Last Saturday Gareth and I completed our 2nd Tarmac Rally of 2013 in the Exige, the Horiba D’Isis Stages at MIRA. This is a very popular national event with a capacity entry of 90 cars with 24 in our 2000cc n/a class. The event uses all the roads around the MIRA proving ground including the banked turns, off camber loop and the mountain section. The stages are about 7 miles long with no laps or splits which is fantastic. Unfortunately it’s a non spectator event otherwise I’d have posted the details in advance.
I’ve made a few minor tweeks to the car since our last event. The Nitrons have been replaced with my Cup spec Ohlins. I’m also running some new Dunlop x22 supersoft slicks on the back, slightly wider than the Kumho’s on the last event.
The week didn’t get off to a very good start with me spending two days in bed with flu/cold. Preparation was all a bit last minute. I had to visit 5 shops to get the right stubby Honda oil filter for the oil change.
When we arrived it became clear that we had some serious competition! Two 6R4’s, multiple mega MkII Escorts, an ex Delecour 306 Maxi, four 2500cc Darrians, Renault 5 Giordini… It wasn’t going to be a podium day for us! But it was great to see so many diverse cars out to play. My colleague Alistair was also there running his 1400cc super Nova.
We were seeded as car 46. I was a bit disappointed at first then realised I ‘d been given ‘The Doctor’s’ number, I am Rossi!!! We were seeded behind a lovely factory spec 2wd Sierra Cosworth, starting at 30 sec intervals.
It had rained a bit overnight and was still damp , not my favourite conditions for the stages in a mid engined car. Fortunately the wind picked up and the cloud lifted drying it out for SS1. I set off with a measured pace and as always on a new event it’s hard to work out where you go at some junctions when faced with a wall of cones. Gareth was accurate with his notes and we had a tidy run, slightly cautious while I worked out what the grip levels were like in the braking zones. After 5 corners we caught and passed the Sierra who kindly pulled onto the grass to let us through.
SS2 was a repeat of the first stage so this time we’d have some better pace notes and feeling. Unfortunately the stage was delayed as the driver of the Delecour 306 criminally trashed it into the Armco when landing off the railway crossing jump, I hope they can rebuild it!
We had a very clean run, much later on the braking and more commitment through the fast bends. It’s a bit un-nerving when the stage is lined with concrete blocks, square bales and Armco. You don’t get to respawn in this game. At the finish we stopped the clocks 22sec faster than the last run on a 6 minute stage. On the next stage we pushed harder and caught and passed a cossie powered rwd Focus. Our improving times were moving us up the scoreboard. The fast escorts were dominating our class but we were having a great battle with a very rapid Clio running about 250bhp with a sequential box. For the next few stages we traded 2 sec a stage with him up and down.
The variety of roads was amazing. First you start on a series of hairpins then up onto the banked circuit (105mph according to Gareth) before braking hard into another hairpin. Then on to the weird off camber ‘snake’, it’s like driving on top of a giant hosepipe! Slight lift over the railway crossing jump then a balanced throttle over the crests of the twisty mountain section. Full chat down the long straight (120mph for us) into a tight left with Armco on the outside(sadly the scene of an air ambulance visit but thankfully both lads were checked out as ok, cant say the same of their Suzuki swift). Through a series of chicanes then flat out… it was brilliant.
With 3 stages to go it started to rain lightly. We decided to keep the supersoft slicks on. I drove SS6 more cautiously, grip was good at the start but the car was a bit of a handful near the end of the stage. Then it pi$$ed down. The organisers decided that SS7 would be the last run of the day and were cancelling SS8. We swopped over to full wets, I wasn’t looking forward to this stage. Off the start it became apparent how bloody good the Yokohama full wets are and I felt that we had lots of grip. After about three corners the windscreen wiper just stopped and the car started to cough and splutter. No way, not on the last stage! I thought we might be having a Dave P battery moment. I frantically looked around the dash and noticed the Cartek LED flashing. I pressed it twice and everything came back to life. I think that Gareth accidentally knocked the kill switch with his pace notes, not difficult in the confines of an Exige cockpit. As the tyres warmed up I was loving the wet conditions and we pushed hard. As we crossed the flying finish I was now gutted that SS8 had actually been cancelled.
When we checked the final stage times the Clio had been much quicker in the wet and just piped us on overall times. Our final position was 12th Overall and 6th in class. We were pretty chuffed with that performance. Importantly the Exige was faultless on the day. That’s now the 5th trackday / rally that it’s done without having to put a spanner near it. It’s quite a stunning performance from a car that’s running a standard JDM production engine and gearbox.
The problem now is that I can’t stop thinking about what mods I need to do next to get that overall win. But then I remind myself of previous years non finishes and big bills when running a highly strung pedigree rally car. There’s a lot of fun to be had in finishing!!
Thanks to those at Angelsey for the advice on the Honda Vtec and oil level. I made sure the oil was on max level and the 2nd cam came in on every corner this time, I appreciated the extra ponies.
Photos…RallyGallery.com - Rally & Motorsport Photography D'Isis Stages
Great read Wes, well done the pair of you.
they probably run the courses at Birkbecks near you.
Ha, you two would be the lightest weight crew out there! An unfair advantage.