London journalist 14th overall in first ever rally despite last minute drama
Franca Davenport, a top freelance journalist, demonstrated great flair when finishing her first ever rally, the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire (6 October), in a highly creditable fourteenth place overall.
The newly formed media pairing of Franca Davenport and Sky Sports Tony Jardine managed to finish despite a drama on the last stage which meant the Castrol Ford Fiesta had to be nursed home for the last fifteen agonising miles with a broken drive shaft joint.
Wiltshire born Davenport was making her co-driving debut with experienced driver Jardine in the Castrol / Daily Telegraph team Ford Fiesta, in the penultimate round of the British Rally Championship, when the transmission failure almost prevented her from finishing and picking up her valuable rally finish. Davenport urgently requires upgrade signatures to elevate her to international navigator status for a chance to step-up to compete in a round of the World Rally Championship later in the year in the much anticipated Rally Ireland (15-18 November).
Media man Jardine explained the last minute hitch which could have hindered the Castrol team’s World Championship ambitions;
“Franca had been making an extraordinarily successful debut when we burst out of the Dalby forest into a bomb hole of a quarry on the final stage after seventy miles of competition.
"The sudden shock smashed the outer drive shaft joint leaving us struggling with one wheel drive, yet the remarkable thing was our Kumho tyres took the punishment without a problem. We then both endured a gruelling fifteen mile journey nursing the car to the finish in a touch and go situation.”
Olly Marshall, team principle of ProSpeed who run and prepare the Castrol Ford Fiesta, praised Davenport’s debut and commented on the malfunction which nearly threatened their World Rally target of Rally Ireland. “Franca spent a long time preparing for her first event trying to learn the intricacies of rally navigation. Time keeping and calling the in-car pace notes, which are the abbreviated codes for severity and distance of bends in the special stages, are the most difficult. Her grasp of both was amazingly quick which is very pleasing for the team. The drive shaft joint popped under enormous pressure as the car was loaded on the front left when it hit the quarry ledge. We are after all, running in the production / standard class and they are not designed for demolition derbies – Tony and Franca did well to get her home!”
The Castrol / Daily Telegraph team are now preparing for the second of five national build-up events in order to achieve ‘race against time finishes’ for Davenport in her journalistic quest to attain international licence status and compete in Rally Ireland on the world stage.
Davenport, pleased with her first weekend of rallying, said; "The Trackrod Rally was a great experience and everyone was very helpful. Although I knew what navigating on a special stage rally involved, I had no idea about the practical reality of doing it. It really is something where practise makes perfect, even in terms of getting your crash helmet on in time! I’m looking forward to the Bulldog Rally to improve on what I¹ve learnt and it’s not long until Rally Ireland now."
The ProSpeed team were glad of the supply of the right tyres from Kumho for the ultra fast Yorkshire forests, as well as the support of McLaren SLR development engineer, Andy Beale, who had to fix the Castrol Fiesta’s brakes after they had cooked themselves in the flat-out forest conditions. McLaren man Beale, who was still recovering following Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese Grand Prix retirement, said; “I’m still gutted for Lewis but I’m happy we could get Franca home on her first time out in the car. Now I’m looking forward to Brazil where Hamilton could still take the F1 title, and on the same weekend, our rally team could get its second finish on a national event - the Bulldog Rally - which starts in Shropshire on 20 October.” -
