1994 Barum Rally

1994 Bullnose Rally

Counting for the ACSMC and AERRO Road Rally Championships, as well as the ASWMC's, the event drew crews from as far a field as Eastwood (Notts) and Windsor, Windsor Car Club managing to field 4 crews (and take 3 awards!).

After formalities had been completed at the Exeter Court Hotel the competitors took to the roads with a longish link to the start proper at Stoke Cannon. From here on it was all tight 2 mile (4 minute) sections placing the emphasis on fast accurate plotting and slotting.

The sections flowed fast and smoothly but already crews were in trouble: Shawley/White (seeded 7 in the Datsun "Viole'n't") over shot a slot and found themselves back at the control they had just left! The fail they gained was to drop them from 2nd to 15th. They were not the only ones to suffer the same fate, Thomas/Hayward and at least 3 other crews managed fails at the same control. Schraider/Davies (seeded 2 in a Sunbeam) succombed to a fuel supply problem and dropped 3 minutes clearing out the lines. To say they were displeased would be an understatement, the car having performed perfectly during a shakedown on The Powerush 2 weeks before. They did manage to hang on for 5th place (and a hat full of AERRO points) but a win was on the cards. This first section was to see the only retirement of the night as Jeffries/Codling slid their Cavalier sideways into one of Devon's infamous earth banks.

Entering the first time recovery section through Cullompton only 4 cars remained clean. The mobile points van met the competitors at the next control, allowing interim results to be produced and availible for inspection. The next sections continued in the same vein, the combination of tight timing and twisty lanes taking minutes off most crews. Peter Adams (CoC) had increased the level of navigation, an Unders/Overs section round Broadclyst electricity substation proving to be the downfall of many. The same section included the huge yumps at Cannaford level crossing. Many of the non local crews reported heavy landings, Kingsley/PRAR with bent sump guard mountings to testify to their 'no lift' policy! Fortunately this was the last section of the half, allowing crews to undertake running repairs at Exeter Services. Once again the results van was in attendance and interims were availible.

The action picked up again a Lympstone Commando Station, on the freshly graded roads round Woodbury and Newton Poppleford. The gravel caught out many crews, with overshoots and sideways moments galore. A few more minutes were taken off the weaker crews, but Hallows/Henderson managed to maintain their tidy run and streak ahead of the other novices and semi-experts. After a wellcome link/time recovery section the standings were Juniper/Taylor, Luxton/Luxton and Kingsley/PRAR all clean, with Davis/Newberry and Orford/Jones on 1 minute. The route turned northwards towards Honiton and beyond. First section out from the link saw the downfall of Kingsley/PRAR, as the springs in the Cavaliers' clutch plate gave up. This only cost them a minute, but with difficulty pulling away and stodgy gear selection the writing was on the wall. This left only Luxton/Luxton and Juniper/Taylor still clean. The next few sections were fast and flowing allowing many crews to limit their losses but from TC34 (near Seaton Junction) things were much more technical and this last quarter was to see almost everybody penalised. TC40 was the point where they dropped time, Luxton/Luxton managing to limit their loss to 1 minute, but Juniper/Taylor dropped 2. Their only excuse was that Dean had chosen to ignore his carefully plotted route and head off into the unknown. They were also to drop a further minute at TC41 as a further consequence of their late arrival. The only clean sheet on this section came frrom Shawley/White, but their earlier fail had put paid to any awards hopes. Kingsley/PRAR lost 2 minutes, the lack of clutch hampering forward progress. Schraider/Davies and Davis/Newberry held their losses to one minute, allowing Davis/Newberry to move into second place overall.

And so it remained as crews headed back to the Exeter Court Hotel for breakfast. A fine win for Luxton/Luxton, with Davis/Newberry making it a Taunton MC 1-2. Juniper/Taylor took the tie decider from Kingsley/PRAR and headed home Windsor CC crews in 3rd, 4th and 5th places. Brown/Evans took first in class C (Novices) with a fine 10th overall, streets ahead of most of the novices, and beating every semi-expert aswell! Hallows/Henderson, first class B (Semi-Experts) managed only 13th.

The winners demonstrated that a good clean run, without any distractions, will always produce the results and they were able take their awards with pride. The rest of the crews were left wonder what might have been had not circumstances overtaken them.

PRAR

Final Results:

Pos Driver/Navigator              Car           m
 1  Barry Luxton/Philip Luxton    Golf GTi      1
 2  Bob Davis/Mark Newberry       Golf GTi      2
 3  Andy Juniper/Dean Taylor      Sunbeam       3 
 4  Doug Kingsley/PRAR            Cavalier      3
 5  Terry Schraider/Chas Davies   Sunbeam       4
 6  Ian Orford/Bob Jones          Micra         4
 7  Mark Wagstaff/John Chadwick   205 GTi      11
 8  Nigel Luke/Phil Wrigley       XR3i         13
 9  Barbara Carter/Calvin Fenwick Corrolla GT  14
10  Nick Brown/Greg Evans         Escort       19