Round 1 – Sunday 29th April 2007.

At long last the first round of the 2007 Delado Rallysprint Championship was with us and we had our best entry to date – 21 drivers. Once again the day was going to be blessed with dry weather and the track was in good condition, very hard on the main track and new loops on fresh grass that would prove slippery on the first couple of runs.

Scrutineering started at 08.15 and Mick Jones cast his experienced eye over all the cars to ensure they were safe to run. Several cars were found to have minor defects and the drivers of those cars should all be aware of what they need to do. If you are not sure please contact Baz or myself and we will advise. Mick did make a very valid point and that is that all cars should be presented at scrutineering in a clean and tidy condition. It makes the scrutineers job a lot easier and also creates the right impression with any potential members and sponsors. So could we all try and take half an hour to give their cars a clean before the next event.

The stage format this year has been changed in so far as there are now split junctions on the stage and different parts of the stage are used on each lap. Having driven the stage the day before in his van Darren was given the job of leading the cars round the new stage to show every one where they were to go. This was OK until he over shot the second split junction and had to reverse up. Slightly worrying as anyone taking the wrong route would be given the time of the slowest person on that stage.

As current champion Luke Collison was first car on the stage and set off in determined fashion. Everyone was keen to see where the stages run. Paddy was second out and was hoping for a trouble free run in the Sirion. All the crews completed the first two stages without incident and most managed to better their times by at least ten seconds.

Stages 3, 4 & 5 were all on the shorter stage utilising the faster sections of the stage. Unfortunately the Sirion of Paddy and Andrew succumbed to the same rear stub axle failure of stage 3 in, I think, the same place as previously, the 90 left at the bottom of the hill. The Fiesta of Ben and Richie also suffered with a driveshaft failure and loosing its exhaust. Luke kindly let Ben use his Corsa for his run while his dad effected repairs on the Fiesta. The dusty conditions were also causing problems for Steve Shields rear engined car as the air cleaner became clogged with dust. But he continued on and completed all the stages

All the times across the classes seemed much closer and some of the stages were won by tenths of seconds.

In the Junior Class Alex Cannon coped with a faulty fuel pump to win the class from Polly in 2nd and Steffi Cannon in 3rd.

In Class A Roy Gravestock won the class with Luke Collison in second and Colin Smith in third. This was a good result for Colin who you will all know from his ability to drive his white and blue MkI Escort at maximum attack around the stage. This was his first attempt at front wheel drive and he set some very respectable stage times in his Rover 25.

In Class B Darren Knights won the class and was first overall with Mike Bishop second in class in his 205, setting a fastest stage time in the process. Our president Peter Eaton came third in class and certainly seemed to “wake up” after lunch. Jim and Hazel settled into their immaculate MkI Escort well and their times were coming down on each stage.

Well done to all the new drivers who were competing on their first event. Everyone drove sensibly and we had no “offs” and very little in the way of posts being knocked down.

It was a very successful first event and Baz had once again provided us with brilliant stages to compete on.

Can I just make a couple of polite reminders to all the competitors.

Firstly, please keep your speed in the service area/paddock to a maximum of 10 miles an hour. It is “open plan” and spectators (including children) and other competitors are walking around. The last thing we ant is for someone to get knocked over in the service area. Let’s keep our competitive driving strictly to the stage.

Secondly, when working on your cars please try and adopt safe working practices. If you have to jack your car up please ensure it is set on axle stands or place wheels under it before working under the car. Again we do not want anyone getting hurt whilst working under a car. These precautions take seconds to do but could prevent serious injury.

I do not want to become a moaner but if we all make safety the number one priority we can continue to enjoy our unique motor club.

The next round is on the 13th May, get your entries in early and I look forward to seeing you there.

Darren Knights
Chairman.

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