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Bulldog Rally, Oswestry. Saturday 21st October 2006...
Peugeot 206 1400 crew Mike Winfield and Andy McGowan claimed 2nd place in the Total Motorsport Solutions 1400 Challenge on the Bulldog Clubmans Rally in Mid Wales. In doing so, the pair claimed second place in the Peugeot 206 1400 championship, beaten to the championship by Northern Ireland’s Martin Laverty. Mike and Andy still however finished second in class C1 of the ANCRO National Clubmans Championship, beaten only by the Yorkshire driver Colin Hope in his rapid Suzuki Swift engined Vauxhall Nova.
Arriving at the rally, the team knew that the Peugeot 206 1400 championship and the EuroRallye Cup were going to be a long shot for the GP Autosports crew, and the rally started badly for the Peugeot crew just 3 corners into the days first stage. Mike described “as soon as I dropped the clutch off the line of Stage 1, I knew we were in for a tough day. The stage just was so slippery due to the wet weather and the deep puddles, one which we hit flat out and the car turned right off the stage and fired us straight up a bank. I kept my foot in and the car came back, but moments like that did not do my confidence any good at all.
The crew then pushed hard in Stage 2, with Laverty pulling a further 16 seconds to leave the deficit at 28 seconds going into the days first service.
Stage 3 saw Mike go for broke with a massive effort to try and haul back some of the time lost to Laverty and Roughead in the mornings stages, with the crew lucky to come out unscathed after a massive moment and a very near accident. This was due to an incorrectly described route note which unfortunately followed a blind crest. This incident was to only drop a few seconds, but again Laverty extended his lead.
Stage 4 was the final stage of the day, with Mike and Andy sitting 44 seconds behind Laverty and Roughead with just 16 miles of the difficult and fast Dyfnant Forest complex in Mid Wales. With absolutely nothing to lose, the crew stopped the clocks some 20 seconds faster that Laverty, which was not enough to snatch the lead and the 206 1400 title from their grasp. 24 seconds was the final gap between the crews.
Mike commented at the finish ramp “I am obviously extremely disappointed to have finished in second place today and therefore in second place overall in the championship. Full credit however to Martin who has not only been fast today, but most of the year. We gave it our all today as we have done all year, and maintained a 100% finishing record over the last two seasons – that is not bad at all. This is now then end of my second season in the sport, and I feel that we have come such a long way in that time. That is not just down to me but everybody involved - names are not important as they know who they all are. I must just say a special thank you though to Mr McGoo who has sat next to me for the last 2 seasons now and done a 100% perfect job each and every time. We have proved what a good team we are and what a good job we can do with the right equipment”.
“We are not sure what we will get up to next year, as I do not think that there will be a Peugeot Championship to contest. Having said that, even if there is then it is still time to move on and develop the car to where we know we need to be. That is our aim for over winter, and both Andy and I have agreed that we would like to be back in the ANCRO Championship. I will have to see if the sums add up, but even if we just do the Bulldog Rally then that is fine with me; this event has been absolutely tremendous!”
Posted by Ben Hennessy 
05.11.06
Pre Event
Bulldog Rally, Oswestry. Saturday 21st October 2006...
Newport Pagnell’s Mike Winfield resumes his 2006 championship assault on both the ANCRO Clubmans Rally championship and the Total Motorsport Solutions 1400 challenge in the Bulldog Rally on the 9th October.
Mike and co-driver Andy McGowan currently lie in second place behind Northern Ireland’s Martin Laverty in the Total Motorsport Solutions 1400 challenge. In addition, the crew also hold a very respectable 6th place overall in the ANCRO Clubmans Rally Championship behind the more powerful 2 litre Ford Fiesta ST’s in their Peugeot 206 1400, leading the Class 1 standings for 1400cc 2-wheel drive cars.
“The Bulldog should be very interesting because it is a winner takes all situation in all championships contested in 2006. We are seeded at car 122, with Laverty at 123, so we are close enough to be able to keep tabs on what is going on. It is like I always say; it is better to be chased than do the chasing, so Andy and I are happy with the seeding we have been given. It is hard to think that this is only my second season in the sport, and we have come such a long way in a short space of time”.
“We struggled with brake problems during the Park Systems Rally, so we have sorted that and should be firing on all cylinders at the Bulldog. I am really looking forward to the rally and have been working very hard away from the event to ensure we give it our best to end the year; it should be great, and win or lose, we have had such a good year in the ANCRO championship!”
Posted by Ben Hennessy 17.10.06
