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7th in class for Woodford duo at Twyford Wood

The team arrived at Twyford Wood, near Grantham in Lincolnshire with only two stages and a blown headgasket from the last rally to show for their efforts with the Saxo so far. Starting the event with the intention of bettering that record, things began well.

Running 48th on the road meant that the surface was well swept, giving Paul good grip on the Kumho tarmac slicks. The first four stages of the day were without incident, despite being held up behind slower cars in front on the last of the morning’s tests. But as Paul explains, that’s not all bad:

“Being quicker on the road than a lot of cars we’d last year have been battling with was a very nice feeling, although we found ourselves at the mercy of the Twyford dust at times!”

The times over the morning’s stages were improving consistently as Paul got to grips with the Saxo. Going into the afternoon stages with a position of 7th in class and 24th overall things were looking promising. However, the afternoon leg would not go as smoothly.

Stage 5 saw the Saxo land badly off a jump, smashing a front Proflex suspension shock which in turn damaged the driveshaft CV joint. Limping back to service, the team set about making a temporary repair to get the car to the following service when there would be more time to carry out a more substantial fix.

Despite a heroic effort by Tom, Dave and fellow competitor Simon Naylor to get a new driveshaft fitted within maximum lateness at the next service halt, the next two stages were fraught with more driveshaft and suspension trouble as the damaged Proflex continued to cause problems.

Determined to make the finish of the rally, and with 7th place still in hand, the team battled to keep the car running. The final stage saw the gear linkage snap, but with the help of marshals, Paul managed to manually select third gear on the gearbox and limp to the end of the stage, coming home within the maximum stage time.

7th place at the end of a hard fought rally is a strong finish for the team with the new car, and as Paul explains there are plenty of positives to take away from today’s rally:

“We were improving all the time, and the car’s pace and composure seemed very good. I’m more confident in the car and can see clear areas for improvement for Mike and I.

I do have to say a huge thank you to the whole team for their super human efforts today without which we wouldn’t have got to the finish. This result is well and truly testament to the help I’ve received from everyone before this event to get the car ready and on the event to keep it in the running.

Another thank you is due to the other teams and marshals who helped with our rally today – Twyford is a superb venue and we will be back to improve on this result!”

Thank you to www.dpphotographic.co.uk for the action photos that appear in this article.

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