Focus on...

This is our first "focus on..." article. If you would like to be featured in one of these articles, the rules are simple - write it yourself and send it/email it to me, Catherine Phillipson. Just tell people what you've been doing and what you're aiming to do this year. Easy!

Mark Shoosmith and Chris Morford have been quietly getting on with the job since they teamed up to go stage rallying in Mark's Mazda 323 Turbo. For Mark it was the beginning of his motor sport career while for Chris it was the continuation of something that has probably been going on far too long.

First outing was at Goodwood, last August, where the quote of the day came from Chairman Rick on spotting Chris in the co-drivers seat, " aren't you getting too old for all this?" . Much of the day was spent getting Mark used to the car and the feel of driving on slicks whilst demolishing a few of BP's chicanes. The result was second in class.

2 weeks later it was off to the Tamar Stages, where Chris was acting as ACSMC Observer. This event was great fun although some of the bumps were a little on the large side. With some spirited driving they came in 4th overall. It was back to tarmac at Longcross in October where a large part of the day seemed to be spent buying tyres in an effort to go faster. It didn't really work and they came 2nd in class again.

The Kent Stages were next where a steady drive saw them finish 24th overall and 4th in class. To finish the year the crew took the long trip north to contest the Grizedale Stages. It was inevitable of course that sooner or later their good luck would run out. 200 yards into the fist 6 mile stage the gearbox stuck in 2nd gear. They continued to the end of the stage as fast as they could in the hope that they could sort it out. After a good deal of pulling and pushing the linkage they decided to get back into the car and do the 2nd stage still stuck in 2nd gear and get to service. To add insult to injury they than found they had a puncture. Inspection at service showed a broken gear linkage, so a halt was called to proceedings and the team went off in search of a pub!

For 1998 they are contesting the BTRDA Championship and recently took part in the Wyedean Stages. After scrutineering problems with Turbo Seals and fire extinguishers the team came home 54th overall and 22nd in class. The Mazda is now showing its age in terms of power output compared with the new generation of 4WD turbo cars.

Next event is the Somerset Stages - watch this space! /FONT>

Chris Morford