On 6th August, Streetly MC held the Castle Hotel Rallysprint at the Castle Hotel in Tamworth. The event consisted of two short stages, one gravel and one tarmac, over the winding hills of Finland. The event was open to SMC members only, all drivers competing in the same vehicle (a modified Vauxhall Nova). The event received 7 entries, with Dan Howell running car 0, all drivers receiving one practice run and one timed run oneach stage.
SS1 opened with George Cooke putting in a good practise run of 2:53, only to post a 3:17 on his timed tun. Sandy Woodley stepped up to the mark with a 3:07 in practice, and an improved timed run of 2:57, showing steadiness and consistency early on. Michelle Cooke followed with a creditable 3:34, despite a few minor offs into the scenery. Wildcard driver Mike Morgan was next into stage, showing unbelievable pace on his practice run until he blew the engine over-revving. Practice run pulled, the car was magically fixed for his timed run but he turned the pace down a little, having a major off that cost him time, and posting 3:36 at the finish line. Lindsay Morgan set off with a steady pace to bring in a practise run of 3:16, but as was becoming popular the timed run showed a slowing of pace as drivers took more care on their ‘real’, unforgiving timed run - a 3:29 for Lindsay
secured her 5th position after stage 1. Aron Brown stepped up the challenge next, posting a very good 3:01 practise run, and a 3:15 for his timed run, despite gear selection problems due to a loose gear lever. Finally, Richard
Hinton wrestled a car with a loose gearbox and steering wheel to a 3:09 practice time, and 3:23 on his timed run. Smart-arse Dan Howell, with several years experience of the car in question, posted a 2:34 run as car 0, proving that too much time spent behind the wheel might be good for your stage times, but bad for your social life.
SS2 offered higher speeds on long, fast flowing tarmac stages between several of Finlands large lakes - with several blind crests and opportunities for competitors to end up ‘in the drink’. Re-seeding after stage 1 meant the keen Scot, Sandy Woodley, was into stage first with no other competitors to ffer any advice. The fast and dangerous nature of the stage claimed its first victim on his practice run, Sandy losing control of the car after a high-speed blind crest and spinning off into a lake. Thankfully, being his practice run, the car was magically recovered for his timed run, where he set the bar with a 3:03. Running 2nd, Aron Brown was into SS2 with much gusto but showed once again how hard the front runner were pushing in practice, repeating Sandy’s antics and putting the car in the water. His timed run employed more reservation, and Aron posted a 3:21. Third in was George Cooke, who took a steady pace on his practice run to learn the stage - which paid dividends on his timed run with a great run, lots of ‘almost-moments’ and the result being an amazing 2 minutes 50 seconds. Richard Hinton, currently running fourth, put in a credible 2:59 on his practice run but his day ended early on his (unforgiving) timed run when he was one of the many crews who ended up going for a swim. Being his timed run, this was classed as a true retirement and Richard was out of the running…
Unperturbed by the number of competitors attempting to turn the Nova into an aquatic vehicle, Lindsay Morgan was next in with a timed run of 3:10 but gearbox issues and some near-moments resulted in a 4:01 on her timed run. Michelle Cooke followed her, with good solid runs of 3:29 and 3:05, showing the typically consistent, steady and composed nature of female competitors (although her male competitors may have being dropping jibes along the lines of ‘slow’). Last into the stage was Mike Morgan - could he bring it back after showing promising skills on SS1? His practice run showed the usual over-commitment, the car once again taking a fatal excursion into the scenery. His timed run was looking better, with more reservation on the tricky undulating roads but unfortunately it was not the scenery but, once again, his over-enthusiastic use of the throttle pedal and dubious down-changes that resulted in a blown engine for his little Nova - and another competitor out with DNF.
The day finished with Lindsay Morgan taking 5th with 7:30. Michelle Cooke made 4th with 6:39, Aron Brown snatching 3rd by only 3 seconds with a 6:36. 2nd deservedly went to George Cooke with 6:07 but there was no denying Sandy Woodley had put in an excellent performance to bring it home with 6:00 flat.
The night finished with some hooning around in a club-spec 6R4 on a rallycross circuit, before the competitors packed up and returned home - hopefully driving responsibly and sensibly on the way, once the adrenaline had faded from their veins! Before you ask - yes - it was a PC simulator game….!
Links
www.rfactor.net - Race simulator
www.rfactorcentral.com - Community site for rFactor simulator
www.logitech.com - Steering wheels
