Stefan
Davis took the opportunity to grasp some extra experience with a 6 week
gap before the last championship event by competing on the final round
of the British Rally Championship, The Southern Tempest Rally, a mixed
surface event in and around the town of Aldershot. Stefan enlisted the
experience of Daren Hall (BTRDA driver) to sit alongside him once again
for this event. The crew were in the 1600 open class, Class 2 running
in their near standard road car Peugeot 205 1.6 GTi.
Stage 1 the crew got off to a smooth start, with Daren who is normally
in the driver’s seat of his ex-works Nissan Sunny GTi (currently
in 6th position in BTRDA) rather than co-driver seat. It took a few
forest miles for the crew to get into the groove and confident with
the rally route pace notes. The crew’s goal of the day was to
gain more experience and to use the non-championship rally as an opportunity
to try a few different things.
Stage 2 was another good run as the crew continued to build trust in
each other and things started to flow nicely. Stage 3 went well and
the crew were starting to push having a little moment on the loose with
an over enthusiastic driver locking the brakes briefly on a fast left
hander with a 80ft drop awaiting on the outside.
Stage 4 was a great stage for the spectators, 3 miles around the service
area and rally show. The crew were going well and they attacked the
stage with great enthusiasm. A cautious approach on a slippery section
through the trees was not quite cautious enough to stop them having
a little moment on a real hairpin left venturing briefly into the undergrowth
and keeping the spectators entertained. After the stage it was straight
back to service and the car got a quick look over and tighten up ready
to attack the next few stages.
The crew remained committed over stage 5's sequence of yumps and bumps,
pushing the car over the dramatic blind crest and pleasing the spectators
on the way. The longest stage of the day, stage 6 gave the crew a great
opportunity to settle in with the car, but this was a very fast, flowing
stage that looked to be claiming its share of victims with a number
of competitors stranded by the roadside. The crew set the second fastest
time in the class of ten, beating the more modern machinery of the Peugeot
106 GTi despite a 40bhp power disadvantage. This brought Davis and Hall
up the class positions further.
Stage 7 was a re run of stage 4 - the great spectator stage and the
crew slammed 9 seconds off their previous run even though the stage
had been churned up by the previous larger machinery and the large volume
of competitors. After the stage it was back to service for a quick check
over and change of front tyres, which set the crew up to attack the
final 5 stages of the day.
The first stage of the morning was re-run as stge 8, but now the surface
problems had been worsened by the front running 4WD brigade, and judging
the pot-holed road ahead was becoming a major issue
Stage 9 was another re-run stage (SS2) and another good run for the
crew who set the third fastest time in their class. Stage 10 was a re-run
of SS3 but by now the surface was beginning to become treacherously
ploughed. Under braking on the way into a tight square right, the surface
was so rough the car was nearly thrown onto its nose whilst braking
through the trees. Stefan was happy to settle for 4th fastest in class
through that stage.
Stage 11 was again a re-run stage (SS4) the crew knowing that with
only 5.5 miles of stages left, there was still a lot to lose. The crew
knew they had to keep it sensible through the rough stuff while still
pushing very hard when the terrain was smooth enough to do so. The crew
again set 4th fastest class time through the stage and even beat a Mitsubishi
Evo 6 (4WD 2 litre Turbo) by 0.5 seconds.
As the sun came down, so did the temperature, and the rough stage 12
had to be attacked with the lights at full beam. It was now becoming
difficult to spot the potholes and ruts and needed some real concentration
to avoid trouble over the flowing stage. The crew were 2nd fastest in
their class by only half a second and they beat a Subaru Impreza Turbo
4WD on the stage.
The crew were over the moon with the result - 2nd in class and 19th
over all - a career best for Stefan Davis and a very happy result on
an event were they expected to gain nothing but experience. "I
didn’t even know we had been 3rd in Class for most of the day
until after the final stage", said Stefan the 24 year old from
Kent.
Stefan would like to give a big thanks to the girlies for doing a great
job in promoting Stefan’s sponsorship campaign, and the service
crew for all their hard work. Stefan would also like to thank WF Electrical
and GE Lighting for supporting him with a set of tyres for the rally.
Supporters can follow Stefan's progress on MSport-UK.com
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