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| Traction is over rated! - Spookworks on the charge at the Opposite Lock Rally |
Spookworks have been celebrating after a fantastic run on
the 2012 Opposite Lock Stages at Manby in Lincolnshire last weekend. Seeded 28th out of over 68
entries, with no less than 23 cars in their class including the TEG Sport
Subaru driven by Adrian Newby, the team would be up against some serious
competition. With the disappointment of
the result on the Jim Clark and having to miss the Rally of the Midlands behind
them; the Spookworks crew where looking forward to getting straight into the
fight with the car in great shape after a misfire was rectified with some new
spark plugs.
The Spookworks crew faced 8 stages with 53 miles of
competitive mileage centred around a normal airfield type scenario but this one
also includes a labyrinth of gravel, grass and mud tracks on surrounding roads including
fast jumps, tight hairpins and incredibly quick medium corners lined with
trees, ditches and moats.
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| Things seemed ok on the tarmac.... |
As the Spookworks Impreza queued up for Stage 1 and 7.3
miles of the genuine unknown they seemed to be the only crew brave enough to
use tarmac tyres. Off the line started
well with a short tarmac section around some tyres and a few chicanes before a
hairpin left saw the crew off the tarmac and into the wildest ride ever in a
rally car. To try and give you a mental
image - imagine driving on ice rink with wheels made of butter and you will get
a feel for the type of grip available and why most people had gravel tyres
on…. After 4.5 miles of wrestling the
car from careering off the mud and wet grass into the ditches and trees lining
the stage the crew was exhausted – with arms feeling like an Olympic weightlifters
after winning the gold medal. Looking at
the carnage littered around the stage it seemed like Spookworks had fared
better than most and the relief of returning to tarmac for the remainder of the
stage was unbelievable. Exhilarating
doesn’t quite capture it, the crew knew that the day would lack the finesse or
precision of a normal tarmac event, and the powered controlled slides that a
welsh forest rally produces – but that the day come what may would be
tremendous fun and some of the best rallying Spookworks have ever
experienced. Spookworks picked up 19th
fastest time to their surprise, despite visiting several hedges and watching
the scenery see sawing across the windscreen opposite from the corner they
wanted to go around! Regrettably not all of the 68 entries survived the
experience to tell the tale.
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| Save yourself! Mud and tarmac tyres = sideways |
Knowing now what to expect; Stage 2 saw a more measured
approach with an early determination to brake in a sensible place and try to
get the car to swing the same way as the corner in order to beat their previous
time. After numerous unintentional power slides and a few lucky handbrake turns
Spookworks managed to 28 secs off their previous time to set the 18th
fastest time. The Spookworks crew might
have had tired limbs and necks but they simply could not stop laughing when they
pulled into service each time. It was
tough but tremendous fun!
Stage 3 saw Spookworks tackle a smaller 6 mile stage and set
the 19th fastest time again.
Still enormous grins in the service area and lots of almost in the hedge
moments to recount but luckily for the Spookworks Subaru was still going strong
with no misfire and presumably still in one piece under all the mud.
Stage 4 and the stages whilst still slippery and needing to
be treated with respect started to dry up and the team experienced a phenomenon
referred to as “grip”. This “grip” had a
good effect on Spookworks stage time as they set a time of 8:49, 6th
fastest overall - almost a minute quicker over a 6 mile stage!
The lunch break enabled circulation to return to limbs and
the stage to be reconfigured so the event now went round anticlockwise around
the Manby airfield.
Stage 5 things kept getting better and Spookworks pushed
quite hard and set another 6th fastest time despite being held up
badly by a fellow competitor.
Stage 6 and despite a better run the crew came across a BMW
rally car on its side, blocking the stage.
The crew were ok but were unable to move there car so Spookworks were
forced to sit stationary in an active stage and had to wait while the marshals
moved some tyres and bales as quickly as possible to enable an alternative
route around the wrecked 3 series and back onto stage. But the time lost was horrific must have been
30 – 40 secs and Spookworks dropped down the leaderboard as a result.
With 2 stages to go and the bit between their teeth Spookworks
moved to DEFCON 1 and decided to go all out for it to make up for lost
time. The stages were really dry which
meant the enormous stopping power of our Alcon brakes could really be brought
to bear on our helpless competition. Spookworks were desperate to break into
the top ten overall and decided to push hard.
Despite a blowing exhaust ably repaired in service before the final
stage they delivered a crushing blow to their rivals and set another top 6 time
and found themselves in 11th overall.
Spookworks saved the best for last and Stage 8 was the team’s
best stage of the day. The car was perfect, handling superbly due to the
Superpro bushes giving a precise feel through the steering and the Spookworks Impreza seemed to drive
itself setting the 5th fastest time overall and transforming the final
results - 7th in class and 8th
overall.
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| No hanging around - Spookworks blasts through the mud to 8th overall |
This strong result amongst significant
competition gives Spookworks 78 points towards the RAF Championship and moves
them into second place and within striking distance of the leader. The next
event on the schedule is the Tyneside Stages on 11 – 12 August.
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