Ford Escort RS Group 4: PH Fleet

Something's gone pop under the bonnet and Jesse has himself a winter project

After ripping the steering apart on my second ever stage rally in the Escort at Woodbridge airfield in 2012, co-driver Dave and I were keen to get back there this year and have another crack. Woodbridge is still in use by the MOD and considering it's now 71 years since they were laid the concrete surfaces are in pretty good nick. In 1944, a rookie Luftwaffe Junkers 88 night fighter crew flying in the wrong direction landed there by accident thinking they were back in Germany. They must have got a hell of a shock, but I was hoping the navigation would be a bit more reliable today.

Woodbridge would hopefully suit the Yellow Peril

Two years ago I dropped a wheel into an unseen hole and the shock pulled a steering arm off the strut. It was probably unlucky but the move up to 15-inch wheels and longer bolts with two nuts on each should prevent it happening again.

What with one thing and another and only a month between Woodbridge and Brands Hatch in August there wasn't much time for prep. I'd fitted a new thermostat and radiator cap as we lost a bit of water on the last stage at Brands but there were no signs of head gasket failure or anything nasty so I hoped the problem was cured.

The rain had cleared by morning and the car was sitting on the same set of Kumho moulded slicks we'd finished up with at Brands. I reckoned we'd only scrubbed around 1mm off them in two stages and, allowing for Woodbridge being slightly more abrasive, reckoned we might just get through the 60-odd stage miles with what we had left.

Things were going well ... until they weren't

After a 12th overall at Abingdon and 10th at Brands, we were seeded 18th, the highest yet. That was good news because we'd lose less time getting past slower cars and have some quick cars around us to make sure the adrenaline stayed at a useful level.

Because it's so vast with so many features, buildings and plant life, direction arrows and cones are more spread out than some other venues and navigation is pretty tricky. We don't get pace notes as such, just A4 stage diagrams and it's the sort of place that benefits from having being round it a few times.

One of the challenges of single venue stage rallying is being quick on the first stage, bearing in mind that each layout is usually run twice, so SS1 and SS2 will be the same course. Those who get on it 'out of the box' will do better than those who don't. What isn't good is to finish the second stage and find yourself 10 seconds quicker than you were first time around.

Open heart surgery added to winter to-do list

When the light went green I kept that in mind and got a wiggle on. We were making good progress and I was keeping an eye on the temperature gauge - no problems there. Somehow though, the engine wasn't feeling quite as rapid as it did but I put it down to the fact I was getting used to it. We struggled a bit finding our way at one point and dropped a bit of time, but overall the stage went well and I felt we'd put in a good time. As it turned out, 11th fastest overall and third in class. But as we rolled away from the last control, the temperature gauge shot up again and the old coolant problem returned. Back at base, investigation revealed the head gasket was leaking slightly and pressurising the cooling jacket on number three cylinder. More on that next time but for now, I need to get back in the shed and on the spanners.

With apologies for the overexposed in-car footage.

Vid here

FACT SHEET
Car: 1978 Mk2 Ford Escort RS
Run by: Jesse Crosse
Bought: January 2010
Mileage: 1,000 (or so) stage miles since 2009
Purchase price: £36,000
Last month at a glance:

Previous updates:
Enter the Yellow Peril! An intro to Jesse's Escort
A solid early outing, or would have been if not for electrical gremlins
Abingdon stages a proper workout for Jesse and the Yellow Peril
Summer break? Perfect time for some upgrades then!
Brands Hatch Summer Stages gives the Escort a proper workout

Action photos: Andrew Manston, M&H Photography

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