Ambleside rally driver Graham Gaskell and Leeds based co-driver Dave Gibson took to the stages last Sunday for the John Overend Rally near York.
A very hot and sunny day greeted the team as they got off to the perfect start which saw them 2nd in their class and going well after the first pair of stages.
However the good run very nearly came to an abrupt end on stage 3 when the gearlever in the Nova snapped off almost at the base leaving only a one inch stub with which to change gear. To add to their woes the throttle return spring snapped at almost the exact same time and left the car with the throttle jammed wide open. An interesting few miles followed, not to mention a 40 second time loss which saw us plummet down the results.
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The service crew worked hard to weld the gearstick back together during the interval and get the car back out on the stages.
The duo then had a relatively trouble free run over the following 4 stages pulling back time and improving their stage times dramatically.
However with the earlier time loss they were still only 5th in class and with only 6 seconds covering three drivers all wanting a trophy position the final stage of the event (stage 8) was always going to be interesting.
The pair headed into the stage on an all or nothing attack throwing the little nova through the stage right on the edge, a little too close to the edge at one point as they slid wide towards the end of the section and hit a big ditch in the long grass which threw Graham far enough out of his seat to bang his head on the roof!
The crew came to the stage finish to find that not only did Graham have a rather large headache but they had done just enough to beat the other two drivers and inherit 2nd in the 1400cc class by a margin of only 1 second and finished 31st in the overall standings.
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