Competitors' Round-up

July 1997

Roger Binyon
had a great weekend of competition at RAF Abingdon. On the Saturday he won his class in the sprint using his road car and on the Sunday he came first overall in a single venue with Catherine Phillipson in his new DAM 4100.

John Blaber/Alan Jamieson
came 35th overall and 6th in class on the Kerridge. A melted clutch stuck the car in 1st gear on the last stage and I have been asked not to mention the Incident of the Navigator's Stomach on stage 5. Since then they've been struggling to get the gearbox fixed in time for the Forest Enterprise Rally (aka the Kayel) in Swansea this weekend with its first stage of 13 miles.

Neil Cloughley
is happily picking his way through Demon Tweeks' finest catalogue to get the new Fiesta ready for his outing on the WouldBeGood stages with Simon Catling.

Colin Early
got his five seconds of national TV coverage by destroying a straw bale after the jump on the Rallysprint. He's still repairing the extensive damage that this caused so he missed Colerne last weekend.

Richard Phillipson/Catherine Phillipson
broke a driveshaft on an uphill hairpin on the Kerridge after a great first stage in the dark left them 38th overall at the overnight halt.

James Potter/Graham Morris
were 22nd overall at the overnight halt on the Kerridge. He caught two people in the dark - the second time he went off twice with the excitement. On day 2 he had an off on stage 4, putting the car on its side and bending the steering and the wheel arches. The steering damage appears in retrospect to have been more serious than they had thought and a massive understeer on a corner in Sweet Lamb left the car teetering Italian Job-style over a big drop. Climbing out of the other side, they retreated hastily to solid ground to watch the rest of the rally go past.

For club members to get your news in here, talk to Richard Phillipson on club night, call on 0181 947 3800 or send an email to cdoherty@gartmore.com.