Test Day in the deep south west ….
The sun shone on the Solway for last weekend’s Solway Car Club tarmac test overlooking the Firth ahead of this year’s Jim Clark and Reivers Rally. 16 drivers turned up with their cars to take advantage of the sun, the tar and the concrete. And full credit to the club stalwarts who had managed to lay eight lorry loads of tarmac in the run up to this event, including one load which turned up at 5.30 am on a Saturday morning. It was either take it and lay it then, or miss out. They took it!
A last minute arrival was John MacCrone with the Culina Palletforce Citroen DS3. “We did have a test planned elsewhere,” said John, “but there was a problem with the venue and then Martin (Wilkinson) found out just yesterday about this today, so here we are.” Apparently it’s a big job changing the Citroen from forest to tarmac spec: “The only things that stay the same underneath are the front and rear subframes – everything else is changed, springs, dampers, roll bars, brakes and steering rack.” Given the fact that he was reared on the tarmac of Mull, did John feel any additional pressure to do well this coming weekend on the Borders tarmac, especially in view of his excellent showing on the Pirelli: “No pressure. I know what I want to do and how I feel. I’ve never driven the car on tarmac apart from today. So there’s no pressure, but there is a threat – the Boss!” and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder pointing at Martin. Asked about the opposition, John commented: “Alastair Fisher will be strong and Jukka Korhonen is fast even if he doesn’t have much tarmac experience.”
Also in attendance with the CA1 mob was Alex Laffey in his crisp sounding Fiesta S2000 machine. The ex-patriot Scot (he now lives in Englandshire) said he was still trying to get seat-time in the car: “I did a couple of small events with the car when I got it, like Croft, but I got a good run out over Epynt more recently and then a good run on the Manx, and that will stand me well for next weekend, so today is just about more seat time.” By the time he left Kirkcudbright he was beaming: “I learned a lot, it’s all about getting the lines right and carrying more speed.”
Tegsport arrived with a Subaru Impreza for Arron Newby: “It’s got a band new engine,” said Arron, “same spec as the old one, but it’s crisper, and pulls better coming out of tight corners. It doesn’t have any extra power, but the better response is just down to a fresher engine.” Looking ahead to the Jim Clark, what are his plans? “Don’t take any big cuts like I did on the Manx,” he said, and then showed me the pictures. At the point where his Impreza retired on the island there are some vertical steel plates embedded in the road between the grass and the tarmac, and not concrete kerbs. When the car rode up on this ‘edge’ it badly damaged the sumpguard and cut right through the tank guard like a knife – nicking the fuel tank in the process. When he got to service they topped the car up with fuel then found it running out underneath. The lad is also getting a bit cheeky for my liking, when asked why he was at the test he answered: “I’m just here for more pie-time with you!” The rascal.
The normally ebullient Jock Armstrong was looking rather more subdued than usual. “I’ve just fitted a flat-shift to see if I liked it, and I don’t,” said Jock, “The system wasn’t working too well, but I still didn’t like it so I’ll stick with the manual shift for the Clark.”
Stuart Paterson was there with his Subaru Impreza and found the exercise well worth while: “I had fitted new brakes so I needed just to try them out,” said Stuart, “but I had also fitted a new oil cooler and found the car to be overheating during the early test runs. It was actually blocking some of the airflow to the radiator so it had to be moved. That was lucky, it could have caused us real problems next weekend.”
Ian Paterson in the Gulf Oil Subary Impreza
Ian Paterson was trying out DMack tarmac tyres on the Gulf Oil Impreza (I still love that colour scheme – or is that me showing my age?) and expressed himself quite happy: “But is it because it is warm and dry today,” pondered Ian, “all tyres work better in good conditions.” Eve so he was quite happy, and happier too with his new racing booties: “I’m trying out my new boots today. It’s the first time I’ve had brand new boots since I got my leg pinned two years ago. One is a 9 and the other is a 9 and a half.”
For the sake of a £1.47 fuel pump part in the Lancer, Jim Sharp’s Manx run was short lived: “On the third stage, the fuel pump packed up and it took ages to find out what was wrong. A wee rubber washer had perished and gone brittle. So it looked OK from the outside but it was leaking. So we were here today to make sure it was OK for next weekend.”
No, it’s not the Safari, it’s Fraser Wilson last weekend.
Fraser Wilson managed to ding a kerb with an alloy but was otherwise pleased with different springs and new brakes in the Lancer: “After the Granite all we had to do was change the head gasket and then get it ready for the Jim Clark.”
Showing off his brand new shiny alloy wheels was Mark McCulloch: “But I’m still using old tyres,” said Mark, “David Hardie is very good to me, he lets me have the best of his cast-offs!” Makes you wonder if the boy has got his priorities right, eh?
Speaking of David Hardie, it was good to see him back out with faither John McCulloch in the Subaru: “We did the Manx last week and I felt the flat-shift was a bit too sensitive, so this is ideal today ahead of the Jim Clark.” He also let slip something else: “The car is now five years old and it’s still a good car, but I’ve got a brand new B13 shell already built in the garage. There just hasn’t seemed any need to build it into a car because this one is still so good for it’s age.”
Richard Stewart gave the usedcarparts.co.uk Subaru a shakedown ahead of the JC: “It’s 40 years since I first did it,” said Richard, “but things have moved on since then.” There was better news from Peter Stewart as well: “I’ve got a new car. I bought a Fiesta R2 from M Sport.” He still hurts a bit from his accident so will give the JC a mss: “I’m aiming for the Scottish, it’s my local event. I still haven’t driven the car at all yet!”
Lee Hastings didn’t last long when the Impreza broke its rear diff: “It’s a good job it broke here, rather than on the first or second stage next weekend,” said Lee, who then took the opportunity to dazzle folks when he bared his white legs in the hope of catching some rays! He hasn’t had much luck this year. On the Pirelli earlier this month: “I braked and turned into a Right 9 – and the back wheel didn’t.” Apparently it bounded off into the undergrowth and was retrieved by Gwyndaf Evans’ sister.
Thumbs up from Iain.
Getting ready for his first ever Jim Clark was Iain Wilson in the Nova: “Since the Granite City I’ve had to put a new rear axle and suspension in and a fit a new steering rack, but I did find out one thing with the new axle. This is the first time since I’ve got the car that it has run true in a straight line.” He’s done the Solway Coast Rally before but nothing as big as the JC: “This was a good test as I found that the oil system was pressurising itself, so I rigged up a ‘coke’ bottle catch tank with a bit of garden hose from Jim McDowall. It must be something to do with the new filter bowl that I’ve fitted or the heat in this hot weather, but I might need to add a proper catch tank ahead of next weekend.”
Stuart Glendinning has never done a tarmac rally before and he was trying out the RWD Puma here. “I was just trying out tyres, brakes and suspension, but I’m looking forward to the Clark,” he said
Another crew benefitting from Jim McDowall’s huge experience of mechanical bodges were Chris and Stephen Kemp first time out in their recently acquired Peugeot 205. On his second run of the day, Chris clouted a kerb and bent the bottom arm. Cue the ‘mayhem brothers’ as Jim and former co-driver Eric McClurg advanced menacingly on the stricken Peugeot with blowtorch and big hammer. Having taken the arm off, Jim got to work on the bent bit with the torch heating it up, then Eric whacked it with the hammer till it was straight. Perfect fit!
And finally ….
Hamish Kinloch and Jim Haugh were over at the Carlow Stages earlier this month in the MkII and were as happy as the only wean at a wedding scramble: “I only went over there to see how bad I was,” said Hamish, “it was an event for Escorts and the Irish are pretty handy at this game with plenty good cars around. I was really chuffed with 16th overall and third in class. No bad for a car with a standard old Honda S2000 engine in it.”
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