Red Dragon Stages 2013

Red Dragon Stages 2013

Down Ampney Airfield | 25/05/2013

Car: Peugeot 205 Rallye Class: A Driver: Simon Hunter Co-Driver: Dayle Traynor Saturday, saw round 3 of the Heart of England Rally Championship, this time at RAF Down Ampney in Gloucestershire with Simon Hunter & Dayle Traynor competing in their Kwiktrak/ NW Design backed Peugeot 205 Rallye.

Neither Simon nor Dayle had been to this venue before so would need to learn fast and get on the pace as soon as possible.

Stage 1 saw a steady run that saw the pair 37th overall and joint 4t in class. However, they had now “got their eye in” and started to climb the leader board quickly. By the end of stage 5 the crew had experienced no dramas, adapted very quickly to the unknown venue and where starting to mount a challenge for the overall lead of the class. Stage 6 and Hunter & Traynor were having to contend with catching and passing slower cars, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that their car is far less powerful than most of their rivals.

However, on stage 7 disaster struck! At the end of a 100mph plus straight, Hunter struggled to slow the car in time for the next corner and slid at considerable speed into some straw bales, damaging the front and side of the car and smashing the driver’s side window.

They lost around 40 seconds trying to restart the car, Hunter punched out the broken glass and the pair charged on to the end of the stage.

Two more good times on the last stage saw them hold on to 2nd in class and 24th overall. However, being 1st registered Heart of England crew in their class sees them extend their lead in the championship further going into the next round which is based at Mira Test Track on the 22nd June.

To sum things up It was a very demanding rally, physically for Simon and for me on the maps, it was also hard on the car but we did it.

Despite our scare on stage 7 we come away in a very strong championship position going into the next round at Mira.