Skoda Rally Blog

OK, so it’s only brief, but thanks to my eagle-eyed sis, there’s some footage on YouTube of us on the Sunseeker – first time I’ve seen the car from the outside…. It’s only about 5 seconds though, so nothing to get too excited about, but it’s at 1:02 or so if you’re interested. Or bored!

If you missed the excitement of the Sunseeker (!) then you can listen to it here – the globecast podcast has highlights including yours truly on the start line – it was quite a laugh this year, and we didn’t manage the triple-wooden spoon, so it sounds better in retrospect….

Any doubts I may have had about not being excited were soon dispelled when I awoke at 4:30 and couldn’t really get back to sleep. Not a good start to the day – by the time I got up at 7 I felt tired!

We got everything together, met up with Kev and Jo (who were as chase car), and then set off for the service area, which was as ever like a little town. And warmer than in previous years – Canford Arena is always windy, but it was bearable which made a pleasant change. The car started on the button (which was nice), and I changed the wheels over and got everything else ready. Which wasn’t a lot, really. Everyone else seems to have hundreds of things to do, but I guess having a simple, near-standard car means if it’s OK, it’s OK!

Our due time came, and off we went to the first stage of the day, SS3, Bere Heath. The entry to Bere Heath is really rough and wet, and with the hours of rain from the night before, it was soaked. And there was a queue, because a couple of cars had gone off, leading to a 20 minute delay. So, we got out, had a chat with a few people and waited to get to the front, which seemed to take a lot longer. Just before the line, we saw Rod Bennett, who’d done WRGB, and his car had died on the start line, with no drive, so he just said “hello” and that he was round the corner. Not a good day for him, sadly. We got going, and it went OK. The ground was really wet, which meant muchola ruttage, and also the car was quite slow because of the extra drag. There was a big watersplash where the cars had gone off, so we took it easy there, and then it was over, being shortened due to the FC having made a mess of the road – 2 miles shorter than usual.

SS4, Wareham North was marshalled by the BDCC, so I saw a few familiar faces. It starts with a very long straight, and after a few corners I came across a situation which looked like the kind of thing you hope you never see – several cars stopped in stage and at first I thought “Oh God, someone’s had a bad one” – there were the few cars in front of us from the line, and then a couple stopped on the corner. And then it became clear – the front car had got stuck, and the one behind them had got stuck too – everyone was out of the cars, and all the other cars were just unable to get past. The 205 in front of us and the other Skoda then got stuck, and it took a while to get them past. Once they had, the other Skoda got past and we had to too – thanks to a helping hand from Simon Andrew (only realised it was him afterwards) we didn’t lose much time. And we spent the rest of the stage in sight of the Becketts (who’d lost nearly a minute to us as a result), and realising that although their car is quicker in the straights (it’s lighter than the Felicia and probably a bit more powerful too), we were going in harder in the corners and catching up. I didn’t get too close as I didn’t want to hit them if they had a moment, but I’m sure if we had got past, we would have gone quicker. There seemed to be cars off all over the place, including Tony Jardine (yes, Tony “I’m bloody everywhere” Jardine), but we got to the end of the stage and had clearly made up a lot of time as a result of the problem. But I also realised that the car that was stuck in stage was…. the Nissan Micra Kit car, which was the only other car in class A5. And they must have lost 10 minutes at least as they were 10 in front of us. I put it out of my mind though, and off to SS5, which was Ebblake, one of my favourites, although the traffic on the way there wasn’t my favourite – we only had about 30 seconds to spare…..

Ebblake is a stage I really like as it has come great corners in the first section, and then a fast run at the end which I’ve got better at each time. The opening section went well, and then over the narrow bridge and a 90 left. Which was slippy. Very slippy, and we looked to be going in the ditch, but I stopped just in time. I then turned the wheel and went to pull away.

And ended up in the ditch.

Idiot.

I couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t move. The wheel in the ditch was just spinning, and if we’d had the LSD, we’d have been out. No, in fact we wouldn’t have been in there with the LSD, but that’s by the by.

Several ages passed. Well, a minute, as the escort behind us passed. Then, finally, one of the spectators decided to give us a hand, and then a few more followed, suddenly many were helping, and still it wouldn’t move. The only way was to lift the front of the car sideways, and they did it! I don’t know who was there helping out, but a massive, MASSIVE thanks to each of you.

We got going fairly quickly, Paul found his place, and off we went. Just managed to beat the Stage Maximum time (5:55 instead of 6:00), but we thought we’d have lost a couple of minutes to the Becketts in the Skoda. As it turns out we were about 1:15 behind them as a result of this. Back to service we went, although when I asked Paul to pass me my banana from the glove box he said I “didn’t deserve it”, and I think he was right. He was sure we wouldn’t make up the time and beat them by the end of the day, but I was determined to do so.

Checked everything over – there was a rattle from the front (just for a change), but nothing seemed wrong. So off we went to Shannon 1, which is Ringwood South. Not normally a good stage for me as a lot of the tracks are black, loamy soil which seems to grab the car and take control. But I must be getting better at controlling it as we went much better than previously, and although there were a couple of moments it went OK. And we took 15 seconds out of our targets. Then, the big one, and another favourite, Mount Ararat. This is over 10 miles, and a good chance to get really into it. I didn’t think I was doing to well though – it was OK, but nothing better than that. And the times showed that – we were only a second or so faster than the Becketts, and I think I’d just lost a bit of confidence and didn’t want to bin it, especially as there were fewer spectators about. And then Somerley, which is always good for the first bit – the house and the forest, but then the end is always rough. And so it proved this year, although for once I kept my head when outside the house, and didn’t lock up on the tarmac, and also trusted the notes and gave it more beans on the sections before and after. But the end! OH, the end was soooo rough, I can’t describe it adequately. For some reason, they always take the route off the normal road, and this year it was into some black soil which then obviously got cut up and then it was just tree roots. Really nasty, and, for me, not what rallying is about. It would be much better if they just set up a chicane or something instead. But there you go. We took another 5 seconds back here too.

A quick check at Emergency service, then back to Canford arena again, and this time found the problem – the strut top bolts were working loose. Kev sorted that out, and we were ready to go again.

SS9 was Bere Heath (Lawson Clump to the locals), known as Grid Law this year. It’s ALWAYS terrible here, and the first part of the stage certainly was. But later in the stage it was much better than before – it had been regraded properly for once, and was drivable at speed without being scared to death. The end was where I had a moment in 2005, and I took it a little more accurately and went OK. And another 9 seconds to the good as well!

SS10 was Wareham, which was a semi-rerun of the morning Wareham stage, again manned by the BDCC. It was soft and rutted to hell, especially at the beginning. There were quite a few cars off, including the Peugeot Cosworth (sadly), and a rolled Rover 220, and also the 106 of Alec Holding who was in a ditch by the second bridge of the stage, but OK. I think this all went pretty well – although it was rutted, we took good lines round the ruts and ditch-hooked the ruts to keep the speed up, and it paid off – the Becketts apparently got beached on one corner for a while, and we took 40 seconds off them. And we were no longer in last place!

SS11 was Bere Wood, which was a re-run of the 2005 Shakedown stage, albeit in reverse. Which was a bit of knowledge, although it had changed a bit. I decided it was time to practice doing pendulum turns by this point, although one of my early attempts happened a bit too soon, and we cut too much off the corner, but I got away with it. And we set an identical time to the other Skoda. Excellent.

Back to service again, and apart from fitting the lamp pod, the only thing I thought about was changing front tyres, but we didn’t have a pair that were worth changing to – the ground here is much softer than in Wales, and the tyre wear wasn’t bad, so we left it as is; if it ain’t broke…..

SS12 was Somerley 2, in reverse, but meaning we’d start out with the roots section, which was no fun. But the rest of the stage was good; it was starting to get a bit dark and I guess quite a few people had gone home – couldn’t really tell as I was a little busy at this point. Somerley’s tracks are always good to drive on, and it’s a great stage – reminds me of classic RAC stuff from the TV years ago. And it went well, although only 0.6 seconds faster than the Becketts – this was getting properly close now!

SS13 was Plumley Wood, which is Mount Ararat in reverse with a bit extra. And is another favourite, and I was determined to go well. The white Mk.2 escort was behind us again (they’d had to get fuel earlier in the day and book in late), and I was determined that this year I wouldn’t get passed on the stage, so I went a bit quicker than in the morning. The pendulum turns were going a bit better (although I overshot one big braking area, but not too badly, and better than braking an hour before I needed to), and best of all, didn’t get caught. 22 seconds was the advantage on this stage, which was good going, I thought.

And finally, SS14, Shannon 2. By now it was fully dark, and although I wanted to finish, I didn’t want to pootle about, as this is probably the last time I’ll get to drive the car in anger. This went well though, apart from being caught! Not by the white Escort (92), but another one. He was flying on the straights (and there’s a couple of long ones), but on the next corner, he gave us a nice display as he slid sideways and looked like he was going off! Down the straights, though, he was well quick. But then he’s got a 16v Vauxhall Engine under the bonnet, as it happens…..

We’d done it – providing we could get back to town, we’d finished. And we’d finished in front of another car. And won our class. The car was running well, and we got to the town centre without incident. As ever, there was a huge queue down Richmond hill, and kids wanting autographs and we gave a couple of them roadbooks and pace notes. We also had a cute kid whose parents (who sounded to be Jamaican) asked if he could sit on Paul’s lap and have his picture taken. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a cute kid! He looked really happy to be there. Also saw my first girlfriend, Jackie, who is now in the Police. And over the ramp we went! A quick word and then we were off. Just had to do all the normal downer-type stuff of picking up Paul’s car from the near-deserted service area, and then shower and go to the awards do!

I won’t go on, but it was an honour to get an award from Russell Brookes and Lord Normanton, especially when it looks like this:

Perhaps it was as important to know that we’d done a good job all day, had fun, and got quicker. I’ve said before I’ll never be a “good” driver, but when I look back on the last two times I’ve done the Sunseeker, I now know I’m ready for a quicker car. So that’s what I’ll have for next year. But in the meantime it’s time for a clean!

Well, the malaise soon left me. Once I’d had a sleep, some food and a shower, and fitted the new, custom made (thanks Mum!) helmet hammock, I was ready to go. We got to the service area in a bit of a shower, and it was getting dark by then, but much warmer than last year. And we had to set off a bit earlier than before as 7 minutes is added to the road time for refuelling (which we’d already done, at Murco!), but we got to town with time to spare. This is the first time I’ve done it that I’ve been capable of rational speech, but still managed to make a fool of myself with Innes interviewing me for Globecast…..

Stage 1 was interesting – firstly, there was some confusion with the marshals and their timings, then I made a really bad job of the start, and the engine bogged down. Just didn’t get it right through the whole of the section before the prom, and then into the first chicane braked early as it was sandy and looked dodgy. It was OK. Into the next chicane (which was a four-bend job!), it was OK on the first two, but went to turn right and….. lots of understeer, and a near-barrier moment. Got to the end OK, and round we went again.

I must be getting to be an old hand as we actually took the time to get out and watch a couple of cars go off. One, a Land Rover took off like a rocket. The next (a discovery) was a bit more sedate and then missed a gear up the road which sounded really dodgy! Then an RS2000 fired off in a plume of smoke and screeches from the tyres. Nice.

Run 2 was better, got a good start, kept the speed up through the corners and by the Pier (apparently looked OK according to Clair), and then off for the long, l-o-n-g runs to the chicanes. And made a pig’s ear of the second one, so lost any time I’d made up elsewhere. Idiot!

Still, got through it all OK, didn’t get caught my the Mk2 behind (who looked to have had even MORE of a mare at the chicane), and got back to service on time. It’s really odd being sat at home with mindless Friday night TV on while I know there are hardcore WRC cars in Bournemouth Gardens, but I’m pooped and going to watch them tomorrow would be a bad idea! It’s the only downside of competing – you don’t get to watch!

However, we’re 15 seconds behind the Beckett Bros in our only real competition. This will not do!

OK, so picture the scene. It’s Friday morning at 8am. I’ve got everything ready, but I’m not nervous. This isn’t right. At all.

I think, really, it’s because I was expecting a bit of a progression – LSD and gearbox – and although I’ve now spoken to the guy, I’m not getting it until at least next week. Which is a bummer, ‘cos I’m not planning on driving again until December! Anyway, we went off to the service area to find….

… the gates were still locked – the guy who had the key was still in bed. So we had to go in the out (oooh, controversial), and then find that there were no stickers or anything ready either! The perils of being the first crews through (all local boys), eh?

But when the stickers (and the lovely Jemma Pink) arrived, there was a real revelation. Following Stu’s advice to use water spray when putting stickers on, even Paul can put them on without creases or bubbles! Amazing! Noise test was a breeze (83dB!), and then off to scrutineering which went without a hitch, except for Paul pressing the horn button with his foot as we entered the Littledown centre for about 3 seconds, waking everyone up and saving the scrutineer the bother of testing it! He was a very nice, friendly chap, and we passed without any problems, and signed up.

We’re ready. And I’m starting to get into it now. Let’s face it, I have a good, reliable rally car on the drive, and I’m doing something that 20,000 people will watch tonight, and I’m sure most of them will think “I wish I was doing that!”. All I need now is someone to give me “the look” – when I drive past them and you know they’re thinking “You lucky, lucky bugger!”.

Actually, now I’ve got “Just for Today” on the stereo by Hybrid, and I look at the car. I’m nervous. I must be ready…..

Many things in life don’t work out as you planned them – becoming an Astronaut (or rather not) was my first disappointment. You’d think by 35 I’d be used to it, but despite being generally cynical about many things, I’ve been a bit crestfallen by the lack of a posh gearbox or LSD for the Sunseeker. And remember this is the event that made me first get into rallying, being local and also involving a town-centre blast which attracts many thousands of spectators. But I’ve been bummed by this, and having to call every day to try to find out what’s happening.

Answer – nothing.

So, another gearbox needed to be found. There was an option that was a 400-mile round trip, which Paul dutifully did the other day, but on eBay there was a Felicia breaking, 59k miles, with a blown engine. 99p start, no reserve, in Bournemouth. I went to look at it, and frankly, couldn’t believe it – it was mint. Took my best “car guy” act to look disinterested, but the guy wanted £100 for it to cover the cost of his mechanic saying “yeah, mate, that’s screwed”. So I had to walk, and play the waiting game. To cut to the chase, on Sunday I picked it up (minus its new wheels – big deal) for £40. And took the ‘box out, and put in in the Felicia on Tuesday, the same day Paul was collecting the other ‘box. And it’s fine. OK, it’s obviously a standard box, but it’s quiet, works well and has a really tight gearchange. Splendid. After spending an hour getting the steering right (new rack), it was pretty much ready to go. With wheels that I’d painted with yellow spray hammerite (never mix spray and paint hammerite now, ‘cos they react! I know this for a 3-hour-long cleaning fact), it looks spanky!

The car is probably as well prepared as it ever has been in my hands, and definitely in the last keeper’s hands. Splendid.

However, this leaves me with a mint 1997 shell. Which I’ve had an idea about – I was thinking of re-shelling N158 into it, but that seems a waste – it’s a perfectly good rally car, and has a lot of life left in it. So I’m going to (shock! horror!) sell N158UBD and build a new rally car (more of a Group A car, with all the Group N stuff that you would have to leave in, removed), with the gearbox (if/when I see it), and a much faster engine. The engine will probably cost what I’m going to sell N158 for (£2k), but it’ll be worth it. And we’ll be doing Rally GB in a car that I’ve built, which is really going to be an achievement. Hopefully!