Round 5 – Sunday 5th August 2007.

Sixteen drivers entered round 5 on 5 th August. The sun was out and it was going to be a very hot day both in and out of the car.

Pedro was debuting his new car, a four door MKII Escort, hand painted with loving care and ready to race. Craig and Sam Schofield were also using their BMW for the first time. Craig had used this car for ice racing in Norway previously and was keen to see how it performed on gravel.

Darren set the initial pace winning both stages 1 and 2 but Jim Hedgecock was only 3 seconds behind and a close battle looked on the cards until Darren broke a half shaft on the second lap of Stage 3 and that was the end of his rally. Jim began to edge ahead of the field as he completed the other stages and a real scrap was developing for second between Mike Bishop in the 205 and Mike Goss in the Golf. On the last 3 stages these two were never more than two seconds apart and on Stage 6 Mike Goss set a time just 11 tenths of a second quicker than “the Bish”. Mike Goss took a hard fought second in Class B and second overall with Mike Bishop third in class. Craig and Sam had a good run in the BMW but were looking forward to get the limited slip diff in for the next round..

In Class A Alex Cannon set out his intentions on stage one setting fastest time in the class. He was then quickest on stage 2, but Colin Smith in the Rover was waking up and on stage 3 he clawed 2.5 seconds back. Alex beat Colin by 8 tenths of a second on Stage 4 and the class win was going to be decided on the last 2 stages, a classic battle between youth and experience. Alex could see his first class win was within his reach and set off in determined mood setting a time of 5.09.02. Colin was last to run and pounced with a time of 5.01.12. With only a short stage left to claw back the time Alex had it all to do but when the flag dropped on Colins final run he had managed to find another 3 seconds.

Colin took a well deserved Class A win, a great result in his first season of front wheel drive, but Alex had made him work for it and came home 6.5 seconds behind. Behind this battle Andrew Springett in the RPM Skoda quietly set good times and finished third in class.

Other than Darren everyone else made it to the finish and all enjoyed their day. There was quite a bit of panel damage though. In the wake of Pedro’s big accident it was felt that something needed to be done at certain parts of the track to slow the cars down. The wooden stakes that had previously been used seemed no longer to be a deterrent as Baz was having to replace around £40 worth of wood after each round. Plastic drums and barrels were placed on the corners and at the new chicane near Pedro’s corner and filled with either water or bricks. As many drivers found to their cost if you hit them you did incur damage, and not just a scratch.

We will see how we get on at the next round with the barrels and as always safety has to be the number one priority.

Darren Knights

Club Chairman.

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