GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

[Sidways93]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good result Gavin, it was tricky in places, I was out in my 4 door Escort on turbospeeds because it’s all I had and the weather on Saturday suggested they would be ok but I absolutely ruined all 6! Do you think Extreme VR3s would of held up well?

Lewis

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

As we all know, not much else happened in 2020, but I did get out on the Hatsford Targa in September. This is held on 25 acres of grass fields which doesn't really suit Fly and we finished 11th.

Next was the Ilfracombe Targa at Chivenor Airfield in North Devon in October. The airfield is next to the coast and there was a severe storm all day with a lot of the airfield under water - even the portaloo had to be strapped to a fence to stop it blowing over!
There were supposed to be online results but this didn't happen due to the conditions and it wasn't the sort of day to be checking times with other people. There were a lot of delays and the water was getting deeper, up to a foot deep in places. Fly kept going well but we were getting colder and damper throughout the day and were ready to go home when the organisers called it a day - we had done 6 Tests which was around 30 miles so a decent amount of rallying.
Then the results took 3 weeks to be published! George and I finished 2nd behind top Welsh Road Rally Driver, John Davies, who had Nick Bloxham navigating in a 1700cc Puma

Over the winter Fly just needed some welding on the boot floor (again), a rack gaiter and a fresh starter motor
Onto 2021 and we actually managed to do a rally last weekend

Kemble Targa Rally - Sunday 9th May 2021

This event has been run for the last 3 years by Bath MC as a single venue Targa, but as their Festival event was cancelled in February, they extended the Kemble event to use 2 other venues, Charlton Park and South Cerney Airfield, giving 25 miles of Tests. There were 75 entries with the event filling up in 10 minutes (!).

George and I were seeded Car 5, behind previous winners Ben Griffin / Steve Conner (106 Rallye), Chris Ieuan Hand / Michael Jones (Mk2 Escort), Dai Roberts / Max Freeman (Mk2 Escort), John Davies / Nick Bloxham (Puma) and ahead of Guy Woodcock / Andy Pullan (Mk2 Escort) and Steve Retchless / Sasha Heriot (Mk2 Escort), and a lot of other quick crews on the list, so we knew it was going to be a difficult day to get a good result.

I had done Kemble before, as had George, but not in the same car and with 6 months since the last event we were sure how it would go.
We needn't have worried, with the first Test at Kemble going well with 5th fastest time.

Next was Charlton Park, a stately home just north of Malmesbury, and a venue which hadn't been used for a Targa before. The 3.35 mile Test was a good mixture of smooth gravel tracks, a tricky bit through some trees, a long smooth tarmac driveway, then back onto gravel around an old camp to the finish.
I was a bit too cautious and hesitated a couple of times as some of the cones were smaller than usual, but no mistakes and 8th quickest, although over 20s behind John Davies.

The final 2 Tests of the morning were at South Cerney Airfield which has a 1.5 mile perimeter track and just a couple of little loops off to the side, and it was very fast, more like doing a stage than a test. I was glad I was on 10 year old A021R's rather than forest tyres and they were still gripping well after 4 laps over the 2 Tests - all the corners were flat out, just having to stop for the marshals and the chicanes. Quickest time was set by a Clio 172 with us setting top 10 times, and we were lying 4th at lunch.

The afternoon Tests were identical plus a last slightly different one at Kemble to finish. We improved our times on all the Tests and had a very good run on the last one
When the results came out later, we were pleased to be 2nd Overall, just 16s behind John Davies / Nick Bloxham who had picked up some a 20s cone penalty in the afternoon

Well done to the organisers for an enjoyable event, thanks to the marshals and especially George who made sure we didn't pick up any penalties throughout the day

Pics from Andy Manston

Kemble is used as a plane graveyard and has been filling up during COVID


South Cerney


Charlton Park House in the background


Part of Charlton Park Estate


And final test back at Kemble

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Nice write up I was the guy who lent you the box oil at Kemble. Bustard sounds like a good event to do.

Thanks
Bustard is a great event and hopefully it will be business as usual by November, and also for my Exmoor Targa in October

[Sidways93]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Nice write up I was the guy who lent you the box oil at Kemble. Bustard sounds like a good event to do.

[Graham]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Great write up as always, well done.

seems like years since i read about any motor sport!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

I thought it was about time I brought this thread up to date!

After the Somerset Seeker, my next event in Fly was Bath Motor Clubs Targa at Kemble Airfield near Cirencester
Carrie was navigating and we had a good day out, finishing 2nd Overall behind Ben Griffin in his 106 Rallye

In June, I organised the Washingpool Farm Targa for the 5th year and did Course Car in Fly with Carrie and Wilma helping

A bit of a break over the summer was followed by more organisational duties on the Exmoor in October, running Course Car again
Despite heavy rain the week before and strong winds on the Friday, the event went ahead and the only problem was a bit of flooding on a road section which we had to reroute
It did make for tricky conditions in the forests though!



In November there was a single venue Targa run by North Devon MC at RMB Chivenor - a large airfield just outside Barnstaple
Neither George nor Carrie were available, so my navigator was Nathan Perks. He was also driving his Dad's Micra with his Dad navigating, and I was navigating for his Dad (Tony) in the Micra too
So a very busy day, especially with a small entry of 30 cars
There were 6 long Tests with a total of 25 miles, all on very good tarmac except for 1/2 mile of rough track
It was a nice day but had rained all the previous week and the organisers warned us about a large puddle on one section

After the first round of tests everyone was commenting on the best way through the large puddle
My answer was simple - flat in 3rd



I wasn't quickest on the first test as Nathan and I were getting used to each other and the organisers diagrams which were slightly different to ones we'd used before, but we were quickest on the next 3 to give us a lead of over a minute at mid-afternoon
But on Test 4 the brakes had gone spongy which gave me a bit of concern - the fluid level in the front system was down, but no obvious signs of a leak, so carry on regardless!
We lost a small bit of time on the last 2 longer Tests, but still came 1st Overall by 53s

Investigating the brakes later I found one of the unions in the front caliper had been bent on contact with the compression strut and leaked when pressure was applied
So an easy fix, but I also twisted the compression strut slightly to provide a small amount of clearance when the suspension is on full droop


Later in November it was the Bustard Targa, this time running as a single venue based at Worthy Farm, but still boasting 35 miles of tests
I entered with George and we were seeded Car 1 (out of 55) having won the event the previous summer
But Worthy Farm in November is very different to Worthy Farm in the summer...

At the drivers briefing the organisers told us to keep away from the edges of the tracks, especially the fields as we would get stuck!
Test 1 I managed to keep off the fields, but slid into a fence on a narrow section through some trees (by the Wicker Snake for those of you who have been to Glastonbury Festival !)
By the time I had got Fly out of the fence, car 2 had nearly caught us, so I let them past and carried on a bit more sensibly
Luckily there was not much damage, but I checked the tracking back in the paddock a bit later (it was fine)

So 14th after Test 1 left us a lot of work to do! By lunch we were up to 7th and I thought 6th or even 5th might be possible, but we had a disastrous last loop
Sometimes running Car 1 is fine, sometimes it's a nightmare and this was one of those days when it was a nightmare!

On the penultimate Test we came into a PC only to find the marshal was still sat in his car - 10s lost by the time he got to us and signed the card, then the last Test we got confused on a tricky section and lost more time, which left us 8th overall






The final event of 2019 was the Stanta Targa Rally held at the Stanta Training Ground in Norfolk which covers an area of 30,000 acres or 45 square miles and has over 100 miles of roads contained within it's boundaries
The organisers had identified a few roads, gravel and mud tracks and even fields which were going to be used

Carrie and I were both that side of the country for Christmas so it seemed a good way to end the year and we met up in Norfolk on a very cold and dry morning

The first test went well despite a few delays but there was a longer delay after Test 3 and we found out that one crew had been caught out by the slippery conditions and hit a tree.
The car (Peugeot 106) was a write off and both crew members went to hospital for checks (nothing serious).

Following this, the organisers had a rethink and decided parts of their route and all of Test 4 was too dangerous to compete on, so we continued with a shortened route.
Nothing else went wrong and we were pelased to be 3rd at the end
It is a great area to have a rally, but the organisers need to be a bit more sensible at choosing route and where they need to slow the cars down!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Hi Chris,

Didn't realise you were on here either!

You've been going very well in your BMW
I look forward to seeing you out on the Exmoor

[dodgydoughnut]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Fantastic write up gavin. Didn't realise this was you. We have just got into the road rally targa scene. Me an my son have seen you out in fly. I drive the silver bmw e30. Look forward to seeing you out in the future.

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Somerset Seeker Targa - Sat 13th April 2019

With the Somerset Stages not running this year due to various reasons, Nigel Winkworth decided to use Burnham on Sea MC forest allocation for a Targa Rally instead.

Nigel has been part of the organising team for the Exmoor Targa for the last 5 years, and also helped Martin and George with the Exmoor Endurance for many years before that, so it was very good to see him take the main role in organising this new event.
Based in Minehead there were 45 cars entered and 45 miles of good quality forest tracks split into 12 tests.

George and I were car 1 (as we probably know the forests better than most), followed by Jason & Dan Stone at 2, and Brendan Wellman & Gavin Bull at 3.

We started with Knowle forest, before heading to Whits Wood and a long 8 mile Croydon Test. Knowle was run in the reverse direction to the Exmoor, but worked well with us slightly catching Car 4, Paul Freeth & Lizzie Pope, on our second lap.
We set the fastest time despite 20s penalties for nudging a couple of cones.

Whits Wood was being run and marshalled by Tavern, and was very slippery but we were just quickest again.
Then to the long Croydon test, an interesting route devised by Nigel using some sections we haven’t used for a few years. It went very well and we were fastest by over a minute despite a slight overshoot of one codeboard.





A short test around Kennisham was followed by 2 identical tests in Chargot, a forest we are not able to use in October. These were great fun but there were not enough manoeuvres to slow everyone down so half the crews beat the bogey time.

At the lunch halt we were leading by just under 2 minutes, helped by cars 2 and 3 having retired.

The afternoon tests were similar to the morning ones, Knowle and Whits we were quickest, then the Croydon test had the middle loop in the opposite direction. Unfortunately this meant the faster sections were used twice and we beat the bogey time along with another 6 cars.
Kennisham ran twice in the opposite direction, and Chargot once. We backed off slightly on these tests, but still came 1st Overall by over 3 minutes from Paul & Jamie Watts (MG ZR).

A very enjoyable event and I hope it will run again next year if the Somerset Stages is not able to run.

Many thanks to the organisers and marshals, and George for a great job navigating.

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

That second picture is just so

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Bath Festival Targa Rally - Sat 3rd March 2019

I was out with George on this event, seeded car 1 out of 60 cars, with Owen Turner & Rachel Vestey (MG ZR) at 2, Jason Stone & Cath Woodman (BMW Compact) at 3
We started from Westbury Country Park in the afternoon for 3 tests in the daylight, before the first petrol halt (to wait for it to get dark), then 6 more tests to the second petrol halt and another 7 tests before returning to the finish around 10pm

We started well, quickest on the first test on a small part of Keevil arfield, but were only 5th quickest on the next forest test after an overshoot and stall at a hairpin just over a crest (we went about 20 yards past it backwards ). The 3rd test, Southleigh Woods, was smoother than last year, but greasy in places - we were 2nd quickest, 12s behind Owen.
Although we didn't know at the time, we were leading by 4s at the first petrol halt from Owen, with Jason having gone off on Test 3 and retired.
A quick half turn on the idle screws made sure I wouldn't stall it again on the later tests.

The next 5 forest tests were good, but we lost time in one of the Longleat forests when we caught another Escort going round Shearwater lake, and then a 106 on the second Alfreds Tower test - he let us past but it still causes a slight delay. There was a short tarmac test before the second petrol halt and the top crews all set similar times.
Still no results at the second petrol halt, but the Steward said we were lying second, about a minute behind Owen which sounded about right, and we were expecting a penalty for failing to stop at a Stop/Go (we didn't see the board, too busy watching another car!)

Onto the last tests, some repeats of the ones we had done earlier and some run in the reverse direction. We were still going well, but a few seconds behind Owen on each Test, and we had a few problems on the penultimate Test when the codeboards were at ground level marking them very difficult to see!

At the finish we were pleased to be 2nd overall, just over 2 minutes behind Owen & Rachel, and nearly a minute ahead of Paul Tod & Rich Aston (Proton Gti) in 3rd

Some pics from M&H Photography - the first 3 at Keevil, and the last one at Frome Showground

[onecamohv]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

its like looking in the mirror! hard luck gavin. I ended up breaking the spider gears too, a very expensive experience!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Stripped the axle today so I could work out which parts I need to replace
Before I removed the diff, I taped a very strong magnet to a spare shaft and removed a lot of broken pieces of shaft and metal swarf from the axle casing, but couldn't get the last piece of the shaft out
Luckily the shaft had snapped almost flush with the end of the diff so it came out of the casing with a bit of leverage

The side bearing was completely trashed - it takes a lot of force to split the inner race, so I think I will replace the diff end plate as well as the bearing to be safe



Like most shafts which break, the splines had started to twist - whether this happened as part of the breakage or it had been going for a while doesn't really matter...



I also checked the casing - I was worried that the tube which had come loose a few years ago had come loose again, but it's fine and was on the other side anyway
It's going to be an expensive day tomorrow!

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Oh dear - mine looks very similar to that

[onecamohv]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

snap! literally !
hard luck Gavin, great report as usual - i got about 5 feet yesterday - start of test 1 i was home by 10am
time for an upgrade