[woodcote]

Shakedown threw up a number of serious guide issues. And after discussion with Graham, we have decided the following cars will not start the stage tomorrow:

• Team Cube (Class A)
  
• Courtney Sport (Class A and Class D)
  
• Team Tatters (Class A and Class C)
  
• ALS Racing (Class B and Class C)
  
• Brumos RSR (Class C)
  

Seven of the eight cars had guides that were catching in the bottom of the slot, even on the flat. All got stuck solid at the start of the climb. Brumos RSR's Class C car had too fat a guide and the car became stuck solid in most corners.

Graham made clear at the start of the event that it was likely that cars which had "out of spec" guides might not be able to complete all the stages. Cars fitted with the NSR guide Graham recommended were all perfectly smooth on the hillclimb. We decided that not starting the eight cars was fair to those entrants who had prepared their cars to the guidelines.

Of the other 24 cars, most sailed through the shakedown. RNLI and Roker Roar's Class D cars required quick fixes (a wire reattached and body screws loosened) to get them going. A couple will be a challenge to drive on the hill - and I will write comments for all the cars on the results sheets tomorrow.