But as the week went on my feelings changed.  I'd been told how good the site was, the forecast was good and I knew I'd kick myself if I missed a night under canvas and a safari round. So I decided to take Friday as a day off and try to get the Vitara ready. All I needed then was somewhere to sleep, a trailer, and something to tow it with!

After partially stripping the suspension and brakes and removing the front suspension guard I set to work with a stiff brush and a screw driver. Several hours later I had removed about four 25 litre buckets of dry sand and mud from the underneath of the car. I then set about the minor jobs - fixing the broken window catch, cleaning the engine bay and radiator, trimming the bottom of the now broken front bumper and finally fixing the blowing exhaust. By later afternoon we had a test run found the field - remembered I needed to to tighten and loctite the steering box which I promptly did - and we were ready to race!

That only left the transportation. After a few phone calls I managed to call in a couple of favours and thanks to my friend Paul at Playgrounds UK ( - for all you playground installation and safer surfacing needs..) I has a van and a trailer to get us to the event. After collecting a spare helmet (thanks Matt) we breezed down the A303 and arrived at the site around 21.30, just in time to enjoy a BBQ and a few beers before bed in the small hours. I can't of been asleep for long when I awoke to hear a noise that sounded like a cross between an elephant and a rumbling freight train. I wont name and shame the phantom snorer - you know who you are... Luckily I had my emergency ear plugs with me to get me though the night!

The Event

We passed scrutineering and all was going well until about 20 minutes to go when there needed to be a last minute course change. It appeared there was some issue with an adjacent land owner to changed were made to keep things running smoothly. This cut the mileage from about 5 miles down to just over 4 miles. After the delay to the drivers briefing we eventually go going about 10.30.

As I lined up the usual start line butterflies were there but these soon passed as we pressed on round the course. I took a wrong turn quite near the start but was soon back on track learning the course. The course was excellent, varying between twisty sections through trees to quick blasts along fast straight sections, some up and down hill over the rocky pink soil.

Progress was good until I decided to 'improve' the racing line across some grass shaving a line through a corner. As we crossed the grass the was a bang and the jeep leapt into the air. I'd hit something, probably a stump and within seconds it was obvious we had a near-side front puncture. We kept on driving but as there were no distance marker boards I had no idea how far it was to the end of the course, we had no choice really as the spare was back at the van!

The next problem was my lack of experience of driving on flat tyres. The Vitara was all over the place and it was taking quite a lot of effort just to keep it going in any kind of direction. Before long I was caught on a rocky downhill section by the 2wd buggy There was no where to pass and he was keen to get past. At the bottom of the hill there was a sharp 90 right and I slowed an began to move over to let him pass. But as I entered the corner the Vitara failed to turn in as I expected,  I ran wide on the corner as we understeered alarmingly towards the edge of the track where there was a 45 degree down slope into the trees. Luckily a drainage ditch had been cut at the edge of the track and it caught and held the Vitara. The car still pitched alarmingly and for a moment I thought we were going to roll down the slope into the trees. Amusingly I had the in-car camera running at the time so it was all recorded for posterity.. (see the in-car clip in the videos section, the impact is about 10 minutes in and the near off soon after)

To begin with I couldn't get the car out of the ditch, mainly for fear that it if I moved it too much it would carry on down the slope. Vaughan jumped out to flag down the next car for assistance - but they just drove by... So we persevered and before long we were going again. As it turns out we weren't far from the end of the course so we pottered back to base to change the wheel and investigate the strange noises coming from the front on the vehicle.

As it turns out this was nearly the end of the event for me.  When we got to the finish and changed the wheel the source of the noise became apparent. At first inspection the wheel looked ok and I wondered if we had just punctured the tyre when we clipped the stump, but as I took the wheel off we found that the inside edge of the rim had been bent, letting the air out. It transpired the noises were coming from the bend in the rim rubbing on the track-rod end and the brake calliper! I think if I had hit the stump any harder the bend in the rim would of broken the brake union on the calliper and as I wasn't carrying a single spare for the weekend with me I'd of been heading home for an early bath!

After the early excitement the rest of the morning was relatively uneventful. I put in a couple of reasonable pace laps back to back before the suspension started getting hot and 'going-off', so we came in for a breather before putting in another 3 at a slightly more relaxed pace. It was now lunchtime and we had completed half the distance - which was good. Better than Slab.... I spoke to Roger and he confirmed the event would run the full 12 laps. By my reckoning we should would be able to complete the whole event and start out final lap with about 30 minutes to spare.

For the next few laps all went well, the car suffered a bit from fizzy fuel as it does from time to time but there were no major problems. But then about 3 o'clock a halt was suddenly called to proceedings. Someone was off the course in a dangerous position so there was no option but to close the course and recover the vehicle. The clock was ticking, and my margin was fast disappearing. Eventually we were going again. Things were now tight my margin was reduced to a handful minutes. I went back out and set my fastest lap by quite a bit. I would need to keep up the pace to start my final run before my allotted last start time. But it was not to be.

Part of the way round run 11 bad noises started coming from the front of the car. It sounded like I'd either broken a shaft, a CV joint or damaged the diff. If this was the case there was no point stopping as we could fix it and the damage was done. I eased off and tried to make the finish. As we carried on I soon realised I still had drive to the front wheels. If part of the transmission has failed this shouldn't be. I picked up the pace and the banging started again, so it was gentle run to the end of the course.

As we got there we were almost out of time. I drove from the finish straight to line up at the start. By my reckoning we had 4 minutes to start our final run. I jumped out of the car and had a quick look under the front.  I quickly fount the problem - the top mount for the drivers side additional fox remote reservoir shock had torn off the chassis! I had a quick think and there was no way I was going to be able to remove it in time to make the start of our final run. So, rather than destroying a few hundred quids worth of shock we decided to take a maximum and call it a day.

Retrospective
 

We kept up the pace early on to get laps under our belt and keep on time, but if the course had been run over the full intended distance which was nearer 5 miles I think we would of struggled to complete the 12 laps. Looking at the times the decision to take a maximum on the final run probably cost us 2 places and, if we hadn't broken the shock mount we probably would of taken 10th place - but that's racing! Despite the maximum we still took first in class. I was happy with the result overall and glad to get another finish under our belt, but the day could of been very different if I'd hit the stump a little harder on the first run!

I was happy with the performance of the Vitara at Minehead. Moving the shock reservoirs has helped their cooling but they still need more air over then - time to invest in a decent hole saw! The strut bracing was a mixed success, it has worked and really stiffens those flexi front turrets but as it broke about 1/2 way through the day it obviously needs to be made of stronger material in places.

I did notice that on the rough faster downhill sections the front wheels are beginning to rub on the back of the rear arches. A quick inspection of the front suspension has found its time for new bushes. Worthy Down is quite a fast course the suspension needs to be right, I want the car to go where I point it! A related problem is the steering box. Despite thread-locking the bolts the 'box still came loose after about 25 - 30 miles. Again not what you want, and I have a plan to drill the chassis and through the bolt 'box to try to keep it in place.

This month I really must change the clutch. I ran Slab and Minehead in low box so the clutch is under less stress. I've got away with it for 2 events but low box limits the top speed to about 40 - 45 mph, ok for Slab and Minehead but it may not be for Worthy Down.

Worthy Down is my home turf, I only live about a mile from the site. I'm looking forward to the event and hopefully we will have a good turnout of SCOR and EDORC members again. The clock is ticking so its time to make another 'to do' list, start it a little sooner than 2 days before the event this time!!!