 GREAT
START THEN BAD FORTUNE FOR ALL-FEMALE RALLY TEAM
Preston, UK This weekend saw the all female
crew of Mandy Twynham and Vicky Johnson compete
in the first round of the Welsh National Tarmac
Championship, the North West Stages Rally in
Preston on February 22nd.
Using five venues centered on Preston,
providing 20 stages with 80 competitive stage
miles in only a single day, the rally is well
known as providing a real challenge and this
year was no exception.
The crew set out with guns blazing and after
the first stage were laying 3rd in class.
Seeking to improve on this placing Mandy was
pushing hard over the gravel and severely
potholed Stage 3, Burscough. However, the pair
caught up with a pair of Army Land Rovers who
were on their 2nd loop of the stage. With
nowhere to pass this tangle cost precious time
for the team.
Stage 4 saw more bad luck for the Mandy and
Vicky when a clipped curb punctured a tyre. With
just a few stage miles remaining and the next
stage looming without a service halt the crew
decided to take the maximum stage time and
change the tyre.
Stage 5 was a re-run of the first stage of
the day with a good clean run and set a good
time to pull them back up in the class
positions.
The following re-run at Burscough saw a
reversal of fortune for the intrepid team when a
driveshaft snapped just 100 meters off the start
line, resulting in the team retiring from the
rally.
Mandy was philosophical about the day's
hard-fought rally. "The North West Stages is a
very tough rally," she stated, "out of the 83
starters only 39 crews managed to finish, sadly
on this event we were not one of them." Summing
up the mixed day's fortunes Mandy concluded,
"Vicky and I were very pleased to set such good
stage times on the first round of the Welsh
National Tarmac Championship and we are really
looking forward to an all-out attack on Epynt
military ranges on March 16th."
More details on this event, and further
information on Mandy Twynham's rallying career
is available from
http://www.mandytwynhamrallying.com
Further press information is available from
www.autopr.co.uk
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