Vauxhall Nova Car 56: Ian Dove/Emma Taylor
We arrived at Cadwell Park for the final round of the Protyre Circuit Rally Championship. The weather was fine and 1600cc class tyre allocation hopes were high.
The decision was made, buy some new Medium Hoosiers and really try and take the fight to Paul Sheard (MX5) and Richard Kay (Corsa).
Stage 1 – The stage began smoothly, but as we left the pits heading towards the top of the mountain, Car 61 stalled right at the entry. Car 50, ourselves, and Car 62 were all stuck behind them all the way through the infield and back out onto the circuit. As we came out of Mansfield, Car 62 got the drag on us and passed on the outside, tucking in front of us through the gooseneck before the split at Chris Curve. Car 50 peeled off to the finish, leaving us all to proceed down the Park Straight. Car 62 decided they were going down the left of 61 and these 2 started a bit of door rubbing so we went to the right and pulled alongside Car 61, who then moved over, forcing us onto the grass flat in 5th @ 112 Mph! it was like a scene from BTCC! Scary. Lost approx 45 seconds on this stage.
Stage 2 – Good run through this stage. The car seemed to be overheating the tyres towards the end but we thought this was just down to the nice day.
Stage 3 – Really trying hard and some committed driving resulted in a time of 5:21, placing us 39th overall in the stage.
Stage 4 – Another committed stage leaving nothing out there resulted in a time of 5:16, moving us up to 35th position.
Stage 5 – This is where the problems started. Prior to the stage in Service one of the guys noticed one of the rear wheel studs had come loose. To apply a temporary fix we screwed this into the hub but went too far with it catching slightly on the inside on the casing. This led to an increase in noise and a discernable knocking from the driver’s rear wheel. This wasn’t to stop us. Pressing on into stage, we again were trying hard when the noise worsened on the downhill run towards the pits, so we backed off to preserve the car and fix on our return.
Things were to change in Service. On our return, a quick look over the car and wind the stud out slightly, all was well we thought. Then we had a visit from a spectator, alerting us that their children had noticed the nearside wheel had been moving under braking and acceleration. A more thorough inspection was needed. After raising the car, we discovered both front mud flaps had been worn away in the arches, and further investigation revealed even bigger issues!
We found that the entire front subframe that locates the bottom arms on both sides was seriously cracked. This allowed the wheels to take on their own caster and camber along with front and back movement. Decision taken, Ratchet straps to the rescue! Placing the straps around the cross member and along to the rear wishbone location, we managed to slightly restrict the movement of the fore and aft wheels to allow us to get back out.
Remember the free tyre allocations from the beginning? Finish Required
Decision made! We would go back out and start the stage, driving round at reduced speed and cutting short on each stage so we gained a maximum rather than a no attempt time.
At the end of stage 9, we achieved a classified finish not last, next to last but we did secure 3rd in the circuit championship, which should see a return of at least 1 tyre from the Protyre stock.
Cheers for that, Protyre.
Results on the survey of the Car; vital organs have sustained significant damage- transplant required. Watch this space!