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TULACHARD
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Team Tulachard News
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Rallying with
GRAHAM HIRE |
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Speyside Stages Rally Team Tulachard had a good run on the Speyside Stages. Read the full story from the stages in the Press Release.
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PRESS RELEASE |
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Calum and the boys had a very busy time on the build up to the Speyside Stages after the car was rolled on the previous event, the Scottish Rally in Dumfries. After some replacement panels, and bodywork repairs the car was ready for a re-spray before Calum headed offshore. This meant that it was only the mechanicals to check when he got back. Unfortunately on his return, a few problems were identified with the gearbox and the prop-shaft. On one of the previous events, the prop-shaft must have been bent which was causing a slight vibration, resulting in the rear casing of the gearbox to crack. After fitting a new gearbox and making a few repairs to the old one, with his faithful helper and class rival Keith Robathan, Calum was able to have the car ready for the press day on the Friday. The press day was an opportunity for Calum to test out his new gearbox, and make sure that the car was handling alright after the roll on the Scottish. He was able to get out for a few runs on the day, and was happy that the car was ready for the rally. Afterwards he was told that someone had been out with a speed gun during the press day at a long blind crest, where they had been recording top speeds. They recorded Calum as fastest over it, at a speed of 102mph, with the closest person to him being 88mph! He must be mad!! Scrutineering and documentation went smoothly on Friday night however Calum was having a dilemma trying to decide which tyres to use for the event. What’s new!! The Dunlops he had been using previously wear very quickly in dry road conditions, meaning he goes through a lot of tyres, resulting in an alarmingly high tyre bill!! He opted instead to try out Kumho tyres, as he was expecting the stages to be hard and dry the following day. He reckoned that if Alister McRae could win a rally with them on his Escort, they had to be worth a try!! The first two stages on Saturday morning were on tarmac around the private roads through Cooper Park, in the centre of Elgin town. Calum and Alan were 6th equal fastest on the first stage, and were one second slower on their repeat run through after missing 2nd gear. The crew were happy with their first two stages, after which they were lying 11th overall. They were only 9 seconds off the leaders at this point, and were the first of the two-wheel drive competitors. After changing to gravel tyres at a short service at Baxters of Fochabers, the crew headed to Whiteash for a 4.8 mile stage. It had a very loose and marbly surface, which meant there was a lot of sideways action, resulting in a lack of traction. They experienced some big 5th gear slides, which according to Alan were; “exhilarating!” Not so exhilarating however was two thirds into the stage, when Calum spun the car trying a little too hard round a hairpin! It wouldn’t have been so bad, if it hadn’t been exactly where the TV camera was recording, as well as where the press officer for the championship, Calum’s wife, and one of his main sponsors were watching! Calum gave his reason (excuse) for the spin; “I needed to make sure my sponsors were getting maximum exposure on TV!!” The crew lost around 10 seconds with the spin, which dropped their overall position to 19th place. At this point, Aberdeen’s Dave Weston was leading the rally, only one second in front of Scottish Championship leader, Gary Adam. In third place was Ellon’s Barry Clark in his Mitsubishi Evo IX. Stage four took the crews to Clashindarroch forest for a 9 mile stage titled Long Bank. Calum continued with the Kumho tyres, but was concerned they weren’t working properly as they didn’t seem to be wearing much. They were going well through this stage, however, the handbrake stuck on at one of the hairpins dropping them around 6 seconds. Calum was also struggling to select gears, which was to plague him for the rest of the event. The crew then went on to service in Huntly after Long Bank, where the mechanics only had to perform a quick spanner check, refuel and swap tyres, before the crew headed north to Balloch wood for the fifth stage. Calum and Alan both agreed that this was a fantastic stage and they were going really well until the rear brake pipe t-piece slackened, resulting in the brake pedal loosening off and slowly creeping to the floor. It was only the front brakes which were working correctly in the stage, but they had a blast anyway. They finished the stage 13th equal with Jimmy Christie in Raymond Munro’s ex Kankkunen WRC 99 Subaru. They had also managed to climb a place and were now lying 18th overall. The management crew made a temporary repair to the rear brake pipe at the end of the stage, before they headed into Gartly forest for stage six. Stage 6 (Gartly Moor) was a great 5 miles of fun for the team, with plenty of enjoyable sideways moments. It felt good, and gave Calum and Alan a time 13th fastest, helping them up the overall standings into 17th place. By this point, Dave Weston had extended his lead over Gary Adam to 24 seconds, with young David Bogie in third place a further 31 seconds behind, and top Group N car. After stage 6, the crews returned to Huntly for a second 30 minute service. Here the boys had a bit more work to do! Along with the usual spanner, fuel and tyre checks, they also had to carry out a full repair to the rear brake pipe t-piece which had slackened in stage 5. Despite the problems he was having, Calum’s day was brightened when an interested spectator came to have a look round the car at service. He had been spectating in one of the previous stages, and came to say; “That was fine style in there, you were absolutely flying. You really made my day!” Calum reflected on his happy spectator’s comments; “It’s great to get feedback from the spectators. Especially when it is positive!! It’s good to know that other people are getting as much pleasure from it as we are.” Stage 7 (Cats Craig) was the second of the stages to be held in Clashidarroch forest, and it was also the longest of the day at almost 13.5 miles. They had a clean run through this stage, however the rain started and they were uncertain as to how well the Kumho tyres would cope in the wet conditions, so they were not committing as fully as normal. With the car having just been rebuilt after the Scottish Rally, Calum was determined not to try any heroics, and was making sure he took the car home in one piece. In order to see if there would be any difference with the Kumhos they opted to change back to the Dunlop tyres they had been using in previous events, for the last stage in Rosarie (Stage 8). This did not end up being the stage for a test, as they were still being haunted with gear selection problems, and it all came to a head after the loss of 5th gear near the start of the stage. Their concern was that the box would give up completely, so they opted to keep things sensible, and get to the finish. Calum and Alan enjoyed their day, despite the continuous niggles they had with gear problems, brake pipes and a daft spin! They felt they achieved a good result with a 14th overall finish. They were also delighted in securing top two-wheel drive with a lead of 45 seconds, and finishing first in their class. Alan commented on how he felt the day went for them;
“We seemed
to suffer a bit against the Four-Wheel Drive opposition on
A big thank you to all of the team’s sponsors for their ongoing assistance, who without, the rally would not have been possible: Nicolson Maps www.nicolsonmaps.com , SBS Logistics www.sbsl.com , Escape Business Technologies www.escape-tech.co.uk , and Graham Hire. Also a big thank you to: Keith Robathan, Callum Hardie, Robin Nicolson and Doug Weir for their mechanical assistance on the day. It goes without saying that the unsung heroes of rallying are the marshals, organisers, doctors and rescue crews who without we wouldn’t be rallying. Thank you to them all. Results from the Speyside Stages Rally can be found at www.flyingfinish.co.uk , and for more Scottish Rally Championship information, including a press report on the Speyside Stages, please visit the SRC website www.scottishrallychampionship.co.uk The team’s next Scottish event will be the Merrick Forest Stages on Saturday 8th September based in Newton Stewart. For more information on this event please visit their website at www.merrickstages.co.uk For further information, or to contact the team please visit their website at www.teamtulachard.com |
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