TeamWoodSpeed

Engine failure blights hopes at Blyton

Despite an exciting build up to the team’s first rally, Paul and Mike would get little further than a mile into the first stage before an engine failure would spell a premature end to the day.

The day of the rally finally came, and scrutineering on the Friday night went smoothly. The team arrived at the venue early on the Saturday to make preparations and psyche up the drivers for the rally.

The first stage started well, with Paul placing the Ka neatly into the first hairpin after the start. 1 mile later and the car lost power, as Paul explains:

“I saw the oil light come on after we came out of the split, and at the end of the long straight we pulled in to see if it would go off, thinking perhaps the oil sloshing around in the sump had caused the light to flicker.”

Sure enough it went off, so the crew set off up the stage again. Unfortunately this re-start would be short lived and the engine seized 100 yards up the stage. Paul added:

“To say we’re gutted is a massive understatement. However, I want to say that I am so grateful for the support we’ve received from the whole team to get to this point. It’s bad luck, but that’s rallying. I hope Mike, Jan, Dave, Julie, Darren, Adam, Tom and Ben all know how important they have been to this effort.

Usually with a retirement comes at least a bit of a lesson to be learnt, or some experienced gleaned from the situation. But sadly, we are back at square one, without any knowledge of the car’s characteristics in a rally, and without Mike getting any real experience on the pace notes.

Watch this space…!”

The team plan to enter the Armstrong Massey Stages Rally at the beginning of July depending upon the extent of the damage and budget. If you would like to offer your support with this preparation then please get in touch – the team would love to hear from you!

Jack Neal