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Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:28 pm
by notax
We have decided to enter Spaceman's local event - well it only seems fair after he is trekking all the way to Norfolk for the RBMR2 :lol:

75 miles and our first attempt at 'road' miles too - only 35 between stages but enough to give us a taste of the exta stress a MV will bring...

Anyone else up for this event? Bruvs?






M3 Compact? :lol:

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:53 pm
by notax
Event almost full but our entry has been confirmed 8)

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:41 pm
by hsr2.6
How was the day chris...........

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:58 pm
by notax
Sorry, haven't had time to write report yet :oops:

Brief summary - as difficult as promised and many cars had to retire. We were seconds away from it too - but thanks to Spaceman and others we JUST got fixed in time...

Result - 29th OA and 4th in class (30 seconds behind the Aston) - not as good a result as we are used to but at least we finished and with the car largely intact!

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:17 pm
by bruvs1
looks a good venue, hopefully get to go one year!! a finish is a finish notax, well done granville on keeping the boys going!! was the venue what you expected notax?

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:55 pm
by notax
Didn't really know what to expect - except that it would be very challenging to drive and co drive - and it was! Extremely tight in places and many crews were cutting corners/riding the kerbs - which is fast but can easily take you out the event :? as many found out...

I was gutted to damage the car on the first stage - not by hitting kerbs but a vicious pothole :evil: it bent a wishbone and made the car understeer badly. On stage two I hit a different pothole and totally banana'd the wishbone so the steering wheel was 180 degrees out. I was pretty annoyed as I had carefully avoided the kerbs and am not used to potholes at other events being big enough to cause problems. Apparently venue isn't normally this bad and a number of others suffered same fate. Only a few bad holes - but thats enough if you hit one hard enough...

Spaceman got to work back in service and kindly shot off to get a new wishbone as neither of us had brought any with us :oops: . On his return he set about fitting it but had major problems - and put his hands at risk as his mate Andy beat the crap out of the bush with a lump hammer. With seconds to go they got it sorted and we just got to start in time - having squeezed past other cars and getting stuck on the grass trying to pass them :oops:

With new wishbone I pushed a bit harder and started enjoying the challenge and riding kerbs in a few places. Paul's co driving was superb 8) Soon decided riding kerbs was too risky so accepted I would take slower route.

Gradually worked our way to 29th OA and 4th in class - only about 15 secs from collecting a pot and 30 secs behind the Aston...

Overall really enjoyed the venue - but certainly one you need to learn. Most competitors knew it well and it makes a huge difference. Some bad offs and lots of broken rims, and one car also caught fire :(

Certainly intend to have another go at the event - be great if bruvs can join us 8)

HUGE thanks to Spaceman (Granville) for his help on the day - booking our next outing tomorrow...

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:54 pm
by M3 Compact
Some quicker MK2s in Wales that there are down South? :wink:

1st O/A.

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:37 am
by notax
Not necessarily! They just know their way around the venue which makes a huge difference here. In fact I wasn't aware of any really big money scrots that we usually get when we compete elsewhere (sequential boxes etc...)

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:22 am
by hsr2.6
M3 Compact wrote:Some quicker MK2s in Wales that there are down South? :wink:

1st O/A.


And he's from Jersey :lol:

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:23 am
by martine30rally
notax wrote:Not necessarily! They just know their way around the venue which makes a huge difference here. In fact I wasn't aware of any really big money scrots that we usually get when we compete elsewhere (sequential boxes etc...)


what about the one that won? definately cost big money as AFAIK

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:30 am
by notax
martine30rally wrote:
notax wrote:Not necessarily! They just know their way around the venue which makes a huge difference here. In fact I wasn't aware of any really big money scrots that we usually get when we compete elsewhere (sequential boxes etc...)


what about the one that won? definately cost big money as AFAIK


You could well be right - it was a very full on event so I didn't have time to wander around to check out the opposition! Be intererested to know how fast others went through the quarry section - mega tight.

Real shame in car cameras not allowed - nothing much to see from a security point of view but in car would have looked great - especially a very narrow lane section at around 90mph :mrgreen:

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:10 am
by Tris-m3
Sounds like Steve leonard is on it at the mo, any Jersey rally predictions??

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 3:41 pm
by hsr2.6
if he keeps it together he'll be there or there abouts but he usally struggles on saturday afternoon....

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:49 pm
by martine30rally
hsr2.6 wrote:if he keeps it together he'll be there or there abouts but he usally struggles on saturday afternoon....


Agreed, I think he may be setting the pace on friday but some of the others will pace themselves better the first half of the event before making up time on the saturday afternoon.

Re: Caerwent 27th September

PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:59 pm
by notax
Just had the results through - there were 44 retirements :shock: from 100 starters. Our bent wishbone cost us a pot (and nearly a finish) as we were only 24 seconds behind 3rd in class and 33 seconds behind 2nd in class... Maybe next time.