After
the previous weekend's run at the Sunbeach RallySprint, the following weekend
saw the International Texaco All-Stage Tarmac Rally. The day before the event
saw us finalise our pace notes, littered with "caution over crests"
and "caution bumps" due to the setup of our car. We managed to
complete the pace notes for the entire rally in a day, mainly thanks to being
able to crosscheck them with the information taken from Race Technology's GPS
datalogger.
The bad news was that Martin Atwell (Bajan Yellow Megabird), along with a
group of other competitors, had their insurance cancelled at the last minute due
to a corporate mistake. We couldn't believe it. He'd put so much money, time and
effort into building the car and getting it ready for just this event and then
the plug had been pulled at the last minute. Words can't describe the
disappointment.
The next morning we arrived at Simpson Motors to large crowds. We gave a few
interviews and generally roasted and relaxed in the sun while waiting around for
the rally to begin.
1st
Stage. Take it easy through the very bumpy start and then begin to gun
it through the Vaucluse section. Car feels good, record over 170km/h on the
first run down the straight. Have fun sliding the car through the smooth section
after Canefield and finish the stage feeling pretty good despite not being able
to hear many of the pace notes being called due to interference on the intercom.
2nd Stage. Swap drivers so George (Martin) is up for the nigh
on impossible, in our car, Turner's Hall downhill. Absolutely horrible stage for
our car, bottoming out everywhere and we generally crawl through. Big underside
impact at the bottom of the hill as the car really bounces off the dip.
3rd Stage. Panic as policeman waves us the wrong way through
transit necessitating us doubling back and readjusting the tulip diagrams. Make
the stage in time, and then get held for 20 mins in full race gear in the
burning sun while the stage is prepared. Begin to feel light-headed - must
remember to make a roof for next year!
Medium speed run through the stage, spot on for the first run as we build up
speed and settle in to these difficult stages.
As we pull into the service the clutch starts to refuse to disengage. Uh-oh.
Need bleeding?
4th Stage. Back to Hangmans and I'm driving again. Feels really
good through the stage, still taking it easy over the ripply stuff but cane it
down the straight getting into 6th flat out. Really hang the back out after
Canefield and begin to start to really enjoy this fully. Clutch is becoming
worse, thank heavens it's the Quaife sequential dog-box so we don't need to use
the clutch.
5th Stage. George jumps in, have to go pretty slow through the
downhill Turners Hall again as the car is having trouble riding the bumps.
Clutch getting worse. Have to bump start the car into first and virtually do a
rolling start.
6th Stage. Bellhousing area makes funny noises in transit. Stop
to examine. See a bellhousing-to-gearbox bolt sitting in the steel sump guard.
Ah, we know what this means. The various impacts have pulled out the bottom
bellhousing bolts meaning that the bellhousing is now separating from the
gearbox making it harder to select gears. It will also explain the seized
clutch. Thanks to the dog-box we can run on stage clutchless but the transit
sections are becoming a bit hairy. We carry on to the stage, rolling start the
car and complete the stage. George drives well, giving it large where he can.
Make
it to service, unsure what to do; the only way to get at those bolts is engine
out. Decide to carry on. We make the next couple of stages before it becomes too
dangerous bump starting the car in traffic and so we pull out of the rally.
We were obviously very disappointed. I was really looking forward to the
latter stages as these would have suited our car perfectly (smoother roads) and
we were really getting into the flow of things. We didn't get to show the car's
full potential as we were driving at about 70% to ensure we got through the
initial difficult bumpy stages.
Would I do it again? Definitely. It is simply the most enjoyable, most
challenging and ultimately spectacular genre and the Barbados Rally Carnival is
the perfect mix of sporting and social activity in the most beautiful location.
Would I do it again in a Seven replica? Well, a Seven replica with Martin (Atwell)'s
setup - yes, a Seven replica with our setup - no. These roads require double the
suspension travel and double the ride height we normally run. The afternoon
stages would have been interesting as I have no doubt that our car would have
been the fastest through the smooth sections, however, on the bumpy sections we
would no doubt have been the slowest.
On the bright side, at least now we can finally have a holiday, after
spending two weeks in the garage working on cars it is now time to go to the
beach, relax, sip some rum and grade bikinis. Quite a refreshing change from a
gloomy afternoon sprinting round Curborough!
Fluke Motorsport (www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk)
will be releasing a CD containing all the video footage, photographs, media
related stories, off-event footage, pace notes, maps and more from the event in
the near future. All profits will be donated to the Leukaemia Fund.