The Team In Action At Colerne

Mark II Motorsport headed west last weekend to participate in the 2007 Azimghur Stages at the disused RNAS airbase at Colerne, near Bath. After the fine result at Abingdon a few weeks earlier the team had been busy trying to extract a bit more power out of the car and were looking forward to a return to a venue that requires huge horsepower.

With the help of Denis Osborne, Mark II had a new engine management system installed and hoped that this improvement would pay dividends. Unfortunately, one of the more “trick” aspects of the improvement couldn’t be completed in time.

Driver Mark Welch explained, “The noisy anti lag system now has a more environmentally friendly quiet setting – shame its not wired up in time for this event though!”

The Colerne field of 100 cars was impressive: - car 1 was multiple previous event winner Peter Lloyd in an Impreza WRC, at 2 was another multiple winner, the husband and wife pairing of Steve and Yvonne Furzeland in their £200k Impreza. Local driver Dave Jones in his Mitsubishi Evo 8 lined up at 3 and Mark II were amazed to find themselves seeded at car 4, Welch being co driven on this occasion by co founder of the team, Mark Norris.

The quality of the field continued with the likes of Peter Stojanov in the ex Tarmac championship winning Metro 6R4, Paul Kirtley in a works Impreza WRC and Ron Aitken also in 6R4. Another speed merchant seeded at 5 was John Harland in a race spec Darian kit car.

Grey clouds and overnight rain greeted the crews at this rather bleak location. Wet weather tyres for the 6.5 mile SS1 seemed the right choice for Mark II and they stormed round to 5th fastest time despite a slight case of driver error. “Mark tried to use the handbrake on a hairpin and stalled the car” said co driver Norris “I’ve told him so many times not to be so ambitious!”

SS2 was a re run of the first stage albeit drier. Welch decided to keep the wets on and this cost a bit of time as the tyres overheated before the end of the stage. Not much time lost however, only a couple of places. After SS2, Furzeland led from Lloyd and Stojanov with Kirtley 4th. Only 7 seconds separated 3rd from 7th where Mark II were hoping to make up time by switching to slicks.

SS3 was a longer 9.1 miler. Slicks improved the cars handling but frustratingly, the team were not able to take time out of the cars in front. The immediate target of Jones’ 6th placed Mitsubishi edged a further second away although in turn, Mark II moved away from their nearest rivals.

After SS4, the halfway point of the rally, Mark II had slipped further back despite consolidating
7th place. Sharp-eyed co driver Norris spotted a fault with the car when rectified; saw the teams Escort Cosworth restored to full health and full speed. However, the time damage was done and despite a very clean run through the remaining 4 stages, the team couldn’t better 7th place.

“We enjoyed the event,” said Norris, “the car has come on since Abingdon and against a high quality field with no front running retirements, 7th overall and 3rd in class is a great result”.

The event was won by the Furzelands from Lloyd with Stojanov 3rd. For Mark II, another award and valuable championship points. Some fine-tuning required before the next event at Keevil on 4th August. More news soon.

Mark II Motorsport would like to thank: Denis Osborne, Q8 Aviation, Fenwick Elliott, E C Harris, Gordons Environmental Services, Rallyingonline.com and their faithful service crew including new recruit Dan

Mark II Motorsport Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors :-

Posted 19th July 2007