Ti Motorsport

Manx Challenge Round 2

Having previously changed the rear shocks following Tony's adventure earlier in the day the service crew gave the car a thorough check over to make sure there were no other surprises lurking beneath the smart exterior. It looks like the adjuster has just managed to wind itself out. Not something we have had before, previously the whole boss has blown away under pressure but these have been modified to allow for high speed blow off so back to Mr Leda next week.

Everything else was fine on the car as we headed back ready for an early start on Saturday.

Once again the Isle of Man micro climate was having a field day and to be on the safe side Tony opted to go out on wets but carried a pair of slicks for when they had a dry stage.

Stage times for the first 2 stages were disappointing dropping nearly a minute on each stage to the Polo but Tony could offer no reason, car seemed fine but he thought the technical nature of the stages hadn't helped. The next stage and he was straight back on the pace.

Service was straightforward as they headed out to stages 20 & 21. No problems with stage 20 but it all went wrong on stage 21 [Cringle 2, 13.06 miles]. Cautioned in the notes it still caught out loads of crews over the weekend and we were in fact very very lucky to get away as lightly as we did.

Roll on Neath though I should perhaps re phrase that

Press Release from Tony

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Gearbox Maladies

This week has been mainly concerned with sorting gearboxes. Gary Barlow uses an F13 box with Quaife gear and had selection problems with 3rd gear.

The broken synchro ring being the culprit.

Martin Head didn't get off so lightly following his gearbox failure at Longcross. Problem not caused by a Quaife failure but by the cross pin in the Gripper diff failing at the oil groove and throwing the broken end out through the casing. Not only the standard PG1 half but the Quaife casing as well.

While there is no damage to the gears the crown wheel has taken a hit & will need to be replaced.

The Thoughts of Chairman Matt

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Summer Break

Time for a bit of a break for Ti with no events scheduled until the Neath Stages on the 16th of August. Details of the event can be found at www.threecountiescarclub.co.uk

Following his Manx accident Tony Simpson will be trying to put that behind him and is looking forward to being in the forests again.

Tony will be joined by Rob Richards in his Peugeot 106.

Manx Challenge Round 1

Finally Delivered on Time.

At last our 2nd 1400 C2 made it to the start of an event after weeks of frustration for the whole Ti team.Due to time constraints Tony had been unable to try the car before the event and spent much of Friday driving around Manx roads which were not closed to traffic.

The car seems to be significantly quicker than the other 1400 due I think to the use of a lot of 1600 management parts.

Braking is also better particularly for tarmac with the rear having discs instead of the standard drums.

With scrutiny out of the way, we had removed the tint from the windows this time we just had to wait until 4 o'clock on Friday to join the main event on stage 11.

With 2 options for the Silverstone control tyre Tony opted to start on wets as the weather was so changeable but again took 2 slick spares with him just in case.

On the first stage one of the brand new Leda rear dampers decided to let go giving Tony what was he said the biggest scare of his rallying life. With no service until after the following stage it was damage limitation time. At service we replaced both shocks and sent a very shaken Tony out for the next stages.

4th place at the end was the best we could expect after the massive time loss on the first 2 stages but at least we had some points.

Swansea Bay

Chris Hellings & Nick Farmer were looking forward to their second outing on the loose following the success on the Dukeries Rally in June. Chris was leader of the pack going into the event and was looking for a good points finish to consolidate his lead. Joining him in the team Lucas Hunt had a new co-driver James Morgan stepping in to replace Stefan Arndt who was on the Isle of Man with Tony Simpson.

No reports from the drivers yet but judging by the photo Chris seems to have been trying very hard. After 2 stages he was just 9 seconds adrift of Andy Chalmers.

Stage 3 which I believe was Walters Arena was not so good however and he lost a lot of time with 2 overshoots letting Shane Kielthy into second place.

Going into the final stage Chris was still in 3rd place but Shane went of allowing Chris through into 2nd place. 

Lucas Hunt meantime had been getting used to a new co-driver & descriptive notes on his first ever proper forest event. Despite straying from the ruts & trying to make his own lines [not the best way to go Lucas] he finished 2nd of the novices and retains 5th place  in the 1400 championship,.

Post event scrutiny proved to be a bit of a mare as Eligibility scrutineer Dominic Hodge decided to put his foot down over the interpretations some people were putting on some of the rules. After about an hour of deliberation results stood the cars in question having their logbooks endorsed requiring mods to be carried out before the next event to comply with the regulations as published.

                                           1400 Champions 2006 & 2007

Manx International

Following the promise shown on the Jim Clark Rally & the sorting of the electrical gremlins which had plagued the car in Scotland expectations were high for the 3rd round of the BRC & C2R2 Cup.

Once again there was a shakedown stage, Baldromma  just north of Douglas & the team took the opportunity to put the car through its paces.

Charles Hurst's had come along with new stands & banners to improve the Citroen image & bring it a bit more in line with Suzuki.

Thursdays scrutiny turned out to be quite interesting when a man with a lux meter told us the tint on our windows was too dark and had to be removed to comply with the road traffic act as applied on the island but there was no clear film to be had anywhere so we were faced with a bit of a dilemma..Run with film & be banned by the Manx police or take the film off and be illegal in the FIA's books.

The international event started on Thursday evening and comprised 4 stages Marine [5.07miles] followed by 2 runs over the 1.36mile Balley Cashtal stage with the famous Castletown hairpin & the final 13.66 mile Cringle 1 stage. This was followed by a 45 minute service before the cars went into parc ferme. Jason Pritchard was storming out in front with Andrew Hockeridge & Matt playing catch up. Matt was 3rd as we put the car to bed, well pleased to be matching times with Andrew who was this weekends bench mark / target.

Friday took in 12 stages with only 2 being run twice, once again it was going to be a lottery over tyre choice as the stages covered more or less the whole of the island and the weather was changing every 10 minutes or so. Matt went out with 2 slicks 2 wets & 2 inters figuring that this would cover every option but with road sections so tightly timed it would be difficult at times to change wheels |& not drop time.

Format was 3 stages followed by service through the day with a final 45 minute service at the end of the day.

First service came & went no problem with Matt happy with his times & no problems to report with the car. Matt & Tony seen here conferring over what to expect for the Challenge which joined the main event on stage 11. Matt's times over stage 5 [Little London1 7.23 miles] 6 [Jurby East 10.14 miles] & stage 7 [Ballajora 1 5.91 miles] were again on the pace with Andrew Hockeridge but still not matching Jason Pritchards. Second service was again trouble free just the usual dilemma over tyre choice.

Stage 11 proved our undoing when Matt broke a drive-shaft & took a tooth off a gear at the infamous Sarfield hairpin. With only one wheel drive Matt managed to get about half way through the following stage before the diff cried ENOUGH!!!!!.

With Super Rally rules allowing us to rejoin we changed the gearbox & shaft and parked the car up ready for Saturday.

New 1400 C2

This weeks Manx International rally finally sees the introduction of our new 1400 challenger

 in the RC1 category. Tony Simpson will again be partnered by Stefan Arndt and the whole team will be hoping for a better result than on the Pirelli where a water hose ended their run.

The new car is still running an 8 valve engine from a C3 together with a gearbox from a 1600 C2 GT.

Front brakes are vented & use Mintex competition pads while the rear uses GT rear discs & calipers again with Mintex pads.

Suspension is again Leda 2 way adjustable, tyres will be Silverstone control items.

Despite the non finish on the Pirelli & the non start on the Midland it is still possible for us to win the championship but its going to be an uphill struggle. With the Manx being a double header this seems to be a good place to start.

Swansea Bay Rally

While I am away on the Isle of Man Len Davies will have his work cut out on next weekends http://www.swanseabayrally.com/. with 3 cars out, this being the 3rd round of the Peugeot 205 1400 Challenge & also a round of the WAMC National Championship.

Current championship leader Chris Hellings will be looking to consolidate his lead buoyed by his performance on last months Dukeries rally. Lucas Hunt will be contesting his first ever proper forest rally & whilst a bit apprehensive was encouraged by his performance at the Sweet Lamb test day.

Richard Phillipson will be on duty in the National event though whether with Quaife box or standard version depends on the repairs to the diff being completed in time.