Jim Clark Rally - 27th & 28th May 2011 Report
A concerted effort by Tom Cave and the JRM Rally Team did not materialise into the result they were hoping for this weekend, when the run of bad luck from the past two rounds of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship continued into round four, the Berwickshire-based Jim Clark Rally. This time, it was a gearbox problem which conspired to provide Cave and the team with an early exit.
The Jim Clark Rally is the only rally on the UK mainland held on closed public roads. Starting on Friday evening in the centre of Duns, the route featured 140 competitive miles split into six stages before the overnight halt and a further ten on Saturday.
With the rally hosting the first of three asphalt events in this year's British Championship, the team was hoping that the change of surface from gravel to tarmac would bring with it a change of fortunes - after the DNFs in rounds two and three because of an accident and a puncture respectively. However, there was no doubt amongst the team that both car and driver could deliver, as Cave proved by finishing an impressive second in the opening round of the season.
To acclimatise himself to the JRM Mitsubishi Evolution X in asphalt specification, Cave from Aberdovey, together with his co-driver Craig Parry from Llanymynech, took part in Friday morning's pre-event shake-down, where the 19-year old driver commented on how pleased he was with the car's pace and handling. Therefore, the team was upbeat about a good result, although with competitors only able to drop two scores from the season's seven rounds, the mood was one of caution in order to ensure a finish and still be in with a chance of a good result at the end of the year.
With this in mind, Cave and Parry set-off from Duns for the first of Friday evening's stages perhaps more cautiously than they had intended - their quest not helped as rain started to fall during SS2 - plus other crews managed to get through the stage while the roads were still dry. The difficult conditions also meant that the brakes were getting more use than anticipated, which consequently caused them to fade during the longer stages.
Therefore, the crew were relieved to make it back to the service park in Kelso for the overnight halt unscathed and in eighth place. Determined to make up for lost time on Saturday, Cave and Parry moved into seventh on stage eight. But then, in the middle of stage nine, they started to feel something was wrong with their car's gearbox, which then became stuck in fourth.
They nursed the Mitsubishi to the end of the stage and back to the service halt at Kelso Racecourse, where the JRM team did everything they could to change the gearbox within the allocated time. Although replacing it quickly, the clock ticked two minutes beyond the time allowed, which meant that Cave and Parry were out of the rally.
It was a disappointing end to a promising asphalt debut for Cave in the JRM Mitsubishi. The team will now assess what caused the problem that caused the team's first retirement due to a mechanical issue for well over a year.
Team Quotes
Tom Cave"This is a frustrating end to the event. Things were starting to look up for us on Saturday's first loop of stages. We were making changes to the car's set-up because of the conditions and picked up more pace but, towards the end of stage nine, the gearbox stuck in fourth. I didn't want to force it and do more damage. The boys tried their best to change it in time but we went OTL. I'm trying not to dwell on the championship position too much. It's a huge learning curve this year, so I'm going to try to take some positives from everything that happens."
Chris Hodgson (Technical Manager)"Having won this event last year, we know our cars can be quick here and therefore, we were hopeful of a good result. We are not sure why the gearbox became stuck in fourth, as we rarely have a problem and Tom is never hard on the transmission, so we will have to analyse what's happened. It's a shame for the whole team, as we needed a strong result at this point in the season. But the sport is like that sometimes and luck can turn the other way just as quickly."
