True sportsmanship shown in Somerset Stages rally (From Penarth Times)

True sportsmanship shown in Somerset Stages rally

STAND on Lavernock Point and look to the south west and you see the hills of Exmoor and Brendon.

These provided the venue for the recent Somerset Stages Rally.

This was the fourth round of the national raceandrally.com 1400 championship which is being contested by the Penarth crew of Graeme Jones and Richard Perry in the Pearson's Garage prepared Peugeot 106.

Most of the competition took place in the normally serene forests of the Brendon Hills, using the gravel tracks managed by the Forestry Commission.

In addition to the forest mileage there was the unique feature of competitors being able to drive, at competition speeds the infamous Porlock Toll Road - a 3.7 mile stretch of twisting cliff-side tarmac rising over 1200 feet to finish high on Exmoor National Park.

Overnight rain on the Friday was just sufficient to turn the top layer of dirt into a slippery coating of mud so the first three stages were very tricky and caught out a few of the unwary.

The pattern of the day soon became established with the Penarth boys putting in some neat driving but the first two stages just going to the VW Polo crew of Peter Martin and Julian Cardew from Ridlington. By stage three the situation was reversed and Graeme clawed back 12 seconds.

A change of tyres and then the unique Porlock test. Two runs up the hill which, in the early days of motoring, was considered the ultimate test of a car's capabilities.

The first run saw Graeme take fastest time in class. "Awesome" was about all Richard had time to say before going back to the bottom of the hill to do it all again!

The second run was even quicker but the VW had also improved and just pipped them on time.

The remaining seven stages were all in the forests and the battle was set to rage between the Peugeot and the VW when catastrophe struck.

The Jones/Perry car took off on a high speed bump and came in for a two pint landing hitting the ground at about 80 mph and taking all the strain on the left front suspension.

Richard telephoned in to say there was a problem and service crew stood by to see what was wrong.

There were ominous cracks in the suspension mounting. Competitive rallying seemed to be over and the hope was to carry on gently with but a slim chance of finishing as the service crew did not have the gear to do emergency welding.

However, it is not over until its over and the neighbouring service crew - TI Motor Sport came to the rescue and responded instantly with a highly professional crew swarming over the car like a Formula 1 pit stop. In quarter of an hour the car was off, better than new!

The final stages were very fast and by the end of the day, after 45 hard fought stage miles, the VW crew finished just 40 seconds ahead of Graeme and Richard who in turn were 2 minutes and 47 seconds ahead of the third placed car.

Oh and the welding that kept the crew in the rally? That was done by the crew that was looking after the VW! Now that is true sportsmanship.

Once again there was great support from friends that crossed the Bristol Channel and their efforts helped bring back the present from Minehead.

There will be less distance to travel to the next round which is the Red Dragon on 25 May based in Aberavon.