Tuesday 28 August 2012

King of the Imprezas at Brands Hatch!

Through Druids and down Hailwoods Hill towards Paddock Hill Bend - So Brands Hatch!!!


The Spookworks Rally Team was in action over the bank holiday at the Brands Hatch Summer Stages.  The international and iconic venue normally home to the racing fraternity was invaded and taken over by rally cars on 27 August and used the rally school complex as well as the super-fast Indy Circuit.  A formidable entry list of 85 cars set out to tackle this high profile event of 8 stages and 40 competitive miles and had the prospect of being Spookworks toughest competition all year.

Even some loose stuff courtesy of the Rally School; don't let the picture fool  you that is really up a steep incline....


Spookworks has never had the pleasure of Brands Hatch before and what a treat the venue turned out to be with some of the best facilities and slickest organisation on any event we have EVER been to.  Scrutineering and document checks went seamlessly and before we knew it we were getting suited up to get straight into the action.  Stage 1 was a cheeky 4.6 miler to explore the circuit and saw Spookworks plunged into the action off the start line mid way through the famous Surtees Corner before opening up on to the Cooper Straight for a scary cold tyres, cold brakes sweeping uphill right hander through Graham Hill bend.  

Lots of painted kerbs to make things easy....Spookworks navigate Druids on Stage 3

Regretably, straight off the line the glimmering and well prepared Spookworks Impreza found itself with no turbo boost  and the stage suddenly turned form great opportunity to damage control as we crawled around to the finish.  After being passed repeatedly by the opposition we managed to post the 45th fastest time a 5:44 and plunged like a Stuka Bomber from our seeded position of 32nd down 13 places to 45th overall and 9th in our class. 

Back in service after some scratching of heads it was realised that a last minute tweak of a fairly innocuous pipe about 2cm in length before the start had been the culprit and when’ retweeked’ the normal Spookworks engine burst back into full song.  With 5 mins to go before stage 2 it was helmets back on and straight back into the fight.  With normal service resumed, we roared off the line on stage 2 determined to make up for lost time (literally).  Despite being only another 4.6 mile test we beat our previous time by 25 secs and moved back up the leaderboard to 32 overall and 5th in class. The only casualty was the co-drivers mirror which seems to always be on the endangered list in any event, but the Spookworks financial team will be relieved to hear that the mirror was actually caught before it hit the ground while flat out through Clearways corner.  Check the in car footage for all the action on that one!

Missing something?  Losing the co-drivers mirror was an in stage weight saving measure - promise!

Stage 3 and 4 were slightly longer stages at 5.2 miles and with the bit still between our teeth we attacked throughout moving up from 32nd to 27th after Stage 3 and after setting the 18th fastest time in stage 4 we moved up to 23rd overall.  Better still the only issue was a slight repair of the intercooler spray which has ceased to function.  This was rewired and switched to manual operation allowing the literal soaking of the intercooler throughout the stage by the crew inside the car. 

Stage 5 and 6 were a reversal of this mornings stages and another 5.2 miles gave Spookworks more opportunities so re-establish themselves at the top of the order. Setting top 20 times seemed to be the norm now as some fresh rubber came into play further enhancing the leech like grip of the Impreza due to Superpro bushes and Proflex suspension. The conclusion of Stage 6 saw Spookworks in 20th overall and an incredible 2nd in class.  In service, a quick look at the leader board saw us 2 mins down on 1st in class  an ex works Ford Focus WRC 2005 which is roughly 60 times more expensive than the Spookworks Impreza and behind us in 3rd was a Mitsubishi Evo nearly a minute down the road.  Nothing to be gained and everything to be lost was the consolidated wisdom of the Spookworks Team as the car was sent off to complete the last 2 stages of the event.

Spookworks on the charge to 2nd in Class and 20th overall.  Hard to keep up to these Millington Equipped 300bhp plus lightweight escorts though!


As Stages 7 and 8 unfolded the agreement made in service seemed to get lost in translation as the Spookworks crew posted 2 top 15 times to finish the day in equal 20th overall and 2nd in class.  Discounting the Ford Focus WRC machine we were the first home of the 4 wheel drive runners and the highest placed Subaru Impreza of the day.  A terrific result against formidable opposition and a great points haul for the 2012 Championship. 

The hallowed treasure!  Some silverware for the Spookworks HQ trophy room.


Breaking News: Spookworks picks up silverware at Brands Hatch Summer Stages!!


Spookworks have achieved a magnificent 2nd in Class and 20th overall in the Brands Hatch Summer Stages held on Bank Holiday Monday. Despite a mechanical issue on Stage 1 dropping the team down to 45th overall, the fight back began immediately on Stage 2 with the Spookworks Impreza setting top 20 times each and every stage until the finish. The final result saw Spookworks soar up the order to be the highest placed Subaru with 20th overall and 2nd in class.  While the super lightweight Millington powered 2wd machines stole the show Spookworks can take pride in finishing behind only a Ford Focus 2005 WRC!  Full report to follow.....

King of the Imprezas - Spookworks on the charge going into Druids corner at Brands Hatch



Thursday 23 August 2012

3 Days till the Brands Hatch Summer Stages

With Friday almost upon us its just the weekend that separates Spookworks from its next adventure.  The team have been working hard and the car has a few new improvements which which should make it even more competitive than normal.....or so the Spookwork boffins claim.  While they take the weekend off to eat cucumber sandwiches and attend to their stamp collections, the crew will be loading up the car on the trailer and heading to Brands Hatch - one of the best tracks in the country.  I would love to tell you more but as the car is hidden away in the secret Spookworks test centre we will have to wait until the day to reveal the latest developments.

Location unknown...parts unknown.....If no one else can help and if you can find them...maybe you could.......

Sunday 19 August 2012

Spookworks at Castle Combe Rally Day



Spookworks would like to thank Superpro for hosting us at Castle Combe Rally Day. We had an amazing time and it was great to meet so many rally fans.

So many friendly fans at the Castle Combe Rally Day!!

 Spookworks would like to particularly say hello to all those Subaru clubs who came over to say hello it was great to meet you all and talk Subaru on the beautiful sunny day.  Special hello to 1304 Sqn Chippenham Air Cadets - great to see you all and well done for helping the show run smoothly.  There are lots of other people to thank and say hello to sorry we cant list you all here.  Please find attached some of our favourite photos of the day.
The day was a great opportunity to talk about our favourite things; Subarus, rallying, RAF and of course Superpro bushes....
Great to meet 1304 ATC Sqn from Chippenham.  Thanks for making the day as success and hope to see you all again soon.
No doubt inspired from the presence of Spookworks - Petter Solberg, the Ford WRC works driver takes to the stage to put some of the new tips he has learned into practice!!!!!


Monday 13 August 2012

Spookworks entry confirmed for the Brands Hatch Summer Stages 27 August


Spookworks HQ has announced that the Spookworks entry for the Brands Hatch Summer Stage Rally has been confirmed.  The team have been seeded at 32 out of the 85 entries who are tackling the popular event which consists of 40 miles over 8 stages.  Spookworks HQ issued this official statement:

"We are delighted to have had our entry accepted for the 2012 Brands Hatch Summer Stages.  After the disappointment of missing the Tyneside Stages due to Olympic commitments the team are excited about competing on this iconic event.  The competition will be tough but the boffins at the Spookworks technology centre have made some advances on the car in the meantime which will help us and we have fitted a Superpro Supaloy Duroball Roll Control kit which means we can corner faster and harder.  It has the potential to be the best event for the team in 2012."

1 pack of hobnobs later.....Boffins at the top secret Spookworks technology centre
 put in the hard yards at the labs that pay dividends out on the stages.

Sunday 12 August 2012

The effects of anti-lag

Ever wanted to know what running anti-lag does to a normal exhaust gasket? (Probably not)....anyway the pic below shows before (left) and after (right) and why when during a noise test we went from 96db to 103db.

Old Gasket left new one right....not that much difference!!
New one fitted in place in the exhaust pipe.  Nice  and shiny...!

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Spookworks to miss Tyneside Stages


Spookworks regrets to announce that due to continuing support to the Olympic Games by critical team members, they will be unable to  enter this weekends Tyneside Stages.  In a statement issued from Spookworks Secret HQ (pictured below) the Team Director issued this statement:

Spookworks HQ - Location unknown
"We regret to announce that with over 50% of the Spookworks Team directly supporting the London Olympics and several other members also involved in Olympic support activity; Spookworks has been unable to commit to this weekends Tyneside Stages.  We would like to apologise to our supporters and partners who will no doubt be disappointed but I am sure that the situation we find ourselves in is understandable.  We are on the lookout for a suitable substitute event to keep our championship hopes alive and will hopefully announce something in the immediate future."
All dressed up but no where to go....the Spookworks Impreza waits patiently for its next event.



Saturday 4 August 2012

Spookworks now on Facebook!!

Spookworks have now embraced Facebook!  You can now see even more of the team than normal.
You can now even interact with the team and ask all those questions you have always wanted to know the answer....well...er....within reason.



Facebook is a phenomenal success - for example Facebook has over 800 million users with an estimated 50% logging on each day (not just to Spookworks we should point out!)

Just follow the link below to see the site in all its glory....

www.facebook.com/spookworks

Tell your friends, tell your enemies - tell everyone...!!



Just to celebrate - here is a gratuitous pic of the Spookworks Impreza having a break after an exhausting day.  What's the equivalent of a back rub for a rally car?