Northern Energy Autogas
Rallies
The Northern Energy Autogas/www.parts.renault.com-backed
lp gas Renault Clio Sport, driven by Alistair Hutchinson and
St John Dykes, took part in the Trackrod Clubmen Rally based
in Malton, North Yorkshire, on October 2.
The rally consisted
of two short spectating stages at Pickering showground and three
long stages in the famous forests, including
Dalby and Galerigg. The Clubmen event had an entry list of 60
cars and followed the main international rally, which took place
over two days.
"While the international competitors
were rallying on the Saturday, we had to present our car for
scrutiny in Malton. It is not very
often our car gets checked over by international scrutineers,
but we received some very good comments about the presentation
and preparation of the car. Also, they had never seen a rally
car that runs on lpg fuel!" said St John Dykes.
Unfortunately,
on the very first corner of the stage, the car developed a noisy
problem. The team were not sure what the cause
was, but the car was still mobile, so they decided to try and
finish the race.
"We managed to get to the end of the
stage, even with the mysterious noise, but had lost a few places
because of the problem. We had
a quick look around the car, but were unable to find out what
the problem was. However, we still had to do 25 miles to get
to the finish at Malton and drive over the finish ramp. We managed
the final road section without any problems or time penalties
and received a small glass award for finishing the event," said
St John.
"For our first visit into the woods for
several years, the rally was a decent one. We finished 25th overall
in the Clubmen section
and gained some more valuable points in the Kent Cams ANCC Championship.
The car survived the famous Yorkshire forests and the noisy driving
problem turned out to be a driveshaft bearing failure."
The next event on the calendar the team is the Christmas Stages
held at Croft Circuit near Darlington on December 28.
"This rally will be a bit strange for
me, because it will be the first time in 12 years that I will
see Alistair rallying from
outside the car!" said St John. “Steve Walmsley from
Northern Energy Autogas will be in my seat and calling the directions
for the day. Steve is a keen motorsport enthusiast but this will
be his first ever rally event."
Contact Northern Energy Autogas Ltd on 01423
772789
www.northernenergy.co.uk
Return to December/January
2004-05 News
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