events-blog

Glyn Memorial Stages 2012

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:07:11 +0100

This was the last event of the year and i had to go out on the stages with part worn tyres and had about 4mm of brake pad material left as i had run out of money for the season.During day one it was raining so i just tryed my hardest with awlful tyres as they were extreamly bald.
Once back into service i saw my stage times for day 1 and saw that I was 3rd overall and i was amazed with the amount of rain and awful conditons i had to drive in. On day two I saw that the conditions were alot better and i just went for it and gave it everythink i had. After the first two stages i had had gone from 3rd to joint 1st with merion evans. after ss12 i saw that i was taking around 3-5 seconds a stage out of merion. going into ss13-14 we had a 10 second lead and I was not pushing as hard as i was in the morning by shortshifting and letting off far to early just incase i hit a chicane. Going into the last 2 stages i had taken another 2 seconds out of merion evans which was amazing and I was ready for the win. As we set off the start line for ss15 we noticed the car started to missfire and later cut-out and stopped halfway around the stage, once back home we searched for why it cut-out only to be found out it was a blown fuse.

woodbridge stage

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:26:14 +0100

This was an event was very technical and sometimes a challenge in the wet. Before ss1 it began to rain and I only had almost bald tyres as we could not afford to buy new tyres.I knew straight away from the first corner i knew that today was going to be a struggle and that my stage times was not going to the best they could as i was struggling to find any traction and all the car would do when on corners was spin due to ovesteer from the rear and narrowly missed a few army sized gate post. Also during the day we had severe brake judder when left foot braking which back in service was found to be warped discs and could not be solved until back at the garage. all in all the day was a good challenge but had a downside as we were struggling with traction causing us to loose time

Barkston Heath Stages 2012

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:16:07 +0100

We were now more than halfway through the 2012 championship and this event was a new venue and during the morning i went for a walk around the first stage and noticed the the stage was very twisty and technical which suited my driving style.During ss1 and ss2 we went out on the stages with to much psi in the rear tyres which meant during late braking the rear of the vehicle was starting to step out which meant during long corners the car was hard to control which cost us lots of time as i could not keep the power on during long corners. ss5-8 we noticed that the car was hard to take tight left hand corners and chicanes were hard to exit. When we got back home and the car was all stripped down we found the rear antiroll bar mounting had snapped of the body.

caerwent stages 2012

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:59:16 +0100

This is one of my favourite events of the year as its a huge challenge just to finish as its a notoruious venue for breaking cars. During scruitineering it started to rain which wasn`t our best condition to start the rally on as we only had our last 4 tyres left which had about 2-3mm of tread left which isnt good in standing water. During ss1 we noticed that the suspension was not set to a good wet set-up as it was to hard which made it extreamly hard to turn in and brake.
Halfway round ss1 we noticed that we were starting to catch the first junior on the stage which was ruined by the next corner,where the car did not turn in and we went straight into a caerwent kerb which bent x2 bottom arms, steering rack, punctured one of my front tyres and bent the front chassic. after ss2 we then spent the rest of the event trying to get a good damp suspension set-up and ended the day with 9th junior which was still points for the 2012 championship.

Cadman Stages

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:48:48 +0100

This is a new event to the championship so would be driving the first stage with no infomation on the stages which meant i was a bit cautious, on SS2 after the first corner i hard a loud bang and everytime i breaked the car would pull wildly to the left which meant chicanes were a bit more of a struggle but did not slow down just kept going until service where i found out we had a bent bottom arm and luckly got a seccond hand bottom arm of a fellow junior (thanks) which meant my day would not end on SS3.On SSS4 i had a scary moment due to the back end locking up and clipping the grass and narrowly managed to miss a large pole which would of wrecked the car. SS5,6 we had more problems due to tyre choice which meant on one stage i had another spin which lost me more time.So from SS6 onwards we used the event as a test day testing suspension in damp conditions as we had lost a lot of time from the spins and bottom arm breaking. At the end of the day i managed to gain 4th position and keep 1st overall in the 2012 championship.

Lee Holland Stages

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:39:50 +0100

This is the second event of the 2012 championship and would enter the event with a 3 point lead and wanted to gain more of a lead. On SS1 we had a nice and clear run and the car handled brilliantly which meant we set a goo stage time, On SS2,3,4 we started to notice that the car was down on power and found out during service that there was a huge split in the downpipe in the exhaust system which would mean we would be loosing 2-5hp which was being shown on the stage times. SS5,6,7 the stages were being run the opposite way to the morning but only got 1 clear run due to catching others but luckly managed to get past which did not loose us much time. Going into the last stage day we were in 3rd position which still meant we would score good points, As i left the last chicane on the stage an was about to change to 3rd i made a big mistake and accidentally got 1st gear insteed which meant i bent my inlet valves so the car would just stop but for some reason it kept running for a few 100 meters and managed to cross the line and finish the day with a non running car but 3rd place and kept 1st overall in the championship.

Roskirk Stages 2012

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:30:48 +0100

This is the first event of the 2012 championship and wanted to score some good points to set a good start to the championship. We were sedeed last junior on the road which was ok as then i would not get held up on the stages and could have a clear run and set a good stage time, After SS1 we had a 3 second lead which was brilliant and wanted to keep 1st position all day, We had a few good stages not being held up or any problems with the car which meant just before halfway we had a 8 second lead and only had 6 stages to go. during halfway we made some changes to the car for example swap front to rear with tyres and changed pressures aswell. Going into the last stage we had a 11 second lead and only had 1.5 miles to go and would win the first event of the 2012 championship. As i finished the last stage we were called inn for post event scruitineering to check our car complied with the championship regulations and passed with flying colours which meant i had won the first event of the 2012 championship and would be leading by 3 points.

Hall Trophy Stages 9TH Event

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:33:03 +0100

I arrived Saturday morning at my local event at set up service and went for a ride around the stages to have a look at places of caution and places that could be taken flat or faster than i thought. After ss1 i was equal first and had many more stages to go. i kept the same pace all day and not made any mistakes so at halfway i had a 10 second lead and wanted to keep the gap so didnt want to make any mistakes or try up the pace in case i make a i tried something i hadnt all day and went off. going into the last stage i had a 15 second lead and only had 3 miles to go but the last stage was in the dark so put full spot lights on and could seen fine and started the stage and got upto pace after a few corners and kept it the same all stage and kept the driving nice and clean and didnt take any cuts or braked any later and ended the day with 1st place and a 35 second lead.

Anglesey Night Stages 8TH Event

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:10:31 +0100

this is the second time i have been to anglesey circuit and this time we had some night stages which are a bit of a challenge as the track is so wide and is a struggle to pick up turning points and braking points. during the morning stages the track was nice and dry which meant i had full grip, the chicanes we extremely narrow which meant extra care had to be taken.
halfway during day 1 i was lying in the top 10 but had the night stages to follow. on the first night stage i went out on just main beam without any spotlight which was a bad idea as i couldn't see a thing and meant my stage times were a bit slower but had the next day to gain anytime. on the second day i managed to pull back a few places due to the dry conditions and nice and flowing stages but overall all i could manage was 12th

Woodbrige Stages 7TH Event

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:59:58 +0100

Woodbridge has to be one of my favorite events of the season, as it is a nice technical event but challenging in some places. For instances there was a jump where unfortunately i overshot the first time round costing me valuable seconds in the first stage but overall I had started the day well also within these first few stages i had to quickly learn how hard i could push the tyres on the broken up tarmac, and where to take cuts. After halfway through the day i was comfortably start in the top ten, and had finally gotten to grips with the broken tarmac. Throughout the rest of the day i was pushing myself and the car to try and break into the top five positions but only missed out by a few seconds