The Bulldog 2009
Rally Report
On Friday 27th March, following a frantic fortnight preparing the newly painted Peugeot 106 and having overcome an electrical problem Griffin Motorsport finally loaded up and travelled to North Wales. The infamous Bulldog rally set around the Snowdonia area and uses some of the fastest and most technical stages in Wales some of which were used in the RAC Rally of Great Britain in the “Golden “ years of rallying.
After a long Journey we unloaded and sent the car through Scrutineering. Scrutineering is where a Motorsports Association (MSA) official looks over the car checking that it’s eligible to rally. The car sailed through with no problems and we signed on. We returned to our hotel with the car securely on the trailer where we had dinner, a bedtime beer and an early night.
The next morning we were up early (some earlier than others - Rob!!) and off to the service area to set up and give the car one final check over. Our time was up and it was off to the start.
First Stage - Dyfnant
After a 30 mile road section through the mountains we arrived at the start of Dyfnant, 8.84 miles of fast and flowing Welsh gravel that had suffered a lot of overnight rain. We pulled up at the start and checked into time control, where we nervously waited the start of the stage, having not completed a gravel event since the Dukeries rally in June 2008. With a quick check of the pace notes and a prep talk to Brett we pulled up on the start line and waited for the count.
Setting off steadily to allow time for settling into the slippery conditions as we needed time to check the grip level of the new tyres we were using for the first time. Stage went well and we made steady progress, there were no problems and the car was running well. We happily reached the end of the stage without any difficulties and picked up a 15th fastest stage time and where 2nd in class trailing by 27 seconds.
Stage Two – Aber-Hirnant
Completed a 15.5 mile road section before arriving for stage two - an 8.48 miles stage. This is a slightly slower more technical stage but as the international cars had been through the track previously the course was quite cut up and difficult to get traction out of the corners. We had settled into the pace and were able to take a minute off of our previous stage time, Brett had gained confidence in the car and it was performing well under the conditions. We had set a 14th fastest time and took 1st in class by 11 seconds.
We reached the end of the stage and had enjoyed a problem free run and returned to service in Bala. Once we arrived through time control, Clarky, our head service mechanic jumped to and set about checking the car over. We only had 30 minutes so it was all hands on deck. A quick front to rear swap of the tyres and refuel and we were off again to stage 3.
Stage Three- Gartheiniog
This stage is 15.57 miles of hard, compact but very slippy gravel that winds its way up and back down the Dyfi Forest in the Snowdonia National Park. This was the first of two of the old RAC stages and was our biggest challenge to date as we had never tackled a stage this long on gravel. The first 5 miles are incredibly quick with a series of fast left and rights over crests. After this it turns into a very technical stage. It was really hard work and the pace notes were very complicated. There was a couple of places where Sam got a little lost in his notes but he soon found his place and got back into the rhythm. With Brett finding more and more confidence with every corner we were really flying. He was starting to ‘throw’ the car around more to carry more speed through the corners. We got to the end of the stage setting a 10th fastest stage time. With the other car in our class retiring all we had to do was finish to secure 1st place and collect max points for the championship.
Stage Four- Big Ray
Big Ray was the last stage and at 16.85 miles the longest. It was the second of the old RAC stages and was incredibly fast as well as being technical. We had never encountered anything like this so both of us were a little nervous. Even though we knew we didn’t have to push for a class result we wanted to climb the overall leader board. The stage once again was hard but vey slippy but due to forestry logging some resurfacing had been carried out. It was almost impossible to get any grip and Brett really battled to keep it on the road. Halfway through the stage disaster struck. Coming down a straight into a series of very deceptive tight corners we passed a nasty crash and Brett momentarily lost concentration. We approached a tight left too fast, Brett put the car sideways to try and scrub some speed off but we slid towards the bank. With a big drop into trees we really didn’t want to go off here. Luckily we hit a bank of gravel on the outside of the corner that had been created by the four wheel drives that had already been through and that stopped us crashing. After this we found our composure again and carried on to the end of the stage.
We finished and headed back to the finish ramp to await the results. To our surprise we set a 7th fastest stage time and took 1st place in our class. Great result and we look forward to the next round of the championship.
Rally report
Pirelli rally
On Friday 17th April
Based at Carlisle Racecourse the Pirelli Rally visits the Kershope and Kielder forest complex. Keilder is largest man made forest in
Scrutineering and documentation was held on Friday afternoon at the racecourse. The car sailed through without a hitch and it was back to service to give the car one last check over and fit the spotlights for the night stages.
Brett and Sam had only competed once at night once and that was on an airfield so they where a little nervous about doing it in a forest. Although there is four powerful spotlights on the front of the car it is vey hard to drive flat out into when you cant see very far in front of you. The driver must have 100% confidence in the co-driver and the pace notes to be able to commit fully to corners at such high speeds.
Stage One – Glen Dhu. 8.53 Miles
Glen Duh is based in Kershope forest and was the first of the two night stages. The boys arrived at the start of the stage had a last minuet check of the spotlights and waited for the start. We where off, steady to start with but Brett soon found the rhythm he had towards the end of the Bulldog. The first few miles where quite slow and technical but it soon opened up and was a lot faster. The stage was finished without a problem and we completed the short road section to the start of the next stage.
Stage Two – The Valley. 8.86 Miles
The valley was the second night stage and was the last of the night. It is quite a fast stage to start with a more technical stretch towards the end. Brett had found a little more pace and was starting to get the corners ‘flowing’. All was well until around three miles from the end when there was some break fade. This occurs when the breaks get over heated and glaze over. This causes them to work in efficiently and therefore you have to slow down. We made it to the end and limped the car back to service. On the 32 mile road section the misfire that plagued the team before the bulldog reared its ugly head again.
The team checked in to service and had 40 minuets before the car had to be out and parked in Park Ferme for the night. Sam jumped under the bonnet and started to take the injectors out and clean them whilst David and Brett checked the rest of the car over and investigated the break problem. It turned out not to be the pads glazing but the break fluid had got so hot it had boiled and got air in the system which had stopped the breaks working. The boys bleed the system trough whilst Sam finished putting the injectors back together. With time running out, the bolts that hold the injection rail and air box where put in hand tight and the car was raced to time control. The team just made it with 2 seconds to spare and saved themselves a 1 minuet time penalty.
The next morning after a hearty breakfast at the hotel the team arrived back at Park Ferme. The collected their time and waited for the car to be released. There was a 10 minuet service and the team raced to get the car re-fuelled and all the bolts tightened up from the night before. All was well and the car booked out of service on time and headed off to the first stage of the day in the Infamous ‘killer’ Kielder forest.
Stage 3 – Pundershaw. 5.75 Miles
After a 40 mile road section we ended up at the start of the first stage of the morning. Pleased to be running in daylight again. The stages here are very fast in the open but get very tight and technical in the woods. The roads are totally man made so are raised with hardcore from the boggy peat and soil below. This has caused the roads to have quite an aggressive camber. With this in mind the driver must be very careful to stay on the ‘race line’. If he was to come off the line the camber and loose gravel on the outside will try and pull the car towards the ditch. When you only have about 12” each side of the car it is very difficult to keep it there at high speeds and listen to the pace notes at the same time. The team got through without a hitch and proceeded to the next stage.
Stage 4 – Trinket. 8.30 Miles.
Stage four was much the same as 3, very fast and flowing and with only a hand full of slow corners it was a real test of Brett’s confidence. Having the ‘balls’ to stay flat over a crest whilst doing 90 mph with the car sliding on the back and not knowing what is the other side takes a lot! The gravel had started to cut up in places and the car sometimes struggled for grip at times on the exit of corners but it was a clean run for the team. A small road section in the forest lead to the next stage.
Stage 5 – Roughside. 11.57 Miles
At 11.57 miles roughside was the longest of the stages. It was a little slower than the first two of the day but no less challenging! The stage was going well until about 9 miles in a deceptive Hairpin right that followed a long 6 left caught Brett out. Carrying good speed round the 6 left corners, the hairpin came from nowhere and being on too tight a line to break on and scrub the speed off the only option was to pull up the hand break and spin the car out. The car stopped a little way from the ditch and Brett was soon back on the pace and drove if a little cautious, a clean run to the end of the stage.
Stage 6 – Chirdonhead. 7.26 Miles
This was the last stage of the day. Having maintained our lead in the class all day we had to just finish to collect maximum points for the championship. The stage was very fast and with all the International and Historics been through before us was very rutted. We pulled up outside time control to find the stage start had been cancelled due to a big accident in the Internationals.
The rally leader and 2008 British Rally Champion Guy Wilkes had been robbed a hatric of wins when his Proton Super 2000 caught fire on stage. The Fire and Rescue teams did a Brilliant job of putting out the car and clearing the stage for our start. The team waited nervously for the start. It is always worse when you have to wait too long for the stage start as it gives you time to worry about the challenge ahead.
The KWS crew pulled up to the start and where off. Having given Brett a prep talk to make sure he didn’t get carried away and push too hard we completed the stage with only a small mishap at a chicane which cost a few seconds at the most.
The team then travelled the 40 miles back to the rally finish and then to service. Interim Results showed us to be 1st in Class, 7th overall and too our surprise joint 3rd Overall in the Championship. With the car loaded up we collected our trophies and headed back to the hotel and then a very well deserved night out in
Thanks have to go to David for all his help this weekend and driving the truck and trailer home as someone was feeling a little poorly after the night befores activities!!!
1st in Class
7th Overall
3rd Overall in BRCC
