Woodford brothers fly to third place finish at Manby
Rallying is all about the ups and downs, and Teamwoodspeed know all too well the downs. This weekend however was all about the ups as the team took home their first trophies with the Saxo.
As Paul explains, the result was hard fought: "The first stage saw us lose all but 1st and 3rd gears, due to a problem with the gear linkage. That was fixed in service and a smooth run on the second stage had us sitting 5th in class. Stage 3 was a struggle when the alternator belt came off, meaning we had to do the whole stage without power steering or intercom. Again, an easy fix in service followed by yet more problems; Stage 4 looked to be a turning point when we lost almost 3 minutes when the throttle stuck open mid-stage, and together with a broken wheel stud and alternator bolt this meant we were in 9th place going into the lunchtime service."
The morning's events had seen Tom, Andy and the rest of the service crew busy with repairs, and to be in 9th place going into the afternoon leg of the competition didn't do justice to the hard work put in by everyone. The answer was to push. Hard.
Going into the final stage, the pair were in 4th position, almost 2 minutes off the first of the podium places. Mike Woodford, co-driving for brother Paul knew what it would take to get the finish the team deserved:
"I knew it would take a combination of a big push and someone ahead of us having some problems to make up a place in the last stage, and we really did go flat out!"
Paul did just that, getting to grips with the 1600 Saxo and making the shortened final stage count. At the finish, the team took third place by a matter of seconds, a true credit to the hard work of everyone who helped on the day.
As Paul takes up: "We've had a fantastic result here, and it really does belong to everyone. We've proved the car is competitive and even passed a Subaru Impreza on one stage. The next step is to get some more time in the seat, develop my driving and make some more improvements to the car before the next event."
The team would like to thank everyone who supported them and made this result possible.
Photo reel
Harewood Hillclimb Yorkshire Trophy 6th August
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