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Rally
Reports 2000 Season - CARnival Stages
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After the trials and
tribulations of Millbrook a fortnight earlier, Mark
II Motorsport arrived at Abingdon in a more confident
mood knowing that the new car was to some extent,
a known quantity, and knowing that hopefully the
teething problems were in decline.Winners of the
CARnival in 1998, Messers Welch and Norris were
looking to repeat the feat despite serious competition
from the likes of ADR sponsored Andy Blair in his
full house WRC Escort, Tony Janetta in his Metro
6R4, Mark Lane in the T90 Darrian with its Touring
Car engine and Paul Shelmerdine in his works spec
Escort Cosworth to name but a few. |
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Stage 1 - New
Mods
The first of the 8
stages went fairly well although the mysterious
handling on the WRC persisted with plenty of understeer
finishing off a set of front tyres in just 11
miles. On the advice of DOME's Dennis Osborne,
the front of the car was stiffened up for SS2.
The difference was phenomenal. Mark Welch takes
up the story. " The turn in was amazing, so much
so that we nearly came a cropper on about the
third corner. I turned in early expecting the
car to slide wide, but it turned in so well we
nearly hit the wall - I wouldn't have lived that
down!" The team were however still a lowly 6th
from the 90 runners at this point with Blair leading
from Lane, Shelmerdine, Chris Davis in car 16,
Tim Wilson, Mark II and Tony Janetta snapping
at their heels.
Stage 3
- Dashboard Problems!
It looked better for
SS3 but half way round the stage, much to Welch
and Norris' alarm, the dash clocks in front of
the driver fell out. Whilst on reflection this
was an amusing incident, the offending dash wedged
momentarily between the wheel and indicator storks
causing some consternation in the cab! The rest
of the stage was completed with Welch holding
onto his instruments losing about 15 seconds -
This would prove costly…
'Flat'!
Despite chronic tyre
wear and a few more "teething" troubles, the stages
were being rattled off at an ever-increasing pace.
It was apparent however, that the engine was still
down on power, a point that wasn't lost on Welch's
wife Andrea. She described the sound and performance
of the engine as "flat". This was born out by
the fact that the time being lost to the leaders
was always on the fast straights of the airfield
- when the tight infield section came into play,
the two Marks gained back a lot of time around
the twists and turns.
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4th Overall - Not
A Bad Days Work
Going in to the final
stage, the team had moved up to fifth. They had
been overtaken by Janetta, but only a few seconds
separated third to fifth. Lane was now leading by
9 seconds from Blair. "We really tried very hard
on the final stage as a podium finish was at stake,"
said Norris. Despite the team's efforts, at the
end they were just 4 seconds behind Janetta, and
11 behind Davis in car 16 after 90 miles of competition.
There was a sting in the tail for Lane who's Darrian
expired less than 5 miles from the flag, handing
victory to a delighted Andy Blair who accepted victory
graciously acknowledging his good fortune and Lanes
poor luck. As for Mark II Motorsport, more frustration
but real progress. 4th overall and 1st in class
marked the cars first ever finish, and matched Welch's
last finish - the Mewla National Rally last august.
Next event will be the Azingmuir stages at Colerne
on 15th July. Watch this space. |
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Many Thanks
Mark II Motorsport
would like to thank
their sponsors: - Bluecol Brands, TotalFina, SFL
ltd, GP Engineering and Springwood Aviation Services.
Special thanks to DOME and RallyGallery.com
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