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Re: GavinR's Mk2 Stage Car - DVY
West Cork Rally - 18/19th March 2017
This year there were 141 cars entered with myself and George at 113. David and Richard were servicing - Carrie couldn't make it this year, having recently moved house and in between jobs. Due to ongoing insurance issues, the entry fee had gone up again and there were less overseas crews making the journey.
George and I completed the recce in plenty of time and after bleeding the brakes on DVY, we headed off to scrutineering.
This went smoothly, the only comment from the scrutineer was that they prefer the buckles on the shoulder straps (which hold the straps round the cage / harness bar) to be as close as possible to the bar to prevent any slack in an accident. We sorted this out after signing on and parked up in Parc Ferme for the night.
Saturday was dry but overcast and was a late start to allow it to get dark for the night stage. We went out on the slicks for the first loop, Ring followed by Dunworley.
Apart from the windscreen starting to steam up at the end of the stages, everything went well and we were up to speed quickly. A quick check in service and out for the second loop on the same stages - 26s quicker on Ring and 15s on Dunworley, setting times just outside the top 50 National crews.
Back to service for a late lunch, everything checked, even the tyres were lasting well! The afternoon stages were Ardfield and Hayes Cross, both run twice. There was a big delay at Ardfield but the stage was still running so we waited patiently and completed it and the following one. Another service and a few cars were putting spotlights on, even though the night stage was later. I thought we'd get through these 2 again without it getting too dark, but there was another delay on Ardfield and by the end of Hayes Cross it was pretty dim - I was having trouble seeing the end of the straights and George was looking hard at the notes. We were slower on both these, and so were a lot of crews around us, the front of the field obviously having a better run in daylight.
At the final service of the day, it was time to fit the spotlights and head off into the dark for Sams Cross, a good 10 mile stage. We left service a bit early (as we were allowed to) but parked up near the start of the stage to allow a few cars past so we were in the right order. As we queued up getting closer to the start, the temperature was creeping up, but with only a few cars to go I knew it would come down as soon as we left the start line. We were given a start time and realised they had switched to minute starts so it was 5 more minutes, the temperature now off the scale. I should have switched off, let the engine cool down and gone a bit later, but neither George nor I thought of doing that (years of starting problems always make me reluctant to turn off in the queue!)
Anyway, we pulled up to the line, lights on, heated screen on, pace note light working, 3-2-1-Go - and we expired in a cloud of steam
The marshals pushed us away from the line and over to the side. She started up again so I asked if we could head into the stage, but the scrutineer (who was there to check everyone was ready for the night stage) said he thought a hose had gone and suggested I had a look. He had a decent torch so we looked under the bonnet and found the radiator overflow pipe (which is pressurised and blocked with a bolt) had split near the radiator. This was good as it was the only hose I had a chance of repairing and I had my Swiss Army knife in my pocket
A few minutes later, I had shortened the hose and refitted it. The scrutineer got me some water from the Rescue people and we were ready to go.
Cars were still leaving the line just beside us and the marshals weren't sure about allowing us to go into the stage from where we were parked. As we had left the line, I think we could have gone anyway, but a better plan was to ask them to give us a new start time and do it properly. The stage commander and start marshals had a chat and decided they might as well let us restart, so we got organised, manoeuvred back over the line and started the night stage 15 minutes after we'd first attempted it!
So we got going, but I couldn't see much - there was so much steam inside the car, and water on the floor being turned into more steam by the exhaust, the heated screen couldn't keep up. I drove as fast as I dared but didn't want to throw it off after having got away with the problem, and George did a great job reading the notes slower than she had been all day. We got caught near the end by 2 cars, but it was a great relief to make it out in one piece, although we dropped over 2 minutes on this stage. David and Richard collected us from Parc Ferme and we just made it to the Italian to pick up a takeaway before they shut at 10pm.
After a good nights rest, we headed back to Parc Ferme on Sunday morning. DVY started up fine and I added some water and dried the floors as well as I could. We had a short service before heading out on the stages and took the opportunity to fit the X22 wets as it had rained overnight and was still damp in the air.
There were 3 stages run twice, Clogagh, Ballinascarthy and Rossmore, all familiar stages but run slightly differently this year. We started well, despite cocking up the first hairpin and nearly ending up in the bank! It was slippery but not too bad, although we passed quite a few cars who had gone off, and set times in the top 50.
Back in service, Richard did a final spanner check and I checked the water again, before David and Richard went off to watch the final stage, and we went to the start of the loop. Clogagh had dried out quite a lot so we were 30s quicker here, and I got the hairpin right! Ballinascarthy and Rossmore were still damp so we weren’t much faster, being sensible we got to the end in one piece to collect our finishers mugs.
When the results came out we were 36th in the National section and got a special award for 1st English crew
This picture is from the very first stage, when DVY looked clean!
Not sure when I’ll be out next – I need to sort out a decent demisting system first...
West Cork Rally - 18/19th March 2017
This year there were 141 cars entered with myself and George at 113. David and Richard were servicing - Carrie couldn't make it this year, having recently moved house and in between jobs. Due to ongoing insurance issues, the entry fee had gone up again and there were less overseas crews making the journey.
George and I completed the recce in plenty of time and after bleeding the brakes on DVY, we headed off to scrutineering.
This went smoothly, the only comment from the scrutineer was that they prefer the buckles on the shoulder straps (which hold the straps round the cage / harness bar) to be as close as possible to the bar to prevent any slack in an accident. We sorted this out after signing on and parked up in Parc Ferme for the night.
Saturday was dry but overcast and was a late start to allow it to get dark for the night stage. We went out on the slicks for the first loop, Ring followed by Dunworley.
Apart from the windscreen starting to steam up at the end of the stages, everything went well and we were up to speed quickly. A quick check in service and out for the second loop on the same stages - 26s quicker on Ring and 15s on Dunworley, setting times just outside the top 50 National crews.
Back to service for a late lunch, everything checked, even the tyres were lasting well! The afternoon stages were Ardfield and Hayes Cross, both run twice. There was a big delay at Ardfield but the stage was still running so we waited patiently and completed it and the following one. Another service and a few cars were putting spotlights on, even though the night stage was later. I thought we'd get through these 2 again without it getting too dark, but there was another delay on Ardfield and by the end of Hayes Cross it was pretty dim - I was having trouble seeing the end of the straights and George was looking hard at the notes. We were slower on both these, and so were a lot of crews around us, the front of the field obviously having a better run in daylight.
At the final service of the day, it was time to fit the spotlights and head off into the dark for Sams Cross, a good 10 mile stage. We left service a bit early (as we were allowed to) but parked up near the start of the stage to allow a few cars past so we were in the right order. As we queued up getting closer to the start, the temperature was creeping up, but with only a few cars to go I knew it would come down as soon as we left the start line. We were given a start time and realised they had switched to minute starts so it was 5 more minutes, the temperature now off the scale. I should have switched off, let the engine cool down and gone a bit later, but neither George nor I thought of doing that (years of starting problems always make me reluctant to turn off in the queue!)
Anyway, we pulled up to the line, lights on, heated screen on, pace note light working, 3-2-1-Go - and we expired in a cloud of steam
The marshals pushed us away from the line and over to the side. She started up again so I asked if we could head into the stage, but the scrutineer (who was there to check everyone was ready for the night stage) said he thought a hose had gone and suggested I had a look. He had a decent torch so we looked under the bonnet and found the radiator overflow pipe (which is pressurised and blocked with a bolt) had split near the radiator. This was good as it was the only hose I had a chance of repairing and I had my Swiss Army knife in my pocket
A few minutes later, I had shortened the hose and refitted it. The scrutineer got me some water from the Rescue people and we were ready to go.Cars were still leaving the line just beside us and the marshals weren't sure about allowing us to go into the stage from where we were parked. As we had left the line, I think we could have gone anyway, but a better plan was to ask them to give us a new start time and do it properly. The stage commander and start marshals had a chat and decided they might as well let us restart, so we got organised, manoeuvred back over the line and started the night stage 15 minutes after we'd first attempted it!
So we got going, but I couldn't see much - there was so much steam inside the car, and water on the floor being turned into more steam by the exhaust, the heated screen couldn't keep up. I drove as fast as I dared but didn't want to throw it off after having got away with the problem, and George did a great job reading the notes slower than she had been all day. We got caught near the end by 2 cars, but it was a great relief to make it out in one piece, although we dropped over 2 minutes on this stage. David and Richard collected us from Parc Ferme and we just made it to the Italian to pick up a takeaway before they shut at 10pm.
After a good nights rest, we headed back to Parc Ferme on Sunday morning. DVY started up fine and I added some water and dried the floors as well as I could. We had a short service before heading out on the stages and took the opportunity to fit the X22 wets as it had rained overnight and was still damp in the air.
There were 3 stages run twice, Clogagh, Ballinascarthy and Rossmore, all familiar stages but run slightly differently this year. We started well, despite cocking up the first hairpin and nearly ending up in the bank! It was slippery but not too bad, although we passed quite a few cars who had gone off, and set times in the top 50.
Back in service, Richard did a final spanner check and I checked the water again, before David and Richard went off to watch the final stage, and we went to the start of the loop. Clogagh had dried out quite a lot so we were 30s quicker here, and I got the hairpin right! Ballinascarthy and Rossmore were still damp so we weren’t much faster, being sensible we got to the end in one piece to collect our finishers mugs.
When the results came out we were 36th in the National section and got a special award for 1st English crew
This picture is from the very first stage, when DVY looked clean!
Not sure when I’ll be out next – I need to sort out a decent demisting system first...
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