DOUGHTY & STURLA TRY OUT SUBARU FOR FIRST TIME....

Posted: March 19, 2002 6:00 PM

The 2-day Clonakilty based event was the first for Doughty in almost 18 months, thanks to last year\'s Foot & Mouth problems, during which he had sold his Escort World Rally Car.

Doughty was using a Kenny McKinstry prepared Subaru Impreza 555, and were seeded car 4. Doughty has had top three results on the event before, and led most of it by over a minute before engine failure in 1999.

Pre-event testing was restricted to a few minutes behind the wheel, so the event was to be a \"learning experience.\"

The crew performed consistently on the Saturday, holding 3rd place by the end of the day, even with a couple of overshoots and spins as Doughty got aquainted with the car.

\"The car is completely different in character to the Escort WRC, its very quick over the bumps and when stretching 6th gear, and its quietness belies how fast you\'re actually going! Going back to a conventional gearbox, and getting used to a new car, plus having not rallied for the longest period I can remember has meant it\'s all a bit \'in at the deep end\'\"

On Sunday the crew lost time to the fourth placed McKinstry Impreza WRC of James Harrison and Harvey Bell, with Doughty getting more confident, but the car feeling less able. At the first service area, the crews were tied for third place!

On Sunday the crew lost time to the fourth placed McKinstry Impreza WRC of James Harrison and Harvey Bell, with Doughty getting more confident, but the car feeling less able. At the first service area, the crews were tied for third place!

A fault was traced to a centre differential seal, which, when changed in double-quick time by the McKinstry technicians, enabled the crew to blast through stage 11 of 16 only 4 seconds slower than eventual rally winner Melvyn Evans, (Escort WRC). This run firmly placed them in third, and had substantially closed the gap on second placed man Steve Fleck, (Subaru Impreza WRC).

However, stage 12 of 16 was to be the end of their rally. A broken driveshaft on the start of the stage was the catalyst, as Doughty explained;

A fault was traced to a centre differential seal, which, when changed in double-quick time by the McKinstry technicians, enabled the crew to blast through stage 11 of 16 only 4 seconds slower than eventual rally winner Melvyn Evans, (Escort WRC). This run firmly placed them in third, and had substantially closed the gap on second placed man Steve Fleck, (Subaru Impreza WRC). However, stage 12 of 16 was to be the end of their rally. A broken driveshaft on the start of the stage was the catalyst, as Doughty explained; \"The shaft broke at the startline, but I was suprised that the car still gathered speed as quickly as it did. The first hairpin was a bit clumsy, as it was tight, but then the next mile or so was flat out, and the car was back up to full speed, even with 3 wheel drive. Stopping at the end of the straight was the problem. The car\'s differentials didn\'t quite no what to do with only 3 wheels connected, and the car needed just a bit more room to stop than we had. It just tipped over the end of the T-junction, into a field, which unfortunately was a few feet below the road, and the car got stuck. It was undamaged, and we later drove it out of the field.\"

\"It was a little disappointing, but I\'ve taken many positives from the event. I wouldn\'t have thought I\'d have been \'up to speed\' so quickly considering the long layoff and unfamiliarity with the car. But the buzz is most definitely still there and I enjoyed hiring a car, getting on with it, and the McKinstry team, very well.\"

Doughty added, \"We\'re already planning to return to Ireland soon, hopefully with an Impreza WRC for the 2nd. round of the Irish International Calendar, the Rally of the Lakes in May!\"