Team Damage Control rally driver, Paul Alexander, successfully debuted his ex-Mitsubishi Team USA Lancer Evo VIII on the recent Swansea Bay Rally, gaining 45 miles of valuable experience on the Kumho National Rally Championship qualifier. Crucially, it also saw an end to the cruel luck that has dogged Paul's previous 2 Pirelli British Championship outings, where mechanical failures have forced retirements on stage 1 of each event - effectively ending any realistic chance of championship honours
Having only taken delivery of the new machine 2 days before the event, the team still decided to contest the event in order to sample various components, and for Paul to re-acquaint himself to 4WD rallying. It also provided an excellent opportunity to gain experience of the South Wales forests in preparation for the team's 2005 National Championship programme.
"The last time I was in these forests was 3 years ago in a 150bhp Peugeot" said Alexander at the pre-event control, "so this'll be a really useful chance to drive the stages in a faster 4WD car, and hopefully help prepare for next season's event where we'll be pushing as hard as possible. It'll also be good to gain some more exposure for our sponsors after the two short outings in June".
The rushed preparations also meant that the car would be used with USA-specification suspension and gearing - far from ideal for the slippery Welsh forest tests. "We haven't had a chance to collect the full spares package yet, so we're using USA-spec gearing with a near 140mph top speed today - not ideal, but at least it gives Paul time in the new car" said SRM boss Steph Rowson.
Stage 1 didn't start well, after a puncture (followed by a snapped wheel brace!) delayed the crew by over 6 minutes. However, each of the remaining tests passed without drama, allowing the team to experiment with numerous suspension and differential settings, and for Paul to adjust his driving style accordingly.
"I'm beginning to wish that we could start events on Stage 2, as that's now 3 events where we have seen trouble strike on Stage 1. However, the puncture probably did us a favour in that it was then pointless pushing hard for times or paying attention to overall positions after the time loss. Therefore we could just do our own thing and not be too concerned about what others were doing. Having said that, we have managed to achieve our pre-event targets on some of the stages, and can see that there is clearly plenty of potential in the new car - I can't wait to get back out in it now!"
SRM-Racing will now re-prepare the Team Damage Control Mitsubishi in readiness for a 2-day test in August. Here, the revised gearing, new suspension and alternative differential maps will be evaluated, together with Yokohama's latest specification tyre.
The car will then be one of the attractions at the Rally SuperCar day at Castle Combe, www.rallyday.com ,before contesting the Bill Gwynne Stages rally at Sweet Lamb on August 21st.
Team Damage Control is supported by
ISS Damage Control
Rainbow International
Polypipe Civils Ltd
Coordsport
Yokohama
Bill Gwynne Rallyschool International
Doughty Precision Engineering (DPE) and
Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM).
Photograph courtesy of Simon Clarke - www.sc-photography.co.uk
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