steffUK

The white truck looks really great and it's fantastic to see a build which is not following "our" conventional thinking. Any more spec/fotos on the car? cheers stef

I was there and thought it was a really good show. Congratulation to thr Phoenix Club and all the other guys who helped organising the show. Hope I get my little red toy finished soon for the off road course, I surely enjoyed the ramp in the arena. steff

Jim... because the rule say so... last time I heard this was in Nuernberg and a long time ago and it was the same bs response Did the rule say that every UK competitor is banned from steering to the right

Filipe, If big tires in a small and narrow river bed is a disadvantage why not allow them and let it be my problem to get through. I thought you would not allow them because it would be an advantage? Would love to come and compete Stef

Bowler hat and make it a gentlement sport... like the idea. On the first aid kit: When I did my driving license the passing of a first aid course was mandatory. Also on the wish list would be that marshals would be trained in first aid. Many years ago I had my finger caught in the winch (me very stupid) and it was in the middle of nowhere in Wales. I was very glad that my co-driver had first aid knowledge and that we had some sterile stuff with us to stop the bleeding and transport the rest of the fingertip to get it sewed on again in hospital. I know that real men would have just used an oily rag and carry on but I'm just to much of a wimp...

ah, now i know why bathtub chose the boogers

Ced, if you decide to change your lovely car you will regret that comment! You certainly have the axles to run propper tires!!!

Will the tire size limit be lifted next year? If you make the sections longer and harder than you could maybe also allow cars with grown up tires. stef

The dog lead method is used on some of the Oz event's as a winch blanket is mandatory on most events there. I voted for "not needed" for the same reason most of you have described above. I would also second Si in his request to ban steel cable. In terms of risks in our sport I believe that we have many other things to address first. It was good to see that Andy T made helmets mandatory this year on the Tay and I hope that all competitions will make them mandatory soon. I for myself have decided not to do any competitions without helmet regardless of if they are required or not. Another thing to highlight is the poor scruteneering (or sometimes even a lack of) at events. When looking at other cars I'm often surprised with what is alowed to race: fire extinguisher, first aid kit, four point harness, a roll cage which deserves the name, secured, strapped down batteries, cut off switches are just a few things which come to mind. Imagine you do have an accident at an event like the Tay being at the far end of a section... without any first aid kit on board it would take a long time to get help. Just my 5p worth steff

News from Jim and Adrian: Today was driving fast stages, they broke a brand new steering box (the new Advest with Disco 2 internals) and they changing it now.

You think we could cross breed Simon with a beaver? That would solve the "chainsaws not allowed" problem!

Mr.T So monkey's are allowed, but chainsaws are not. Is there a restriction on how many co-driver(s) a car can have? Could you also please clarify the rules for what is classified as a "car". Is a tire size limit and a weight limit? Thanks S

That's what gave me the idea...

Jon, Don't know where you get your info from but I actually bought a 110 through Whitham and the SVA was a "administrative burden" and nothing else. I did not need to modify or change anything, ah and the car has my favourite 300tdi engine in it!!! If anyone has the chance go and have a look at Whitham SV. 60 brand new cars in storage, 2500 Sankeys on their yard, tanks, trucks the whole lot. Very impressive!!! In case anyone has no interest in doing SVA themself (I had someone else doing the paperwork for me) than you can buy the vehicles through dealers as well and they do SVA for you. Because it is a loop hole in the system no-one really advertises this service but check out Keith Gott or Nene Overland and they are more than happy to sell you one incl. SVA

Second this, MrT is the way to go, just baught 1000ft of him.

Alan, Thank you for sharing my views! Having a second look at the results I truly believe that Jim and I won the event as EVERYONE else was cheating: Chris/Alan - as described, cheting: OUT Davenhill/Dean - Airsuspension, well prepared, cheating: OUT Tony/Dransfield - too old, cheating: OUT Bathtub/Chris - too ugly, cheating: OUT and I can run through the full list here! So MrT, if you read this, please send us the trophy, plus I think we deserve the special "tread lightly" award as we only managed to drive 2 miles through the forest and did not ruin the beutiful Scotish countryside like the other cheaters!!!

Adrian, just spoke to Jim, he got all the essentials:

Forget the GPS or Terratrip, it's the TD5 ECU! Jim, just get John to seal it for you :-) BTW, fantastic pictures! Looks like an awesome event

Leaking breaklines in a normal feature on my car not a breakage!

Dear All, As the Scotish "I want to be like Chris Abel" challenge is now behind us I would like to share my observations after watching Chris/Simon, Alan/Dafydd. To make it short, they were cheating all along and after only seeing them at the end of one section I was disgusted and went to the pub to get drunk. I cannot believe That the organisers let them get away with this and that other competitors who saw the same I saw just let them get away with it and even applauded at the prize giving. To be more specific: a) Chris has a tree monkey as a co-driver! It cannot be in the spirit of our sport if the winch bitch is replaced by a monkey who actually can climb up trees to set winch anchor points. Simon should be handicapped with chains around his ankles and handcuffed behind the back. B) Chris' truck did not have a windscreen. This unbelievably was not notice during scruteneering and actually alowed him to hear when his co-driver (the above mentioned, to be punished tree monkey) shouted instructions at him. While every other driver ignores the bitch (as it is supposed to be) Chris actually listens to Simon wich is clearly against the rules and border line cheating! For future events Chris should be made to wear ear plugs and should be blind folded to make sure he does not react to hand signals either! c) No breakages on his truck! The unwritten code of conduct in winch challenges states that your truck has to break down at least once per day on a trophy. While everyone adheres to this unwritten rule Chris' truck never breaks down. His "simulated" break down in the first section was traced down to a squashed fuel line was a clear attempt to cheat on the rule as not even tools had to be used to fix the car. Again, clear cheating and I suggest that the other competitors should be given 30 minutes of tinkering time on Chris' truck before the event starts. d) His winch(es). Well what can I say. Having reliable double motor electric winches front and rear is just taking the tiddle. Again, in combination with a), B) and c) above this can only be seen as playing outside the rules. A hand puller or alternativly a hydrolic winch which stalls all the time should be made mandatory for "Team Cheating". I thought a long time before posting this accusations but the above photo evidence makes it clear to everyone what was going on. Hopefully we can avoid this kind of behaviour going on in the future. Best Stef

Well done to all! Teamwork of Simon and Dafydd, Alan and Chris was impressive. Some of the best co-driving I have ever seen!!! Seemed that Tony had a great second day with coming 3rd overall. Jim had a stroke of bad luck. On our first section a branch got into the engione bay ripping off the cables on the winch solenoid. It took us more than 30min to repair. In the second section a tree stump ripped off the oil cooler fitting off the gearbox and that was the end of our event. Next year....

Spotted this in a German magazine. Car is being build at the moment in Germany. http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostre...oArticle=572096

GPR does them in any length. They order them either from TRS or Simpson. GPR sit's on Silverstone race course...

Just checked with Jim, As the prototype had only limited reach he is now offering a +25% or +40% version! For "hard core" events like Ladoga there is also a Plasma version planned... Steff

Great Weekend, Congratulation to Chris and Simon, well deserved win. Thanks to Andy,the marshalls and all others involved for another great event!!! Steff www.gigglepin4x4.net