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

Abingdon Carnival

One of the highlights of the south eastern rally calendar, the Abingdon Carnival attracts massive entries for both the sprint which takes place on Saturday & the rally on Sunday.

This year Martin Head & Neil Billingham had opted out of doing the sprint and were going to go all out for a class win on Sunday.

Andy Tearle, more commonly seen servicing with us had finally managed to get his axle built and was out in his Vauxhall  2 litre Red Top powered Chevette.

A total of 8 stages faced the crews,  with a change in layout every 2 stages &  run in the opposite direction after lunch.

After the first stage it was obvious that tyre wear was going to be a major issue as the heat and the abrasive nature of the tarmac had taken their toll on the medium compound slicks that we had chosen. While Martin was able to go to harder tyres Andy was less fortunate as his new tyre had not yet arrived although the tyre man did say they would arrive mid morning.

Stage 2 & no problems for either crew & Martin had clawed back some of the time he had lost on the first stage and the tyres had worked well but were still going to have to be turned on the rims every couple of stages if we were to have any chance.

While Martin & Neil continued to have a trouble free run problems had started to crop up on the Chevette. Initially put down to fuel surge the Chevette had started to drop onto 2 clylinders by the end of the stage. It only happened when the temperature got above 3/4 on his gauge. General consensus was that the coil pack [the car runs wasted spark ignition] was breaking down, but we also popped a new set of plugs in just in case. Co-driver Nick Bray went in search of something to make holes in the bonnet with and before long the fiberglass bonnet sported a very neat set of vent holes.

With 4 stages complete Martin Had taken over class leadership and had a fairly comfortable margin Andy meantime was still having the miss at the end of the stages but on a positive note his new tyres had arrived & were working very well.

By stage 6 things had settled into a nice rhythm, Andy missing a beat now & then & Martin looking after the car after a bit of a scare with the transmission when reversing out of service. This was when things suddenly went into panic mode as the turret locating the Panhard rod on the Chevette had broken away giving not a lot of lateral fixing to the axle. Although I tried very hard the floor pan has seen better days & the welding left a lot to be desired but it got them out for stage 7.

With about a minute in hand over 2nd in class Martin went out for a coast around the last stage while we frantically tried to re attach the turret again to get Andy out for his final stage.

The phone call from Martin saying that the engine had blown 'BIG TIME' was so unexpected that it took ages to actually sink in. Andy meanwhile opted to only do 1 lap & a stage max rather than risk an accident so got the finish he was looking for.

Chatsworth Rally Show

This being the 50th Anniversary of the BRC they had gone to great efforts to get a stunning selection of cars & drivers to attend. You couldn't move without bumping into celebrities of one form or another. This is the first year Ti have attended and I am sure that events permitting we will make it a regular event.

Matt Cotton & Anthony Godden were there in part to pick up bonus points for the BRC Championship but also to promote themselves. To this end Matt had some very neat magnetic stickers with a picture of the C2 in action to give away as well as some post cards some of which people actually asked them to sign. [takes all sorts].

Robert Brookes had our 1400 Rally First car there and had brought along some of his sponsors. Father Russell was out in the Andrewa Heat for Hire Manta

From lunch time onwards anyone who had paid the entry fee could go out & do timed demonstration runs & the very large crowd was soon being entertained by cars going back 50 years right up to Marcus Gronholm in a Focus.

Sadly I had to leave before the evening entertainment started as I was on duty at The Abingdon Carnival on Sunday. Matt & Rob however were there on Sunday when there were even bigger crowds & with some gentle persuasion the organizer had Rob out with Russell as co-driver doing Rally First demonstration runs.

Photos by Mike Andrews

Mini Tempest

Welcome back Longcross was what just about everyone present was saying. It's always been a super venue for southern tarmac fans and had been sorely missed.

Martin Head & Neil Billingham were looking forward to a battle with a couple of Nissan Micra Kit cars and at the end of the first stage were just 2 seconds adrift, 9mins 13 for Martin, 9.11 for the 2 Micras. Over the next 2 stages Martin reversed the positions and was leading the class by 15 seconds when the car filled with smoke and a total lack of drive.

End of play for the day & the end of a weekend to forget for Ti

Brands Hatch Test

Martin Head & Neil Billingham gave the MG a shakedown on an evening track session at Brands Hatch in preparation for this weekends Longcross event.

In the two & a half hour session we only registered 2 missed shifts but were always able to find a gear so we seem to be on the right track in solving the problems that have dogged the project from the start.

One mystery however has resurfaced. Reverse gear has disappeared between the workshop & the circuit. Ever since I rebuilt the box reverse has been there, even this morning reversing out of the workshop to put the car on the trailer. Get to Brands No Reverse. So anyone driving around the M25 look out for a reverse gear maybe hitching a ride back to Pangbourne

South Downs Stages

As with most things rally wise things seem to come around a lot more quickly than we expect, the opening event of the year which seemed ages away is suddenly upon you and its a  mad panic to get everything finished on time.

It should have come as no surprise to me that the refitting of our Quaife sequential gearbox would not be without issues and until about 10pm on Friday evening I had been pleasantly surprised that although running a few hours late everything Else was OK. Time to reverse the MG out of the workshop, put it on the trailer & head home for a 5am start & thats when everything went **** up. I could not select reverse gear with the paddles. When I had set the ECU gear positions manually there had been no problem but try as I might I could not select with the paddles. At 4am I finally manually selected reverse, loaded the car & headed home.

Scrutineering at Goodwood is quite a civilised affair with the officials coming to you instead of having to join a great long line of cars, the only issue being that they have restored the old pits & you have a nice  covered garage to use. Normally not a problem because you can either reverse in or reverse out HOWEVER if you dont have the where with all to reverse it has drawbacks. We therefore opted to fore go a garage in favour of a splendid drive through service area.

With strict orders not to go off Martin & Neil [Head & Billingham respectively] went out for the first stage. The format of the event was single stage service single stage with 4 stages before lunch & 4 after.

The modifications carried out on the shift system seem to have transformed our box and by lunch time Martin & the MG were showing its true potential perhaps for the first time since we started. 10th overall, stunning really for a 1400 car against a WRC Focus 306 Maxi Peugeot & of course some very quick Escorts. Haydn Morgan last years winner was only a few seconds in front.

The first stage after lunch & it all went wrong when Martin spun on some oil laid down by one of the previous cars and landed on a tractor tyre. This was where no reverse crucified us and just over two & a half minutes was lost while the marshalls got our beached whale back on track.

This dropped us to 3rd in class but a blown head gasket on the Suzuki Swift of Andy Butcher & Paul Leyford moved us up to second & some spirited driving by Martin took over 30 seconds ot of the Corsa sri of Paul Hollingam & Alicia Miles to win the class & get 22nd overall. Not bad but you have to ask what if he had not had a close encounter of the tyre kind.

End of Season

With no cars out on the Loco stages our season is complete. We have had ups & downs like most teams but have come away with wins in 2 championships which can't be bad. Shame about the C2 but there is always 2008.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you all

Rockingham

I'd never been to Rockingham before so I was very interested to see what the organising clubs could make from an oval circuit. The weather on Saturday was absolutely awful cold and very very wet. Somewhat different to what I had been used to for the last couple of weeks. Martin & Neil were on a points collecting mission, a finish should put Neil up to second overall in the co-driver tables.

The event would take place over 2 days with 4 stages on Saturday and a further 6 on Sunday. Scrutineering was fairly laid back for us and first car was away at 1 o'clock. The venue lends itself to spectating and at times there were 15 to 20 cars on the stage at once. Having watched some of the early cars spin for a pass time we warned Martin of how treacherous conditions were and went to watch. Our warnings seemed to go out of the window as soon as the flag dropped because even before they got onto the circuit proper they had a spin. At the bend we had warned about they had another spin & I think before the end of the stage they had had another 3 or 4. When they came into service they had grins all over their faces. In an attempt to get a bit more grip on the rear we dropped the tyre pressures & stuck a load of fuel in. It must have done some good because there were fewer spins on stage 2. Some of the stages had 6 splits so the co-drivers needed to be on their toes. By the time the cars were going out for stage 3 it was dark and time to see how Martin performed in the dark? Not bad under the circumstances, it being very difficult in places where there were cars coming towards you & behind you all with lights ablaze. We altered the angle of the outer lights to try to help pick out the edge of the circuit for stage 4 and were rewarded with a quicker time. As the crews were being re seeded overnight any time gains would be a benefit on the Sunday run.

Because of noise restrictions play didn't start until 10 o'clock so we were able to have a bit of a lie in and leisurely breakfast before heading back to Rockingham. The weather had improved a little as well. When Neil went to find our start time we had been given a stage max for stage 3 and were down in 70 some thing place. Not the start we wanted.

The only problems apart from the odd half spin came in passing the slower cars which were now in front and although out time for stage 3 had been corrected they couldn't move us up the order. As the day progressed Martin & Neil managed to climb back up the leader board and although a class win or even second were not on, third place was within reach and by the end of stage 10 they had nabbed third spot behind the Citroen AX of Aron & Scott Rayner & the Fiat Uno of Ian Burton & Bill Smith

Lombard Revival Rally

After a lot of burning of midnight oil we finally got 5 cars to the start of this years Lombard Revival Rally.

Scrutineering & documentation took place at Gaydon at the Heritage Motor Centre & for early competitors the conditions were fine if a Little cold. Later numbers had to put up with really heavy downpours just to make the first few stages even trickier.

After the first 2 stages our C2 is in 13th place just 7 seconds behind the leaders, we have no results for the other team members but John Davies has reported a slipping clutch at the end of the 3rd stage.

At the end of leg 1 Mike East heads the Ti team in 24th place with Don Kettleborough 39th, Paul Watkins is 63rd closely followed in 66th by John Davies with Peter Bray in the Corsa in 85th. The team is in about 10th place.

11.00am  Friday.Bad news Mike East in the 106 is out with a blown diff.

17.20                 Latest from Don Kettleborough is that on tarmac the C2 is great but is still too low on the gravel. They are going to raise the front again in this evenings service. More pressing however is the exhaust as the down pipe has come out of the cat and things are a tad noisy. The organiser provided service crew will hopefully re weld it.

No news yet of the other team members except Mike East did report that Paul Watkins was struggling with a slipping clutch & John Davies was flying.

21.46  John Davies is up to 12th place at the Llandrindrod halt no details of the other crews at present

9.32am Sat  Mixed fortunes for the Ti crews. John Davies is having a stunning run in the 205 and was 7th overnight at Llandrindod Wells Don Kettleborough & Pete Chapman have had a frustrating time with the main fuel feed to the injector rail coming off & then the down pipe from the cat coming apart. Don is languishing down in 73rd place. Peter Bray in the Corsa is in 61st place & Paul Watkins in the other 205 seems to have got over his clutch problem & is fighting his way back up the order & is now in 68th place. There is still a long way to go and all to play for

12.15  Devil's Bridge   John has dropped a couple of places & is now in 9th place. No news of the others at this time

5.50       Heard from Don who is still having the odd problems, the car cut out for some minutes but is now back on song. Don is tail end Charlie of the team in 75th place,Paul is in 72nd & Peter Bray in 61st with John still up in a heady 9th

14.40  Overnight John Davies had climbed to 7th place with Don also making it into the top 40, an off this morning has dropped John back to 9th again. Last report from John was that they were on their way back to the finish in Newport. At present we have no news of the rest of the crews.

17.36 Sun With results now provisional John Davies has retained his excellent 9th place. Next up of the Ti crews is Peter Bray in the Corsa in 47th place just in front of Don & Pete in the C2 in 49th, Paul Watkins just misses the top 50 in 51st place. There are currently 75 finishers from the 120 starters.

With all the drivers now having reported in we are now able to get on with sorting out their reports so that we can improve the cars for their next outings.

General opinion from everyone I have spoken to was that it was a great event, really tough & well organised. A few bits were a little too rough but generally both organisation & stages were excellent 

Cambrian Rally

Richard Phillipson took the opportunity to test at the Sweet Lamb rally complex on Friday prior to scrutiny for the Cambrian on Saturday.

The main object was to try to improve the suspension set up of the Proflex dampers. By lunch time Richard declared himself satisfied & we headed off for the Llandudno start venue. As we approached we saw the first of the arrows that were to prove so good throughout the event and were soon through the formalities & ready for a lazy time on Saturday, Richard & Brian not starting until after 11 o'clock.

The event comprised 6 stages with management service available after each and 2, 20 minute services 1 after stage 2 & the other after stage 5.

With the van parked up in the service area Jamie & myself headed off for auxiliary service in Richard's 300bhp Subaru Legacy. Not a bad chase car really although as Richard freely admits perhaps better suited to more main roads than a lot of the lanes of north Wales.

At the end of stage one it was apparent that the very rough sections of the stages were going to cause problems & our high speed bump setting went up a couple of clicks to compensate.

At first service a rear puncture was changed & Richard was much happier having stopped the crashing out of the suspension & having changed the brake bias.

The remainder of a damp dreary day passed without mishap & despite having to drive the last stage on normal headlights [the Honda hasn't yet acquired a pod] the whole team was happy with the performance. Certainly something to build on. Richard finished 5th in an amalgamated class of up to 2 litre group N cars