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DCC Ingliston 27 April 2013
The reigning STRC champions finished a safe third, but with no answer to the speed of the leaders, Chris Anderson and Chris Thirling in the Fiesta.
Broke the engine on the Granite the previous Saturday, so dropped in an engine from a £200 pound Mondeo, and finished fourth overall.
Finished 15th in spite of persistent fuelling problems.
Took the 1400 class lead on the first stage, lost it after running out of brakes on SS2 & 3. Fitted harder pads and changed the fluid at lunchtime. Despite a spin on SS7 were leading again going into the last stage, but dropped 30 seconds when the clutch failed and finished 3rd in class.
Won the unofficial Astra Challenge trophy.
Well driven and surprisingly competitive, and yes, it is a 1600 Maestro.
Finished second of the growing fleet of GMSC Astras.
First event for the driver since 2000, first stage rally for the navigator. Brake pedal hitting the floor every now and then, lost a headlight to a bale that jumped out in front of them in the morning, and did part of a later stage dragging one of the merge barriers under the car, but had a grand day out and were well pleased to get a finish.
Much excitement and flagwaving among the photographers all day, but Twiggys good run was spoiled by a stage maximum on SS7; cause unknown.
After buying my Astra over a year ago I finally got it ready for the recent event at Ingliston, which was my first event as a driver. To make things even more challenging my navigator was also a novice and the car was a left hand drive. After submitting the entry we seeded 37th which was far too high for us as complete novices and there was much more experience behind us. I did approach the event hosts to ask them to move us further back but I was told to "man up", not those words but plenty other people told me the same in those words. However, in the end I decided to embrace the 37th starting position and was good to go.
Stage 1: we had a reasonable start but drove very cautiously as wanted to get a feel for the car however this strategy meant we were quickly caught by the car behind.
Stage 2: brought a new set of challenges as the brake pipe burst at the first left after the start straight. A quick pull of the hand brake brought us to a spinning stop just short of the concrete bollards. There were more skid marks inside the car than there were outside on the tarmac. Had to limp out for a stage maximum.
Stage 3: got the car patched up but problems with bleeding the brakes made me uncertain about their efficiency therefore another cautious start to the Stage until I was certain of their ability to actually work.
Stage 4: cancelled due to an accident however fortunately both occupants were safe so this was a relief.
Stage 5: now we were confident with the brake ability I tried to up the pace but this time we didn't have a mechanical failure, we had an occupant failure when Alex brought us off a lap early. These things happen (don't worry I won't let him forget). Another stage maximum.
Stage 6/7/8: these stages were quite uneventful, we started to get a feel for the car and worked on improving the lap times. We were still miles off the pace of the other Astra's but recorded our first finish which we are absolutely delighted with.
Thanks to everyone who helped in the run up to the rally, during and after and I hope we can put on a better show for the summer stages at Crail.
Stuart
Retired, broken diff.
Rolled at split on Stage 4.
Driveshaft broke SS6, got out of the stage but there was a bit left jammed in the diff so couldn’t fit a new one. Game over.
Seemed to be heading for a finish in the twenties, till the car broke near the end of the last stage; so near and yet so far.
Good run for the teenage driver on his second event.
Limped out of stage 5 with a slipping clutch and retired.
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