The Team In Action At Keevil

Mark II Motorsport headed west again last weekend this time to take part in what would be a new event for the team, the Fat Albert Stages based at the RAF Airbase of Keevil in Wiltshire. The event takes its name after the RAF’s affectionate slang for the C130 Hercules transport aircraft based at nearby Lyneham – Keevil being an emergency satellite landing strip for Lyneham.

Driver Mark Welch was unusually confident about the team’s chances. “We’ve got a strange seeding for the rally – we are back at car 16, but that number has a bit of history with me, so perhaps it’s a good omen!” Co driven this time around by James Sunderland, the team felt they had a realistic chance of a podium finish.

The field was a quality one with the usual threat of Steve and Yvonne Furzeland at Car 2 in their WRC Subaru Impreza, last years winners Peter and Tim Stojanov in their ex British Tarmac Championship winning Metro 6R4 seeded no 1, as well as a host of sophisticated and very powerful Mark 2 Escorts, notably car 3, Kev Carr in his 2.5 litre version and reigning National Tarmac Clubmans Champion Rob Alderman at 14.

The teams (now) faithful blue Escort Cosworth had received its usual pre-event check up from Denis Osborne and Mark 2 was ready to go.

Under a heavy muggy sky, Mark and James stormed to 4th fastest on SS1, completing the 7.5-mile route in 8 minutes and 5 seconds. Both Stojanov and Furzeland dipped under the 8-minute barrier with Alderman at 8.01. Mark wasn’t unduly concerned. “One of the disadvantages of being at 16 is you sometimes have to pass other cars en route. At the end of the stage we caught car 15 and he promptly spun on the final hairpin meaning we had to stop”.

SS2 went much more smoothly for Mark 2 but not for the Stojanovs. The pairing outbraked themselves at the first chicane with the ensuing impact dramatically re-arranging the front of the 6R4 and heading for instant retirement. This left the Furzelands out in front. Mark 2 meanwhile shaved 2 seconds off of Alderman who was now holding second place. Coming up on the rails was Carr, up to 4th, 10 seconds behind Mark and James.

SS3 nearly spelt disaster for the team. Firstly at the stage start, Carr was flying down towards the first chicane on his second lap as Mark 2 started the stage. Mark let the flying Escort past only to have Carr wildly spin in front of him. The 2 cars avoided contact and continued although Welch slipped past his rival. Then at the end of SS3, Welch took a big cut on one of the final corners and caught the under body protection of the Escort hard on some concrete.

The car bounced into the air and landed just in time to get around the next corner. No time was lost but when the car was back in service, the damage was both evident and potential serious. James explained, “The sump guard took all the force, but it’s broken its mountings and the radiator is now bent backwards as well as one fan broken”.

However, the brilliant service crew of Bruce and Julian effected temporary repairs under the watchful eye of team manager Barry Guess. Great job done and the team were able to continue!

Mark and James overhauled Alderman on SS4 for second place although Furzelands were quietly pulling away. Another man on the move was the rapid Carr who was getting to grips with some serious modifications to his Escort. Although not a direct threat to Mark and James, Carr had his sites on Alderman.

The next few stages passed without incident – Mark 2 continued to pull away from the Mark 2 battle that was now being won by Carr, but apart from SS5 where they did better the Furzelands time, the red Subaru WRC was slipping into the distance.

Well that was until SS7…………….

Amazingly, halfway around the stage, Welch noticed the red Subaru at the side of the stage undergoing a wheel change. Unfortunately for Steve and Yvonne, they had picked up a puncture and were forced to stop.

“I couldn’t believe it and said so to James who just told me to concentrate and do my job”. Good advice as there was still 16 competitive miles and 2 stages to negotiate. As the Furzelands had proved, it wasn’t over “until the Fat Albert sings”.

However, the team were not to be denied and took a well earned 21 second victory from Carr with Alderman in third, 32 seconds in arrears. The Furzelands did get going again but suffered a second puncture; this time at high speed sending the Subaru off the stage at 122mph. Fortunately damage was light and the crew unharmed but retirement from the Fat Albert was the only option.

A delighted Welch was full of praise for the team. “James was really on the money today and kept me focussed when we came across a number of incidents. The service crew kept us in the hunt when I thought the car was too damaged to continue and we surely must have had a guardian angel with us today as we rode our luck and came away with a brilliant victory”.

So, after coming so close to victory at Smeatharpe in March, the team at last took the win in its comeback season that it so desperately wanted. Fantastic!

The other good news is that after playing their joker at Keevil thus scoring double maximum points, Mark 2 has closed down Team Furzelands lead in the championship to 17 points. Before Keevil the gap was 57 points. Game on.

Mark II Motorsport Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors :-

Posted 11th August 2007