Caerwent 27th September

[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

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?

[notax]

Event almost full but our entry has been confirmed

[hsr2.6]

How was the day chris...........

[notax]

Sorry, haven't had time to write report yet

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!

[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?

[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 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 . 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

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 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

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

[M3 Compact]

Some quicker MK2s in Wales that there are down South?

1st O/A.

[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...)

[hsr2.6]

Some quicker MK2s in Wales that there are down South?

1st O/A.

And he's from Jersey

[martine30rally]

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

[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...)

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

[Tris-m3]

Sounds like Steve leonard is on it at the mo, any Jersey rally predictions??

[hsr2.6]

if he keeps it together he'll be there or there abouts but he usally struggles on saturday afternoon....

[martine30rally]

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.

[notax]

Just had the results through - there were 44 retirements 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.