Disaster strikes

Two miles into the first stage ( Abbey St Bathans ) the car starts to lose power, we struggle on, fiddling with fuel pump switches etc as it felt like fuel starvation, the it lapses onto 3 intermittantley. We reach the end of the stage and find a little oil on the plugs leads from oil pressure pipe connection, we clean this off and start stage 2. Straight away it is apparent things are not right and within a mile the engine loses all power.We whip the blogs out and find 3 are burnt out.After the stage is over the service crew arrive to recover us, but we try some new plugs and it starts. Within a few hundred yards it conks out again. Back home I find there is no compression at all on No1 or No2.

Jim Clark Rally

Been working on the car for weeks now getting it ready for the Jim Clark,although no historic class it can't be missed as it must be one of the top three rallies in the country. Closed public roads with the ferry to Isle of Man ,Mull or Ireland.Engine has been out,new exhaust,rack,front discs and converted rear to discs ( not allowed in historics).

Pirelli rally

Watched the Pirelli rally recently and thoroughly enjoyed the BHRC historic entry.Jeff Stokes retired right in front of us in Kielder, sad to hear later that Jimmy McRae was injured in an accident. Went to Kershope also and had a good vantage point there, only the freezing wind spoilt the day.

Which side is the petrol cap?

Nothing to do with Historic Rallying but I thought I would share this gem with you.If like me you have a pet hate of pulling up to the petrol pump in a hire car and finding the filler is on the other side, here is a tip you are gonna love. Look at the petrol gauge on the dashboard before you get to the petrol station, you will notice a logo of a petrol pump. Now look at the nozzle on the logo, is it on the right or left? If the nozzle is on the left your filler cap is on the left and vice-versa, simple but effective !

The Roger Albert Clark

Well what an RAC that was! Entries seemed down on last year but less retirements meant there were still plenty of lovely cars and committed drivers to enjoy.Epic battle between Bannister who had been lent a complying post historic Mk2 by Steve Perez and Jimmy Mcrae with both drivers on the limit ( and sometimes over it ).What about that Irishman McCormack , after taking a maximum in Yorkshire he fought back to finish fourth with some of the wildest driving I have seen for a long time.Would he have won if he had not gone on day 1? Hope he enters and gets a clean run next year.Pity the Stratos went out so early , was looking forward to the sound and spectacle of that classic.

Came across this video on pistonheads showing loads of mint Group 4 Rally cars. Have a look :-
http://www.pistonheads.tv/clip1308

Great to see these old rally cars again.

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More on Jim Clark

Video of Barry's long jump

Still no sign or RPM's coverage on Motors tv , it has been on Ulster tv but can't get that channel