Grizedale Stages Rally - (Sat) 3 Dec 05

Posted: December 5, 2005 12:31 PM

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DOUBLE FRUSTRATION FOR IRISH DUO
Grizedale Stages & Galloway Hills Rallies
3rd & 4th December 2005

Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy’s fun weekend was marred by minor mechanical glitches in the Autocar Logistics Mitsubishi, leaving them contemplating what could have been on their early ferry back to Ireland.

The first of the two events was the Grizedale Stages Rally which was based in the picturesque village of Coniston and used the classic Lake District forests. With no experience of the event the team opted for a wide Kumho tyre expecting the stages to be in good condition. Unfortunately after overnight rain whilst the stages stood up well, they were very slippery and the first pair saw Garry and Rory drop time to the front running group N cars. At service in Coniston the team swapped to a narrower soft compound tyre but the damage was already done. Whilst a creditable 10th overall, the crew was 40 seconds adrift of the leading Group N Subaru of local driver David Wright and lay 4th in the class. Just eight seconds separated them from Tristan Pye but the next pair of stages only totalled five miles, giving Garry little chance to settle with the new tyres and Pye moved a second further away.

Back at service the news wasn’t all bad as the pair had moved ahead of Stephen Petch to ninth overall and third in class. “The car’s taken a bit of a pounding,” said Garry, “Stage three was repeated as stage four and it was rough on the second run.” He continued, “We dug into a rut and it’s cracked an intercooler pipe, but I don’t think it dropped us much time and the lads can make a temporary repair here.”

The final two stages were repeats of the first pair and despite the ruts, Garry and Rory hung onto their position going into the final 9.7 mile test. All their efforts were to prove fruitless though, as they arrived nearly eight minutes down at the finish in the centre of Coniston. “About two thirds of the way through the final stage we lost fifth gear,” shrugged Garry, “then the gear linkage broke completely and we had to stop. The bumps had popped a spring clip off and by the time we’d found it and fixed it with a piece of speaker wire, we’d dropped about 7½ minutes.”

The huge time loss dropped them to 47th place and plumb last in the Group N category but Garry wasn’t too disappointed, “We’ve never been to Grizedale before and it was a good craic, especially when we could have taken third place even after this morning. We’re off to Scotland now so the lads can have a look at the car before the Galloway Hillls tomorrow.”

With time short, the team duly checked over the car and washed it off ready for the start of the Gallloway Hills Rally in Castle Douglas on Sunday. It was to be a very short day though as the engine temperature soared on the way to the first stage. “It went up very fast,” said Garry, “but it was all over the place and I thought it could be a faulty sensor after yesterday.”

After a check under the bonnet the pair set off into the first stage but within two miles they pulled off to the side and called it a day. “It felt like she was starting to seize,” explained Garry “it would be OK for a while and then like someone was putting the brakes on so we decided not to risk damaging the engine.”

When they limped back to service a collapsed catalytic converter was discovered which had been effectively blocking the exhaust. “If the gas can’t get out the engine can’t get air in and it loses power.” Explained Garry’s brother and chief mechanic Peter, “It was probably after the last couple of stages yesterday, but you only notice it when you try to go flat out, so driving to the stage start just made the engine run hot.”

The team returns to Ireland for a well earned rest before next season, when the car will be re-prepared for an as-yet undecided programme of events. The Autocar Logistics team would like to thank KG Motorsport, Kumho Tyres, Trunk Flooring, all at Jennings Fuels and Lubricants, The Auto Part Centre, Sydare Eggs and The Mallard Bar for their continuing support

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Results
1 Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh Hyundai Accent WRC 46:44
2 Paul Bird/Ian Windress Ford Focus WRC 48:11
3 Jon Ingram/Ian Allsop Ford Focus WRC 48:35
4 Steve Petch/John Richardson Hyundai Accent WRC 50:47
5 David Shuttleworth/Simon Megaw Mitsubishi Lancer 50:47
6 David Wright/Shelley Rogerson Subaru Impreza 51:04
7 Gary Adam/Gordon Adam Subaru Impreza 51:09
8 Tristan Pye/Andrew Roughead Subaru Impreza 51:41
9 Barry Groundwater/Jude Wylie Mitsubishi Lancer 51.59
10 Stephen Petch/Michael Wilkinson Subaru Impreza 52:03

Grizedale Stages

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Entry List available
• Garry Jennings and Terry McMonigle on the Entry List
• List of Entries to date
• Entries still available
• Regulations and details available.

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26/11/05

Full Entry List on:

Grizedale Stages

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21/11/05

• 127 (max 135) entries now taken . . . .
• Marshals and Radio crews interested in this event are asked to visit the rally website.

Grizedale Stages

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08/10/05

Now available on the Event website:

• download Regs/Entry Form
• online entries
• spectator area diagrams
• car park details
• check results and pictures on the day
• SMS results service
• accommodation list
• location maps
• and much more!

Grizedale Stages