Omagh Motor Club had their Bone Shaker rally on Friday night. It was a great event and we managed to come away with 1st in class, which is a huge relief after our poor result on the previous round of the championship. Last years Class 2 Champions Neil Anderson and Andy Hughes were competing for the first time this year and were debuting their new rally car, however their recently purchased enduro spec 106 was almost their downfall as poor quality wiring meant that the car wouldn't start again after a stall and it cost them over 15 minutes getting it going again. We had a pretty clean run and Rachel had thought the instructions were easier than they had been in Enniskillen but it turned out to be a high scoring rally for everyone. Luckily for us Davy McElroy and Clive Latimer made a few errors to finished 3rd so we were able to take a few points back on them in the championship.
My Passat estate daily driver was once again called upon to double up as my rally car and it performed fairly well. I've removed the rear window tints and added a rear wiper so for the first time I could see where I'd been and I'd added uprated headlight bulbs to help me see where I was going. The new bulbs are some 130/90w "Ring Sport" jobs that I got from eBay for £15 and are a great improvement, especially on dip. The bulbs produce a lot more light but it doesn't travel any further so I still felt like I couldn't see as far as I needed to, but the junctions were easier to spot. As well as lighting the other main car issue on the night was a major lack of grip. It stayed dry for the rally but it had rained fairly hard about an hour before we started so the roads were wet. It seemed like every time I touched the brakes they locked the wheels and as a result I had to be extra cautious. Maybe that was for the best though as I managed to stay out of the fields this time.
That is us into the Nav rally summer break and the next event isn't until the 2nd September. I hope to have the Nova rebuilt by then so hopefully the Bone Shaker was the Passat's last rally. I'm pleased that it got to go out on a high, Passat estate - class winning rally car.
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/20110415_OMC_BoneshakerRally_Results.pdf
Showing posts with label Passat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Passat. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Erne Safari 2011
The final result wasn't what I had hoped for but I had a good time none the less. It took me a few sections to shake off the rust from not having done a nav rally for what seems like a long time, but once I got back into the way of driving again it was really good. The Passat isn't the most suitable car but it performed well. The route wasn't overly tight so the Passat's size didn't cause any problems.
The main issue on the night was a lack of lights and that's an area I hope to have a look into before the next event in Cookstown on the 25th March. I just couldn't see far enough up the road to feel safe about trying to push on to get back on our minute. Some conventional uprated bulbs will be a good start, but I also have a HID kit that came with the Passat that I could refit.
Other issues that don't have such an easy fix are the brakes and the suspension. I could feel on a couple of occasions that the brakes were getting too warm so I had to look after them for a few miles until they cooled again. This was possibly only a problem due to there being no relaxed section on the rally so the car didn't get its usual half distance break to cool down. On the suspension side there were no real issues, I just felt that the car was sprung a bit soft for what I was asking it to do, I had to be careful of the sump and the front bumper was grounded out a few times.
As can be see from the results link below we were classed as DNF, which is very disappointing and not actually correct. Unfortunately just after TCH I got distracted, didn't notice a corner coming up and took the "safe" option of going a few meters through an open gate into a field. The field turned out to be very wet and we got stuck for the rest of the rally. Thankfully a local farmer towed us out and there was no harm done. We went to the finish at the hotel to hand in our time card and then went home. There was no point staying as we wouldn't be getting any trophies on this occasion. We were due to finish at TCJ so we had visited more than two thirds of the controls and should have been classes as finishers but the regulations weren't followed correctly. I've sent an email about it so I hope to get it sorted out, class 2 is going to be very competitive this year so we need all the points we can get.
Erne Safari Results:
http://www.enniskillenmotorclub.co.uk/es11/ESResults2011.pdf
CMC Donaldson Fuels Rally regs and entry form:
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Regulations%20permit11.pdf
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Entry%20Form11.pdf
The main issue on the night was a lack of lights and that's an area I hope to have a look into before the next event in Cookstown on the 25th March. I just couldn't see far enough up the road to feel safe about trying to push on to get back on our minute. Some conventional uprated bulbs will be a good start, but I also have a HID kit that came with the Passat that I could refit.
Other issues that don't have such an easy fix are the brakes and the suspension. I could feel on a couple of occasions that the brakes were getting too warm so I had to look after them for a few miles until they cooled again. This was possibly only a problem due to there being no relaxed section on the rally so the car didn't get its usual half distance break to cool down. On the suspension side there were no real issues, I just felt that the car was sprung a bit soft for what I was asking it to do, I had to be careful of the sump and the front bumper was grounded out a few times.
As can be see from the results link below we were classed as DNF, which is very disappointing and not actually correct. Unfortunately just after TCH I got distracted, didn't notice a corner coming up and took the "safe" option of going a few meters through an open gate into a field. The field turned out to be very wet and we got stuck for the rest of the rally. Thankfully a local farmer towed us out and there was no harm done. We went to the finish at the hotel to hand in our time card and then went home. There was no point staying as we wouldn't be getting any trophies on this occasion. We were due to finish at TCJ so we had visited more than two thirds of the controls and should have been classes as finishers but the regulations weren't followed correctly. I've sent an email about it so I hope to get it sorted out, class 2 is going to be very competitive this year so we need all the points we can get.
Erne Safari Results:
http://www.enniskillenmotorclub.co.uk/es11/ESResults2011.pdf
CMC Donaldson Fuels Rally regs and entry form:
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Regulations%20permit11.pdf
http://www.anicc.org.uk/Resources/Documents/Entry%20Form11.pdf
Friday, 4 March 2011
Finally getting started!
Tonight will be my first event of the year and I'm really looking forward to getting back out competing, it feels like its been a very long time coming. Unfortunately I damaged the Nova this week so I wont be able to use it tonight which is big let down. It looks like the rally car will be off the road for a few months as the damage is quite substantial so my Passat estate daily driver will be called into action to make its rally debut. I installed all my rally equipment last night and it makes the dash look a bit like a space ship from the 1980's but hopefully it will help keep me on time tonight when I don't have the agility of the Nova to fall back on.
Tonight's event is the Erne Safari and is organised by Enniskillen Motor Club. It starts in Irvinstown so it will be a bit of a rush to get down on time but hopefully the rally will be worth it. We missed the first round of the championship so have no points on the board as yet, a good strong finish will be needed.
Tonight's event is the Erne Safari and is organised by Enniskillen Motor Club. It starts in Irvinstown so it will be a bit of a rush to get down on time but hopefully the rally will be worth it. We missed the first round of the championship so have no points on the board as yet, a good strong finish will be needed.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Tour of the Mournes 2011
Tonight was supposed to be the first round of the Northern Ireland Navigation Rally Championship with the Tour of the Mournes rally organised by Rathfriland Motor Club, but unfortunately due to the bad weather during the crucial weeks leading up to the event it has had to be called off, which is a great shame. The Tour of the Mournes is one of my favourite navs of the year because the weather is unpredictable, but this time it is that very variable that has forced it to be called off. With the event route being up in the mountains, in January, the grip level is constantly changing and for me it just adds an extra bit of excitement to the driving.
I competed a couple of years ago in an old Passat estate that had been bought for £100 to do the Scally Rally and it was brilliant fun. The big car was a bit of a handful and getting stopped at a few junctions on the ice was a real test of my ability, but we got round to the finish with no damage and a respectable score which earned Neil and myself a trophy for 3rd in class.
I hope that the bad weather doesn't become an annual event and the Tour of the Mournes returns again in 2012.
I competed a couple of years ago in an old Passat estate that had been bought for £100 to do the Scally Rally and it was brilliant fun. The big car was a bit of a handful and getting stopped at a few junctions on the ice was a real test of my ability, but we got round to the finish with no damage and a respectable score which earned Neil and myself a trophy for 3rd in class.
I hope that the bad weather doesn't become an annual event and the Tour of the Mournes returns again in 2012.
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