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The run up to our first rally since February was fraught
with problems. The Duckeries Rally in Mansfield was due to start in a week
and the car still needed its MOT. Peter duly booked the car in at the local
establishment of mechanical repair and took the car along for its yearly
check-up.The car failed for a number of minor reasons, including CO
problems, grumbling rear bearings and rear number-plate/side light
problems.
Bearings were bought, the lights were repaired and Peter fidled with the
CO setting, just to show willing, and the car was taken back for a re-test.
All was well and the car had its new MOT. On the night that the car got its
MOT, Wednesday before the rally, we were just going through our final
checks and refitting four of our six new wheels, when we found that the
off-side front suspension was loose at the bottom ball joint. We took the
suspension apart and found that the bottom ball-joint and its associated
clamp bolt were very worn. Having had a failure in this region before, we
purchased a new joint and fitted it on Thursday. Unfortunately the only
bolt we had to clamp it in was threaded along its whole length, (more of
this later)
We got to Mansfield on Friday 22nd July at 6:45 after a sweaty, Peter has
no Air-Conditioning!, four hour plus drive round the M25 and M1 we arrived
at scrutineering. To our astonishment, there were already about 70 cars
there already and we had to suffer two-hour wait in a queue in order to get
through scrutineering. We passed and after a joke or two with the RAC
scrutineer, well you have to keep them happy, we went to signing on and
then to our accommodation for the evening. Where much drinking and
merriment occurred, well until we were thrown out of the pub.
The day of the Rally dawned, overcast but warm, the forecast of showers
seemed a little optimistic. Our start time was 10:57, so we had plenty of
time for an hearty breakfast and a leisurely drive back to the Rally start,
at Mansfield Civic Centre.
We left on our allotted time and drove the 7 or 8 miles to the first
stage. This stage was 1.32 miles long and took 1:57 for us to complete. We
were flying at times and although I think we could have been a couple of
seconds quicker here and there. However, as we had not done the stage
before and it was our first since February, we were very happy with our
performance. Leaving the stage we were pretty confident and were looking
forward to the rest of the day.
Stage 2 was 2.3 miles long and, as per most of the other stages, favoured
the more powerful cars, due to the fact it was made up by straights and 90°
bends. This stage was extremely bumpy and rutted, there was a number of
times that we hit a bump and the car must have lost about a third of its
speed, this event was not kind to cars or passengers. We finished the stage
in 2:57 and were extremely pleased, although we would have liked to have
gone to service to see if we had damaged the car. However, all seemed well
on the drive to the next stage.
The drive between stages 2 and 3 was quite enlightening, as the route
took us past what was obviously Mansfield's car dumping ground. There must
have been about 60 cars dumped on the land leading up to the stage and the
entry road was particularly rutted and unkempt. Some of the dumped cars had
been pushed off the to of a 30 foot bridge parapet on to the other dumped
cars below, I would have though that a gat eon the road or a police
presence would have been the key here. (Enough of me and my soapbox)
As we lined up for the 5.5 mile stage, we hoped that the surface would be
better and we could get the car up to speed and flowing quickly. We were
sadly disappointed as the surface was even more pitted and rutted, causing
a couple of passengers to be thrown around. At one point, the car was
tramping so bad that I could not read the stage map and Peter had blurred
vision. We had one major leap where the car left the road and the back end
was probably two feet above the front. We continued undaunted, although we
knew the car was taking serious abuse. As we turned a 90 Left into a wooded
avenue, the car veered to the left, at which point I asked Peter what he
was doing, to which he responded 'Nothing at all'. "OOOPS", the car slid up
the bank on the left and then span in the road to rest nicely up against a
tree, this all happened at about 45 mph and as you can imagine was very
disconcerting.
We got out of the car to find that each front wheel was pointing in a
different direction. The bottom ball-joint on the driver's side had come
adrift and although nothing was broken the car would have to be moved prior
to entertaining repair. At this point the marshals arrived, as did the
first set of competitors, quickly followed by the next four or five cars.
The stage was stopped and the marshals helped us get the car on to the flat
so that we could jack the front and get the ball joint back in and then get
the car rolling so that we could get out of the stage and allow the other
competitors past. We soon got the ball joint repaired, but when we
attempted to move there was no drive, as the drive shaft had come out of
the gearbox. At this point the marshals decided that the best thing to do
would be to tow us out of the stage. This they did with aplomb, as we
traveled down the rest of the stage at 30 mph behind a Vauxhall Monterey.
Once we were out of the stage, we took the suspension apart, refitted the
drive shaft and drove to the service area.
We knew that our rally was over, but still tried to persuade the Clerk of
the Course to let us run in the afternoon. Unfortunately, this was not to
be and after handing in our damage declaration, we sped a swift retreat
(well three or so hours) back to Kent, pondering on what might have been.
Another season where we have not started too well. However, "we'll be
back" as Arnie says, ready to fight again.
Anthony Blyth
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