There were mixed results for Ludlow Castle Motor Club Ltd members on the Bob Shaw Memorial Brawdy Stages at the weekend. The well organised event ran on a closed venue, over six dry but windy fast stages.
Chris Simmonds partnered by Fraser Moss took the top LCMC club member spot. Battling with Damian Cole in his newly acquired Citroen for most of the day, Chris collected two punctures on different stages but was lucky to get back to service before going flat. The cause of the punctures were later noted to be due to screws picked up on the stages. With one stage to go they had no chance of trying for third place so with a handful of seconds over Damian they drove the door handles off the car finishing 4th overall and 2nd in class and being part of the four Darrians in the top slots.
Tim Baker starting at car 33 in the Speaker Filters supported Sunbean, partnered by Neil Hallworth, saw a strong class entry with a flurry of Darrians and other assorted rapid cars ahead of them on the entry list but a great start on the opening stage saw them start the day with a 13th fastest time.
On the second stage a little over-exuberance resulted in some out-braking on well-worn tyres resulting in an excursion over a lorry tyre which saw Tim be a little cautious for the next few corners checking that all was ok, costing some valuable seconds to his competitors. After changing to new tyres, from the third stage onwards, the crew went well, clean and tidy with no incidents for the rest of the event other than a small delay on the last stage where they let a Darrian by that had a slipping clutch that then held them up however they remained 13th overall and 4th in class.
Stefan Morris & Chris Ridge in their Ford Escort Mk 2 reported a good day all round although Stefan felt a tad disappointed at seemingly being off the pace for most of the day despite feeling like they were trying in the car. They finished a solid 17th overall and 7th class. Richard Fletcher & Cassy Romeo struggled to get to grips with the first two stages but Cassy reported becoming more confident on the maps and they settled into a consistent rhythm of stage times. Other than a couple of overshoots with the driver getting a bit over-excited in the Citroen C2 they had a trouble-free afternoon with no car problems finishing 32nd overall and 5th in class. Dan Petrie sitting with Al Morgs in his newly built Ford Escort Mk 2 showed some rapid pace in what was a shakedown for the duo. No problems to report and they started the last stage 8th overall and 3rd in class however the coolant pipe decided to come loose and with the engine temperature soaring it was agreed to pull into the finish a lap earlier than intended taking a stage maximum. Unfortunately this dropped them to 38th overall, 8th in class.
Jack Bowen sat alongside Andrew Owen for the first time in his Vauxhall Nova started steady and had some issues with the back brakes locking up on the opening pair of stages knocking Andrew’s confidence. Unfortunately on SS3, the back brakes locked up and jammed solid so the pair had to pull off the stage, free the brakes and change a wheel which was damaged as a result of locking up.
It was fixed at the side of the stage, so missed the end of SS3 and the entirety of SS4 meaning 30 minute missed stage penalties applied. After managing to sort the car in service the pairing did the last two stages for fun ending up 52nd overall and 10th in class.
Emma Clarke in with Geno Gouveia in his Subaru Impreza after a late call up unfortunately saw no cooking on gas on her inaugural trip to Brawdy and recorded a DNF. A completely frustrating day saw them only complete one stage, breaking four drive shafts – two in the same place on successive stages (2 & 3), one on the start line of stage 4 and the other between getting the car re-scrutineered and driving the 100m back to the service bay. On the positive side it was a great social event for those that stayed over on the Saturday evening – despite all the snoring! Photos courtesy of club members in attendance.
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