Ti Motorsport

Day 2

When we got back to our accommodation, we still had to plan for the new day & a run out to Kielder. Little did we know just what a day it would turn out to be.

Jonathan & Jaime left fairly early to get a reasonable space in the service area [memories of problems last time driving this decision]. For Andrew & I, there was time for a bacon butty & a coffee before taking Richard and Stefan into Carlisle for the restart.

Looking at the schedule, the crew were in for a pretty hard day. Andrew & I had our own little rally to look forward to on the way to the end of the first stage of the day, Clintburn, a 13.18 mile starter. Our 9.5 mile along the forest track to Crookbank was lots of fun.

With no problems to report, Andy & I made our way to the dam at Kielder Water, while Richard & Stefan tackled the 14.45 mile Chirdonhead 1 stage. A quick wave as they passed & we then made our way to Service area B, where Jonathan & Jaime had set up shop. Talk about right hand not knowing what the left was doing, while we waited at Service B, Stefan had guided Richard to Service A. They are about 5 miles apart so not ideal, especially as Stefan had told Jonathan which area to go to. So a somewhat reduced time for service. Luckily the only thing we really needed to do was change a rear wheel, as the sidewall had a nick in it. Just as well because the weather had turn really cold and damp. Reports of Storm Arwen were starting to impact the area.

On the way to the next management point the trip in th 807 started to play up, [diagnosed as a dodgy connection], caused a wrong slot but as the timing wasn't too tight, we were on station at the end of stage7, Falstone 1, in plenty of time. The crew had a little indiscretion on the stage, loosing 4 minutes exploring a ditch. With no management after Bewshaugh 1, a 17.2mile marathon, Andy & I made our way back to the service area and something to eat.

We were now getting snow flurries in the service area and the wind was picking up. Again we were lucky, the trip to the ditch had caused no damage except the loss of a couple of mud flaps and the washer bottle had jumped out of it's mounting & needed refitting.

Because of the absence of a management spot between stages, Andy & I stayed in the service area, sending Richard & Stefan off the cover the 9.01 mile of  Pundershaw & a second run through Chirdonhead 2. When the car came in, we were in trouble with the wiper blade again but all else was performing well, unlike the weather which by this time had turned into a blizzard. As Andy & I only needed to go down the road to the dam, we helped Jonathan & Jamie to load the van and get them on their way back to Longtown before the weather really closed in.

Andrew & I then made our way to the dam where we waited for the car to complete SS11, Falstone 2. No problems reported other than the absolutely horrendous conditions in the stage but just one more to complete before we too could head back to our accommodation.

And that's where everything went pear shaped. Turning out onto the main road Andrew thought he saw sparks from the underside of the car. As one, we suspected that one of the Proflex canisters had broken free. With lots & lots of headlamp flashing, we managed to get Richard to pull over so that we could check the underside of the car. Sure enough, the near side canister had broken it's mounting clips and had been bouncing along the road. We were so, so lucky that it hadn't punctured and with the aid of some mega tyraps were able to fix it back in place. With a dire warning to Richard to be gentle with the car through the stage, we started to put the jack and tools away, at which point a Forestry Commission truck pulled along side & in no uncertain terms told us to pick up our rally car and get the hell out of there. The last stage had been cancelled and they were trying to make sure everyone got clear. Storm Arwen had arrived with a vengeance.

Richard & Stefan had arrived at the turn off to the stage and had been given the same message. FOXTROT OSCAR as they say.

The RAC Opening Day

Being a bit of a milestone event and with Christmas coming so soon afterwards, I have taken a little time to take it all in.

The last time we did the Roger Albert, back in 2019, Andrew & I managed to cover the event, I ran chase & Andrew looked after the service van. We did manage and got the car to the finish BUT it was really hard work. This time, we wanted an easier life and recruited Jonathan Styles, long time service buddy, but sadly, for one reason or another, none of the rest of the gang were available. For a while I thought we were going to be a trio, which wouldn't have been too bad but a chance remark to one of Christine's cousins and we had our 4th musketeer.

Jaime Davies is currently studying engineering at Telford and after asking permission to take time off from his course tutor, agreed to join us. He has never done anything like this before, so he was in for a real treat. One 18 yr old & 3 old timers. Time for his proper education to begin.

Andrew had collected Jonathan & Jaime on the way to Penrith, I had taken the van and despite the best efforts of the traffic to thwart me, met up with the others, albeit a little later than planned. This left us with an easy journey to Carlisle on Thursday morning. I have already covered scrutineering elsewhere, so with the car fuelled, tyres pressured, all the crew & service crew fed & watered, Richard & Stefan joined the queue to start, Andy & I parked up ready to 'Manage' them while Jonathan and Jaime settled in to wait for our return.

We were off to Kielder for a pair of stages. The first, Newcastleton 1, was a short 3.58 mile wake up call to the crews. Management made their way to Kershope Bridge to wait for our charges. We did have a mini panic in the chase car, while I struggled to change the trip from kilometres to miles, but with that sorted, and the crew opting not to stop,  we made our way to the end of SS2 Kershope 1. This was a 12.9 mile stage, so a bit more of a challenge, but again no issues. However following them back, we noticed that Richard was running with all the spots on, something that we had very specifically asked him not to do. Because of the small nature of the battery and the heavy load we were putting on the system, we were worried that there might be some belt slip on the alternator, which might present problems somewhere down the line.

Like at the in control to service back in Carlisle, where Richard stalled  the car and needed bump starting to get it going again. Investigation found that one of the alternator bolts had gone awol, allowing the belt to slip and that 2 of the bolts fixing the stabilizer bars for the spots had also gone absent without leave. We also had the first issue with the wiper arms, something that would plague us throughout the event. With everything back in working order, we headed off for a repeat of the first 2 stages. Having left the rally car to start stage 3, we were on our way to Kershope Bridge, when we got stopped by a marshal, a car was on fire in the stage & the rally cars were being brought out in front of us for a reroute. As were were sort of tail end Charlie's, we didn't have too long to wait. Waiting at the end of SS4, the 504 arrived, stopped and presented us with the near side wiper blade. It had parted company after the finish of the stage. A bit of luck then. After his experience last time Richard asked that we lead them back, so that he could conserve the battery & give it a chance to recharge. 

Back in Carlisle, we packed the crew off to our accommodation in Longtown, while the service crew went to work. There was a bit more work for Andrew on the spot lights and Jonathan had the sump guard off to check the alternator before giving the front end a spanner check. Jaime was doing a similar job at the back. I swanned about doing a bit here and there but trying to come up with some sort of fix for the wipers. There were two issues. The first was easily fixed. The wiper arm itself being of a prehistoric design had a spring loaded clip to hold it onto a splined spindle. The arm shown is a brand new one whereas the ones on the car for the event were probably 30 or more years old. The recess on the spindle obviously isn't an issue, providing the arm is fully seated. Our on event fix for this was to put some locking wire behind the spring to keep it in place.

The blade issue was something else entirely. Back in the day, as they say, the most common size for the hook type wiper arms was J7, the 7 referring to the width of the arm, in millimetres. Now at some point, the powers that be, decided to use 9mm instead and that is where the problems begin. Not only is the blade not held straight but more importantly, the lock location is now in a different place and this was what was causing most of our problems.

By the time we had finished, it was nearly 3 am, a bit of a baptism of fire for young Jaime, another day at the office for the old timers and we still had to pop into the fuel station across the way and fill the van and chase car ready for day 2.