Club night is every wednesday
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- A little ditty from Christine Poxon…… being a good European, I couldn’t possibly comment!
For SaleCorsa Twist – 1996 ‘N’ Reg - 1.2 Twist Limited Edition Metallic Blue, 68,000 miles, 2 lady owners (no, not Martin!) - £1,295 ono Contact Martin Lush on 07802-695723 Motorsport Year 2003 By John Roseblade What did I do over the past 12 months? It gets a bit difficult to remember when you don’t keep a diary. Well the intention was to mainly concentrate again on sprints and probably include a few hill climbs, so I entered all the local championships - ACSMC, LCAMC and the Eastern Counties. Also entered for a bit of variation was the BARC Car and Car Conversions Sprint Championship. I was undecided about which class to enter, but would probably go again with the Suzuki Swift which had served faithfully for the last two seasons, but a trip to Andy Inskip for an MOT made me decide that a new car would have to be sourced sometime. The Suzuki passed its MOT but Andy suggested that another years’ hard competition would not be good for the little car. I didn’t really know what type of car I would like - I have always fancied having a Caterham Seven, but then a Lotus might be nice or even one of the old shape BMW M3’s. But as it turned out, I ended up with a Peugeot 306. Simon Galliford of Galral was selling his rally 306 and offered it to me, but after thinking it over I decided that I would have to move from the road going class and driving a rally car to events is not much fun so I decided against this until he told me he was also selling his road car also a 306 but the Gti6 version. This was the answer, with a little modification to keep it within the class rules we could probably end up with a competitive car. The first event for the year was the Brakefast Autotest and I always like to use my Avenger Tiger on this event, but before the event it needed a new exhaust system and I had decided that fitting a mild steel one was a waste of time as they quickly rust away. So I booked it in with GDS Exhausts in Brackley for a stainless steel system. It was a bit expensive but it looks the business and will last for a long time. Only doing one autotest a year you do tend to be a bit rusty and end up not being as competitive as you hope, but the Brakefast is always a good event and enjoyable to do and it’s a chance to meet up with old friends. Ian Gatt ended up buying Simons rally car and asked me to co-drive for him at Avon Park. He had driven the car before but had not competed for the last two years and wanted to get the feel for the car and finish the event. His last event had ended on the first stage of the 2002 Tour of Cornwall with a blown engine. We finished the event mid-field with no big dramas and with the decision to compete on selected events as Ian’s schedules permitted. My first event with the 306 was the Sutton & Cheam sprint at Longcross, which needs to be treated with respect because it includes the dreaded Snake as part of the course. Barry Guess invites you to walk the Snake with him and makes the mention in his Drivers Briefing that practise is just that and he doesn’t want his recovery crews bringing in wrecked cars during first practise. This event turned out to be a learning curve with the new car as did the next couple of events as I started to find out that this car had big brakes and would stop as and when you wanted it to, but it set a pattern for the season when three of us were competing for 2nd, 3rd and 4th and the class winner in a Honda S2000 was leaving us trailing. My sprinting through the season took us to Goodwood, Lydden Hill and the Lotus test track at Hethel. Another notable weekend is always the Abingdon Carnival, where the sprint on the Saturday uses two courses with a swop over in the afternoon. The bonus is that on Sunday they run a rally so two events in one weekend. I was again co-driving for Ian Gatt and this was going to be another good event with a full entry. Our times where coming down after each stage as Ian got more confident with the car and things where looking good until we where out on stage 5 on dry tyres when the heavens opened and there was the biggest thunderstorm I have seen for a long time. Within minutes the stage was under water. How we got through the stage without an off we do not know - we even aquaplaned over the finish line! Still, we finished the event in the 30’s and were well pleased. My next rally was Oakington with Kevin Fowler as a shakedown event with his new Peugeot 205, but I will leave him to report on this one. Apart from competing myself I was helping Simon Galliford look after the rally cars of Morgan Motorsport during the year and this report will be in part 2 of my 2003 Motorsport year. Heaven…… Is where the Police are British, The Chefs are French, The Mechanics German, The Lovers Italian, And it’s all organised by the Swiss! Hell…… Is where the Chefs are British, The Mechanics are French, The Police German, The Lovers Swiss, And it’s all organised by the Italians! 
: That was the year that was...Part 2 By Gus Morison It was down to Colerne for the Azimghur Stages on the 12th July and it was super hot even before getting the car off the trailer. Fergus couldn't make this event either and Simon Price stepped in with Stewart managing the service barge with his customary efficiency. The heat was horrendous and the hardest tyres I had (A032's again) were going off after just one loop of the airfield. We persevered, trying to drive as tidily as possible, but the sprint nature of the event meant we struggled to finish 20th overall (consistent or what) and 9th in class. The eye-opener here was seeing just how effective the brakes are and we had several opportunities to directly compare with bigger machines, sometimes gaining 50 metres into a bend. Kevin Furber's old ex-works 205 - one of the last - had come on the market and Gus was given first refusal, and duly snapped up. The car itself is a long-term restoration project but it came with a pukka PTS 6-speed box and thickwall ZF diff. Getting shafts (especially 309 ones) for these is nigh on impossible but a compatible set were found by TMS and the whole caboodle put together. What a difference with top-speed down to around 110 and an extra cog in between. It took some getting used to and the car was driven up to scrutineering for the Rally Action Promenade Stages Rally at New Brighton on Friday 25th July and back home again. The event ran on the Saturday and things were going quite well until Gus had terminal brain fade and did an extra loop of the stage. The marshals though it was great value giving armfuls of directions, but Hell hath no fury like a navigator scorned... Anyway, some salvage of honour was attempted until the last stage when the nearside driveshaft failed again, this time on the flange on the diff pot-joint - the proper jobs have no flange (hence no weak point) but cost £1,000 a pair. The car still had some drive so we tried to crawl out of the stage until a marshal stood in front of the car and said "you can't do that". We said "why not" and old friend Mick Storrar of Anglia fame who was also marshalling and had turned up by this point agreed, so we pushed it over the finish line and collected the all important championship points with 54th overall and 17th in class. The gearbox was taken out and dropped off at TMS to be fitted with a brand new Quaife ATB diff to avoid any more drivetrain problems. The ATB also makes the car much easier to drive, not having so many broken wrists - even with power steering... This was all finished and back together after yet another late night for the Harry Flatters on 1st-3rd August. This wasn't a Focus3 round and Gus asked Stewart if he fancied seeing things from the inside for a change as a thank you for all the servicing he's done for us. He agreed, subject to the qualification that he didn't "travel well". Having been pre-occupied with gearbox fettling, servicing arrangements were chaotic and we ended up getting the van by ourselves onto the ranges - not recommended. Saturday morning recce and the afternoon stages were very uncomfortable for Stewart (probably not helped by the Welsh hospitality the night before) but after some pills and a decent nights rest Sunday proved much easier. Another steady run saw us finish 32nd overall and 5th in class, pretty respectable given the even bigger ££'s seen in parc ferme this time and Stewarts first time on (interrupted!) notes. The next Focus3 round was the Mewla National Stages Rally and another return to Epynt on the 23-25th August. Like black cabs, you get none for years then four turn up at once! Stewart was servicing for ourselves and Ian Barclay/Nick Edmonds in their EVO on this event and the heat was on from the start. A steady run through the first two stages saw us take time off them - "You've been practising!" - before the EVO's diff cried enough and they parked up. Fergus was on the ball as usual and a trouble-free run saw us 32nd overall, 3rd in class and another trophy. This left us leading the championship class with one event to go. Only one other crew - Mark Bonner and Vinnie Jones - could overtake us at that point and they weren't going to the last round, the Wexford Rally in Ireland, so we had the championship class result at least. We thought long and hard about doing Wexford 'for the crack' but between car mods to suit RIAC rules and travel/accommodation/entry/insurance costs, there would have been no change out of £2,000 and we skipped it. Fergus went to watch with Susan and Dave on a 3p Ryanair special and wasn't too impressed with the organisation - if we had been running, we would have probably seen about half of the event due to cancellations. The results from Wexford didn't change the championship placings too much and we were confirmed first in the 2-litre class and 4th overall. This left The Philips Tour of Mull as our staple rallying 'diet' and the last 'real' event of the year - it isn't called the best rally in the world for nothing! Finishes here are hard to come by, so we resolved to take it steady on the Friday night. Unfortunately, this section was cut short with the tragic events involving Susan and Duncan Cameron. After delays, much work behind the scenes and at Duncan's insistence the rally should continue, the Saturday afternoon section took place although it was much shortened. Nobody's heart was really in it by this time, and several crews had withdrawn out of respect, including Daniel Harper who won in 2002. We had had a few dramas with carb studs breaking and bungees deployed to keep going, and made a better job of fixing it during the extended gap. We were 59th overall at this point and took the starting ramp for the Saturday night section in Salen. The curse of Mull descended again when "Big Hat" asked Gus how he was getting on, and he replied "Ok, but I still haven't finished since 1996" - on the first bend of the next stage, the car was in the ditch having being shortened by around a foot thanks to a nicely situated tree stump which also took out the engine block. The car had taken off like lightning - probably something to do with breathing properly on four cylinders - and was high over a bridge. It landed on another bump and catapulted again, landing this time wide and about 20-30 feet after the braking point - the rest is history. Peering throught the windscreen under the bonnet (as you do) we saw flames and hit the extinguisher and discovered all the stories about AFFF are true. The hand-held just about got it out and Gus sprinted the half-mile back to the start across the beach (actually large rocks) to get a marshal's extinguisher. Fortunately, the fire didn't hold and at least something could be salvaged. Lifeline say that their next generation extinguishers are as good as, or better than, the old Halon systems were, but at some cost - around £800 - which is something to think about. So a pretty good rallying year overall, capped by coming out on top of the club stage championships and first in class in the Focus3 - we were both a bit gobsmacked by that but not too shabby either. As usual luck, and the right people have a lot to do with it. What are the plans for 2004? Well, Fergus has been carnapped by John Marshall to sit in his EV07 for the Scottish Tarmac Championship so Gus is looking not only for a service crew as Stewart and Colleen have gone to America for the year, but also a navigator... On the bright side, there is plenty of choice of vehicles to go out with! There's always that finish on Mull to go for. Finding the time and the events to do could need a few decisions - watch this space! Our thanks go to Simon Price at Price Motors, 17 Nettles Lane, Frankwell, Shrewsbury (01743 364 500); Simon Preston at TMS, Unit 63 Springfield Commercial Centre, Bagley Lane, Farsley, Pudsey, LS28 5LY (0113 255 4826), Brian Jones at Budgen Motors, Harlescott, Shrewsbury (01743 446 766) and Del at Skip Brown Cars, Ridley Green, Nr. Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 9RY (01829 720 492); Alistair, Brian, Colin, Colleen, Dave, Gavin, Julie, Kirstin, Stewart, Susan, Susan and numerous others for all their help over the year. All the best with your own plans for 2004, Gus Morison and Fergus Gray Directory: mag mag -> Essay writing guidelines mag -> 1 Background: The 20th Century Rock’n’Roll 1951-57 mag -> The Implications of Islam for Advertising Messages: The Middle Eastern Context mag -> A cumulative Table of Contents for the magazine antiques 1980 1989 January 1980 mag -> House Party! Magic rout 76ers in final regular-season game at Amway mag -> Twice Mardy Fish has competed in the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Twice he has made it to the finals. Twice he has battled rising star John Isner in the atc finals mag -> Mark e magill mag -> Magna Library 3d printing Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions mag -> MarianBartsc h Download 161.17 Kb. Share with your friends:
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