The Team In Action

Stages: 19 – Starters: 100 – Finishers: 52

After the somewhat frustrating Monteburg Rally Sprint, Mark II Motorsport headed off to the 4th round of the REIS MSA National Asphalt Championship looking for a decent result in an event they had won in 2009. However, in 2010, The Trinity Hyundai Rally of the Midlands would be a much tougher proposition, with the big boys of the Open Championship taking part in all singing, all dancing World Rally Cars! 

Fortunately, Geo Preparations had located the problem with the car which saw a loss of power in Belgium – a faulty turbo – and the necessary repairs had been carried out to ensure the car would be in good fettle.

“Somewhat differently to last year, we are up against the very best exponents of asphalt competition in the UK this time around” said team driver Mark Welch, “a top ten finish would be a great result against this array of WRC machinery. These boys pay more for their engines than our whole car is worth”!

The WRC machinery in question comprised of championship leader, John Stone in a Skoda Fabia WRC, Damien Cole in a 2005 works Focus, Peter Lloyd in a brand new Subaru Impreza WRC S14, Michael O’Brien in another Focus WRC, Gary Nuttall in a Hyundai Accent WRC and Ian Joel in an Escort WRC.

And that was not the end of the sternest competition Mark II had come up against for many years – there were some superfast 2 wheel drive Escorts and Peugeot kit cars too, lightweight and well suited to the quick stages on offer that included MIRA (the Motor Industry Research Association) test track, Mallory Park and Arbury Hall.

The 2 day event started from the centre of Nuneaton on Friday evening and the action came thick and fast with 2 stages at Arbury Hall, a new setting for the rally and then on to the incredibly tricky Bramcote Barracks, the Argents Mead stage around the Hinckley Council Office compound and then 2 runs at Mallory Park race track to conclude day1.

As last years winners and a little controversially, Welch, co driven again by Helen Thompson led the field away from the ceremonial start in Hinckley as car 1. Lloyd was at 2, Cole 3, Stone 4 and the talent Simon Mauger in his 2wd Escort at 5. Rain had fallen heavily just before the off, and many crews decided to start on wet tyres. Mark 2 gambled on soft intermediate rubber and this turned out to be a very good choice. 9th fastest on stage one and 6th on stage 2 saw the team well inside the top 10.

Their pace in fact improved over the remainder of Friday’s stages and much to the teams delight, 5th place at the overnight halt was a great reward for some solid driving. It hadn’t all been plain sailing, a big jump at Arbury knocked the Cosworth out of gear losing precious seconds but they were in one piece and ahead of some exotic cars at one third distance. The results at this point were:

1. Mauger – 2wd Escort – 13:26
2. Cole – Focus WRC – 13:35
3. Stone – Fabia WRC – 13:50
4. Leonard – 2WD Escort – 13:52
5. Welch – Escort Cosworth – 14:05
6. Nuttall – Hyundai Accent WRC – 14:08
7. West – Peugeot S2000 Kit Car – 14:10
8. Marshall – Mitsubishi Evo 6 – 14:15
9. Lloyd – Impreza WRC S14 – 14:19
10.  O’Brien – Focus WRC – 14:22

Saturday started early, very early for some of the crews including Mark 2 who had been woken in the night when a full scale fire evacuation took place at the hotel they were staying in. We were not amused………………………….

The first two stages were repeat runs through Arbury Hall – no high flying this time but a slip down to 6th as Nuttall in his more powerful Hyundai nipped ahead, and then on to the daunting 15 mile stage at MIRA test track.

This was a big test for the team as with something like 200 gear changes; the venerable Escort Cosworth with its conventional “H” pattern gearbox would give away a stack of time to all the cars around it with their sequential “flappy paddle” systems. This means that gears can be changed without easing off the throttle (the system is known as “flat change”).

Despite the obvious handicap, the blue Cosworth ended the stage with 4th fastest time getting ahead of Leonard and snapping at 4th placed Stones heels!

Some excellent pace note calling from Helen kept Welch on course whilst other crews struggled with and moaned about the stage layout – no such whinging from a very happy car 1! Another loop of stages taking in Mallory Park and Bramcote Barracks saw plenty of high speed action including wheel to wheel racing as one crew would be on the second lap of the stage whilst another would on its first. Welch took some satisfaction in showing Cole a clean rear bumper here as despite the obvious advantages of the Focus, the Cosworth couldn’t be caught!

There was drama during the second visit to MIRA as Chris Marshall crashed his Mitsubishi heavily blocking the stage.

With 3 stages left including the final “sting” of another 15 mile dash through MIRA, the event was headed by Cole from Stone, Mauger 3rd, Nuttall 4th and Welch 5th but coming under pressure from O’Brien’s Focus, just 3 seconds behind. 2 strong times through the Barracks gave Mark 2 a small breather taking 1 second back from O’Brien and closing on Nuttall by 5 seconds.

However, one more go at MIRA would surely see the white Focus overhaul the Cosworth, wouldn’t it?

Well no - superb pace note work from Helen and some aggressive driving by Welch ensured not only did Mark2 stay ahead, they actually took 10 seconds out of O’Neill and 21 seconds from Nuttall with a 4th fastest time, giving the team probably its best result on balance in a quite a few years!!

A very happy crew crossed the finish in Nuneaton – no champagne this year BUT 5th overall, 2nd in class and best mixed crew were the fruits of their efforts. A delighted Helen Thompson told local radio Fox FM that “this was a tremendous result against superior machinery. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable event and I always had every confidence in the driver”. If only she knew………

The team is now contemplating what event to do next, but with some big ticket items already replaced on the car earlier in the season, there is pressure on the budget.

More news soon.

Mark II Motorsport would like to thank all of its sponsors, the service crew of Bruce, Dan and Jeremy as well as the fantastic support and pictures from Mark and Bryan at www.rallygallery.com.

Mark II Motorsport Would Like To Thank Their Sponsors :-

Posted 4th July 2010