with no real problems, just dust and stones. Stages 5 and 6 were steps into the unknown with the Saxo, as we have never ran the car on tarmac tyres in anger before. We took it quite steadily to start, but as Steve got more confident we started to push. The corners were coming up fast and flowing, and we saw quite a few of our sponsors on the top section. The second run was even better, and we improved our time. Turned out that we had set second fastest B8 car on both stages! So much for Steve not liking tarmac!

The afternoon loops included the tricky spectator double run, and we knew that there would be loads of bales about. These had been placed exactly where you needed to cut the corners, so we took it steady.

The final stages saw sense taking over, and we aired on the edge of caution, but kept up a good pace. The stages were very rough on the second loop, so we kept out of trouble. The end of the last stage was a very welcome sight, as I had drank my drinks bottle dry, and it was not too far to the finish and a well deserved ice cream..

We were greeted at the finish by Leigh, Matt and the 2 Johns, along with Martin, Karen, Janet and Dave. A set of intermediate results were handed too us, which made for quite interesting reading. Everyone had enjoyed the day, and the comments on our pace up Porlock were encouraging.

We finished 53rd overall and 4th in class, which is our best result on a BTRDA event, but more importantly, we won the BTRDA B8 class and now lead the championship class and have jumped to 11 overall in the championship standings. Thanks to everyone in the team for you support, and off to Swansea now for the next round, the Red Dragon Rally in May.

Woodpecker Stages Rally 2006

We all headed off to Ludlow for round 8 of the BTRDA championship with a bit of a skip in our step, as testing the previous weekend had helped iron out quite a few bugs in the SM Rallying Saxo S1400. A change in the service crew had also seamed to help steady the ship as well.

Friday scrutineering was a bit of a nightmare, as there was a queue of about 30 cars waiting for noise check, but without anyone being there with a noise meter! A chat with the Silverstone tyres people on the Thursday meant that a new set of tyres were waiting for use. The suggestion from them was that wet weather was due in on the Saturday, so mud and snow tyres were the best choice. These were fitted, scrutineering was gone through, and off to find the digs for the night. We got to the digs to find that we had our own private test stage, but the owners were not too receptive of that suggestion even though a ride in the car was offered! An evening out with Liz and Karen was on the cards, but not before I had to go back to signing on to swap the management pack, as we had the wrong one given to us. Teach me for not looking. After the meal we all headed back for a good nights rest.

Saturday morning was glorious sunshine. Mud tyres my bottom! Steve commented that “the bloody sheep had kept him up all night”, but there was not one piece of straw around in the bedroom, so god knows what he was on about??

Sat having breakfast in the morning, there were suddenly spots of rain on the conservatory roof, so perhaps Silverstone were right. Yes they were. Rain steadily started falling and kept on failing for most of the day. The service was set up at the race course start, and off we went to MC1.

Stage 1 went very well, with a nice steady run through the stage and no chances being taken. We both felt that the car handled the bumpy stages much better, and even though the times were not the best, overtaking the Skoda half-way through really made us feel good.

Stage 2 went again really well, and we passed a lot of cars in the stage that had either hit something, or just broke because of the roughness of the stages. Only one mistake on a slowly shouted note, caused a half spin, but we quickly recovered and felt happy at the stage finish.

Stage 3 saw us begin to crawl up the leader board, and we began to start pushing a bit harder. Some lovely uphill bends towards the end really suit the car and the thing just rockets out of these. There were a lot of people about despite the rain and now windy conditions.

Service went without a hitch and just a quick bite, and car wash was all that was called for. We did have to take down the easy-up as this had been blown over in the wind. Noticed that there were a lot of spaces beginning to appear in the service area.

Stage 4 was the big one of the day. 12.9 miles of already used roads. A few sections had not been used before, but after over an hours wait we headed in. Rough was not the word to describe the stage. Sections of the stage were ripped to pieces and the car just skidded on the sump guard in the tyre ruts. We had no option but to slowly go up some of the tracks, because as soon as the throttle was pressed, the front wheels were just spinning. Not the best stage we have ever competed on. We later found out that our 22 minutes of car hammering had been to no avail, as the stage was cancelled after a big accident by a car in the open class.

Stage 5 saw us go for the finish. We decided that we would back off a bit and get the finish that we needed. We still had a good go at the stage, but could have gone a lot quicker than we did. The finish line was greeted with a large roar from the driver’s seat and a big smile on my face. The service crew had walked into the finish of the stage and were greeted big thumbs up from us as we drove up. This was what we needed. A trouble free run has lifted all of the spirits within the team. Thanks to all who have helped and offered help in the last few months after our problems. Next outing? Watch this space and website.

Mark and Steve

www.smrallying.co.uk

EMCOS Stages Rally 2006

The Severnside Motorsport / Express Windows rally team decided that after the few problems on the Somerset Stages rally that we needed to get some testing mileage into the car to get used to the small quirks of the car. After a few calls we decided that it would be more beneficial for us to do a local round of the CMSG Championship as this would be competitive testing, so an entry was put in and the car was made ready. Between the two rallies, the rear suspension and bodywork had been modified to cure the rubbing problem, so we hoped that the problem had disappeared.

Forgot how early we had to get up to do these local events, as normally there is an overnight stay on our ‘normal’ events. The last time that most of us had gone to Down Ampney airfield was over 8 years ago, so off to see if things had changed. It was like stepping back in time, as not a lot had changed. We all think that the caravan was the one from long ago!!!
Scrutineering went all ok and off we went to mark up the map with some sort of note like scribble that Steve would understand. A bit of a discussion then took place over what tyres were to be used, so off came the tarmac tyres and on went the soft forest tyres. This proved to be a good move, as it was wet and muddy all day.

Stage one was quite a learning curve, but the little yellow Saxo proved to be quick and very nimble. Things were going swimmingly, and I mean that literally as the water was deep in places, until the first split, when I shouted left but the driver had brain fade and went right. We had to go out of stage and take the penalty, so we took a stage maximum. Steve was annoyed, but these things happen and on with the show.

Stage two was a lot better and we got the split right. We stopped the clock dead on 6 min’s, so we know roughly what time we should have got. Not too much to say about the stage except that there was some very deep holes off line, so no cutting corners today.

Stage three and four went very well, with a few incidents including a few spins and a small incident with a fence when we were catching an Astra down the long straight. The Astra took the chicane out meaning that we missed our braking point and were just too fast into a square right. We just kissed the fence with the rear bumper. We were slowed in a few places by the marshals, as there were a lot of incidents around the stage.

Stage five was held up with a big incident, which meant that we were sat in the car for about an hour, which was a pain, as it was chucking it down with rain, and couldn’t get out. Managed to sleep though!!

No more real problems or spins happened during the rest of the event, but due to the delays the organisers cancelled the last two stages.

The end of the day saw us finish 28th overall and 3rd in class, so with gained a trophy on our first real event with the car. We all went home happy that the car worked so well after the problems on the Somerset Stages. If only we hadn’t had the penalty at the start, who knows.

Off to the Dukeries Rally next for us, so let’s hope that the car is as good on the loose.

Dukeries Rally

This was our first attempt on this event and we were warned from the outset about the difference in surface from all of the other events we had competed on. The car felt a lot better after a few changes to the suspension on the rear.

The day started very warm, and we guessed that the day would get hotter. We were right. The both of us were overheating on the way from the start to stage 1. Dust was going to be the other problem.

Stage 1 went well and the dust did cause us a problem as we were catching the car in front. A small overshoot on a downhill section to a 90 right caused a few deep intakes of breath, but other wise we found the car was great, apart from ‘floating’ on the rear end caused by the sandy soil on the tracks.

Stage 2 had a very tight section at the end, which Steve didn’t like, as even with the Saxo being narrow it was still in the bushes on both sides.

Stage 3 went better, and felt that the car was working well, apart from this loose rear end. Lots of long straights, but noticed on a few of the long ones, that the car was not quite pulling hard in 5 th.

Stage 4 was straight after the finish of 3, so no chance to get out and check the car over. Again the car was going fine, apart from this problem of not pulling strongly. About 500 yards from the end of the stage, Steve shouted that the temperature gauge had shot through the roof. By the time we got to the stop boards, the car had cut out. We now know that at least the safety mode on the car ECU works.

Towed back to the main road was not what we had wanted at the start of the day.

A strip down of the head showed that the head gasket had failed and put all of the water out the exhaust. A head rebuild ensued, along with a fitting of a bigger radiator and twin cooling fans in the weeks up to the next event.

Quinton Stages Rally

The trip up to the Quinton was hoped to be the turning point for the team after all of the problems to date, and with the reworked head fitted, the car went a lot better. The car pulled a lot stronger than before, and just felt right. The cooling upgrade meant that the temperature gauge sat a lot lower, but the car sounded like a hovercraft when they cut in!

Stage 1 was held up when we got there after an incident, but the car felt and went great and no real problems were had on this stage.

OK, so I lied.

There were these three hairpins, and we got around the first two, but a bit too much handbrake on number 3 saw us nose into the bank on the right, the rear end came around and we shot off the stage into the undergrowth backwards. Of course there were people there with cameras, there always is, and the guy took 17 photos of us for his web site, but who’s counting. Have to mark that one for next time.

Stage 2 was very good, apart from the moaning from the drivers seat regarding the lack of ground on his side if the car. Too many fresh air moments for Steve’s liking!

Service between stages consisted of nothing more that fuel and a check of the tyres which is a good sign.

Stage 3 saw us up on Epynt, which I love, and using the track built for the Network Q at Dixie ’s crossroads. We timed the cars in front from the start until out of sight for comparison, and we were a lot quicker over that distance. The run down the other side of the hill was a bit careful, but up the other side was magic. Getting to grips with the ditch hooking qualities of this car. Coming out of the hairpin onto the tarmac, saw us unable to get into third gear. We managed to get it wedged in second and drive out of the stage. We limped into service and decided to call it a day, as we didn’t want to cause any more damage to the car.

Dropping the gearbox out found the problem. The clutch plate had destroyed itself.

We ended up having to get the gearbox repaired along with a new clutch unit.

Will these problems ever end?

Next outing is the Woodpecker, so we are hoping for a good finish in a car that we know is there.

Mark and Steve

Severnside Motorsport Rallying team
www.smrallying.co.uk

 

We’re there!!! Well almost.

 

The Severnside Motorsport / Express Windows Saxo has finally sailed on its maiden voyage, with a trip to the seaside for the Carbase Somerset Stages Rally, based in sunny Minehead.

The week leading up to the event was a bit stressful for all involved with the car, and there may be two divorces coming out of it as well. Of course I will be home by 5 o’clock for tea darling, Yeah right!

The engine arrived a few weeks before the event, but due to work commitments for both Steve, myself and with Severnside’s workload, the transplant was put off for a week. The Easter weekend saw all hands on deck to finish off all of the small jobs which take all of the time. Make sure any small holes are filled in the shell, cover this bit, do that bit and oh, best get engine started. Saturday saw the first attempted start of the engine, but after a quick rewire of the ignition system there was much joy and sighs of relief. Bank holiday Monday saw myself and Andy from Severnside have a quite morning finishing off the dashboard area and centre console, ready for the mad week ahead.

Tuesday and Wednesday was spent finishing the rest of the small jobs, like fitting the sump guard and the like. A few runs up and down the estate road found a few problems which were ironed out quite quickly. We managed to get the car MOT’d on Wednesday eve which meant it could be taxed. Steve followed us to the MOT station and commented on the noise, as a small tear rolled from his eye. It was either the noise of the car echoing through the trees, or the fact that we left some of his tyres on the way out of the unit. I think it was the second thing personally!

Thursday saw a trip to Cinderford for the log booking of the car. The rain poured down and in. A few leeks that we didn’t know about, but hey, it’s a rally car! Mr Loveridge was complimentary about the car and told us that we had put some thought into every thing. Nice! Cheers Paul. When we got back to the unit the thought of that we would actually be doing the event crossed our mind. I know that rooms had been booked months ago, but it looked so far away then. Thoughts of not getting there had crossed all of our minds. Stickers! Where had all of the stickers gone? Image Signs ‘n’ Stuff were called only to find that some had been lost in their unit move. What was there was brought down and fitted. We were assured that all would be ok. The boys from Image were in the unit just after 5 on Friday morning finishing off. Fair play! The car looks the mutt’s nuts. Big and yellow and all there. Finishing touch to a very professional looking car. Severnside hold your head up high. You have done Steve and I proud.

Putting it on the trailer Friday put the whole package together. Off to Minehead. The car was getting looked at all down the motorway with quite a few thumbs up from passing cars. Noise check went all ok, with a very small brake problem found, but Andy and our new crew person James (had to get his name in because he will be embarrassed), sorted it out straight away. The amount of interest in the car in the service area was magic, and the bonnet was up more than down. We all felt a lot better after that, and off we went for a well earned curry. A few of our sponsors were also with us for the afternoon, so we were all on our best behaviour. Right, as if. There is now video evidence that Graham from Express Windows and Martin Watts, yes Martin, are gong into the entertainment business by singing on the pub circuit. By the way guy’s, who the F**k is Alice ?

Saturday morning started far too early with breakfast at 6:15 . Why? Not enough sleep all round, apart from Steve who went home early. (It wasn’t that early!) Big breakfast. Just what the doctor ordered.

Off to the start and a final check over of the car. A few nuts and bolts loose, but that is to be expected.

The attitude for the event from all of us is that the more mileage we cover the better. If we finish that will be a bonus. First run of an untested car on gravel. Sounds like last time!

The run to stage 1 was about the worse thing we have ever been on. The forest road, and I use that very loosely, was awful. First gear up a one in four hill with massive ditches and holes is not a good way to start the event. It was bad last year, but this is silly. Up on top it was not too bad, with the stage rough in places. We decided to take it very gently as we were unsure of how the car would go. Off the start not too much wheel spin and straight on the notes. The thing picks up speed very well, and we were soon into the rhythm. There seemed to be a bit of a rubbing noise from the back, which turned out to be the rear arch catching the tyre as the bumper bracket is very close. We were making a mental list of problems as we went. Steve was unsure of the brakes, as they are now non servo’d and need to be pushed, but after halfway he was happy. The hand brake works very well and is in just the right place.

After last year in the 106, the amount of power is great, and the gearbox ratios are spot on. After a good and steady run, we stopped the clock 1 Min 17 Sec quicker than last year. Yes I know it was foggy last year but that’s not bad for taking it easy.

Stage 2 was the spectator stage and we know that there was some very long uphill drags from hairpins. The car loved it. We really struggled last year but not now. The car rocked out and was great. Again, a very steady run through but not the slowest by any means. The rubbings getting worse on the back and a few second gear selection problems.

Stage 3 was going very well, with Steve getting use to the brakes and handbrake. The corners were coming thick and fast. The thing handles really well, but a bit soft on the backend. Something else to look at later then. Going into a downhill 90 right, we noticed Martin and Karen Watts on the bank with another of our sponsors, Mr and Mrs Cherry Pie. Best make it look good then. Handbrake to get her round. First gear away, where’s second? Got first and third. Whoops. After a bit of scraping we went off again up the hill. No swearing in any way shape or form took place. Steve managed to get the car going but we had lost a lot of time. The run across the last half of the stage is very quick and Steve decided to push on a little harder. Very bumpy, and we had the shift light flashing in fourth, when the car hit a compression and took off from the back landing with one wheel on the stage, and the others luckily on the grass verge. Both of us were quite taken back and the run to the finish was slowed down. Didn’t expect that, as it had behaved well up to then.

On the run from the finish to the next stage start, we had major problems getting into second, so decided that with that problem and the back being too soft that would be it for the day.

Nice to now that the car goes as well as it looks, and that it will be competitive over the next events when we both get used to the car. Also keep an eye out for the sporty looking crew as we are both now going, not trying, to loose some ballast from the car!

Thanks go to all of our sponsors, every one of you because you have stayed despite the technical difficulties. To Andy, James and all at Severnside a huge thanks. One hell of a car guys. Let’s get and kick ass.

Down Ampney testing next, on a round of the CMSG Tarmac series, so let’s hope all goes well, then selected rounds of the championship ready for a full attack on the BTRDA 1400 Championship in 2007.

Mark and Steve.

Seconds out, Round two.

Steve and Mark go to the seaside.

The Express Windows / Severnside Motorsport backed Peugeot 106 Rallye has once again been out in the woods, with a visit to Minehead for the Somerset Stages Rally.
The week up to the event was a case of getting the tyres sorted, cleaning and generally organising bits and bobs, but having the tow car smashed up a few days before the event caused a few moments of panic, but after a few calls a van was sorted and picked up on the Friday morning.

The trip down had a few hold-ups with road works on the M4, but we got there with plenty of time to unload the car and get over to the scrutinizing area. No problems and off to get some food and a couple of glasses of water, for me and Steve, but the service crew let there hair down a bit, but I am sworn to secrecy to protect the innocent!!!
Graham from Express didn’t realise that 6 O’clock came twice in a day, but after a full breakfast all of the crew were well up for a day of damp wet and very foggy motorsport. The day started with a problem of misty windows and no screen blower. We thought that it was a blown fuse, but no such luck, so off we went with a roll of paper and a demister pad.
The run to the first stage was quite interesting. I think a 4 wheel drive would have been a better choice. The route notes said rough, but that was an understatement!
The more we went up the hill, the closer the fog got in, and by the top the sight distance was very, very short. First time of driving competitively in the fog and wet for Steve. The fog hampered us quite a bit and we had a few hairy moments, but overall the stage was good. Stages 2, 3 and 4 were again foggy and wet, but no real moments apart from the hold up on stage 4 for ¾ of an hour.

Stage’s 5 and 6 were up Porlock Toll road which for the second time in the event was a first for Steve, as he hadn’t driven a tarmac stage before. Tyres were a real gamble as the wet and slippery conditions were changing all of the time. We had a new set of intermediate’s, but forest tyres were chosen. I don’t think anything could have accounted for the fog at the top. We were talking to the crews running with us and the local crew running in front of us had commented that the top of the stage was flowing and quick, but when we got up there, the car was upside down in a bit of a state. It turns out they wrote off the car, so much for flat out!!
The run of third stages were a re-run of the first four, plus a double run of the spectator stage but in reverse. The second run of the spectator stage was a very good run, and we made up a bit of time on the car in front of us in the class. Also some of our sponsors were up on the bank watching, and have commented that the second run as much better.
On the road section to stage 10, we started hearing a noise from the front of the car, and decided to take it easy for the next two so that we could get a finish. We took it easy, but not that easy!
The scores on the doors at the end were 72nd overall and 6th in class.
A great day was had by both of us and or sponsors enjoyed himself by getting involved in the management car and helping out in service.

Thanks go to Andy at Severnside, Graham at Express, Leigh for servicing and the two wives for letting us play with our toys. Where to next? Maybe Wales for a change.

Mark and Steve.

Many thanks to Barry Jessop for the use of his photographs.