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Park Systems Stages 2006...
Peugeot 206 1400 crew Mike Winfield and Andy McGowan claimed 2nd place in the Total Motorsport Solutions 1400 Challenge on the Park Systems Stages in South West Scotland on Saturday. The pair now hold 2nd place in the championship, 3 points off the championship lead which is now held by Northern Ireland’s Martin Laverty. Mike still however holds the lead in the C1 class of the ANCRO National Clubmans Championship, 1 point ahead of Laverty and 2 points ahead of the Yorkshire driver Colin Hope in his rapid Suzuki Swift engined Vauxhall Nova.
The rally started well for the Peugeot 206 1400 crew who matched Laverty to the exact second through the days first stage. Mike then pushed hard in stage 2, taking a 0.6 second lead from Laverty. Stage 3 saw Mike and Andy increase their lead and took the class lead by 5.6 seconds as the rally arrived at the days only service halt at Baldoon Airfield.
Stage 4 and the day’s final stage was a 19 mile test through Arroch Hill in the infamous Glentrool Forest. The stage started well for Mike, however 10 miles in, a brake problem would force Mike to alter his driving style and ultimately drop time to Laverty as a result.
“I am extremely disappointed as this was our event to lose” said Mike at the finish in Newton Stewart town centre. “Arroch Hill was going fine and we had both good pace all day and a 5.6 second lead, but 10 miles in I started getting a longer and longer brake pedal. I usually left foot brake, so I stopped it for a while to see if the brakes would cool down and come back which they did about 3 miles later. By the end of the stage I could push hard again, though it was far to late by then and Martin trounced us. It is complete role reversal from the Swansea Bay where I did the same to him, that is the way this sport goes”.
Mike however remains upbeat on his chances for the last rally of the year. “We are still in with a shout of all three championships on the next round in Wales, so the only option is to push hard and try and get the car home safely at the same time. This year has been so close, and it is a shame that the 206 1400 championship has not taken off in the way it should have done. The cars are strong, reliable and as Martin and I have shown time and time again, the competition is very close”.
The final rally of 2006 for the GP Autosports team is the Bulldog Rally based in Oswestry, Mid Wales. Mike and Andy will be hoping to record another win and claim all three championships still on offer to them in 2006.
Posted by Ben Hennessy 
31.10.06
latest news
Pre Event
Severn Valley Stages, Saturday 3rd June 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 Park Systems Stages Rally on the 9th September.
Mike and co-driver Andy McGowan currently hold the joint championship lead with Northern Ireland’s Martin Laverty in the Total Motorsport Solutions 1400 challenge. In addition the crew also hold a very respectable 5th place overall in the ANCRO Clubmans Rally Championship in their Peugeot 206 1400, leading the Class 1 standings for 1400cc 2-wheel drive cars
“There have been no massive problems found on the car between rallies” reported Mike. “We had a few tiny problems on the car during the last round on the Swansea Bay which made it hard to judge how hard to push the car. I quite enjoyed this rally last year, although I believe the stages will be different to the ones used last year due to the Scottish Rally not running this year. Whilst they will be new to me, it is the same for everybody and the stages up in Scotland are very different to the other rallies in the calendar; a real challenge and can be very rough in places. This is the one rally in the calendar which you have to pay massive attention to the road surface as there are some massive rocks in places and the forests are generally a lot rougher than in England and Wales”.
“The plan is to push hard and leave Scotland with the championship lead in the 206 1400 challenge and let Martin and others do the chasing at the last rally of the year at the Bulldog in October. It would be better to be chased than do the chasing; that is how mistakes are made”.
The rally will start on Saturday morning in Newton Stewart. The stages take place at various forest complex’s throughout the Dumfries and Galloway area.
Visit the event website at http://www.parkstages.com for further information and detailed spectator instructions.Posted by Ben Hennessy 31.10.06
