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Sunday, 19 February 2012
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Puncture robs Wright of Wyedean finish
With temperatures well below freezing the rally crews faced the difficult decision of which tyres to choose for the opening stages in the Forest of Dean. Wright selected cut gravel tyres but as soon as he started stage one he knew this was the wrong choice as the gravel forest tracks resembled a skating rink. Battling to keep the Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, Grove Hill Garage and York Brewery-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9 on the road Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson had five spins in the stage and were down in 29th place overall.
Conditions were no better in the second stage although Wright was progressing well until a high speed spin between two steel gate posts.
“Stage one was a nightmare, there was no grip at all and we were very lucky not to do any damage in our numerous spins,” commented Wright. “Stage two was also very icy but we seemed to be having a better run until the spin. We only just missed the gateposts and we’d have done a lot of damage had we hit them. We ended up landing backwards in a ditch but the car was ok.”
Wright was able to swap to tyres designed for ice before the third stage and the difference was immediately seen as he caught and passed the car that started the test a minute ahead. Shortly afterwards the Evo 9 picked up a puncture which caused damage to the suspension as Wright drove out of the stage, forcing him out of the event.
“The ice tyres transformed the car on the slippery surface, we were having a really good run in Speech House but the puncture ended our hopes of a good result. It was a very disappointing way to end the rally but we’ve just got to put it behind us and look forward to the next event which will be the Malcolm Wilson rally in March. This is our local event and I really like the stages, I’ll be having a big attack to get as many points as I can.”
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Wright aims for winning start on Wyedean rally
Wright and co-driver Michael Wilkinson will contest the event in their usual Kumho Tyres, Proflex, Drenth, Grove Hill Garage and York Brewery-supported Mitsubishi Evo 9.
After winning his final event of 2011 Wright’s hopes are high for a good result on the Chepstow-based event and he is aiming to repeat the class victory he took on last year’s Wyedean as well as securing a good overall position.
“We had an excellent start to the season on last year’s event when we finished fourth overall and won the class,” commented Wright. “I’d like to aim to get into the top three this year although the rally has attracted a high-quality entry so it’s going to be very competitive at the top of the leaderboard.”
“It will be interesting to see what conditions we get on the rally, it was sunny last year but there has been heavy snow in previous years. We’ll be looking for a good clean run whatever the conditions.”
The rally will start from Chepstow racecourse on Saturday morning (11th February) with crews contesting seven stages in and around the Forest of Dean.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Rally2Raise charity team set for Snowman rally
The organisers of the Inverness-based event, Highland Car Club, are supporting the project by allowing the Rally2Raise Nissan Micra to run ahead of the competitors on one of the rally’s stages as well as giving space at the signing-on venue for the team to promote their four causes: the Nystagmus Network, the Joanne Bingley Memorial Foundation for post-natal depression, Cancer Research UK and the MS Society.
The event will be the first time that project founder Rachel Medich has driven on a rally – she is usually to be found in the co-driver’s seat. Marieanne Gray will be on co-driving duty with Rachel on the Snowman.
“I am delighted that the Snowman rally organisers are helping us to promote Rally2Raise,” commented Rachel. “It’s going to be a daunting challenge driving a rally car in the woods for the first time but hopefully it will all go well and we’ll make more people aware of the charities that we are supporting.”
“This will be the first of a few events we will be part of in 2012 so keep an eye out for our little yellow and blue Micra on the stages!”
For more information on the Rally2Raise project please visit www.rally2raise.co.uk or www.facebook.com/rally2raise.
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