Loco Stages 2003
Driver: Andy Corner
Navigator: James Greenwood
Vehicle: Peugeot 205 1600cc
Seeded: 8
Finished: 14th / 5th
Middle of the night, freezing cold and I can’t even open the car door to get it started – what a great way to start your Sunday. One kettle later and I arrived at Andy Corners for our trek to Longmoor Army Camp, for the Loco Stages 2003.
Loaded up and in convoy with Simons Alfa and Dingo’s BMW, Liphook loomed out of the fog – cold and quiet. Let’s ride the course – seems OK with plenty of 90 left and right, very grippy tarmac, a little bit of woodland with plenty of trees to hit. Fingers and toes even colder.
The car breezed through scrutineering but the organisers didn’t like my last years licence or my club membership card so £30 later I was legal.
We were seeded 8 in this 2-wheel drive only event (Guy Wigley was on top spot), with a very fast nova at number 7 and a couple of rear wheel drive 205s and Fiestas further up the running order.
Stage one was quick and grippy with no great dramas other than sliding gently off in the woodland on the same corner on both laps and getting perilously close to a sturdy looking STOP sign. Stages 2 and 3 were consistent but not flowing – Andy felt that engine gearing and cam were not totally suited to the layout. They also claimed 2 Peugeots, ripping wheels off both and setting fire to one.
Stage 4 – we were flying, the Nova wacked a wall but didn’t loose much time so 2nd in class and 7th overall was our position until four corners from home we chewed up a drive shaft and coasted to a stop – stage maximum number one!
Ed and Andy set to and replaced the broken shaft in a shade under 15 minutes, which meant that we could start stage 5 in our seeded slot. The stage was reversed and the sun was desperately trying to warm things up. We were warned on the start line of a dangerous jump halfway along the service straight, which also had a split straight after it. We hit the jump and the back of the car bucked up but stayed straight. “Split Left but where?” Concentrating on the jump and looking up to see no sign of the cones or orange / yellow arrows I was expecting we missed the split and followed the escort in front, turning right, to a premature finish – DOH! And stage maximum number 2.
Last in class and 35th overall was our position for stage 6, not great but we carried on with nothing to loose Andy nailed the throttle and we blasted the stage, found a rhythm and smoked the jump to pull out a quick time.
Stage 7 and the Nova was in the wall, we changed to 13inch wheels on the front and attacked from the start – the car was quicker, the corners smooth – settle the car and floor it for the jump bucked the back end but we kept control and far more speed – marvellous. Our final run was 2 seconds quicker and we finished 5th in class and 14th overall.
A final thanks to Ed and Daniel for servicing all 3 cars.
James Greenwood
