Severn Valley Success

After weeks of being messed about we finally got our close ratio gear kit & Gripper diff to talk to each other and, although a bit noisier than our MG kits [gear forms a little different according to Quaife] we were assured that it was acceptable.

The event was based at Builth Wells show ground & scrutiny & documentation took place on Friday afternoon no problems there so we were able to get to our hotel early enough for a beer before a very pleasant dinner. After dinner it turns out that the hotel owner had been to us when we ran a rally school at Finmere back in the 80's. Small world.

With a start time of 8.46 we even had time for breakfast before leaving.

Format for the event was 2 stages followed by 30min service then Radnor at 17.99 miles  followed by 40 minutes service.then another 4 stages.

The WAMC events allow management vehicles so as I was on my own for this event I was going to have a busy day.

The opening stage Esgair Dafydd 1 at 5.57 miles used to be used for rally sprints & I haven't been there for years. There was no emergency service between stage 1 & 2 but the management route was the same so I saw them through & headed for the end of stage 2, 9.5 miles of Crychan West. Richard came into emergency service beaming. Obviously something was OK. With a 30 minute service at the show-ground it was time to change hat from management to service.

The gearbox was working well & although taking a little while to come to terms with the ratios & shift points Richard was looking forward to the longest stage of the event. One positive from stage 2 was that in similar circumstances to the last event the new Gripper diff had pulled the car around with no problem so no rear end damage. We upped the shift light to 7200rpm and sent them off to Radnor.

With management hat back on I was able to see the cars on Radnor or at least see the dust trails, also noticeable were the increasing number of gaps in the field. Running last in the national field did give me the chance to watch all the top cars though & eventually Richard & Brian appeared. Richard was even more enthusiastic after Radnor having thoroughly enjoyed the stage.

The 40 minute main service gave me the opportunity to give the car a good check over. Apart from some uneven wear on the nearside rear brake disc everything else seemed OK. Richard had upped the shift point another couple of hundred revs and now seemed happy with the shift light although the control box fixing needs sorting as it came undone on the final stage.

The remaining 4 stages were looked after by the management car first up 5.69 miles of Gwibedog followed by Halfway, shortest stage of the day 5.49 miles. Still no problems except a bit of a squeak developing on that near side rear brake . Esgair Dafydd 2 was a rerun of stage 1 and again there was no management but I saw them through the link road and the made my way to the final emergency of the event following the 15.53 sting in the tail of Crychan Main.

Back at Builth results showed the boys were 30th overall and second in class. The whole team felt we were starting to make a bit of serious progress and are now looking forward to the next round The Quinton in July.