the battering of Wales Rally GB
The Castrol / Radio 5 Live team with Sky Sport’s Tony Jardine and Radio 5 Live’s Maurice Hamilton finished Wales Rally GB (30 Nov – 2 Dec) – the final round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) - 67thoverall and seventh in class (N3) despite all the dramas of severe weather, a failed clutch, rolling the car and overheating problems. Wales Rally GB proved to be a true assault course for all competitors, with rally crews battling through the worst weather experienced on the event in recent years.
Driver Jardine said, “Having driven in 15 world rallies in Great Britain these are the roughest conditions I have ever encountered.” In addition to the bad weather, during Saturday on the Epynt stage, Jardine rolled the car after clipping a rock and flipped the Ford Fiesta onto its roof - which could easily have been the end of the rally for the Castrol team. However, ProSpeed Motorsport who run the car, worked through the night to repair the damage and the crew were determined to get Jardine and Hamilton back in the rally on Sunday morning for leg three – the final day of the WRC event.
Driver Jardine continued, “It has been a rollercoaster ride on Rally GB this year. Our clutch failed on Saturday morning which meant we had to limp through the day and then of course we had our big off in the afternoon. We took such a battering that I honestly felt like giving up after rolling the car in Epynt, but it was the team sprit and determination of the ProSpeed crew and team boss Olly Marshall that encouraged me to carry on. They are the real heroes as they worked through the night and literally re-built the car. “Despite all of the other problems we have encountered we got the car home and that’s a great team achievement. Maurice’s expertise and calmness as a navigator has helped us survive the wind, rain, fog and rocks on the stages.”
Sunday provided more hurdles for the team as the radiator was leaking causing an overheating problem that was persistent all day. The media pairing had to nurse the car back to Cardiff for the ceremonial finish after they had been forced to stop for ten minutes on the last stage to let the boiling engine cool down again as they added water. Co-driver Hamilton, from Cranleigh in Surrey, said, “I’ve never known such a tough event. We had everything thrown at us from unbelievably bad weather to various problems which the service team managed to overcome. I can’t believe we made it to the finish considering all the problems we faced. It really feels good to finish and our thanks goes to all the marshals and recovery teams who have helped us throughout the event.”
Jardine and Hamilton were running 55th overall and second in class before rolling the car and missing two stages on Saturday afternoon. The team’s Kumho tyres were faultless all weekend whilst many other teams reported numerous punctures. In addition to ProSpeed, Andy Beale, a McLaren SLR development engineer from Lightwater in Surrey, supported the media team throughout the weekend. Andy Beale said, “
Wales Rally GB was an important finish for us, after we pulled out of Rally Ireland. Tony needed to be at home with his wife Jeanette who was unfortunately involved in a road accident just three weeks ago. I understand she is recovering well and as she wanted Tony to take part in Rally GB it’s great that we could get the Fiesta to the finish.”
ProSpeed team boss Olly Marshall also commented, “We wanted to get a good result for Jeanette and we’re really pleased that Tony and Maurice could finish the rally. We were determined to get them through the event and we certainly achieved that.” - E
