The Sporting Owner Drivers Club

Twister Rally

16th/17th November 1996

All clear for Biss

Preston Rally 1996

Nightwatchman Rally 1996

Gavin Rogers made the most of Mike Biss' local knowledge to move into joint first position in the LCAMC championship. Biss' Nova was the only car to complete the 150 mile route without penalty, and quite rightly they won Sporting Owner Drivers' Club's Twister Rally. Chris Pratt/Nick Arden hung onto the Semi-Experts' award, with only one fail. No novices were classified as finishers, mostly due to contravention of the three quarters rule.

Coming hard on the heels of the Preston, the Twister had a somewhat select entry. As ever all the championship contenders were in attendance, but the Semi-Expert and Novice crews were a touch sparce. Dave Smith/Cath Woodman lead the field away in an Astra Estate. Tucked in close behind were Tony Michael/Paul Barrett (Escort). They had an in the bushes moment at a decidedly slippery 90 right which cost them undue minutes.

Well received as last years' Inter-Association Rally, the Twister managed to run as a fully competitive road rally in an area not normally associated with competitive motorsports. This year, once again, Pete Tilling had sorted out the best roads in the area and combined them with suitable navigation to make the ideal road rally. Making full use of the myriad of triangles in the area he chose a route which was barely cleanable. Coupled with simple but time consuming navigation he set a standard many events would struggle to meet.

The route covered the map, winding it's way between the major conurbations. From the start, at the Vauxhall recreation club in Luton, it dived straight out into the standard sections. Taking in four triangles (at Wandon End) on one 2½ mile section set the flavour for the rest of the event. Most of the navigational difficulties came on a few sections. The most notable was at Flamstead wher the route instructions said 'use only roads which are on the map!'. This forced the route to take a long way round a triangle which was missed by many.

With such a select entry it is easier to deal with things on a crew by crew basis.

Although only mathematical chances exist for people other than Ian Mepham/Martin Smith to win the LCAMC it still goes down to the final round.

Next year it will be a round of the ASEMC, ACSMC and LCAMC championships and as such should get better support. The only question is will the date clash with the RAC again?

PRAR

Crew by Crew

For a summary, or if your browser can't cope with the table see below...

Pos	Crew/Car	Penalty
1	Mike Biss/Gavin Rogers Nova GTE	0	The winners.
2	Dave Smith/Cath Woodman Astra Estate	1	Dropped the minute by overshooting the tricky junction at Belsize. This was their only penalty all night and Cath was reoprted to be not amused.
3	Ian Mepham/Martin Smith Golf GTi	9	Ian was suffering from an injury he picked up on the Preston the week before. They also missed the slot at Belsize, but dropped two minutes sorting it out.
4	Colin Rodger/Sue Speller 205 GTi	9	Missed the tricky PC at Flamstead and dropped 5 minutes going back for it. Posted better times on the tighter sections.
5	Doug Kingsley/PRAR Nova GTE	10	Missed a ticky PC at Falmstead and dropped three minutes going back for it. Mostly dropped the same minutes as everybody else did on the tighter sections.
6	Tony Michael/Paul Barrett Escort	22	Their accident only cost them 3 minutes but they still struggled with some of the navigation.
7	Chris Pratt/Nick Arden 205 GTi	1F 23	First Semi-Experts
8	Rob Norrington/Chris Moore Sunbeam	3F 60	Lost the rear brakes early on, so continued with the bias wound to the front. Eventually finished last but still scooped enough points to secure their LCAMC championship positions. Rob now is the leading Novice driver, ahead of all the semi-Experts, and Chris the leading Novice navigator, also ahead of all the Semi-Experts. They cannot be overtaken in the Semi Expert Class now.
9	Martin Chinnery/Chris Scudder Astra Estate	12F 90	First Novices
10	Dave Bushby/Roger McKenzie Escort	15F 59
DNF	Rob Reynolds/Russell Briggs Nova GTE	Retired	Mal de navigateur.
DNF	Simon Millington/Richard Whitehouse 205GTi	Retired	Retired at Petrol.
DNF	Owen Turner/Andrews Dadswell Imp	Retired	Retired after having the windscreen smashed by an angry MOP.

Final Results:

Pos Driver/Navigator                 Car             Pen
 1  Mike Biss/Gavin Rogers              Nova GTE          0
 2  Dave Smith/Cath Woodman             Astra Estate      1
 3  Ian Mepham/Martin Smith             Golf GTi          9
 4  Colin Rodger/Sue Speller            205 GTi           9
 5  Doug Kingsley/PRAR                  Nova GTE         10
 6  Tony Michael/Paul Barrett           Escort           22
 7  Chris Pratt/Nick Ardern             205 GTi        1F23
 8  Rob Norrington/Chris Moore          Sunbeam        3F60
 9  Martin Chinnery/Chris Scuddder      Astra Estate  12F90
10  Dave Bushby/Roger McKenzie          Escort        15F59