Binbrook Stages Rally 2000
Car 37 Graham Steggles and Emma Bain.
If there were trophies for first to an event, we would have got it. Binbrook is being modified. They are removing all the tarmac top surface to leave a dusty rubbily concrete surface with drop offs of up to 18” (that’s 450mm). So after having a little walk around for a couple of hours and still no competitors we went to our digs at Market Rasen.
Up at 5.00am and noise/scrutineering at 6.00 am. First time out on stage 1 it was very unpredictable and it was long. (for us. Its only our 3rd rally and most stages have been between 8 and 10 miles) 11.5 miles in two laps. After the first lap I didn’t want to go on the second, which very nearly happened as Emma directed me to the finish at the split instead of 45 left to the second lap. Luckily she realised and we managed to make it on lap 2 dropping about 30 seconds due to me trying to get reverse where 6th should be.(brain fade or what? I don’t even have a 6th ) In service we were a little gob smacked at the course and we weren’t expecting it to be like it was. Stage two was the same but the surface had cleaned up a lot. We both enjoyed it.
By stage four we were really into it but our brake pads were down and my 6 year old front Fulda road rubber Slick, inter, nobblies were now starting to look just like slicks! “Aha”, I thought, the rear ones are still looking fresh so off came the rears to the fronts and the fronts to the rears. I’ll get another rally or two out of these if it kills me. Ann and Darren Lawson shredded their fronts and had some more fitted, but having taken a maximum on stage 1, with a spin right in front of us (scary; just like touring cars; nearly flat in 5th and trying to out guess which way she’d go. She went left so I went right just in time to see her coming right, towards our nearside; we made it through; just. (skill and judgement?)), a strange knock from the front (loose strut insert nut) and stage 5 a blown head gasket, (which has turned out to be a dropped valve and holed piston) they retired. Which is very unlucky and we hope they can do better on the next 1.
We were steadily moving up the results sheet and thoroughly enjoying the event even though I’d prayed for rain and it didn’t happen. (a real leveller is the dreaded wet stuff for the big boys against the std class) The car was holding up well, the box felt good, (ratios wise) but we kept loosing body mouldings somehow. I think I’ll make it look like a GR not a GTI. (cos I can’t afford to replace them.) Stage 6 and we were 16th O/A, 7th in class and pretty smug at that. Emma told me we were to go on the 7th and final stage so I tried to start the car. No ignition lights, gauges or starter. Oops. Out with the spanners, off with the battery box lid and trace the wires time. I couldn’t believe it, although we could get a technical finish, I really wanted to complete the rally. Any road up, we traced it to the main feed wire connector snapped at the junction box under the bonnet. Having no time and no connectors we straightened the broken bit out, slipped it under the nut and tightened it up.
We arrived at the control 2 mins late and stepped on the gas. What was that noise from the front when I brake? EBC Green stuff? 240 stage miles? Cooked, yes with a C, to the metal and all of the braking being done by the rear brakes! Sideways, Cool. So to the finish we came of another brilliant days rallying, and, better than that a 12th, yes 12th O/A and 4th in class from a bog standard 1.6 GTI with a 2.0l 16v engine slotted in. I can’t believe it, I can not believe it. Someone give me a good vehicle and a budget, I’ll clean up. Now we are really on the bread line having skint ourselves for 3 weeks. Just toast now I think. We may go quiet on the competing side for a while but we will be back! Most definitely!