Skoda Rally Blog

Often I find that when I’ve slept on something the solution becomes apparent. However this time I only slept until 2:55 am before spending the rest of the night worrying about what to do, and only when I went for a run did the solution appear – take the back box from the recce car and weld it to the rally car exhaust. Might sound obvious, but the standard exhaust is much smaller than the rally car one, so the idea was to leave a leaky joint, therefore not totally sapping the power (as the standard box is quite restrictive) but make it quiet enough to avoid frowns. But this was providing it would come off the recce car – otherwise we’d have to get a new one, and no-one could have one to us in time, so we went to service and amazingly, it looked like our luck had changed – we got the backbox off fairly easily, and then got everything prepped ready to put it on. You have a 10 minute service at the beginning of each day on WRGB, and this meant we had 10 minutes to get the car back to our area, get everything else done, get the exhaust welded on and get back to the service out control. And amazingly we did it – the car was HIDEOUSLY loud beforehand, people staring as we went, and afterwards it sounded OK – not quiet, but not loud at all. Got to the tyre marking area and then noticed another really BAD rattle from the front end – this was no doubt covered up before by the exhaust sound, and we stopped on the road section to take a look, but it looked like the top mount spherical bearing was loose, and there was nothing to do except just get on with it, so that’s what we did. It’s a long run up to SS7, Crychan, and even longer when every little lump in the road is greeted with a big rattle, but we got there OK, but only just – only a couple of minutes to spare, and this was after the last section was done with Paul calling the corners out from the map. Saturday’s stages are my favourites, so this would hopefully be a chance to have good fun on some relatively smooth forest tracks. Unfortunately the battery for the camera had died, so we couldn’t video the stage, but we headed in and got on with it instead!

Finally getting a chance to drive in good conditions mean that I could get on with actually driving, and the biggest problem I’ve had this year is a total lack of driving – the last time out was the Sunseeker, which went OK, but no better as it was still in the old car, so I was hoping I’d finally get a chance to drive the car and not think “I wish this was quicker up hill”, and this actually happened. Becuase of the new exhaust it wasn’t revving out as much as it should have, but it was going much, much better than last year’s car, and was good fun to drive once I’d taken on board the extra revs and using 1st for hairpins. The thing that really made me clock that I was going quicker than last year was that on several corners the back was getting very loose and I had to back off in a few more places as things got twisty. Good fun. The C2R2 caught us about half way through the stage, and it worked out nicely (again), letting him past and not losing too much speed. Paul has got very good at letting me know how close cars behind are (or indeed not), and keeping me focused on what’s in front, not behind, and this meant everything was going well. Some of the uphill sections were treacherously slippy (at one point we nearly left a totally straight stretch of road), but got to the end OK, but while we were waiting for the cars, the oil pressure light was flashing on tickover, not a good sign at all, and then it wouldn’t re-start, took several goes before it finally lit up. I thought it was probably curtains, so went slowly to SS8 and let it cool down in case it was just very hot oil.

With an eye on a finish (at least getting to the stadium) I decided to take Epynt a bit easier, and this was a mistake. I’ve got quite used to pulling the front round using a bit of power, and when you try not to do that, you understeer off very quickly. So this was soon given up and I just got on with it instead – I’d rather blow the engine up than hit a rock, much easier to fix! Once we got going properly, it was good fun again, with some cars off in very, VERY odd places and positions. The “top” of Epynt is a long tarmac road, and here the car’s lack of outright power and steep gearing left it feeling a bit slow (but again much quicker than last year), and then there’s another section where it’s a road which is cut into the surface of the hill. This section was a problem on recce – it seemed OK last year, but we didn’t get it right either time this year, but I said to leave the notes as is, and it worked just fine – took it quite quickly, but it was hard and rutted, far worse than last year. The finish of Epynt is a good section as well, with some 2 and 3 corners, so we can crack on a bit, and it was all feeling good, aside from the rattle which I was trying my best to ignore….

Pic courtesy of Rob Lees, SS8, Epynt 1

And now, onto Halfway. This is my favourite stage of the lot as it starts out with some great ‘forest’ mileage, and then opens up into the army roads at the end which are a different kettle of fish, and if you get ’em wrong, there will be “rock issues”, so care is necessary, and also two mates had come to see us and I wanted to (a) get there and (b) not show us up! The first section went pretty well, probably as well as I’ve ever driven – there seems to come a point where the calls just go in without thinking about them, and it starts to flow properly; each corner you come to goes well (relatively), and you can already ‘see’ what’s about to happen from the calls that are coming. We were being caught by the C2, but then he must have had an issue as again Paul gave me in-depth reports on his progress and then lack of it, so we were on our own for a bit until an Evo ate us, so we let it go, before getting to the last section, which went pretty well, despite a problem with the notes; luckily it was a section that I remembered OK, and there were no issues aside from a change onto tarmac (at a different place to last year’s SS12 problem) being a MASSIVE hit, again I was expecting the car to have broken, and again was pleased that Skoda made ’em tough! We got to the point where our mates were, and I was vaguely aware of a man on a hilltop waving like a maniac, later to find that this was indeed Jim and Stu! By the end of the stage, all was well, and the oil pressure problem wasn’t back, good news finally, despite the rattling.

Photo courtesy of Jon Price

The road section back to service was about 40 miles, and over an hour, so we decided what to do; we abandoned the original plan to change the oil and nick the struts from the recce car, and instead to try to fix the top mount, even if it was a bodge. Time for some fruit, a drink and some chocolate as well as a drink for the car on the way back. Coming into service, we got stuck in the wrong queue (as we’d lost a couple of ‘places’ due to the fuel stop), but got that sorted out and booked in, after being interviewed by a lovely young woman and finally finding out that we were still beating SD Roy, which was great, great news – our times had been good enough to open up a decent gap, and all things considered I think this is good work – the MG is a newer, more powerful car, so we’d done well.

Into service, and another bit of good news; it was just the strut-top nut that was loose – a quick zip up with a wheel nut gone left us with a perfect front end, and not a lot else to do on the car, other than discover that the front crossmember was shifted back a bit, and the radiator bottom mounts had broken, but it was all still there and probably from the “jump” in the Walters Arena where we’d landed heavily, so we left it on the list for the evening service.

The road section to Crychan 2 went much quicker this time, I decided to go as fast as legally possible on the motorway and A roads to get there in time, and this time due to the lack of town traffic, we got there 20 minutes early, so had a time to see some quicker cars go through (and one driver nearly run his nav over as he was reversing!), and get everything set for the stage – this would be good, and the first semi-dark stage, so I’d need to get on with it, and thankfully did so! A few half-spins and a bit of hesitation here and there didn’t help, but we got caught by 3 cars, two Evos and an ST. I can’t believe how quick the Evos are in a straight line – it is unreal; on each time we got caught, they’d appear at a corner in my mirrors and 200 yards later be right behind us; the traction and power is in a different universe to my car, and I guess that explains a lot. Plus these people can really drive! The ST caught us in a more “normal” manner, but still didn’t hang about, but each time we got out the way relatively quickly, and I don’t think it affected either of us too badly. What was affecting me quite badly was that the steering wheel had started to come loose! It started as a small rattle at the start of the stage, but by the end there was quite a bit of play at the rim, and I was glad it hadn’t come off!

Next up, Epynt 2, by this time it was dark, and first thing was to do the bolts up on the steering wheel, no problem once I’d found the allen key, and off we went, this time giving it some beans from the start, so there were no repeats of the overshoots of earlier, and it was going well until we got to the tarmac, when the throttle didn’t seem to be closing fully. By the time we reached the long road at the top of the stage, it was on full throttle all the time, and I had to brake in gear to get round the corner as I didn’t want to blow the engine up, but on gravel this was a recipe for disaster. Now I’d imagine there are people who are reading this who would think “just crack on”, or whatever, but my technique on gravel clearly isn’t good enough, and as the car goes so well it meant I had a real struggle to get the car round, and there were two times where I got it totally wrong and nearly headed off the stage and indeed off a drop. I got to the end losing loads of time (and getting in people’s way, sorry Mandy about that), and at the stop line had to kill the engine. Rolled down the hill, and had a look, but eventually found out that the throttle body was jamming open, and there was no way to stop it – it wouldn’t free up, and taking it apart would have been game over for the car, for sure. But most annoyingly it wouldn’t re-start; it’s always been picky about start up (no throttle, then a quick stab once it fires up), and it wouldn’t go at all. We were there for 40 minutes trying to sort it, but nothing doing, and that was that; the course closing car passed us and we handed our paperwork in as we had no usable spare for it, so no SuperRally for Sunday.

To say I was devastated by this is an understatement – I’ve spent 3 months of every spare hour working on the car to get it ready, and it was finally looking like it was all going to pay off, and then suddenly, it was game over. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried for a bit, but thankfully not only is Paul a good friend and a good navigator, he is also the most positive person I know. Not in an annoying bull-crap “way hey” way, but he’s immensely pragmatic. We were currently stuck in Epynt, miles away from the twins and unable to get back, and it was a miserable cold wet December night. Getting back to service would be a victory now, and we finally got the car going by bump-starting it and having it run flat out everywhere, and stopping the engine on the brakes. At any junction where we HAD to stop (there were 3) I had to turn the ignition on and off to stop the engine blowing itself up, but after nearly an hour we made it back to service, having told everyone what was going on and so on. Got the car to the trailer park, got the van loaded up, and got the car loaded up, and went back to the house.

So, WRGB 2007 – success or failure?

Oddly, I think a success. We did two of the three days of stages, and despite very little driving this year, have both got better at what we do. I’ve nearly single-handedly built a car that went well and handled like a dream, and our retirement wasn’t for want of trying and ultimately came down to a freak failure which I had no way of fixing. I’ll be honest, if I’d not been with Paul, I’d probably have been beating myself up about it still, but I’m not – as he said, no-one died, the car isn’t wrecked, and we’re not “stuck in some shitty forest in the pouring rain with a car off the road waiting to be picked up”. Very true.

Sunday, cleared up, thanked the twins for their ever-fantastic help, and came home. The recce car still runs OK, despite having been hammered to death, had its exhaust nicked and beaten up underneath enough to knacker the handbrake cables. And I have to take it to work tomorrow.

So, thanks to anyone who’s read all this, and thanks to each and every one who’s given us support over the last week, it’s really appreciated. I know we’re just messing about in a very expensive sport for the big boys, but I always thought rallying should be about real cars that are affordable, not ?200k “standard” cars, etc. Thanks to the twins for their support, company and help, and to Paul for being a class act and making the week fly by.

The Felicia’s homologation runs out at the end of next year. Wales Rally GB 2008 is a possibility, and I’d really like to do it, but I’d need to do it with more spares and as much duplication as possible to avoid another “?10 retirement”. And get a few events in as practice beforehand.