So what has happened in the past month?
Well club wise not an awful lot, the auto test series
continues with excellent entry levels so well done to all involved there.
Following the cancellation of the Spotted Dick Chin is
now planning to run a 20/20 road event on the first weekend in September (I’m
sure there will be more of that elsewhere). We are currently looking at a
venue with the MSA for a speed event next year and I hope to be able to give
some more detail next month. Hang on did I say there wasn’t much happening?
As mentioned in last month’s column I was up in the
Scottish borders on the Jim Clark Reivers Rally. It was good to have Andy
Kilby back to fitness and in the left hand seat once again after a three
month lay off. We were also joined by Chin who had decided to come up
north to see how the other half competes on the stages.
As we had been unable to attend the recce the week
before, we had decided on a steady approach as the only view of the stages
that we had had was the DVD that accompanied the route notes. This is exactly
what we did, push on where you could see it was OK and there is plenty of flat
in sixth stuff up there, but be cautious on the tighter bits.
At the stop line of SS3 it was very nice to be greeted
by Nigel and Rosemary Mead who were out watching a
long way from home. The first service was routine and then it was straight out
onto SS4 which would prove to be quite lively as it included the infamous
Swinton cross roads which the DVD did not do justice. The wrong line at too
higher speed resulted in the back of the car bunny hoping very high and coming
down extremely hard. But that was only the start of the excitement, oil had
been dropped on the stage but the pre start warning had given the wrong
location. The combination of this along with light drizzle produced a fairly
big moment in the narrowest of lanes, which cost about a minute, as turning
around was not easy.
Unfortunately our event was to finish half a mile from
the end of SS6 when something in the gearbox cried enough. A disappointing end
to say the least but then that is motor sport and that is the first DNF since
last August in Wales.
Well that’s it from me for another month, as I have to
hit the road and drive back up the A1 to Newcastle.