trackdayweapons

So, Woodbridge. A classic single venue event in the UK. Woodbridge being an airfield venue but with some decent stages on it. Prep the car the week before as I’ve got to the stage where I really can’t be assed with last minute crappery and leave at 4am in the morning to get to the event. I’ve got Paul Rees (rallymarshal/done a lot on Rally Barbados the last few years) codriving.

15 miles from the venue the trailer we’re towing with gets a puncture and so we have to offload the old Evo on a busy road and drive it there, makes things a little hurried but the upshot is at least the transmission and oils get a little heat in them I guess..

Anyways, with all the fuckeries we hit the first stage 30s late. And then, with 10s to go, still rushed the intercom fuse blows. Lovely.

Although being an airfield, the stages are suprisingly varied, some section taking in the runway, some sections taking in a more rally-like narrow rough/gravelly section in between trees and a lot of it round the outfield buildings/roads. (stage diagram - http://woodbridgestages.co.uk/files/WoodbridgeStages07_Stage Diagrams.pdf). Paul resorts to shouting as loud as he can the notes he’s reading off the map, I go about trying to steer the thing and somehow despite having to overtake four cars on the stage we pop in a top ten time.

I do so little rallying in the UK they’ve seeded us 56th(!) out of 70, so we’re waaaay back in the running order and don’t get a clear stage all day. I don’t mind, we’re here for kicks and it always looks nice on the in-car cam when you’re passing cars but it does get a little silly when every single stage you’re having to pass four or five cars… anyways, on we go.

Stage 2 is more of the same except we end up running over a tree(!) that someone has hit and brought onto the stage, Stage 3 the brake pedal starts to go long but we just carry on trying to drive around it.

By lunch (after stage four) we’re running top ten overall (but still starting way down the order) and things are going quite well. Not really caning the car fully but definetly getting more up to speed. The anti-lag on the car is so friggin gay (nigh on non-existant) the trick is learning to roll on the throttle so much earlier, from pretty much turn-in you’re trying to left foot brake while keeping some throttle open to build the boost. The problem is the brakes are really suffering, pedal will be long one corner and sharp the next so on hitting the braking zone you’re pumping the pedal to check the brakes are there before braking properly.

Anyways, on we go, great fun moving the car about and incredible grip, all it takes is two stages and the tyres will be down to the wire on the sidewalls. Car runs a fraction hot on the last stage so ease off a little but with the results in we finish up 9th overall.

Can’t be disappointed with that really considering the event is won by a 6R4 from a pucka Group A GT4 Celica. We’re just behind a Prodrive Subaru. The way the UK clubman rallies are run is to lump ALL four wheel drive cars into one group so we’re in with the Skoda WRC, 6R4, Celica and all the Group A cars even though we’re running a piddly little 32mm Group N restrictor.