GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

[onecamohv]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Looks great, I'd love to do the Classic Tracks one day

Matt

me too, id love to come over from ireland to do it, maybe someday soon
Great reports as usual Gavin, love reading all the updates

[MCURZON]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Looks great, I'd love to do the Classic Tracks one day

Matt

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Classic Tracks - 24th May 2015

This event gets more popular every year - this year there were 75 entries and 15 reserves with Carrie and I seeded at 10

Starting from West Wales Rally Spares in Llandysul there were 21 Special Tests, some we had done many times, some not for years

It was damp and raining gently which made the morning tests very slippery - we started sensibly setting times just outside the top 10 and keeping on the right track and at the petrol halt between Test 9 and 10 (after the scrutineers sent a few competitors home who had sustained damage on the earlier tests) we were 9th overall

This is from Test 4


After the petrol halt the sun came out and the Tests seemed more open, we were going well and set a fastest time on Test 15
There was the usual Test at Jamie Jukes Farm, a different format this year with a new start at the top of the hill and a couple of yumps down from the farm - we landed heavily over the second one, a few bits of rust fell out of the footwell and Carrie complained she could now see the road!!! Nothing else had moved, the panel gaps were the same, so just some welding for me to do...

One of the Tests we hadn't done for about 10 years was Ffynnon-las Farm, a great gravel loop with a couple of hairpins


At the finish we had moved up a couple of places and finished 7th overall
Always a great event in a beautiful part of Wales

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

A couple of pics from the recent Debden Targa Rally

View over the airfield


Heading into the bushes..

[mexicotait]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

It always annoys me when you get blocked by someone

If someone catches me i always let them past and follow them
Normally making me quicker !

[Graham]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

excellent, and great reading as always

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

It was a great day out, I'd gone up on Saturday and stayed with Derek as usual, then came straight home after the event, took about 3 hours. Same as last year (due to noise problems) there were only 2 tests but West Suffolk Motor Club had asked the MSA for special dispensation to allow 30s starts which gave time for 4 runs in one direction and 3 runs in the reverse direction, even with 57 crews competing, but there were no changes between the tests.

I was a bit worried I might have made the wrong tyre choice as I had turned up on knobblies and was told they weren't using the roughest section but looking at the roadbook there was still plenty of gravel

The seeding was odd - having won this event last year, I thought I might have been car 1 but I was seeded car 6 with a Novice at car 5 in Derek's old 1400cc Rover 200

We started off quickly on Test 1 then caught the Novice about 2/3 through the second test, who refused to let me past despite a lot of hooting
The Clerk of the Course was at the end of this test to check how people were finding it, so we "politely" asked if we could go in front of the Novice for the rest of the day and what were they doing seeding him there. The answer was we could go in front and the Novice was an experienced rally driver (and one of their club members) so they thought he would be quick - there's a big difference between being quick on a rally and quick on a targa which is more about manoeuvring round the cones and spotting where to go than outright speed. We weren't sure how much time I'd lost but when the results came up I was leading by 11s after the first 2 so I was happy. Derek had a good run through as well in his 205 Rallye and was 14th.

3 more runs through each Test before lunch and we hardly had time to stop, we literally got back to the paddock, swapped cars and went out again! The marshalls hardly had a break either and were working very hard. We were both going quicker each time through and, after sorting out a mix up with my times, at lunch I was leading by 57s from Adrian White in 2nd and David Lobb in 3rd, the 2 drivers who had beaten me in April. Derek was slipping back slightly as the drivers in quicker cars learnt where they were going.

With the tests reversed for the afternoon, the running order was also reversed which meant I got to navigate for Derek before driving myself. It's strange how things are different in the other direction - one particular cone had a big hole after it in the morning, so the big hole was in front of it in the afternoon. First time through I hit it quite hard and I nearly didn't make the corner after, the second time I thought I had a better line and hit it even harder and had to mow down some bushes to regain the track
Derek persuaded me to be sensible on the last run and my rear tyres were pretty much like slicks now so I had a clean run through the last pair.

David Lobb managed to get ahead of Adrian White by the finish but didn't get that close to me, I finished 1st Overall by 61s.
Derek had a very enjoyable day and finished just outside the top 20, having had to back off when the clutch started slipping.


Next I'll have to do a report on the Classic Tracks which ran 2 weeks ago...

[freddy686868]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Nice pic
On the way home from a Targa Rally at Debden Airfield in Essex

we were coming from essex too haha. Must have taken you ages to do that trip. Was it a good skid?

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Been anywhere nice? Just seen you on the m4.

Nice pic
On the way home from a Targa Rally at Debden Airfield in Essex

[freddy686868]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Been anywhere nice? Just seen you on the m4.

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Devils Tour Road Rally - 4th-5th April 2015

This event was run by Devizes Motor Club and had previously been known as the Myotis. It had a slightly different format this year with Special Tests in the afternoon followed by a short Jogularity then a 60 mile night section on Salisbury Plain. It was also Easter weekend so finding a navigator was proving difficult, but after doing West Cork with Carrie she was convinced to come out on her first night event for 5 years

We were seeded Car 3 out of a smallish entry of 36. There were 8 Special Tests, starting with one on an old part of Keevil airfield run twice. This was a small loop of concrete with a couple of junctions in the middle of a field so very slippery and great fun



Not quite the right line, missing the apex first time through


Got it right the second time, one wheel on the grass


Next there were 2 tests on the edge of Salisbury Plain, round a farmyard then up a steep hill, before we returned for a third run round Keevil, a bit quicker as the tracks had dried out. We headed north for 2 short tests through a farm which nearly all the cars cleaned - we beat the 30 mph average by 20s.
The final test was at a farm near RAF Lyneham with part of an old airfield under about 6 inches of grass and muck. It was very slow but a good laugh!

At the supper halt we were lying 3rd, a few seconds behind an MG ZR and a Subaru Impreza

After supper there were 3 sections of Jogularity which is where you are given times to the second to be at specific junctions along the route. Carrie had never done one of these and I'd only done a couple but it worked quite well except for overshooting a triangle in the middle section

Finally onto the night route, 4 separate sections on Salisbury Plain with an awful lot of codeboards used to slow us down as the roads are very fast in places. The first section was going well and we arrived at the control 5 minutes early but missing a codeboard. We went back to have a look but couldn't see it so carried on. The second section was fine, found all the codeboards and were only a couple of minutes late at the control.

It was the third section which caused problems for nearly all the crews. As the Plain is used for Army Training they build their own roads wherever they like and only some of these are on the map. On the trickier sections, the organisers had given extra help such as diagrams and written instructions. On this section we came to a fork in the road and the instructions said keep left and then there would be a codeboard after 1/2 a mile, but after a mile there was still no sign of it so we turned round and went back to the fork to try the other road. Unfortunately as I changed down to get round the corner the clutch cable snapped

We were in a bit of an awkward position but with Carrie's help directing traffic I got it changed in about 10 minutes in which time we could see cars going everywhere, all completely lost! Once we got going again we tried the other road, but again after a mile there was no codeboard. Turning round again and heading back we spotted a side road so tried that and finally found the board but it still didn't seem to be where it should have been. We tried to get back on track, turning round a few more times, I even got the compass out to see if we were heading in the right direction (we weren't!)

Eventually we found our way to the control but with all the problems we were 3 minutes OTL (OTL is 30 minutes after the time you should have arrived). We stopped at the marshal but didn't take a time and tried to make it up on the next link section but this was too short. We carried onto the 4th section knowing that we had to clean it by 3 minutes to get back inside OTL and be classified as a finisher. Luckily this was the one part of the Plain I remembered from a previous event there in 2012 and I kept my foot down through some of the rougher sections. This worked and we cleaned it by 5 minutes

At the finish a lot of crews had similar problems and some didn't make it that far so we finished 15th overall

The problem with the third section turned out to be a shut gate at the fork which was blocking a 3rd road which was the one we wanted
It was a challenging event but enjoyable and I'm sure the organisers can improve on it for next year



Wethersfield Targa - 19th April 2015

A couple of weeks later I competed in my first Targa of the year with Derek navigating, and I navigated for Derek in his new Peugeot 205 Rallye.
The Chelmsford Motor Club event attracted a bumper entry of 72 cars and they had some good long tests using some more areas of the airfield compared to previous years. The weather was very dry so I knew it would be difficult to get a win and although I was leading after the first test, at lunch I was 2nd by about 20s. Derek was quite a long way down getting used to his new car.

In the afternoon I tried to make up the time, but it seemed the harder I tried the more cones I clipped and with a 10s penalty for each cone by the finish this had dropped me to 3rd Overall. Derek finished 38th but was happy to have a trouble free run for a change and did a good job navigating for me despite the long tests making him feel ill.



After these 2 events I've spent a good few hours in the workshop making sure Fly is ready for the Classic Tracks this Sunday with Carrie navigating again.
Cracks have been appearing in unusual places, one where the tunnel meets the floorpan and the seat reinforcement cross member - I had to jack this back into place and weld it up, and there was a large hole in the chassis above the front spring hanger on one side which took a bit of fiddling to get access to but is good and strong again now. While I was underneath I found an odd circular piece of metal hanging out of the bellhousing which turned out to be part of the clutch release bearing, so that was a 3 hour job to change it. Anyway, she's all ready to go now and we're seeded Car 10

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Thanks Arwel, saw you were out, hope you have a good run

Time for some updates first...

[Arwel]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Good luck on the tracks on Sunday Gavin. We're out in a borrowed Proton at car 49. Not done Classic Tracks before but really looking forward to it. See you there.

[GavinR]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Really been enjoying reading through your endevours with this car, looks like so much fun and is very inspiring! Just curious what sort of event was the Bath Festival Road Rally? Seeing a lack of helmets got me curious.

Hi Eric,

Road Rallies take place at night on public roads which are not closed. There are various restrictions on the modifications allowed to keep the speeds down.

[mario r h santos]

Re: GavinR's Mk2 Rally Car - FLY

Nice diy repair Gavin.

Cheers and hope it can handle a few more beatings,

Mário Santos.