[Kevan]

Rally reports - 3rd August - TT Grandstand & Little Druidale -

   

It was great to see Dave down earlier in the evening, a natter, catchup and drive round Little Druidale.

Mike B turned up to make eight competitors, four per Rally stage, the groups were chosen and Brian had the option to have first choice of track, that being TT Grandstand.

Mike brought the right box of cars this time, tried & tested cars, could the NSR Porsche do well tonight?...it was close, as Geoff’s Peugeot 208 and Chris’s Honda Civic finished within two seconds of the Porsche with the 911 ending up ProStock 2WD winner.  Not content with one class win, his Punto won Standard 2WD and his Scooby won ProStock 4WD as best of four Scoobies in class.

Chris had four Scoobies on the bench, by the time testing was over he was left with two but they were both shown the way round by the Honda Civic.  We had a little chat about that between us, the cost of putting a car like that together and all agreed the money is well spent as it’s a brilliant car on and off the Rally stage. Two cars on the podium in ProStock 4WD, the Avant Scooby being the best of the two.  Another podium for the Ninco Porsche 934 in Standard 80’s.

Ed’s best car by some margin was the Mercedes 190E, that and the Scooby seem to flow well, unlike the stop-start of the Lancia and Cossie.  It became obvious why Ed had problems with these cars as his controller setting was way off, turning the power up especially on the Cossie saw it flying round on Little Druidale.  Trying these new settings afterwards shows the Lancia and Cossie should end up closer to the quicker cars next time.

   

Brian was kept busy as he got eight cars ready, four for himself and four for Nigel.  Nigel had three cars in ProStock 2WD, the best of which turned out to be a Peugeot 208, finishing a few seconds behind Mike B’s Ferrari 430.  He did manage to get on the podium with his Metro 6R4 in ProStock 80’s…despite dropping it on the floor…it’s OK Brian, nothing to see here!

Brian has been seen testing his Abarth 131 in recent weeks and it’s always a pleasure to see it in action, a great looking car and runs nice and smoothly.  It’s safe to say he’s driving this and other cars much better this year. He had a couple of class runner-up spots, the Pantera in ProStock 80’s and Peugeot 206 in Open 2WD.

Kev usually turns up with far too many cars to choose from and recently stuck with some favourites.  The Jag XK120 seen doing well in the Rally Slotting Car Proxy is probably his favourite car (this year) and performs great.  His Scooby was recently resurrected after a long spell on the shelf, experimenting with BRM tyres and slower motor is scarily slightly slower than before.  The Fly BMW M1 is still setting the pace as far as Standard Class cars go.

   

No Standard class cars for Geoff tonight, the XK120 getting a rest.  The Peugeot 208 was his best result, runner-up in ProStock 2WD, fractions of a second behind Mike’s Porsche. The rare tiger Supra looking great but couldn’t keep up with Brian’s Peugeot 206. The 4WD Scooby one of four in the tightest bunch of cars in one class.

Andy’s Open class cars are all well matched, the best of which tonight was the Mitsubishi Evo in Open 4WD but matched on pace by the Mustang in Open Classic.  The Merc 300 SLR was the quickest Small Classic car and regularly sees circuit racing action also.  We do see glimpses of other cars, an Abarth 131 was seen in practice as was a Rover SD1.

   
   
   

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Next week is Saloon/DTM and Sports

…the following week is the return of the Italian cars handicap race