Scrutineering for the Rally of the Midlands, the fifth round of the GPR National Tarmacadam Rally Championship, was held at Trinity Motors, Hinckley on Friday evening.
The Midlands Rally was a highly publicised and well organised local event and the team enjoyed additional support from local businesses Aspects and Strong Alarms. (Details below).
Richard and Barry were eager to prove their competitiveness in front of their home crowd following their tyre problems at the previous event.
The first leg of the event was at MIRA and during the opening stage a chicane appeared that wasn’t displayed on the stage diagram! This unfortunately lost the pair a few seconds. The second stage was a repeat of the first. Richard and Barry were noticeably faster when the pair at least knew what to expect!
Saturdays event format comprised six stages at MIRA split with four at Merevale Hall. It was noted that the fence at Merevale had been repaired since the Teams excursion in 2003!
The red 106 and Richards precise driving style was ideally suited to the narrow twisty roads surrounding Merevale. The crew again proved they could achieve class winning times in a car with considerably less power than their rivals.
Richard and Barry were thoroughly enjoying the intense competition of their local event and awoke to glorious Midlands sunshine on Sunday morning. Upcoming stages included visits to Bramcote Barracks and Arbury Hall. Richard and Barry set excellent times on the opening laps and were now third in class.
Arbury Hall has one of the worst hump back bridges ever seen and it was important for Richard and Barry to retain speed throughout the stage without damaging the car by means of heavy landings.
The crew had a good run through the tight hairpins of Arbury followed by further blasts through Bramcote achieving front running times finishing a pleasing third in class and a magnificent 22nd overall.
This encouraging position leaves the Team in a positive frame of mind for the Mewla National Rally at Epynt, Wales on August 29th.

• Aspects acquire land for development within a 30 mile radius of their head office in Rugby, Warwickshire - 01788-571706