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Many thanks to our new sponsor, Perspective-i, for the photos |
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A fresh new venue for a fresh start to the 2003 season, we turned up bright and early
at Hixon Airfield, north of Rugeley, for the Cannock Electrical Installations Stages (run by
Cannock & District Car Club). The venue was a new one, having not been used for over 20 years, so we had no
idea what we were turning up to. Our belief was yet another tarmac single venue rally, as the regulations for
the event had previously hinted... "90% sealed surface". This usually means 10% broken-up concrete or short
sections of gravel. We turned up with a fresh-faced car, ready to clear itself of it's misbehaviour at the Tyre'd Goat Stages of late 2002. Sporting a fresh set of Yokohama A032R's we were going to take it easy, since the weather was forecast for downpours. We were hoping the new tyres would give us plenty of grip in the wet, and Little Dan was hoping not to re-enact Abingdon from last year. Time and bad weather in the week meant Dan didn't have time to fit the new sump guard, but since the event looked fairly tame, we weren't too concerned. |
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Noise and scrutineering were mere formalities, thankfully, and we were ready for the off. Lots of pit talk
from other 'local' competitors warned us of very slippery conditions. Ade Smekks, fellow member of Streetly
Motor Club and running high up in the ranks with a Mitsubishi Evo VI, took a few moments to warn Dan of the
surface, adding that the event would be hard on cars and crews, and quite a few people would probably end up
going out. We're not really sure if he realised just how true those words would turn out to be.
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Stage 1 arrived, and off we set. The first section of good quality but broken concrete offered no surprises
until the Dan's rounded the first corner to face a stretch of runway covered in a muddy slurry. Not just a light
smattering of mud, either... oh no... we're talking a good two inches thick in places, I reckon! Another turn and
an even rougher gravel section with big potholes, the Pug crashed and banged it's way through, Dan slowing the car
and dodging the rough bits as best as he could (the last thing we needed was a dinted sump). It soon became apparent that the surface was definately 90% sealed.... with mud!
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We clonked a hay bale on our first outing as a result of lack-of-turn-in at speed going through a chicane.
This put a ding in the front right wing and took out our indicator, but otherwise nothing too serious - minor
knocks like this are all part of the parcel with club rallying. But it brought home the conditions in a non-too-
expensive, gentle-reminder kind of way, and Dan turned the heat down a little so we could bring the car to the
end.
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After a few stages, we started to relax and enjoy it. The rally was turning out to be a mini-introduction to
gravel/loose surfaces and the crew carried on as best as they could, running well within their limits and using
the event to learn a little bit about how to drive in the conditions. Braking into some corners required very
light, careful use of the brakes and lots of engine revs to ensure the front wheels didn't lock up (something
Dan remembered all to well from Abingdon). In fact it was a prime example of how you live and learn from your
mistakes. Turn-in to some of the bends was non-existent and required a gentle pull on the handbrake to get
the car to come round. We were spinning wheels in 4th and occassionally 5th gear along the big straights, which
goes to show how slippy it was!
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We had a problem on SS6 which resulted in the HT lead falling off the dizzy twice during the stage (that'll teach
Dan to put it on properly the first time!). This resulted in a stage maximum of 12 minutes, dropping us a couple
of places down the rankings, but to be honest it didn't make that much different to our overall position and wasn't
worth getting worked up or disappointed about. By the time the final stage (SS8) arrived early afternoon, almost
40% of the original starters had retired and with only 28 cars remaining in the running, our boys brought it back
in 24th overall, and 9th in class (don't get too excited, there were only 12 left!). A steady run, a sensible drive
and a really good laugh had by one and all. We came away from the event with a lot of experience gained on loose, slippy surfaces. We also came away with a rally car that actually LOOKED like it had been on a rally, which is a first. It was clear that in hindsight we should have taken some gravel tyres with us, if only a pair for the front, it would have given us a lot more grip and confidence in the conditions. Hixon proved to be a cracking new venue and one we hope to return to next year... this time with some proper tyres and a sump guard!
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