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PAGE UPDATED 28th April 2008
FORTHCOMING
EVENTS |
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Little
Miss Kimberley had a bit of a whoopsie on the Granite City Rally in Scotland
recently...! Kim who was codriving Jane Nicol in her Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo 5 went off on SS5 Fetteresso barrel rolling the Lance into retirement. Kim is once again carrying on a family tradition of crawling out of the side window of inverted rallycars and follows in the footsteps of father, Mick and brother Stuart. Younger brother Darren has yet to join the family club and I am sure that Kim's off will inspire him to join the family hall of fame sooner rather than later. |
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 The amazing adventures of an amateur photograher and professional penguin basher or is it professional photographer and amateur penguin basher..? I can never remember..! |
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 The Amazing Mayes..! |
 Dancing penguins..! |
 Now where is he off...? Or how far off is he going to go...? |
 Penguins having a paddle..! |
 Now what excuse has he got for this strange line...? Blame it on the penguin?? |
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As
they say POINTS MEAN PRIZES...! The 2007 season brought a fair handful
of them Dave Howells: BTRDA
Gold Star Championship - 5th o/a Andy Morgan BTRDA
Gold Star Championship - 4th o/a |
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The
2007 Plains Rally saw the return to the fold of a Team Chaos stalwart.
Adrian, or Ted the Shed, as he is known in the Team Chaos camp used to
be a regular member of the service crew for a number of years. Well known
for his reverse engineering skills in as much as he was the only person
known to the team who could take a perfect working motor car and turn
it into a four wheeled disaster zone. |
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But now a new Ted the Shed has emerged. The man has now found his calling..! Ted can usually be found on events lurking around the service area and in numerous points in the forest with his trusty video camera which seems to be surgically attached to his eye..! When he sent me a video of the Plains Rally I was expecting to see a Ted special with numerous shots of sky and grass and unfocused rally cars disappearing out of shot, but what I got was a very slick production with menu options and snazzy graphics too. I thought this can't be Ted's production, but sure enough in the credits at the end it said TED Video Productions.
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Ted the Shed |
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Stuart Jones having a nap on Eppynt Mad Mick showing how abrasive the inside of a Peltor helmet can be
How did I ever get talked into posing for this one...??
The worst
that could happen was Mad Mick slammed me sideways into a tree |
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A lot of people have commented on the fact that I am half the man I used to be. Over the last two years I have shed eight stone in weight. My nomex now looks rather large on me to say the least. I am now using my smallest suit and this is way too big on me. A new suit is definitely needed soon. Mick has mentioned that we need new suits, so hopefully I wont look like a sack tied in the middle for too much longer. Mick has commented that the car goes a lot quicker since I have lost weight and for the first time I am actually lighter than Mick for the first time in years of sitting alongside him. The only problem is now I rattle about in the seat..! But it's a small price to pay, just got to tug the belts a little tighter now. Mick worked it out that my weight loss was equal to gaining 15 bhp in the Evo III, think how much you would need to spend to get that extra horsepower!! Funny though, the last two rolls Mick has had has been since I shed the weight... is it the extra speed or lack of ballast holding the car down...??? |
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ACTION
FROM THE 2006 RED KITE STAGES - VIDEO BY RALLYQUEST |
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Over the years I have been rallying I have had many weird and wonderful things happen on events. I started one rally in one car with one driver and finished in another car with a different driver. I started the same rally twice and retired in both cars within the space of two hours! Not one I am impressed with is that one! I have had various encounters with with wildlife, seen spectators in the oddest of places and even once stopped by a bunch of ladies while on the Lombard RAC Rally and force-fed tea and biscuits..! Mind you that wasn't one I complained about! I have even completed one rally without a roadbook, using only the timecards and stage maps after losing the roadbook in a roll on the first stage. I knew the way to all the stages, having done them so many times over the years, but even so the driver was impressed by that one at the time. One thing I have learnt is never to complain about the car being dirty. I once complained to Mad Mick about the Escort being filthy inside many years ago and told him to get it cleaned for the next event. I arrived for the next event to find Mick bolting his seat back into place and the car looking spotless inside. Mick had pressure washed the car... inside! I should have known better by the smile on his face. When I got in I found my seat soaking wet. He had only taken his seat out and had pressure washed it with mine still inside... it was wringing wet! "Well it will keep you cool so stop moaning!" he said. I never mentioned cleaning the car again. One cold dark night on a road rally in Cardiganshire we came across two very pretty girls on a very rough white at around 2.30am. As we approached picking our way through some very large rocks the girls whipped out their boobs and waved them at us. It was one of the few times I have ever pleaded with a driver to slow down. It transpired that their boyfriends were out on the event, but they couldn't remember what number they were running, so they flashed to every car that went past. I was so tempted to wrong-slot us and go round again, but didn't sadly. One of the most tiring rallies I ever had I never actually got in the car at all. My wife at the time always wanted to do a rally. I got her a ride on a local single venue in a rather quick Escort with a local driver. I spent the day running from stage start to stage finish to make sure she got the timing correct. They went on to win their class I am pleased to say. I went home totally knackered. On one local event with Mick many years ago our service crew comprised of two very harrassed lads and four kids! My two eldest daughters who were only 8 and 10 at the time and Mick's two eldest children, who were just a bit younger, had come down to the start of the rally with us and were going to be picked up before we left. That didn't happen so they were bundled into the service van with Ellis and Ted and told they were now babysitting. They were not impressed. When we arrived at service the lads had them well organised though. One on each corner of the car, each with their own jobs to do. There were a lot of strange looks from people. We went on to win the class on the event and the car never looked so clean! |
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