Keith Knox Stages Rally Report
Result 1st in Class and 16th Overall.
GMC-Motorsport returned to the Otterburn Military ranges on Sunday the 23rd of October after a 3-year break from the venue due to a massive road-resurfacing project by the Ministry of Defence.
The ranges have lost none of their character and if anything improved this very demanding closed road event.
The event consisted of 9 stages totalling 110 stage miles and 45 road miles on the event proving yet again to be one of the best in the U.K.
The team had a strategy for the day which was one of a flat out attack to build on the our reputation in the 1400cc class in the UK.The pace was flat out from the first stage through to the final stage of the day and proved to be another successful trip to Otterburn.
|The seeding we had received from the organisers proved to be spot on as we didn’t catch any cars or indeed were caught by any on the 60-second interval starts. The conditions were damp so we opted for an intermediate Michelin tyre, which we cut the tread grooves to the edge to help disperse any standing water.
As the day wore on, the roads dried out and the grip levels increased giving us even more confidence in what Otterburn could throw to us at every opportunity.
By mid stage in the event we were already 90 seconds ahead of a very quick Corsa C Kit car, so we decided to keep the pace as flat as we could to the last service of the day top see if we could back of any to clinch the class win. By the final service of the day we were nearly 2mins ahead of the Corsa Kit car and going into the final stage we backed off slightly on the tight and twisty roads to guarantee a welcome winning return to Otterburn.
The team returned home late on Sunday night with no visible damage to the car and all ready for the final event at Crail Airfield in Fife on the 5th of November where we head home afterwards to continue with the fireworks on that day.
We will bring the car back to the garage this week for a full spanner check, wash and polish to ensure the car is pristine and in the best possible condition for its last event of the year.
