Skoda Rally Blog

Single venue rallies often take place on disused airfields, most often on ones that were made during WW2. As you can imagine, they have usually gone somewhat downhill, meaning they’re rough, broken up and can present quite a challenge to the car in places. So it was quite a pleasant surprise when we went to Colerne airfield, North Wiltshire, to find that it’s a currently-used airbase, and the runway could only be described as billiard-table smooth. I’ve been on rougher race tracks. We got there at 8am, and found that everyone had left the best place for us – right by the burger bar and toilets. It was so well arranged that we didn’t even need to un-hitch the trailer, so we were completely lazy – just drive the car off, and there you go.

Scrutineering may have taken a while (big queue), but was done by the most pleasant, jokey scrutineer I’ve met, ever. It’s always my least favourite part of the day (as there’s the spectre of not being allowed to compete, despite never having failed scrutineering), but this was nice, and everyone in the queue (including Peter Hopkins, who built N158 UBD) was a good laugh. Splendid.

The big downside of airfield events in the Felicia is power. Or rather the near total absense of it. Reason being is that there are long straights – sometimes half a mile long. And in that time the big boys will be doing 130, and getting there very quickly. There was NO car yesterday that was as slow as we are in a straight line – I’m almost certain we were in the only standard car, and even the minis were eating us alive in the straights. But in the corners, we can hold our own, and even make time up on people. Moan over!

So, stage 1 was , well, the first stage. Where we were we could see the queue for the arrival control so there was no problem with timing, etc, and we could be relaxed – indeed this was probably the least nerve-racking day I’ve ever had rallying. Off we went, and found a really nice course, with very well-made chicanes (once you’d worked out what to look for, they were really clear, but the first one was a bit confusing until we got near to it), and generally a good fun stage on some very smooth tarmac – there were a few surprises (including a “long bar chicane” which had lots of dirt/grass on it, which was a slide-off-the-road job) but all good fun and with little of substance to hit and damage the car. We did OK, and the tyres (which were poor on SS1 of Fat Albert) were fine this time out, right out of the box. There were no real dramas on this, and the re-run (SS2) was a good 20 seconds faster.

SS3 had some minimal changes from SS1/2, and was more fun – Paul was starting to get into it a bit, but still being careful so we’d finish. There were some ‘interesting’ noises coming from the engine/box, but it turned out it was just the engine moving a little (not much at all) and tapping the sumpguard) – every time he changed down a gear there was a “clunk”, but it was OK all day. The re-run of this was again quicker than the previous, so that left us half way through the day with the sun still shining (despite some cloud), and with a lengthy break for Paul to hear Liverpool’s poor start to the season!

SS5 was the first “reversed” stage, and there was quite a delay before it started, so we all queued up, 4 cars wide. This gave us 20 minutes to do two things – firstly, see others’ start techniques. If you’ve never seen the start line of a rally stage, then it’s easy to think everyone would look the same, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Firstly, not everyone gives it total death from the start – some are quite reserved, while others just hit the rev limiter and drop the clutch, leaving the tyres to do all the work, with wonderful (but probably not very good for the car) results. But it’s not just that – the difference between the cars is also important. A 4wd car just seems to be pulled by an invisible force – very little wheelspin, just being catapaulted forwards at unreasonable speed. The RWD cars look best – wheelspinning, making lots of noise, and going quickly, but not as fast as the 4WD cars. Finally, there’s the FWD cars, which spin a fair bit more, but some of them really shift. So that was fun. However, there was far more fun – there was a bend which was new, and seeing people come down to that and get it a bit (or in some cases totally and utterly) wrong, and then watch the marshals play ‘replace the cones’ was very good fun. The stage itself was good fun, and Paul was getting much better at using the full width of the track and braking a bit nearer the mark.

SS6 was a bit damp – there had been a bit of rain in the service area, but not enough to worry about. But the far side of the stage was quite wet, and when we got out there (on dry tyres), there were some…er…. moments! We were only 12 seconds slower than the previous time, so not too bad (some lots plenty more, some less).

And then the rain came. What I can only describe as a downpour of biblical proportions occurred – I stepped outside the Pajero to check our start time, and was instantly soaked. This was a problem – as I don’t do a lot of tarmac (and ‘cos Paul killed the previous wets), I don’t have a big supply of tyres. So I’d brought some standard, cheapo remould tyres (off the car I broke a while back), “just in case it really chucks it down”. Well, it was really chucking it down, so we bunged ’em on, with just minutes to spare. Paul was a little worried about using these tyres (because they were thin and cheap), but I was sure they’d be the best choice. Looks like I was right – there was a remarkable amount of grip, given that the stage was covered in standing water – there was a bit of 70mph aquaplaning, and the sound of the water on the bottom of the car was quite loud. We did well considering all this, and looking at other cars going round made me realise just how wet it really was – the other cars seemed to be going through a river. When we got to the previously dirty chicane, it was now a puddle. I said to just “go for it”, and we did – the splash was great, and there was a car broken down just after it, which looked to have given in to the water! Second lap was just as fun, but no-one there to photograph it.

SS8, the last of the day, was a re-run. The rain had mostly stopped in the service area, but the track was still soaking, so we stuck with the tyres we had (partly from laziness!), and off we went. It was going OK, until we got caught by someone in a Mk.2 who was being, frankly an impatient git. He nearly hit us and in our attempts to get out of the way we hit a cone (not the first of the day!), and it got stuck under the front of the car. I thought it would just ping off, but it didn’t. We did half a lap with it there until I told Paul to pull over and reverse off it, as the smell was terrible, it was actually slowing us down, and pushing water over the front of the car. Despite this issue, we still beat the old time by nearly 10 seconds, so it would have been much, much faster if not for that.

But we finished. Overall, a great day (oh, and overall, 38th!), and (a tedious hour later) another signature.

That makes us 5 for 5. And only one more to go. Longcross, September 3rd. Three days after that, the regs for WRGB come out, and we’re one step closer to realising a dream.

…. in with the new. Absolutely ages ago I bought some bilstein suspension – this was before I even got the Felicia. However, in the last few months the rears on the Felicia have been crying “enough”, so it was time to change them. And it proved to be a lot easier than I expected – I’d thought the bolts that held them in place at the bottom would be rusted solid, but thankfully the car’s builder had copper greased them, so they came off easily. So, out with the old….

… and in with the new!

All seemed well – the ride height is more easily adjustable (and infinitely so), and the bottom joints are spherical bearings, which should make for a tighter ride. A short test drive showed all to be well. So I left the car until I headed off for the BDCC Slalom at Matchams Leisure Park on Sunday. And when I got there, drove over a speed bump and BANG! Trouble!

One of the rear spring tops had parted company with the damper rod, meaning the damper rod was now just bobbing about inside the car (still attached, but like a bar poking up showing how far the suspension was compressed), and making a mess of the parcel shelf support. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I was just glad this wasn’t Fat Albert.

Got there, jacked the car up and removed it and found that it was a bad design – there needs to be a big, solid washer between the top spring cup and the rubber mount to stop the damper rod from pushing through. Thankfully Steve Colville had something suitable to drill out and use and in 15 minutes both sides were done. In the end I managed to come second in class in the slalom (only due to losing 11 seconds on the last but one test due to a driving/navigation error), to Mr. Colville no less. But had a great time in my car and in Gary Hayter’s 2 litre Mk.2 Escort, which was a wheelspinning beast all day – most fun I’ve had in a car since I met Jackie Broderick.

This weekend, it’s Fat Albert. Hopefully all will stay put, but I’ll be packing some more washers and so on, just in case!

This weekend was always going to be a bit different to the other events I’ve done with Paul. Firstly, it’s quite a way away – 170 miles, in fact, so the longest trip for any of the events we’re going to do (about as far as I’ve been doing any rally, in fact), and secondly it wasn’t tarmac, it was to feature a mixture of surfaces – concrete, gravel, tarmac, grass and, it turned out, cow poo!

Firstly, we had to stay somewhere on Saturday night, which meant a twin room at a pub in Burnham on Crouch, not too far from the rally, but when they said “basic twin” they weren’t kidding. The worst beds I’ve seen in a long time (they did a passable impression of a banana once you’d laid on them), and the room was infested with Crane Flies – as we’d see the next day, Essex is the insect capital of England, if not Europe. And it was hot in there too. We had to watch the inevitable failure of England to get through a penalty shoot-out (which I must be getting used to now as it was only half an hour before I’d forgotten about it), and then a restless night’s sleep with the locals making a LOT of noise. Wonderful!

Sunday dawned crystal-clear and warm, and we got to the event on time, but it seemed everyone else was late – you were supposed to arrive in numerical order, and while I was offloading, number 27 turned up. When we’d got scrutineered and signed on, number 15 arrived. This would set the pattern for the day – it’s certainly not a complaint; this was the most relaxed stage rally I’ve ever taken part in.

In addition to being a mixed surface event, it’s also the only Multi-Venue event we’ll be doing – the others are based at a single airfield or similar, whereas this event featured four areas, so we needed to drive on the road between stages, which is a challenge as you have to follow ‘tulips’ which show junctions and distances, but as both of us had done these before (although the other way round) this would be no problem, we hoped.

Stage 1 was a little one based on a disused airfield by Bradwell nuclear power station. The course was pretty tight, and as it was Paul’s first time driving the car on the gravel tyres and also his first time driving a car on the loose, we took it easy. Immediately he found that it behaves quite differently, and it took the first stage to get the hang of, it, with some unintentional understeer and a couple of times with the back getting loose under braking. His sense of smell isn’t great, which was a bonus as some of the stage was marked out by what had to be the biggest pile of poo I’ve ever seen! There was a moment where we got caught out by a really tight hairpin, but that worked out OK, but that was that. We looped round and did Stage 2 which was much like 1, but with a different ending. No problems, then off to SS3. This was the first one involving grass, based on a massive farm, so there was also concrete and tarmac to take care of as well as a bit of gravel. Already someone had gone off (grass tells tales, you see), and despite it being dry, it was bouncy and therefore a bit random in places. Also, the maps weren’t totally accurate, so some note-making was done on any stage we’d re-run so we could take it more quickly/safely next time. Finally in this loop was Stage 4 which was a re-run of stage 1, and there were no real problems there – Paul was getting the hang of things and just trying to go faster.

Back to ‘service’, which involved eating, mostly. There’s not a lot to do on the Felicia, apart from check things over, so we just made sure the wheels wouldn’t fall off. They didn’t, all day.

Next up were two stages that were new and a fair distance away, so we had a half hour road section. Now, what I should mention here is that it was a really hot day by now, so it was getting pretty hot in the car. And it’d been dry for a long time, too. Which made the ground reasonably predictable, but also meant it was pretty dusty. When we arrived at Stage 5, Coney Hall, a 2.6 mile farm-based stage, there was a delay, and it was a chance to hide in the shade while the problem was cleared. Once we got going, it was one of those stages where you just wished you had a really, really quick car – there were a couple of long straights (one about a mile long) where you could go absolutely flat out (we were, but when I say ‘flat out’, I’m not really thinking of a 68bhp Skoda), so a quick car would make up a lot of time. And next up was the mothership, Wraywick. This is an 8 mile stage, with just about every surface – gravel, grass, concrete, tarmac, and mixtures of them too. The first gravel section was really fun as there wasn’t anything to hit if it went wrong apart from some wheat. But nothing went wrong. The maps were a little deceptive though! Then there was a bumpy grass section, and then the ditches appeared. Most of them ran parallel to the track we were on, and they were fairly deep, so if you’d had a couple of bad bounces there would be a problem. Above about 55 was getting hairy, so we just kept around that speed with the throttle helping pull the car in the right direction. There were a couple of bounces that seemed dodgy at the time, but I’m sure they weren’t anything bad in hindsight. Another tarmac section and more gravel, and then more long, bumpy straights. This one had a little surprise though – someone’s car in it! It showed how deep the ditch was – the car was on its side, and you could only see the upper doors and rear light. Not good at all! We passed on the opportunity to join them, and made it to the end of the stage, although on all the straights Paul needed to towel down, which made for some interesting drifting if he chose to close his eyes!

Next we were off to Service 2, which was at a different service location. Except, of course, we don’t have a service crew, so we were just going to pull in and order a hot dog from the catering trailer. Except just as we were getting there, they were leaving! DISASTER!!!! So, we just nosed around, and cooled off using the hose there. There had been a Mk2 Escort behind us on the last stage, but he’d not been able to get too close due to the huge plume of dust we’d chucked up behind us. And it turned out he’d also crushed his exhaust as well, so things weren’t going well for them. Then there were re-runs of the last two stages which went OK – we were over the half way point by now, so no point in having a moment. I’d made notes on the last two stages so we could go quicker, which paid off – certainly a lot less hairy, despite things having cut up and become more bumpy in places. Back to service 3…. for the hot dog I’d promised myself an hour previously!

The rest of the stages were re-runs, of the airfield and Stage 3. Each time it was getting better, with Paul getting things more together, although still taking it easy so we could get a finish and a signature. So, no heroics (aside from an intentional sideways moment which just elicited a “you knob” comment from me!), but we did get to the end of Stage 12, and even get back without needing fuel at any point – because of the low speeds involved and not wheelspinning all over the place, it was probably quite economical overall!

Once we were at the finish, got the most important thing – a signature from the Clerk of the Course. This means we’re 50% of the way to Paul getting his licence so we can do WRGB. And that’s a 100% finishing record for him as a driver. We can only go in one direction from there, alas. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen too soon.

It was a long slog home (4 hours, including stops) with the trusty, rusty trailer, and the car is absolutely filthy – every single part of the car (inside and out) is dusty, and it’s a sort of clingy, clay-like dust which is a pig to remove. So I’ve got a LOT of cleaning to do, and a few minor things to fix before the next outing, Fat Albert Stages, 29th July.

This weekend will see our furthest-away event, the Essex Charity Stages – not an event I’ve been to before. It offers 45 miles of stages for ?165, which compares very well to most multi-venue events, but that’s because it uses farm tracks and disused airfields, rather than mind-meltingly expensive Forestry Commission tracks.

Being a navigator has turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would. With one exception, and that was today. I had to get us some accomodation, and spent a fruitless hour on the Internet and phone trying to find us somewhere within a decent distance of the event, and finally did. I hate using the phone, so making 20 pointless phone calls wasn’t a great way to spend half the morning. So I spent the rest of it fixing the car (various little things here and there, nothing major), and making sure it’s all OK. So far, so good.

But there are a few challenges this weekend. Firstly, it’s my first multi-venue event navigating, which should be OK, but I have NO IDEA what the road books, etc, will be like – usually you get the road book (which tells you where to go throughout the day) by post, so you can peruse it before the event (or in Paul’s case, ignore it completely!), but we’ll be getting this when we sign on, probably around 8am on Sunday morning. So no time to plan anything else. And the paperwork I’ve had so far looked, well, let’s say it was a bit sparse, and leave it at that.

Next problem – there are two service areas. This is something that always causes me a problem, because we don’t ever have a service crew. So what we do is leave the Pajero in the service area with all the stuff (OK, a toolbox and some spare wheels) in it. But when you have two service areas, you can’t do that. Well, you can, but if you need something and you’re at one and it’s at the other, you’re stuffed. This happened on Newton Abbot stages last year, but luckily there was no drama. So we’ll have to be uber-careful to not need anything at Service 2. And carry a couple of spare wheels and a few choice things in the toolbag of doom in the back of the car. What I really need for occasions like this is Sport Billy’s bag. That would do nicely.

Rallying is great fun. I found that out on the very first event I did, at Smeatharpe, all the way back in 2004 – seems like a lifetime ago. Most people take it far more seriously than me, in terms of financial investment, but even at the lowly level that I run at, it can be an expensive hobby. Let’s look at the costs for Abingdon last weekend:

Entry: ?205.
Fuel (there and back): ?50
Fuel (on event): ?30
Tyres (cheap): ?30
Car preparation (routine): ?50

So, for the day that was a total of ?365. And that is incredibly cheap, ‘cos we basically just turned up and ran the car for the day, put fuel in, and then went home. It’s fairly sturdy, but that’s still ?180 each for the day.

As a result of this, I sometimes take on work that I wouldn’t normally do, but I’ll think that I can earn as much in a day as I can spend at a rally, so I’m even over the two days. And that happened this weekend – I was doing Caerwent on the Sunday, and had been offered a chance to do an event which I’d done last year on the Saturday, Dinton Jazz Jamboree. It wasn’t the kind of thing I normally do (providing a PA), but I thought I’d do it anyway. But after I’d agreed (and entered Caerwent), I found out that the event had been lengthened to finish at 11:15 instead of the 10pm of last year. Not good. And these things always run over time. So to cut a long story short, I didn’t get to bed until 1:10am. And had to be up at 4am to go to Caerwent. Not a good start, but we got there OK, with 10 minutes to spare, despite having a Sat Nav software crash meaning I missed a turning and did a dodgy detour!

I left Paul to get the car scrutineered and noise tested as I think it’s time he sees the full terror of all that stuff, and I went and set up in the service area. For once, we had everything nicely set up, and all seemed well. Scrutineering went OK, and we signed on, and then off we went.

Now, I’ve been to Caerwent 3 times before, but this time was quite a change as it was being run “in reverse”, so much of what we’d learned would be redundant, apart from “be bloody careful!”, which would be the watchword of the day. We decided to take a long-term view of the day as finishing was the main objective, to get the second of those valuable signatures.

Stage 1 was upon us fairly quickly, and the first thing I found was that if I didn’t keep a finger in my place on the map as we went round, I’d get lost. If you’ve not seen a map (and if you’ve not competed there, you won’t have done) of Caerwent, then you might think this is silly, but it’s really quite complex, and much of the map can be confused with other parts – imagine a randomly-dropped piece of spaghetti that doesn’t overlap itself but comes close to doing so and you won’t be far off. So I took to looking like a 7 year-old with poor reading skills, which helped greatly. Paul was driving very conservatively on the first stage, but this was fine by me, getting used to the car again, and getting an idea of how slippy things were; the problem here is that the surface can change quite quickly from smooth, grippy tarmac to gravel or broken tarmac, and suddenly…. you’re off!

Stage 2 was a re-run, and without any bravado, a minute was taken off the previous time. Nothing else to report other than improved confidence and braking, although still quite cautious.

Stage 3 involved some changes, but mostly to the end – there was a new section which was where I’d broken down the time that we just did one mile before the driveshaft broke in the Favorit. To say it was dodgy was an understatement. Not really tarmac at all – there were car-battery sized rocks (and pieces of kerb) all over the place, and Paul did well to keep us going and pick through the lot of them without too much trouble. We then headed into a section where it was hard to see where we should go – no arrows, no tape, and if it wasn’t for a group of marshals, we probably wouldn’t have had a clue. Very, very slippy here first time through as well, gravel on tarmac,so all sorts of slidey fun! Didn’t hit anything though, and caught up with a nova going very slowly.

Stage 4 was another re-run, but this time we had a spin – sometimes Paul doesn’t get all his braking done soon enough, and re-brakes in a corner entry, and this spun us round in an awkward spot – we got going before we were caught, but probably lost 20 seconds between that and the next thing we hit – there was a 4″ reinforced concrete post in the middle of the road that we hit – I was reading the map at the time and didn’t see it, but I heard and felt it. We got to the end of the stage without event, but the sumpguard was definitely bent as a result, and this is the thick, forest, 10mm aluminium one!

Now the tiredness was kicking in. On the stage I was OK, but between (particularly queueing before the start) I was feeling pretty tired.

Stage 5 involved some minor changes, including taking out a ‘bus stop’ detour meaning we could take a couple of corners flat in 4th gear which was fun, and Paul was getting far more on it as we went now, although still braking conservatively for the most part, which is fine by me – we were having fun, but staying on the safe side of things as the finish is everything.

Stage 6, much the same again – getting some corners better, and taking some safe cuts, although there were a couple which were a cut too far and resulted in more sumpguard action! Still, that’s what it’s there for, isn’t it?

Finally, Stage 7. By now, things were settling into a pattern, and we were at the back of the field, but only 22 seconds adrift. On the first stage and stage 4 (the spin!), we’d lost time to the mini that was ahead of us, but the rest of the stages we were faster than them. 24 seconds was the amount we’d made up on the last stage, so it was possible that we could get out of last place. But we had to make sure of a finish as well. Paul drove really neatly on this last stage, but we only took 11 seconds out of them, so we finished in last, but we finished.

We had to wait half an hour to get Paul’s licence signed (in case there were any protests), so by the time we went, the place was completely deserted. It took 2 cans of red bull on the way home to keep me going, and as I write this now (Monday morning), I’m still tired. But it was worth it.

We’re 2 for 2. Next up, Essex Charity Stages, July 2nd. And that’s not tarmac!

So, here comes rally #2. Because of the time constraints (I really want to get Paul’s licence as soon as possible), this weekend is the next rally. At Caerwent. Yes, the Army base in South Wales, famed for the difficulty as a car breaker, mostly because of the high kerbs and very tight nature of the venue.

Which wouldn’t be so bad, but there is another issue. I’m working the night before, and won’t be back until midnight, and then have to leave here around 5am in time to get scrutineered. And we can’t use the trailer, ‘cos it’s dodgy and would also take another hour to get there. Tears, anyone?

So, this was to be Paul’s first rally of (hopefully) six, to get his International licence…..

After yesterday’s issues, I was dreading another ‘little’ problem stopping us from even getting there let alone competing, but I woke up nice and early (5:45) and got there by 8am, which was really good. It was quite busy there, but we got a space by Gary Hayter, which meant we could shelter in the shadow from his EZ-Up which was very handy. Got all the maps ready, and then realised I was as nervous as if I was driving, but this was probably because I was worried about the car. Anyway, off we went, and did Stage 1, which was taking it relatively easy as Paul had never driven the car before, but it went OK. He was a bit ragged (well, quite a lot), but we didn’t hit anything, although there were a couple of close moments in the tight areas by the bomb dumps. Second run was a bit better and neater, although it being sunny meant it was already getting quite hot in the car, and it was still before 11am. We got caught up by car 83, who overtook us and then promptly span in front of us, so we overtook him. Down the next straight he was catching us, but not enough to overtake yet, we could let him past on the next straight, but he had other ideas, and I was alarmed to see his bonnet right by my window. It could have got messy, but thankfully (luck/judgement? Who knows!) we didn’t hit. But it was damn close. Stage 3 was a slight change, but getting better again, but Paul took it a little close to a chicane and BANG! off went his mirror. Which was a problem because we were being lapped by faster traffic and not seeing them could be fatal, especially considering what had already happened!

However, there was worse to come. Car 100, a Suzuki Swift (very nice, tidy car, and pretty quick) was nearly catching us each time towards the end of the run, but not enough to actually overtake us. But at the end of stage 4, we were running through the last ‘bus stop’ chicane, and they were about 5 seconds behind. And Paul overdid it, went into the last corner too fast and hit the pallets on the exit (which had moved each time, and I’d called them as being tight, but there you go….). And I looked in the remaining mirror and saw the car coming, and then…. skid…. BANG! They’d hit us, fairly hard, it seemed. They backed up, and got free, and I could see in the mirror that their headlamp was smashed, indicator gone, bumper, bonnet and wing beaten in. I didn’t want to look at the back of the car, but we had the last mile or so of the stage to cover anyway, so off we went once we’d de-beached the car. We got to the end, and then back to service. I had a look and…. nothing looked broken! The bumper was a bit scratched and had some dents in it, but that was it really – had a look behind the bumper and there was a dented panel, but that was it. Went to see the Swift guys who were putting a brave face on it, but they didn’t seem happy, but it’s my opinion that if you’re behind a car you want to keep clear of it until you’re not going to hit them. I asked if I could have my green paint back…..

Anyway, the next stages were more of the same – reversals of the previous stages, so some of the corners were a bit awkward as they might have been wide exits and were now tight. Paul was getting a bit better, but we had a fuel issue (it was drinking the stuff), so before Stage 6 we drove off to the petrol station and filled up! Saves on jerry cans, or waiting round the service area, for sure. But now we had some fuel we went for it again, and all went well. In short, we kept it nice and tight, and finished.

1 down. 5 to go.

Caerwent is next. This will be a serious challenge, as nearly every corner is kerbed, and one error will mean game over. A finish there will be a real achievement.

… so I thought the drive would go smoothly – go to Abingdon on the Saturday and get scrutineered, come back and then drive up on the Sunday. So, we set off in plenty of time, and it’s all going well then suddenly, it’s not! There was a massive whistle/whining sound that appeared, and obviously I thought it was trouble straight away. I slowed down and then changed into fourth, and it went, so it looked like a problem with 5th only. Changing back to 5th showed that the problem was getting worse very quickly – the speed/load that it would happen at got lower each time, so I decided to stick it in fourth, take it easy and get scrutineered.

Got to Abingdon and watched the first half of England vs Paraguay in the World Cup, but gave up on the second half because I’d rather get the car scrutineered, which went OK. Once Paul had finished, got everything done and then went home to change the box. An hour and a half later all was well again, apart from having waterproofed the drive with EP80. So, on to tomorrow, then, with some luck!

So, I’m sat in the living room on a sunny Friday evening. And this weekend is the first ‘real’ step for me towards competing in Wales Rally GB this year. Paul has taken (and passed) his BARS test, and has his licence now. Sunday is his first drive in a rally – we are taking part in the Abingdon Car-nival rally, which is a single-venue all tarmac event, with about 90 miles of stages. I’ve been driving the car this week, and it’s running well – probably as well as it ever has been, and I’m hoping that the car will behave itself all weekend – firstly because I’ve still not fixed the trailer so we’re going to drive to the event (and hopefully back as well), and secondly because time is a little tight now, in terms of finishing 6 events in time for Paul to get his licence upgraded. There are just under 6 months left before WRGB – that is an average of 1 event a month, obviously. But we’re hopefully going to be doing Caerwent next weekend (a little difficult, time-wise as I am working until late on the Saturday night, so I’ll be a bit tired), and then on July 2nd there is Essex Charity Stages, which is a long haul, but should be good fun.

But first there’s Abingdon. This isn’t an event I’ve done before, and I’ve not done an SV since the 3 counties in March 2005, so hopefully it’ll all go smoothly!

So, the ?70 coil pack didn’t work. And neither did new plugs, or anything else. So I bought another car to break. 1 owner from new, 120k miles, ?112.99 on eBay! Drove like a rocket, so I knew I’d be able to fix the car. In addition, it would mean that I’ve got most of the spares I’ll need – a decent gearbox, running engine (which I may rebuild), and I managed to strip the car down to a bare shell in all of 5 hours.

Replaced the throttle body, manifold sensor, Crank Sensor, Temperature sensor, Lambda Probe, injectors, basically everything. Nothing made any difference. Bought a gauge to measure the fuel pressure. No dice there – absolutely spot on there too. Gave up, having thrown my toys out of the pram, and all across the garage floor.

So today I grew up, and after a brief chat with Mother Teresa (well, Steve Colville), decided I’d change the exhaust – after all, there wasn’t a lot else to change. Fortunately when I fitted the exhaust I’d used copper grease on the sliding joint to the tailpipe, so it actually came off without any real effort. Put the new pipe on, but didn’t bother with the tailpipe as I didn’t have a spare. It sounded quite nice – not hideously loud, just with a bit of bite to the sound. And off down the road, and instantly knew it was OK, ‘cos for the first time in ages pulling away led to some wheelspin. The ‘usual’ speed tests showed that it was nearly as quick as the car I broke, which isn’t bad considering the taller gearing because of the 80 profile tyres compared to 70s on the scrapper.

Sorted!

Now I just need to get another tailpipe and rip the guts out of it, ‘cos that’s Group N legal. And I know it won’t be too loud either.