By Mark Talbot

Following the Pirelli there was some panel beating required on the near side rear quarter of the 106. After a trip offshore there was only a few days to get this sorted before the event. We managed to build a new inner arch and knock the side into something near and hoped that would be OK for scruitneering. The more I looked at it the more I was determined it was actually stronger than new albeit a little less flat with a few pop rivets here and there. With the event being local we drove the 106 down the night before where it sailed through scruitneering with no issues. We left home rally morning and as our house was closer to the stages than the service area and left the trailer at home and just drove down in the car. We got to the first stage in good time but had a long delay before starting. After not driving the car for a few months and feeling a little rusty we weren’t exactly up to speed after the long delay. Despite the first stage being relatively short we were flagged down four times due to other cars being off the road which also cost us a lot of time. The second stage was much longer and allowed us to get into a better rhythm. That was until the brake servo pipe came off in the inlet manifold and we lost the servo assisted brakes. We managed to keep up the pace but had to brake earlier and with much more pressure to get the car slowed down but even with the throttle closed, air was rushing into the intake making the engine rev. Half way through the stage we had pretty much caught the car in front but in the excitement under-­‐steered round a 90 left and went into the ditch where the car rolled onto its roof! We spent a minute upside down whilst the marshals and spectators got us the right way up again. The car started straight away and we were thankfully on our way again, all without the car behind catching up. Continue reading →

By Barry Lindsay

Our local event saw mixed fortunes for the many Spadeadam members. Peter Taylor & Andrew Roughead had their first outing of the year in the Lilliardsedge / Westlands Focus WRC and despite a big spin on Stage 2 loosing time then finishing the rough stage 4 with two front punctures they brought the Focus home 2^nd OA and ‘If Only’ .

Rory Young and Allan Cathers lost a load of time on Stage 2 when they caught a car and had to follow in the clouds of dust for several mile but finished 13^th OA 9^th in class.

Phil & Caroline Jobson were aiming for good Northern Historic Championship points and Caroline was given strict instructions to make sure they got to the finish. This they did in 33^rd OA 3^rd in class.

Mark & Amanda Talbot were out in the 1400 106 and were keen to see how they compared in the strong 1400 class. However a roll on Stage 2 dropped them over a minute. Stage 4 used the same corner in the opposite direction and went off there again needing the same spectators to push to get back on the road. They battled on to finish 70^th OA 5^th in class.

Darren Martin & Martin Steele had their recently acquired Evo 9 out from the JDM Motorsport hire fleet. However a bottom ball joint failed sending them home on SS3. Rob Graham & Helen Harkness suffered a rare wheel failure on a rough section of SS3. Splitting the wheel in two they had to stop and change but couldn’t get the wheel off, eventually a spare was fitted and they got round the rest of the event but were OTL. Barry Lindsay & Caroline Lodge were pushing for the class lead to get good SG Petch ANECC points but in an effort to gain the 4 seconds on a Fiesta R200 the 206 left the road. Stuck in the wet Kershope ditch the 2wd was stuck fast.