Road Rally 205 GTi

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

We'll be going down Sunday morning Matt. I used to stay in a static caravan on the Saturday but budget wont allow it this time lol.

We had only added 0.75 of a degree but it was too much according to various forums and I suppose I have evidence to back it up. Its been set now to roughly 0.25 and everything seems happy now. As I said above, long term plan is either 309 shafts or custom made ones so we'll see what happens

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Seeded entry list came out last night for the Bob Shaw Memorial rally in Talbenny. We've been seeded car 27 which is great. The class victory on the Tour of Epyn has certainly helped so we'll be looking and hopng for a good run down there on Sunday.



This week is being spent fine tuning a wet weather set up as if its raining on Sunday then its going to be very slippery down there. Also some cosmetic work is being carried out as when we were recovered after the breakdown in Caerwent, the hoist used to lift the front end of the car broke the front bumper and made everything a bit wonky. Other than that, everything seems ready to go for Sunday.

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Talbenny is all done and dusted. We finished 22nd overall and 3rd in class. It wasn't my best days driving and wasn't as neat as I would have liked to be but we came away with maximum championship points for our class so we're back on track after the disaster in Caerwent.

Next round is Harlech stages in North Wales so we're using that as one of our dropped rounds and giving it a miss. So we have roughly 6 weeks before Dale Stages at the end of May which gives us plenty of time for a full check over, oil and filter change and tidy up some cosmetic damage after we had a little altercation with a fence and then later a chicane. Lap top is currently broken so hopefully I'll have some in car footage soon enough.

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Managed to get one stage uploaded from last week.

http://youtu.be/ceBLfCQCMBM

[lee edwards]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Well done mate. Nice result that! I might come to Harlech for a watch. Might see you there!

[marchy]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Few of my photos from Talbenny,











Full set here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ljmarch/sets/72157644010461823/

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Cheerss Lee. Won't be in Harlech, did consider going in the end as mid summer Caerwent has been cancelled but decided against it as we have a little work to do and need to restock on tyres.

Lovely shots as always Lyndon. Thank you. See you on the next one.

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Haven't updated this since Talbenny. So we did Dale 2 weekends ago. We were seeded car 27 again. Conditions were very slippery but it played into our hands as all the bigger powered rear wheel drive cars struggled for traction until it dried out in the afternoon. We finished 14th O/A which is fantastic and 3rd in class. I think i've fully got to grips with the car now and can really start pushing on as there is more time to be made up still. We did suffer some cosmetic damage when we clipped the front end in a chicane but other than that there was no problem.

I did have issues during testing in the week leading upto the event. The return mechanism on the throttle body failed and the throttle stuck fully open which was "interesting" to say the least. I also spent about 3 days chasing a handling issue which turned out to be knackered polly bushes after only one event. I also went back onto the harder rear shocks which made everything feel much more positive. So we now have just short of 2 months untill the Harry Flatters Rally on the Epynt ranges at the end of July.

I did hop in the co drivers seat for a friend of mine last week on the Mini Epynt stages. It was a baptism of fire as he had never done a stage rally before and I had never read notes. It all went pretty well though apart from the odd mistake from both of us but we finished 40th overall and 15th in class.

Dale Stages



Mini Epynt



Some incar from mini epynt

http://youtu.be/9r4Es9q9A7U

[marchy]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Mine from Dale

[MCURZON]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Great result at Dale dude. Have you got anything on before the Flatters?

I'm doing Epynt Hillclimb and Brawdy to try and get a load of seat time

Matt

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Cheers Lyndon, top pics as always. Luckily you weren't snapping away when i nearly fell off the bike in the morning ha ha ha.

Cheers Matt. Gutted that bad luck still seems to find you dude. I've got nothing planned before the flatters. Car needs a few odds n ends changing so i think we'll do that and do some testing up the mountain. Although if Brawdy still has entries closer to the time I could be tempted.

I'll hopefully come up for a watch on the hillclimb aswell.

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Flatters
We did the Harry Flatters rally in July which is held on the Epynt military ranges. It all went wrong when the serivce/tow vehicle decided it didnt want to play no more and the oil pump packed up on the Saturday on the way to Scruteneering.

The rally started well and saw us leading the class after the first loop of stages. On the last stage of the second loop the clutch started slipping. We found the reverse light switch had come out of the box and dropped oil all over the clutch. The boys in service cleaned it all and got us on our way again, however the damage had been done. Right near the end of SS7 we lost drive whilst going down the box to slow for a left hander. The main input shaft had sheered off. On inspection it had been subjected to massive heat as it was all blue and purple. The heat had also transferred through to the clutch and turned that a nice shade of purple and blue.

The DNF puts us under pressure to finish the last 4 rounds of the championship to take the class victory, Next even it 24th of August back on Epynt again for the Mewla Rally.

Mewla
Another forgettable day yesterday on the Mewla rally. We were making do with the standard gearbox and were going at a reasonable pace. SS3 and we had got 3/4 of the way through when something electrical popped and the car started missing badly. Managed to limp to service where we changed the usual suspected items such as coil, ignition amp etc... Got out of service and all seemed well but the problem came back towards the end of the road section and the car died and wouldnt re start. We had spares in the car which I changed but still did not want to play.

Due to others not finishing and only 3 events left, Abigail clinched the class 7 welsh tarmac tittle for co-drivers but it looks like I will miss out unless a small miracle happens. Caerwent in September so we shall see what happens.

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Normal service was resumed on Sunday. We finished 26th O/A and 2nd in class. We did have an issue with low battery voltage as it ran out of juice on Saturday going into scruteneering and on the way to SS1 on Sunday. SS2 the rear half of the exhaust dropped and got dragged around behind the car for about 7 miles. This was bodged back together in service though and we continued with our day. Full enjoyment, brilliant fun and good competition. Also it was the first time in 2 and half years that I managed to finish an event in Caerwent.

Peter Lloyd Rallying stages in Pembrey on the 12th of October so that gives us 2 weeks to sort a few little niggles that i've noticed and hopefully get the close ratio box back in.

[marchy]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Only one from each event :-) Flatters,



Mewla,



See you at Pembrey

[Arwel]

Re: Road Rally 205 GTi

Thanks Lyndon, very few of me from the two summer Epynts hahaha

Competed on the Peter Lloyd Rallying Stages at Pembrey yesterday. Despite very slippy conditions and a standard box with no slip we struggled a fair bit in places and just couldn't get any power down at all. Despite this we finished 17th overall and 4th in class and picked up the best mixed crew award.
That brings an end to our Welsh Tarmac championship campaign and Abigail took the class 7 co-drivers title and i finished runner up. The two DNF results on the two summer Epynt rallies basically dropped me from a comfortable position to needing a miracle to win. I guess thats motorsport for you. Next years plans are to be decided but I won't be doing any championship as I feel like some of the enjoyment was lost in the second half of this year but we shall see.
Next up is the Powys Lanes road rally which will see my girlfriend Helen sitting alongside me. She has many years experience in the silly seat on the maps as she comes from a rallying family.
Some in car footage will be up very soon.