The Team In Action At Caerwent

Stages: 7 – Starters: 100 – Finishers: 56

This time last year, Mark II Motorsport was tied for the lead of the BTRDA Clubman’s National Asphalt Rally Championship following a somewhat fraught Patriot Stages Rally. After a more straightforward event last weekend, the Championship looks similar 12 months on!

The championships return to Caerwent was not met with enthusiasm by driver Mark Welch. “This venue is awkward – lots of tight, twisty sections with wheel breaking kerbs to catch you out, we’ve never had any luck here. It’s the 3rd time for us at the venue, the first we broke the propshaft, the second we broke the front differential”. So, third time lucky?

Lying in 3rd place in the standings going into the event, the teams’ strategy was simple. Apart from “drive fast – don’t hit anything”, they had to beat championship rivals rivals Gary Le Coadou/Paul Hollingham (Toyota Celica GT4) and leaders Adrian Spencer/Mark Hewitt (Subaru Impreza) to stand any chance of staying in contention for championship honours. Although defending champion Chris Jones in his “Focaru” remained the main threat to take maximum points on the event, Jones’ non finishes in the previous two rounds make him an outside bet to retain his crown.  

With the teams Escort Cosworth seeded at 4, Welch co driven by Andy Wynn set about the first stage with purpose. With plenty of grip available from the new Kumho tyres, the team flew through the first 6 miles of the 10 mile test and were heading for a fast time when an overshoot at a hairpin dropped valuable seconds. “The approach to the corner was deceptive and we slid straight on” explained Wynn. The car had to reverse back to take the correct route and a good 10 seconds went begging.

Back in service the news was not all bad. Despite the misdemeanour, Mark II held 4th with Jones leading from the fast and talented Stephen Leonard in his Escort and Steve Hollis in a Mitsubishi Evo 9 lying 3rd. Just 15 seconds behind Welch, Le Coadou and Spencer were tied for 7th place. So far, so good.

SS2 was even better for Welch and Wynn. This time a clean run saw 3rd fastest time, 1 second shy of Jones and 20 seconds up on Hollis who had clouted the side of a quarry! Le Coadou took 4th but Spencer faded with 8th quickest time.

The Cosworth was running sweetly for the team but the brakes were getting VERY hot indeed with no pedal at the end of the stage. Tyres were also beginning to play a part – the Kumhos going off towards the flying finish.

Despite Le Coadous pace, all was not well with the ex works Celica. First gear soon broke and it looked as though it was going to be a long day for “Team Toyota”. That was until SS3 where the car shed a wheel and retired on the spot.

Another 4th place on SS3 and hot brakes saw Mark II’s service crew of Bruce, Dan and Mark Sims frantically bleeding the Cosworths front brakes. “The fluid was actually boiling when we bled them” reported Bruce. A change onto some harder tyres for SS4 saw the team slip back slightly whilst the new boots got up to temperature. Hollis moved past demoting Welch and Wynn to 4th, but by now, 5th placed Eric Weaver and Andrew Sankey in a Darrian kit car were nearly a minute in arrears, and championship rival Spencer over a minute adrift.

Stage 5 passed without drama – Mark II posting another 4th place time, but on SS6, Spencer hit trouble with the rear diff of the Impreza failing mid test. Despite crawling round the remainder of the route, only 2 minutes were lost and Spencer’s service crew performed miracles to replace the broken differential in time for the final stage.  

Secure in 4th, Welch set off on the final stage knowing that Caerwent often had a nasty sting in the tail. This event was no exception……………….

“Hollis started 30 seconds behind us” explained Welch, “I drove the first half of the stage at 8 tenths but I still didn’t want him to catch us even though he is playing no part in the Championship”. “I caught a glimpse of the Mitsubishi on another part of the course so decided to up the pace and shortly after brushed one of Caerwents unforgiving kerbs”. At first, it appeared that the Cosworth was unaffected by the incident, but at a tight right corner it became obvious that the left front tyre had deflated. Welch elected to continue on the flat at greatly reduced speed. As there was only just over 2 miles to complete it turned out to be the only option. Hollis overtook the stricken Escort a mile from the finish, but to the relief of Mark and Andy, they crossed the line having dropped about 1 minute.

This kept them in 4th place and vitally, ahead of 2007 Champion Adrian Spencer.

The event was won by Leonard, with Jones second and Hollis 3rd.

With one round of the Championship left, Spencer leads Welch in the standings by a solitary point. Wynn leads the co-drivers section.

However there is another similarity to last season – the final round is outside of the teams’ original plans and more importantly, its budget. There is much to be done if Mark II Motorsport is to make it to the start line of the Cheviot Stages on 25th October. Having finished runners up in the BTRDA championship last year, the team is desperate to go one better this season.

Mark II Motorsport Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors :-

Posted 7th October 2009