The Team In Action At Longcross

Seven years ago whilst leading the Carfax Rally of 1999, Mark II Motorsport had its biggest accident, completely writing off the teams much loved Fina Escort Cosworth and temporarily hospitalising the crew.

When the team pitched up at Longcross last weekend, it was the first time they had been back.

“It’s not that we have a problem with Longcross” said driver Mark Welch, “it’s just that this is the first time we’ve had chance to compete here since”. However, this was an opportunity to lets say, lay a few ghosts to rest!

After the learning curve of Smeatharpe a few weeks earlier, the team were hoping for a trouble free day. With original co driver Mark Norris back in the hot seat and some extensive gearbox adjustments carried out, everyone was in good spirits.

Seeded at 6 out of an incredibly high-class field, the team were up against 3 Metro 6R4’s, one of which was driven by front running National Championship contender John Indri and another by last year’s winner Simon Gudgeon.

Also competing was Poole based Marcus Dodd in one of his Hyundai Accent WRC’s as well as Peter Lloyd and Smeatharpe winner Steve Furzeland, both in Subaru Impreza WRC’s.

So the objective – another top ten finish.

Nothing however had prepared anyone for the Monsoon conditions that greeted the competitors. Lashing rain, flash flooding and lying water created a huge number of hazards to negotiate. Full wet weather tyres were the order of the day. “Great” was Norris’ response. “I hate the wet AND we only have intermediate tyres”.

As it happened, SS1 threw up some more fundamental problems. “I couldn’t see a thing,” said Welch at the end of the stage. “We have a heated front screen but it couldn’t cope with conditions”. The complete lack of forward vision saw the Mark II Cosworth reduced to a crawl for half the stage losing 40 seconds as well as a heart stopping moment under braking for a chicane where the car slid on leaves, straight through the chicane barriers but fortunately without damage.

Norris explained the problem to the service crew. “As the car was previously used in Bulgaria, I supposed know one realised quite how many leaks it has”. The dynamic service duo of Bruce and Julian set about baling out the car and cleaning off the windows. SS2 was better although the team were still way outside of the top 10.

Before SS3, Norris noticed that the temperature was way up. After investigation, it transpired that the car was seriously lacking water, pointing to a possible head gasket problem, no doubt a hangover from Smeatharpe. Just to add to the drama, the car then wouldn’t start due to wet electrics. A good dose of WD40 sorted that out, so from looking like retiring, Mark II stormed around SS3. They did pick up a 10 second penalty for arriving late to the start.

“Giving 50 seconds away here on a day like this will be impossible to recover” was Welch’s assessment.

Things were about to change. SS4 was cut short when Dodd’s launched his Hyundai into the trees causing the stage to be scrubbed.

It stopped raining for SS5 and the team started to make headway with their first top 10-stage time. For SS6, Welch gambled on a tyre change. “We’ve got a pair of well used full wets we’ll try on the front. All 4 tyres on the car have very little tread left, so as the wets have wider cuts, it ought to help”.

Help it did. Immediately there was greater confidence in the braking department and this translated into ever decreasing times. SS6, 9th fastest, SS 7 7th fastest, SS8 6th, SS9 and 10, 7th.

So by the end of the event, the team had clawed back into the top 10 – just.

“We’re still learning the car and getting the feel of how far you can push it, especially in the wet” said Norris. “Mark (Welch) has a high expectation as to what results we should be immediately achieving, but it’s going to take a few events to get up to speed. That said, we made very good progress today despite an uninspiring start”.

That was borne out by the fact that the team finished just 15 seconds behind Smeatharpe winner Furzeland having been quicker on the final 4 stages.

The event was a Metro 1 – 2 in favour of Indri. 3rd place went to Gary LeCoadou in his impressive Toyota Celica GT4.

Mark II’s next event is back at Longcross on 18th February. As for the 2006 Carfax – it was emotional.

Mark II Motorsport Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors :-

Posted 3rd December 2006