Before I knew where I was it was time for Round 5. Winchester in July had been kind to the car so after a quick check over I found there wasn't really much to do. I investigated the blowing exhaust and found although there is a small crack in the manifold casting the majority of the 'blow' was coming from the broken gasket at the manifold / down tube interface. Once this was patched It was a quick look over the suspension to check the new bushes had faired ok and a check and top up of the vital fluids.

By chance, I rang Rhino Ray on the Friday evening to ask him if he could bring some parts I wanted to look at to the event. After having a bit of a chat I signed off saying 'well, see you on Sunday then'. There was a brief pause from the other end of the phone followed by 'why are you going to the trial as well then? The Safari is on the Bank Holiday'. After a bit of looking around on the net I confirmed what he'd told me, I had the date wrong - the Safari wasn't until Monday! Its lucky I called else I would of made the 200+ mile round trip for nothing!

I left home early on Monday morning. The weather was dry and cloudy but bright, but as I headed east things began to deteriorate as showers turned into more persistent patches of rain. Once I arrived at Horam the rain had stopped but the ground was very wet under foot and tyre.

I unloaded and headed off to the scrutineering tent and promptly failed as I'd forgotten to tighten the blots that hold on the steering box! After a few minutes spannering I was through and signed on, however my ‘co-pilot’ for the day (my brother) wasn’t. It was to be his first event and we’d expected he’d be able to turn up and join at sign on. As this was a SROC organised event he’d need to join SROC (as he’s not a SCOR member) but they weren’t keen. Apparently the 20 mins until the start of the event wasn’t enough time to do the paperwork… So it turned out he’d made the trip for nothing. Not a good start to the day…

I think the best way to describe the start of the event is chaotic. I was third of fourth to set off from the line. Immediately I moved off the start I noticed how slippery it was. It was great - four-wheel drifting and opposite locking around the course, through the first couple of obstacle sections. I approached the first big copse where the course dipped down into a large hole around some trees and turned sharp left climbing back out and onto the fields. The rain was lashing down and I slowed and stopped trying to work out where the entrance to the section was. As I looked for a moment I saw a car try to make the exit climb, and engine screaming he made it about three quarters of the way up before sliding back into the bottom of the copse. I rolled down my window to get a better look through the lashing rain and realised I could hear at least one engine reving. I decided that I wasn't going to get past them easily so moved my car off the course and got out to see what was going on.

As I looked on a third car joined them in the bottom of the hole before the first one final managed to make the climb. I decided to give it a go myself so I jumped in and buckled up. The entrance to the section was so slippery I clipped a tree on the way down into the hole denting the near-side quarter panel. Once in the bottom it took me a couple of attempts to make the steep slippery climb back to field level.

After I exited the copse I looked back at the building chaos. There were now at least half a dozen cars queued waiting to enter the section and almost as many stuck in the section. In front of me were 3 cars of marshals sat warm and dry. I wasn't impressed. I got out and asked if they could help by directing some cars around the section, and then carried on around the course. I wasn't really in too much of a rush as I had a feeling things were only going to get worse!

After a few more excellent sections around fields, up and down banks I came to another problem. The route passed around the rim of a large bomb hole on a slight camber through trees. The lightweight was gingerly making its way through but with every bump was beginning to slide towards the hole. Eventually gravity got the better of its grip and it slid down into the bottom of the bomb hole.

Sat watching from 15 or 20 metres back I thought I was stationary, but realised I was starting to slip down the slope too. I decided there was no way I could make it through this section of the course without ending up on top of the lightweight so started to slowly reverse the very short distance (only 3 or 4 metres) I’d come so far. As soon as the Vitara began to move it began to slide. In a split second I decided I had to go for it to get out. I did, but not without clipping another tree, and breaking a rear side window!

After that point it’s a bit of a blur. There was at least one other section on the course where things came to a complete stop and one section was completely blocked by scattered cars to the point where the marshals seemed more like policemen directing traffic in a city centre!

Overall I think it took about 40 minutes to get everyone around the first lap. A meeting was called and we were informed that Lap 1 was to be scratched and several sections of the course were to be revised. So off we went again.

So I set off on Lap 2, or the new lap 1. One of the sections the CoC decided not to remove was ‘the marsh’. I knew I was going to have trouble here as the entrance to the section was via a gate in a very muddy field boundary. As you passed through the gate there was a significant step down into a Vitara sized mud hole. Just as I suspected I got in but couldn’t get out, and I’d blocked the course. The Marshals directed vehicles around an alternative route. Eventually I was recovered and the section was removed from the event. I made my way around the rest of the course to the pits to take my first maximum of the day.

Lap 2 wasn’t much better. Only a few corners into the course there was a large ditch between fields to negotiate. I wasn’t happy with the mucky left hand line I’d taken on the first run so decided to tackle it at a cleaner point a few metres away. At the last minute I realised the ditch was far to deep and sharp edged to drive through so I braked but skidded off the edge, into the ditch. I was stuck. The marshal came over laughing. ‘Why did you slow down?’ he asked me. I didn’t understand. As I was about to ask him what he meant I heard a screaming engine and Rhino Ray flew through the air past me with only a few inches to spare. It turned out it was possible to jump the ditch! Nobody told me! I plodded back to the finish and took my second maximum of the day.

The next surprise came on Lap 3. About ½ way around the lap the course crossed a field and then exited via ditch and an earth ‘hump’ before making a sharp 90 degree left hand turn into the next field. I slowed right down to walking pace to negotiate the obstacle and was shocked to hear a ‘thump’ and be suddenly launched at it. I’d been hit from behind by another competitor! Later on we finally met up and he did apologise, he said it was very slippy and he just over-cocked it and ran out of braking area. The damage wasn’t too severe, and is mainly confined to the rear bumper. A donation to the ‘get a new rear bumper off of Ebay’ fund would have been nice though!

The next few laps passed without event. Despite the massive deluge as the race began the course was already drying out and the pace was picking up. I gradually pushed harder but came in after 5 laps of the course to investigate a knocking noise the Vitara had developed. I just couldn’t work out where it was coming from – I checked the steering box bolts, the shock bolts and mounts but found nothing so decided to put a few more laps in.

I tried to push hard for a couple of laps but the sickening noises coming from the car were holding me back. Something was wrong I just couldn’t work out what. The laps were totting up but I was sure it was only a matter of time before something broke. After 10 laps I came in for a breather and something to eat and drink and decided to get to the bottom of where the noise was coming from. I wondered if a body mount had broken so got under the Vitara to have a good look at them. Whilst lying on the grass under the car deep in contemplation I found the cause of the noise. The passenger side engine mount had pulled off of the chassis. As a result the engine had moved down on that side and the knocking noise was coming from the sump hitting the fragile front differential housing!

I was all up for quitting. Pete Barrett had broken down early on the day and as no ‘live’ recovery was allowed his car had been stuck on the course for hours with him sat back at his trailer waiting for the end of the event so he could load up and go home. I didn’t want to be in the same situation so thought the best option was to retire. Nobody else agreed! After a discussion and a bit pushing I decided to carry on, albeit at a reduced pace and try to get a finish. I pottered around the course at about half my previous speed keeping out of other peoples way and eventually rattled across the finish … into last place overall. But at least I got a finish and few more valuable points!

Retrospective

Despite the chaotic start to the day, things turned out OK. I think the initial course laid out was ambitious considering the conditions and the 30 second start interval for competitors. Despite the number of marshals present things didn't flow well once the problems began.

Once things were sorted out the course was excellent with a good mixture of technical sections through the trees and fast sections across the fields. As things began to dry out the course ran smoothly and was great fun to drive. It was possible to complete all the 15 runs in plenty of time, even at reduced pace! Its disappointing we had to limp for the finish but I'm glad we did manage to get a there as the extra points will be useful and help maintain our overall position.

Horam has uncovered another problem with the Vitara, that of the engine mounts. Knowing the standard bonded rubber mounts fail quickly I had already replaced these with an ‘upgrade’ from Dan Evans at Protection and Performance. These have worked well over the previous 4 events but now the next element in the chain – the chassis mountings – has failed. Gussets will be added to spread the load when the mount is repaired.

The steering box coming loose is now becoming a constant problem. The vibration and constant pounding the unit gets is just too much for the standard mounting point. I think the only resolution is going to be to sleeve the chassis and through bolt the box with nylock nuts.

So this, along with the repairs to the tree damage and general servicing mean I have my work cut out to get the car ready for the next event at Long Valley in October. I was considering entering in the ‘Southwest Shootout’ being held by EDORC on the 23rd & 24th of September but I have so much to do I think I’m going to struggle to get the car ready for the SCOR event a week later!

See you at Long Valley… Hopefully!