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Almere Rallysprint uitgesteld naar 2011
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During the first weekend of April the Armed Forces Rally Team travelled to the Netherlands
to compete in the LG Almere Rallysprint. This year’s event was a smaller event than
previous years being run over one day instead of two. The Team was welcomed by the
organizers in the friendly manner with which the Dutch excel.
There were a few crew changes from normal with OCdt Mike Eldridge standing in for Cpl
James ‘Homer’ Dempsey and Cpl Steve Johnson standing in for Flt Lt Craig Teasdale.
WO2 Paul Wright had a last minute surprise when he was given a green light by the
organizers to compete with a National B licence.
The crews set off early on Saturday morning to sign on and then carry out a recce, this is
one of the few events where the crews have to write their own pace notes, a first for some!
Unfortunately the stages along the railway lines were not available and were missed by
both the crews and spectators alike. The crews returned to the accommodation to ‘tidy’ up
their pace notes and carry out final preparation before the start later that afternoon. Flt Lt
Steve Partridge and SAC Adam Entwistle took advantage of this ‘downtime’ to clock up
some miles in the freshly rebuilt R1 after the unfortunate accident in Wales last December.
Scrutineering was carried out with no problems and the crews were ready to go. After the
formalities of the start ramp, all six crews proceeded to stage 1. The crews were showing
nerves and just wanted to get the first stage under their belts, Cpl George Morrison and Cpl
Curtis McKerlie had a heart stopping moment as they readied themselves for the first stage
as their intercom stopped working, Cpl McKerlie prepared himself for a lot of shouting but at
the last moment it came back to life!
Stage 1 went well for all crews, Sgt Ewen Christie paid particular attention to the ditch he
‘visited’ last year and steered well clear, however it didn’t slow Ewen down as he posted the
fasted time. Steve Partridge and Adam Entwistle were slightly concerned at the end of the
stage as the engine temperature was rather high.
Stage 2 went well for all 6 crews. It saw Ewen Christie leaving his mark on the curb at the
corner past the start, having headed into the corner with full commitment. Stage 3 also
went well for all crews, with the start of the stage being delayed as one of the other
competitors had a rather high speed coming together with a lamp post; luckily no injuries
were sustained by either driver or co-driver. The engine temperature in R1 continued to
rise, resulting in Steve Partridge and Adam Entwistle backing off slightly to ensure they
could make it back to service at the end of Stage 3.
During service the overheating problem on R1 was diagnosed as a sticky thermostat and,
as usual, the service crew sorted it out in quick and efficient time.Stages 4, 5 and 6 would be a re-run of the first 3 stages, but in the dark! At the beginning
of stage 4, WO2 Paul Wright and SAC(T) Tom Aldridge were treated to a show of driving
talent as Ewen Christie passed the merge point by the start sideways on three wheels!
Stage 5 was ‘challenging’ as the organizers had to ensure that a section of the stage was
driven on dipped beam with no spot lights allowed due to the course running parallel with
the public highway. All crews had ‘hairy moments’ as it was difficult to judge braking and
turning points.
Stage 6 was made ‘interesting’ due to a previous competitor kindly laying down the entire
contents of its sump on a fast left hander. All crews coped well bringing all six vehicles
home safely.
Ewen Christie finished in front of Duncan Lilwall by 32 seconds with Paul Wright finishing a
further 38 seconds behind Duncan. All the crews were delighted to finish, especially
Duncan as his run of bad luck seemed to be finished (Duncan was threatening to ‘sack the
Aussie’, branding him a jinx!). Paul Wright was also pleased to finally finish an event. LCpl
Mal Lofthouse, in his first event as driver, finished 4th, ahead of Steve Partridge and then
George Morrison.
At the finishing ramp the crews were treated to the champagne in a way only the Dutch
could invent!
A total of 66 cars competed in the Almere Rallysprint. The final positions for the crews of
the Armed Forces Rally Team were as follows:
1 41 Sgt Ewen Christie & Ocdt Mike Eldridge 45:19
2 42 Cpl Duncan Lilwall & Cpl Steve Johnson 45:51 +0:32 +0:32
3 45 WO2 Paul Wright & SAC(T) Tom Aldridge 46:29 +0:38 +1:10
4 47 LCpl Mal Lofthouse & Sgt Ross Cookman 47:02 +0:33 +1:43
5 48 Flt Lt Steve Partridge & SAC Adam Entwistle 47:15 +0:13 +1:56
6 49 Cpl George Morrison & Cpl Curtis McKerlie 47:58 +0:43 +2:39
For more information, contact the Acting PRO, Cpl Curtis McKerlie, on:
info@armedforcesrallyteam.co.uk
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Het duo Smits en van Riemsdijk hebben op het nippertje de 6e LG Almere Rallysprint op hun naam geschreven.
In een droog en winderig Almere was het tot op het laatst een spannende strijd om de eindoverwinning. In het begin liet Peter Bijvelds zien dat hij het rally rijden nog niet verleerd was. Op de eerste 2 proeven liet hij meteen zien wie de snelste was. Maar op de derde proef was de tank van de EVO 8 niet vol genoeg en moest Bijvelds een ronde te vroeg de proef verlaten.
De opgelopen normtijd kon niet meer worden ingelopen door het Erpse duo. Door het wegvallen van Bijvelds werd het een strijd voorraan met Smits, van Iersel en Erik Moree. Met nog een proef te gaan was het Smits die met 13 seconden voorsprong aan de leiding ging. Voor van Iersel juist het teken om er nog even goed voor te gaan zitten, met als resultaat een scrath en een gedeelde eerste plaats samen met Smits. Omdat de Escort Cosworth rijder een beter resultaat op de eertse proef had werd hij toch als winnaar gehuldigd op het podium voor het Bastion Hotel.
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