Winter Trial 2012: TwinSpark gets Started

Under grey skies we entered the Black Forest, where we encountered the first heavy snow cover.

Gorgeous landscape and great driving roads. Somewhat icy remnants on the road made for fingertip handling of the steering wheel to nurse Silverado downhill. We ran three regularities today and had a few misses which were partly recovered. The field was very close after yesterday, but today the last regularity seems to be keeping many people busy, as it’s somewhat quiet in the bar. Here’s a link to some video:

Winter Trial 2012 Test 1

We took off in 24th position, due to my mistake on the first test, but because the first day was not very challenging, the field was very close together. We had 5 minutes between number 1 and ourselves. In this rally damage is usually measured in hours in the end, so we plod away and hope to make fewer mistakes than others.

To avoid mistakes, some participants use intricate devices in the car, but also at lunch time to read and plot maps. The fact that the rest of us stare at him in awe over his Star Wars device did not seem to bother him at all.

Today’s test looked like it would be a bit of a bore: just a few laps in regularity at an airport in Mengen. Having gauged the map and the times we expected to have to go around at about 60 km. When we got to the place the fun was on! This airport was extensive and you could average about 120km/h and have a blast. What a relief! In the end we were within 1 or 2 seconds of our bogey time, so we should not have caught too many penalties at this occasion.

Last night there was quite a scene happening in the parking lot. One of the Rileys had its engine replaced in an unbelievable cooperation between club members and mechanics. But when it was in the car it kept on fuming vapour. So from a distance this cluster of car enthusiasts and mechanics looked like a tail gate party at a football game. I believe the car dropped out, but this kind of spirit is what makes the Trial what it is.

Our friends are all doing well, scoring above the average of the field. Cooper Goei and Rene Middelweerd in the Lancia overcame their niggles and had come in 14 in Club class yesterday! Very well done.

Our fuel tank has started to behave a bit more, after Job treated it some more last night, but by now we can hardly smell the fumes. Silverado is running very well and we had to tap into its power a few times today to minimise time penalties. I just love this chassis: it can handle anything you throw at it. Fellow competitors sometimes comment on its sound, but for every complaint there are 20 people taking photos of our chariot.

Tomorrow we end up in Austria and will have a chance to shoot some nice videos of the test in Altenmarkt. That’s when this rally really starts and bogey times will seem unreachable on the slippery mountain roads!

3 Comments

  • Victor de Wolff| January 30, 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Hi Leonard, veel plezier in jullie winter-trial. In NL is vandaag ook de eerste sneeuw gevallen (stelt overigens niets voor) met lange files tot gevolg. Oostenrijk/Altenmarkt kan leuk worden, ik mailde recentelijk met kennissen in die buurt en er ligt daar in het dal > 100 cm sneeuw!

    Kind regards, Victor

    • Leonard Stolk| January 31, 2012 at 11:52 pm

      Vanavond de Altenmarkt test gereden! Je kennissen hadden gelijk! Kijk maar even op het YouTube kanaal van TwinSpark Racing. Dank voor je goede wensen!

  • Geer de Beer| January 30, 2012 at 8:12 pm

    Hee jongens. Zie jullie fantastische resultaten en ik hoop dat het alleen maar beter wordt. Veel plezier en hou de Beuker, Silverado, Claudia?? En Bertha heel! Succes!!Gr. Geer the bear

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