The Spookworks Rally Team was
in action on 23 September on Round 4 of the RAF Rally Championship; the
Woodbridge Stages. An important event for
vital championship points, Spookworks last visit to Woodbridge in 2011 proved
to be a great success and a critical result for their overall championship
victory. With all the development on the
car since their last visit and a recent good run of results, the team was
justifiably upbeat about getting a positive result at one of the UKs best
single venue events. With 60 stage miles
spread out over 6 stages the format was similar to last year but the firm
prediction of heavy rain for the afternoon made for a distinct contrast to last
years’ experience. Seeded at a
surprising 32nd out of 73 starters, the team were disappointed not to be
starting closer to the front but this event had always drawn a strong field and
looking at the entry list most of the cars were all highly competitive machines
with the kind of budgets that you would look to buy a house with instead of a
car to drive flat out around some tree lined tarmac in Suffolk.
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| Ahh - the night before. Everything working and connected - for now. |
With the Spookworks Impreza
ready for battle with a few new weapons in the arsenal (including a fresh
supply of killer Alcon disks and pads) expectations for a strong finish were
high. At 0911hrs with a swift wind
blowing and dry tarmac the Spookworks Impreza blasted into stage 1 and
completed the 10.7 miles some 12 minutes and 33 secs later. A time which saw an
immediate move up 21 places to 11th overall and 5th in
class.
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| Stage 1 and Spookworks comes out fighting... |
Stage 2 saw Spookworks go 24
secs faster round the same route but despite going faster the opposition had started
to wake up and the time was 15th fastest and saw Spookworks drop 2
places to 13th overall but holding the line with 5th in
class against their contemporaries.
Stage 3 saw a slightly longer
and varied route over 11.2 miles with Spookworks continuing to charge headlong
into enemy ranks and punching hard with the 10th fastest time
overall with a 12:42 moving Spookworks back up 2 places to 11th
overall and consolidating 5th in class.
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| Stage 3 and just outside the top 10. Everything seemed to be going so well.... |
At the halfway point of the
rally things seemed to be going according to the plan and the afternoon
strategy would see Spookworks mopping up any remaining opposition before
consolidating the positions for the finish.
A blowing exhaust was causing some concern and with plenty of time left
in service action was taken to see if the leak could be sealed. Initial examination showed the leak at the
top of the joint just aft of the gearbox and typically inaccessible. With exhaust proving difficult to repair the
decision was taken to remove it, affect a repair and replace – good in theory
but the reality was somewhat different.
With the exhaust system removed, the offending open joint in the exhaust
was easily repaired with some nifty and strong arm spanner work but returning
the exhaust back to its original lair was to be far more troublesome. As the minutes ticked away panic began to set
in as it appeared the exhaust had no intention of co-operating with the
Spookworks crew. Only with considerable
duress with only 2 mins to go did the exhaust finally wriggle into place and
the Spookworks Impreza was fired up and dispatched without delay directly into
Stage 4.
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| Exhaust firmly refitted it was back into action. Did anyone check the front tyres? Anyone? |
Stage 4 was both the end of the beginning and
the beginning of the end. While the time
was respectable with a 13th fastest 12:46, it was surprisingly 4
secs slower than the previous run and a quick examination of the tyres provided
the explanation; the highly abrasive tarmac had reduced both the front tyres
outside edges to a medium more suited to the resident Spookworks artists than
rally rubber, with enough canvas on display for one or two original masterpieces. Ironically even though the Spookworks Impreza
was capable of a far better time, several of our competitors desire to park
their cars in the scenery rather than drive around it saw our ascent to 10th
overall. As the car pulled into service the heavens opened up in a biblical
fashion and monsoon ensued. Fresh cut
wet tyres were fitted and the team sought refuge in the service vans while the
next stage was prepared.
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| The beginning of the floods - it starts with a few drops then.... |
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| Never mind intermediates or wets - we should have fitted a rudder! |
Stage 5 proved to be the low
point of the day. With the stage now
literally flooded with lakes rather than puddles; a decision was made to
consolidate our gains and play it safe and get to the end. If only things could
have been this easy. After only a few miles into stage; the grinding and
clattering sound of an exhaust dragging on tarmac accompanied by a noise akin
to self-destructing jet engine diverted the team away from the original script and
enter full on survival mode, hoping to limp to the finish. After what seemed like an eternity the finish
line appeared and the Spookworks Impreza hobbled into service and into
intensive care. Upon examination it
appeared the exhaust had decided to jump ship early in the stage leaving a
small battered half connected pipe about 3 feet long to rattle along the
ground. With no spare and no chance to
recover the remnants of our exhaust it was time for improvisation. With the rain continuing as a tropical
monsoon, the crew donned snorkels and lifejackets to enter the deep water where
our service bay used to be in order to assess the situation. With vital championship points at stake the
only option seemed to be some token attempt to mask the 1000db sound just enough
to get through the time control and start the last stage without being
excluded. In desperation, a soft drink
can was suggested as a possible temporary muffler and a member of the crew was
dispatched to the burger van for a suitable article. A can of Fanta was duly purchased and placed
over the end of the remaining exhaust pipe and secured with a jubilee clip. It seemed
like a ridiculously far fetched solution but when the Spookworks Impreza was
fired up the noise was incredibly substantially reduced and replaced with a
rather rattly and tinny noise.
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| No....its not meant to be like that and its not an aftermarket pro drive 'turbo' exhaust. No rude comments either - its just an exhaust or whats left of the exhaust hanging on for dear life. The missing bit is somewhere in the undergrowth.... |
As the Impreza checked out of
service for the final time and crawled towards the time control the rain had
become our ally meaning only the absolutely essential marshals were at the time
control increasing our chances of getting through. Although a few strange glances were present,
we managed to slip through the time control like James Bond into an enemy lair
and took up our place on the start line for the final 11.2 miles of the
event. As the countdown began 5, 4, 3 I
could see in the mirror some pointing and concerned looks at the back of our
car but as the lights went green the throttle was floored launching us into
stage and forcing a hollowed out Fanta Can high into the air behind us! Like a getaway car leaving the scene of the
robbery we disappeared safely into the stage
and immediately focused on bringing the car back to the finish to get vital Championship
points. Despite a minor spin a very
relieved but deafened Spookworks crew coaxed the car across the finish in
14mins and 44 secs to secure 7th in class and 18th
overall.
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| Introducing the new Spookwork super lightweight exhaust muffler - available in a store near you... |
Not the ideal result we had
hoped for at the start but a far better result than what we thought we could
get at the finish. With the emotional
rollercoaster now over we waited for the rally to finish and once everyone had
gone home we did a final lap in the service van to recover our decidedly second
hand and now battered remains of rear exhaust from a bush and leave happy to
fight again another day.
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| Just because we didn't have an exhaust didn't mean we weren't trying. Plenty of beans here. |
The next and final round is
the Fat Albert Stages at Keevil Airfield in Wiltshire on Sat 27th
October.
