Bullnose

Well that was a long days sport !

 

After a break of 2 & 1/2 years the Endean / Leadbetter duo were back out in action on an Enduro rally.

 

The first few tests were a chance to get settled back in to things and to get used to the car in Enduro spec. During the first few tests things started to gel and we were getting into the grove, so much so that we almost rolled at one point on a open 90L in a stubble field when the outside of the car dug in on the ruts !

 

The layout of the event, meant you did four tests twice before the lunch break, at the first data point we were lying 8th overall.

 

The second run of the tests both car and crew were getting into a better swing of things with increased speed and pace, at the end of the second set of tests we were lying 2nd overall.

 

It was then on to the second set of tests, this consisted of two small tests and the epic test that is Green Down. This is a 12 mile test on tarmac, concrete, gravel, grass and a lot of stubble field. These 20mins+ tests where a real test of crews and cars with a real mix of fast flowing parts and really tight parts. One such part lead to a moment losing a spotlight, following another car in the dust which we caught up due to the lapping, we hit a pallet which was defining the test, after this we also collected more cones. This luckily only damaged one spotlight and the rest of the car seems undamaged apart from a few more scratches ! However it cost us time, as a result of collecting the cones, each cone hit = 10secs of time, so lots of time lost there ! 

 

Talking of damage we had to fix the rear bumper before the 8th test, as it was making a bid for freedom in the true Rover 200 tradition. Some zip ties and lashings of tank tape saw it fixed back on and it didn't prove to be an issue for the rest of the day.

 

At the end of the day leg we were lying four overall, however at the dinner halt it was obvious that this may change as the number of query forms flying around meant many crews would move around. We submitted one due to a code board error, however it wasn't removed as a 1 doesn't look enough like a 7 in the organisers eye. However many other crews got their code board and other penalties removed. This cost us 60 seconds in time.

 

The night route was a short jogularity, which is where you have to average a precise speed. We were clean throughout the whole of the night route. Unluckily for us the last section which was the decider section, a rough white where it was hard to average the required 25mph, was scrubbed due to PR issues.

 

By the end of the event we ended up 8th overall and 2nd in class. We were both very pleased with this, given the size of the entry (55 cars), the fact that it is a national championship round, and the quality of the crews out on the event. The day could be summarised as fast and exuberant in true Endean / Leadbetter form !

 

The next event for the car is the 7Oaks & District MC Autosolo at North Weald at the end of the month.

 

The next round of the Enduro Championship is early in October down in the SW on the Exmoor Enduro, with 80+ miles of forestry it should be great fun :)